A man is facing charges for his alleged role in a shooting that left five people wounded last month in Gresham on the South Side.
Devon Harding, 21, is charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the July 14 shooting in the 7900 block of South Justine Street, Chicago police said.
Five people were hit, four men and a woman. Three of the victims were listed in critical condition at the time as they were taken to hospitals. They ranged in age from 27 to 50.
It was the second mass shooting in Chicago that day.
Hours earlier, four women and a man were shot in West Garfield Park on the West Side. As in Gresham, they were gathered on a sidewalk in the 4600 block of West Monroe Street when someone approached with a gun and shot them shortly after midnight, police said.
Harding was arrested Tuesday in Gresham after allegedly being identified as one of the suspects who participated in the shooting on Justine, police said.
Maritza Bandera did everything she was supposed to do. She graduated high school, went to college, earned a master’s degree, found a career that pays well, got married and had kids.
But there’s one thing she and her husband have yet to do: buy a home. And post-pandemic, that’s becoming increasingly more difficult — at least in the neighborhood she’s called home for over 25 years.
“It’s heartbreaking to an extent that even someone like myself is being priced out of the area as it relates to homeownership,” Bandera said. “We probably earn double the average salary for our household in the area and we would love to stay here, but it is becoming harder and harder to find a home within our price range.”
Bandera grew up on Chicago’s Northwest Side in Belmont Cragin, a neighborhood where, as in much of Chicago, the housing market is hot. Owning a home in the neighborhood she loves is, she fears, becoming a distant dream.
In June, the median list price of homes in Belmont Cragin was $360,000 — up 19% from June 2020, according to Realtor.com. But the median sale price in the neighborhood was even higher: $375,000, indicating people were willing to overpay to get the home they want.
To stay within their family’s budget, Bandera said she hopes to spend about $250,000 on a home. They could manage $300,000 — but it would be tight.
“I’m always keeping an eye out for homes as I am driving by and I saw these beautifully rehabbed bungalows — don’t get me wrong, they’re gorgeous — but they were up on the market for almost half-a-million dollars,” Bandera said. “I don’t understand who they are building these houses for and how can they even afford that kind of price tag in this neighborhood.”
A house for sale in the 4800 block of West Montana Street, in Belmont Cragin.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Belmont Cragin, where Latinos make up more than 80% of the population, has a median annual household income of about $51,689 — less than the citywide median of $58,247, according to census data.
“I am happy these developments are coming here. I mean, Lord knows we need it. But I just wonder how this is going to affect people like me,” Bandera said. “Can we stay here? I hope so, but I’m not sure anymore.”
Bandera’s not even sure her family can stay in Chicago.
Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, said neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin aren’t alone in seeing housing prices rise since the start of the pandemic.
People have been diving into the housing market to take advantage of record-low interest rates, he said, but demand outstripped supply. Fewer homes were being put up for sale and even fewer new homes were being built.
In Chicago, new builds have steadily declined since 2016, and that drop became even steeper during the pandemic.
In 2020, the city approved nearly 30% fewer permits for new construction than in 2019, according to city data. The drop in new permits in 2020 is about 37% compared to 2018.
What hasn’t changed is that new construction continues to be concentrated mostly in North and Northwest Side neighborhoods.
“More times than not, these constructions are happening in densely populated and in more wealthy communities — and it’s not like new homes are being built on empty land,” Smith said. “New constructions in Chicago are usually de-conversion jobs, where they turn a traditional two-flat into a single-family home.”
A similar trend could happen with the rising costs of single-family homes in neighborhoods that haven’t been touched by gentrification, Smith said. Families who have worked their way up the economic ladder and are in the position to own a home may not be able to buy one in their own community.
As inventory thins in the Chicago area, Smith said, he expects people could start to look beyond their first-choice neighborhood. More affluent people trying to buy in Logan Square, for example, could get discouraged by repeated bidding wars and may look at nearby Hermosa, Avondale or even Belmont Cragin, where Bandera lives.
Those buyers could offer more than the asking price, leaving a neighborhood’s typical buyer out of luck.
The Institute for Housing Studies also monitors housing affordability. Its Cook County House Price Index measures the quarterly prices of single-family homes.
The report groups neighboring communities and suburbs into 33 submarket categories to see how prices are fluctuating. The latest report, issued in April, compared the fourth quarter of 2020 with the same period in 2019. It found the biggest annual price increases occurred on the South and West sides.
Despite having the bulk of the city’s new construction permits, the North Side’s annual single-family prices either remained flat or even decreased.
