Just Beat Them, Cubs ... I Swear to God .... Cubs vs White Sox Series Preview

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Cubs vs White Sox — On Monday, the Cubs begin a crucial three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on the road, leading directly into the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline. But before we get there, we have a quick three-game set on the South Side of town. It’s Cubs vs White Sox at Rate Field. And it’s making me a little more nervous than it probably should.

Now, there’s nothing particularly impressive or intimidating about the 36-66 Chicago White Sox, but of course, they just won five out of six coming out of the break. And I don’t love that. The Cubs don’t need to be catching any hot, bad teams just before playing the Brewers. And they don’t need their 1.0 game deficit ballooning any larger before we get to Milwaukee.

Fortunately, the Cubs have an increasingly locked-in Shota Imanaga going tonight. Imanaga has tossed three straight quality starts, including back-to-back 7.0 inning outings against the Yankees and Red Sox with just one earned run combined. And then, tomorrow, it’s Cade Horton’s turn, and he’s coming off 5.2 scoreless innings against the Red Sox. Also working in his favor? The White Sox (80 wRC+) are the second-worst offense in baseball against righties.

Sunday’s game is still TBD for the Cubs, with Ben Brown (sigh) as an option. I have trouble believing they’ll really let him go again, but you’d also hate to go to Boyd, who is otherwise slated to pitch game one against the Brewers (don’t mess with that).

Offensively, the Cubs should get Kyle Tucker back tonight; he sat on Wednesday after fouling a ball off his knee on Tuesday. So that’s a plus, too, especially with three straight right-handed pitchers on the mound.

On the flip side, Adrian Houser (starting tonight) has actually been NAILS for the White Sox this season. He’s made 10 starts and has a 1.89 ERA (3.01 FIP), throwing at least 6.0 full innings in all but two starts. The Cubs had interest in signing him earlier this year, but there were some concerns (at the time) that he didn’t have a direct enough path to starts in the big leagues … oops!

Just beat them, Cubs. I swear to god.

Game 1: Friday, July 25 at 6:40 pm CT at Rate Field

Broadcast Info: Marquee Sports Network, CHSN, 670 The Score, ESPN1000