According to that index, the areas with the largest increase in single-family sale prices in that time frame were in the submarkets of Englewood/Greater Grand Crossing (23.7%), Humboldt Park/Garfield Park (20.1%) and Auburn Gresham/Chatham (17.3%).
The only markets to see year-over-year price declines were in higher-value, more stable markets. These include Lake View/Lincoln Park (-5.2%), Lincoln Square/North Center (-1.7%) and West Town/Near West Side (-0.8%).
“It’s interesting that the areas that saw a slight dip in sale prices over the year also tend to be areas that have the most new constructions,” Smith said.
A way to combat that is to develop affordable homes and rental units in communities that need it. And indeed, some Chicago neighborhoods are essentially untouched by development, with vast stretches of vacant land. Affordable homes there could help people in those neighborhoods accrue wealth.
But it’s a balancing act, Smith said.
“The problem you run into with a rush of development is gentrification,” Smith said. “There has to be a concerted effort in making sure the development happening is what the community wants and that affordability for everyone remains at the center of it.”
Maritza Bandera and Roberto Parra with their children, (left to right) Arielle, Eliel and Gabriel in front of their home in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. They are renting now and want to buy, but prices in the area are rising.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The Institute for Housing Studies hasn’t yet published its report on the first quarter of 2021, but the National Association of Realtors has, and it shows sale prices continuing to rise.
The median sale price of single-family homes rose at an annual pace of 16.2% — a record high since 1989. The nation’s median sale price was $319,000 in the first quarter of 2021 compared to nearly $275,000 in the first quarter of 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors.
That rate of growth was mirrored in metro Chicago, where the median single-family home prices rose from nearly $262,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2020 to nearly $304,000 at the same time this year.
“The lower scale market is the one that is just unusually tough,” Hernandez said. “It is usually pretty easy to close on a house over the $450,000 mark but anything under $225,000 is just tough.”
Pre-pandemic, Hernandez said, buyers would be able to look at several homes and take their time before buying, weighing the pros and cons of each property. Now, they look at one or two homes, then have to make an offer while still walking through.
“There is definite fatigue for the lower-end buyers because not everyone has it in them to offer $10,000 or even $20,000 over asking price,” Hernandez said. “This isn’t a market for everyone, but I’m just telling people to be patient and we can find them a home that makes sense for them.”
Hernandez said buyers also are realizing it’s no longer possible to find a Northwest Side home priced under $250,000 that’s also “move-in ready.” Maybe on the South Side, he said — and even then, it may need some work.
But the Northwest Side is all Bandera knows, and those rising prices beg the question: How were her parents able to do it decades ago, when they first bought a home in Belmont Cragin?
Both she and her husband make sizable salaries compared to her parents, but the idea of owning a home in the same neighborhood is slipping away.
“Our goal is to stay here because this is all we know and this is where all our family is at,” Bandera said. “But I won’t lie, it may no longer be possible. We are starting to look at some nearby suburbs since owning a home here seems to be such an obstacle.”
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban seized three more Afghan provincial capitals and a local army headquarters Wednesday to complete a blitz across the country’s northeast, giving them control of two-thirds of the nation as the U.S. and NATO finalize their withdrawal after a decades of war.
The fall of the capitals of Badakhshan and Baghlan provinces to the northeast as well as Farah province to the west put increasing pressure on the country’s central government to stem the tide of the advance, even as its lost a major base in Kunduz. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rushed to Balkh province, already surrounded by Taliban-held territory, to seek help in pushing back the insurgents from warlords linked to allegations of atrocities and corruption. He also replaced his army chief of staff.
While the capital of Kabul itself has not been directly threatened in the advance, the stunning speed of the offensive raises questions of how long the Afghan government can maintain the control of the slivers of the country it has left. The government may eventually be forced to pull back to defend the capital and just a few other cities.
“I think what I would say to President Ghani is if you remain spread out everywhere, the Taliban will be able to continue to apply their current approach with success,” warned Ben Barry, the senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “You’ve got to do a bit more than stopping the Taliban. You’ve got to show you can push them back.”
The success of the Taliban offensive also calls into question whether they’d ever rejoin long-stalled peace talks in Qatar aimed at moving Afghanistan toward an inclusive interim administration as the West hoped. Instead, the Taliban could come to power by force — or the country could splinter into factional fighting like it did after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
The multiple fronts of the battle have stretched the government’s special operations forces — while regular troops have often fled the battlefield — and the violence has pushed thousands of civilians to seek safety in the capital.
The U.S. military, which plans to complete its withdrawal by the end of the month, has conducted some airstrikes but largely has avoided involving itself in the ground campaign.
Humayoon Shahidzada, a lawmaker from the western province of Farah, confirmed Wednesday to The Associated Press his province’s capital of the same name fell.
Taliban fighters dragged the shoeless, bloody corpse of one Afghan security force member through the street, shouting: “God is great!” Taliban fighters carrying M-16 rifles and driving Humvees and Ford pickup trucks donated by the Americans rolled through the streets of the capital.
“The situation is under control in the city, our mujahedeen are patrolling in the city,” one Taliban fighter who did not give his name said, referring to his fellow insurgents as “holy warriors.”
The crackle of automatic weapon fire continued throughout the day in Farah.
Hujatullah Kheradmand, a lawmaker from Badakhshan, said the Taliban had seized his province’s capital, Faizabad. An Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about an unacknowledged loss, said Baghlan’s capital, Poli-Khumri, also fell.
The Afghan government and military did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the losses.
The insurgents earlier captured six other provincial capitals in the country in less than a week.
On Wednesday, the headquarters of the Afghan National Army’s 217th Corps at Kunduz airport fell to the Taliban, according to Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a provincial council member in Kunduz, and lawmaker Shah Khan Sherzad. The insurgents posted video online they said showed surrendering troops.
The province’s capital, also called Kunduz, was already among those seized, and the capture of the base now puts the country’s northeast firmly in Taliban hands.
It wasn’t immediately clear what equipment was left behind for the insurgents, though a Taliban video showed them parading in Humvees and pickup trucks. Another video showed fighters on the airport’s tarmac next to an attack helicopter without rotor blades.
In southern Helmand province, where the Taliban control nearly all of the capital of Lashkar Gar, a suicide car bomber targeted the government-held police headquarters, provincial council head Attaullah Afghan said. The building has been under siege for two weeks.
The rapid fall of wide swaths of the country to the Taliban raises fears that the brutal tactics they used to rule Afghanistan before will also return, including severe curtailing of women’s rights. Some civilians who have fled Taliban advances have said that the insurgents imposed repressive restrictions on women and burned down schools, and there have been reports of revenge killings.
In the face of the rapid deterioration in Afghanistan, Germany and the Netherlands both announced Wednesday they’d suspend deportations to the country.
Speaking to journalists Tuesday, a senior EU official said the insurgents held some 230 districts of the over 400 in Afghanistan. The official described another 65 in government control while the rest were contested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal figures.
In addition to the northeast, much of northern Afghanistan has also fallen to the Taliban, except for Balkh province. There, warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum, Atta Mohammad Noor and Mohammad Mohaqiq planned to mobilize forces in support of the Afghan government to push back the Taliban.
Dostum in particular has a troubled past, facing investigations after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion for killing hundreds of Taliban fighters last year by letting them suffocate in sealed shipping containers.
On Wednesday, Dostum said that the Taliban “won’t be able to leave north and will face the same fate” as the suffocated troops.
Ghani meanwhile ordered Gen. Hibatullah Alizai to replace Gen. Wali Ahmadzai as the Afghan army chief of staff, according to an Afghan official who spoke to the AP and local media reports. The Defense Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had yet to be made public.
Alizai was the commander of the Afghan army’s Special Operations Corps — the elite troops that, along with the air force, have been forced to do most of the fighting as regular forces have collapsed. That’s even after a 20-year Western military mission and billions of dollars spent training and shoring up Afghan forces.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The NCAA infractions committee said Wednesday that its years-long investigation into the Baylor sexual assault scandal would result in four years probation and other sanctions, though the “unacceptable” behavior at the heart of the case did not violate NCAA rules.
The NCAA ruling came more than five years after the scandal broke at the world’s largest Baptist university, leading to the firing of successful football coach Art Briles, and the later departures of athletic director Ian McCaw and school president Ken Starr.
In its ruling, the NCAA said the allegations centered on conduct never before presented to the Committee on Infractions, “namely, that Baylor shielded football student-athletes from the institution’s disciplinary process and failed to report allegations of abhorrent misconduct by football student-athletes, including instances of sexual and interpersonal violence.”
The panel said Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual violence on campus but argued “that those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of NCAA legislation.”
“Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees,” the ruling said.
The NCAA said the case that led to penalties involved Level II and III impermissible benefits and drug testing violations in Baylor’s football program, and Level II violations involving the institution’s student host program.
Along with the four years probation and a $5,000 fine, Baylor will face recruiting restrictions during the 2021-22 academic year. There could also be a vacation of all records in which athletes competed while ineligible, which came during a time when Baylor won two Big 12 titles and had four 10-win seasons in a span of five years.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — North Carolina-based Elevation Worship and singer-songwriter Brandon Lake are each nominated for seven awards at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards, and Elevation’s lead singer and songwriter Chris Brown earned nine nominations.
The 52nd annual Dove Awards are planned for Oct. 19 in Nashville, Tennessee, where the leading voices in gospel and worship music will be honored.
Steven Furtick, the pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina and songwriter for the worship group, had 10 nominations, making him the top non-artist nominee. Other artists with several nominations include for KING & COUNTRY, CeCe Winans, Ed Cash and Zach Williams.
Artist of the year nominees include Elevation Worship, for King & Country, Lauren Daigle, Phil Wickham and Zach Williams. Gospel artist of the year include CeCe Winans, Jonathan McReynolds, Kirk Franklin, Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Travis Greene.
The GMA Dove Awards will be taped Tuesday, October 19 at Lipcomb University’s Allen Arena. The broadcast will air October 22 on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).Tickets for the in-person event are on sale at www.doveawards.com.
Coming off a rough opener to start off summer league play, the Chicago Bulls completely flipped the script on the San Antonio Spurs in their second game en route to a tight 92-89 victory. However, this was no ordinary victory for the ChicagoBulls.
The Chicago Bulls young players continued to show out in their win over the Spurs.
Many of the standout players from the opener continued to build on their great starts in their second game. Patrick Williams dropped 30 and what stood out to me was his commitment to continue shooting despite his slow start. Marko Simonovic was 5-5 from the field in the first half and once again displayed his toughness in the interior.
However, when the Spurs closed the gap on Chicago at the end of the fourth quarter, there were a few contested shots I would have liked to see Simonovic finish. He’s young and his play so far has inspired enough confidence in me to believe that he will keep getting stronger and more consistent finishing shots in the paint.
The rookie, Ayo Dosunmu also had a great second game against San Antonio. One of the things I said Ayo needed to demonstrate to contest Coby White‘s role on the team would be to play tenacious defense. His four steals in Tuesday’s game are early, positive signs that he could be a great defender in the Chicago Bull’s backcourt this season if he continues to develop.
Furthermore, Ayo’s communication on defense is another aspect of his game that jumped out at me in his performance versus the spurs. Patrick Williams noted that Ayo has already become one of the more vocal leaders on the squad. This was definitely backed up by Ayo’s mic ‘d-up audio as he was constantly engaged on defense by constantly communicating with his teammates to support them on defense.
However, the best thing about this game is that the Bulls bounced back quickly after they blew a 17 point lead just the day before. They came out flat, went down early, but fought back and came back against San Antonio.
The Chicago Bulls overcame a 22 point deficit to beat the Spurs.
Furthermore, when the game was close down the stretch, I saw a much better offense that had constant motion leading to easy baskets. Devon Dotson, especially, despite his subpar game to that point, had a beautiful pass to a cutting Patrick Williams for a layup that iced the game for the Chicago Bulls.
I realize that this is only summer league and many of these players will max out as rotation and depth players on the bench, but to truly compete with the likes of Milwaukee and Brooklyn in the conference, the Chicago Bulls will need an “all hands on deck” effort. This is what makes this year’s summer league the most exciting one (for the Chicago Bulls) in ages and so far, the team’s young talent is giving us plenty to be excited for once the regular season gets underway.
I’m Jerry Partacz, happily married to my wife Julie for over 40 years. I have four children and eleven grandchildren. I’m enjoying retirement after 38 years of teaching. I now have an opportunity to share my thoughts on many things. I’m an incurable optimist. I also love to solve crossword puzzles and to write light verse. I love to read, to garden, to play the piano, to collect stamps and coins, and to watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
Chicago faces a “significantly reduced,” but still sizable, $733 million budget shortfall in 2022 because of the “lasting and continuing impacts” of the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Wednesday.
“While we still have hard work ahead of us in order to close this gap, this figure is a great indication that our city is fiscally bouncing back from this crisis,” Lightfoot said in a news release.
“Last year, we were faced with a $1.2 billion pandemic budget. This year, we have shifted to a recovery budget that not only reflects the challenges….but the number of resources we’ve brought to bear to address them.”
The shortfall will be eliminated by refinancing outstanding debt at reduced interest rates, using the $1.9 billion avalanche of federal stimulus funds on its way to Chicago and “as always, looking to create governmental efficiencies,” the news release states.
Already, the city has used $800 million in federal stimulus funds to support hard-hit small businesses and provide a safety net of assistance for housing, food, homeless services and mental health and cover the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other first responders.
On Wednesday, City Hall disclosed plans to use $37 million in “remaining” first-round stimulus funds to “create a bridge” toward the investments Lightfoot intends to make with the next round of federal help.
The new investments include $14 million for youth prevention programming; $9 million for neighborhood recovery initiatives; and $14 million for childcare assistance.
Last year, Lightfoot spent months claiming Chicago was well-positioned to weather the economic storm caused by the coronavirus only to finally reveal that the stay-at-home shutdown had blown a two-year, $2 billion hole in the city’s budget.
After weeks of contentious negotiations, the City Council ultimately approved her $12.8 billion budget by the narrowest margin Chicago has seen in decades.
The mayor’s plan to raise property taxes by $94 million, followed by annual increases tied to the consumer price index, passed with only two votes to spare. The roll call was 28 to 22.
The vote on the budget itself was 29 to 21, a roll call made famous during the 1980s power struggle known as “Council Wars” that saw 29 mostly white aldermen thwart then-Mayor Harold Washington’s every move.
Although she has condemned political horse-trading, Lightfoot was forced to do a lot of wheeling and dealing to line up the 26 votes she needed to approve the budget.
She canceled 350 layoffs in favor of borrowing against future revenues from the sale of recreational and medical marijuana and ordered five furlough days, but only for those non-union employees with six-figure salaries.
She sweetened the pot for violence prevention by $10 million and set aside $2 million to test a pair of alternate response pilot programs for emergency calls related to mental health.
And she increased the value of the treasured aldermanic menu program from $1.32 million for each of the 50 wards to $1.8 million.
For the second straight year, Lightfoot’s budget was also precariously balanced with one-time revenues.
It called for the city to refinance $1.7 billion in general obligation and sales tax securitization bonds and claim $949 million of the savings in the first two years.
That would have extended the debt for eight years and returned Chicago to the days of “scoop-and-toss” borrowing that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel ended, although not nearly fast enough to satisfy Wall Street rating agencies.
A $304 million tax increment financing surplus created a $76 million windfall for the city. The 2021 budget also included $59 million by “sweeping aging accounts”; a $30 million raid on the city’s $900 million in reserves; and $54 million in savings by off-loading the cost of pensions and crossing guards from the city to Chicago Public Schools.
The Lightfoot administration is counting on a massive refinancing to bankroll more than half the cost of a $600 million police contract that will give rank-and-file officers a 20% pay raise over eight years, more than half of it retroactive.
Lightfoot had planned to use more than half of the $1.9 billion of federal relief to retire $465 million in scoop-and-toss borrowing and cancel plans to borrow $500 million more.
But her plan was put in jeopardy after the Treasury Department issued initial guidelines stating the money couldn’t be spent on tax cuts, pension funds, debt services, legal settlements or judgments or be deposited in rainy day funds.
The city has sought clarification on the guidance. A 60-day window for the city to submit its stance on the matter to the Treasury Department ended July 16.
If there’s ever been a time to hop on the ChicagoBulls bandwagon, it’s now. Seriously! At the beginning of the 2021 NBA free agency, the Bulls front office appears to be making a statement.
Were some of the moves predictable? Sure. The acquisition of Lonzo Ball has been in the works for quite some time. Getting him to Chicago was discussed way back before last season’s NBA trade deadline. It didn’t happen then, but it’s happening now!
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We’ll touch on the other moves the Bulls made during the 2021 NBA free agency later. However, it’s pretty clear from the fan reactions that most of them weren’t quite as predictable as the Lonzo move. We certainly don’t mind though. We’ll take more surprises if it means loading up the Bulls roster with All-Star talent.
Lonzo Ball, a 23-year old guard, has had plenty of time to prepare for this move to Chicago. We talked about how the Bulls expressed heavy interest in him back around last year’s trade deadline. Like seriously, the fact that they didn’t acquire him before then was a huge surprise. But here we are. Ball is entering his fifth year in the league and has spent two years in New Orleans and Los Angeles. His stats don’t jump off the page by any means, but points and assists don’t define Lonzo Ball’s game. His knowledge of the game and vision does. You won’t see him single-handedly breaking down opposing teams defenses on every drive. But, you will see him get his other teammates going while effectively moving the ball around the floor, and hustling on the transition. It won’t be the flashy drives we grew to love with Derrick Rose, or the lights-out scoring we see from LaVine. No. It will be what this team needs though, and whether or not it comes with success remains to be seen. The NBA is also investigating this move for possible tampering, but it’s unlikely that it will get reversed. Although, we might see some punishment placed on the team.
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Alex Caruso
Hours after the sign-and-trade for Lonzo Ball, the Chicago Bulls made their mark in 2021 NBA free agency again by acquiring Alex Caruso from the Lakers. Like Ball, Caruso’s stats don’t scream All-Star, and like Ball again, they don’t need to. Sometimes it’s not about finding the best players in the world, but finding the right guys for your system. Plus, Alex Caruso is what we would call the “meme machine” of the NBA. When he was with the Lakers, social media threads were filled with comments saying things like “Caruso is the GOAT” and similar sayings that made it seem like he was the face of the franchise, not Lebron James. Now, we know that’s not actually the case, but it doesn’t hurt the Bulls franchise having a guy who’s loved by many younger NBA fans.
DeMar DeRozan
The final massive move made by the Chicago Bulls in 2021 NBA free agency was another sign-and-trade. This time, the deal was made for DeMar DeRozan. The team gave up a decent amount of assets and are paying DeRozan a pretty penny to put on the Bulls uniform. Except the only thing that matters is if it’ll work out in the end. When you take a look at the DeRozan acquisition next to the moves for Nikola Vučević and Lonzo Ball, and then add in LaVine and Patrick Williams, the Bulls starting five start to look pretty scary. And tall. The Chicago Bulls have one of the tallest rosters in the league. Devon Dotson is our shortest guy, and he is 6’ 2”. So when you add another tall, All-Star caliber player in DeRozan to the roster, it makes the Bulls that much scarier. Maybe now we’ll see ourselves as a lock in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
If you think the Bulls are done taking part in the 2021 NBA free agency, you’ll most likely be wrong. There’s a good chance the franchise makes another deal or signing to get one final piece to fit their puzzle. There’s also a good chance that their next move involves parting ways with Lauri Markkanen.
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Lauri Markkanen showed plenty of promise his rookie year with us in 2017. He’s even shown flashes of greatness after that year. But the problem is, he hasn’t shown those flashes consistently these past three seasons. And it’s one of the main reasons why the front office is looking to move on from him. They thought he was a cornerstone piece, and now that they don’t believe in that anymore, they’re looking to move on and build around other guys. So yes, expect Markkanen to be gone before the season starts. He’s a restricted free agent, so any move will likely come in the form of a sign and trade. Lauri hasn’t kept quiet about wanting to move on from Chicago and get a fresh start somewhere else. It’s just up to the organization to respect those wishes and do what’s best for him and the team. Plus, if they can do it right, they might even receive some first round draft picks back in the deal.
Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Hermosillo makes impact in first game back; Maldonado and Velazquez double and homer; Canario homers in 3rd straight game; Pelicans win 7th in a row
Iowa jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 2nd on RBIs by Zach Davis, Trayce Thompson, and Alfonso Rivas. Michael Hermosillo, fresh off the IL and DHing in the game, hit a solo homer in the 3rd to expand the Cubs advantage. After Omaha super prospect Bobby Witt hit a two-run homer to bring the Storm Chasers within striking distance, Rivas drove in an insurance run, and then Nick Martini added a two-run homer.
The I-Cubs received excellent piggyback efforts by starter Keegan Thompson (4 IP, 0 ER) and Matt Swarmer (5 IP, 2 H). Thompson is still in the process of stretching out. He reached 55 pitches yesterday.
Matt Swarmer: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, BB< 3 K (W, 2-5, 6.70)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Jared Young gets his first shot at AAA. He’s come on strong in AA this year after struggling there in 2019. He’s begun using the whole field more, and is getting the ball up in the air at a higher rate. He had an issue rolling over and hitting a ton of grounders to the right side previously.
Michael Hermosillo (.324/.450/.610) was activated from the IL. He reached base in all four of his plate appearances as a DH. I would imagine the Cubs would like to get him some reps in the outfield the rest of this week, and then I have to believe the Cubs will consider making a roster move so that they can add Hermosillo and give him a shot in the Majors soon.
Hermosillo is set to be a UFA and Rivas will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason so the Cubs will want to add both to 40-man anyway. Just need to wait until injury or other player struggles open spots up on the roster.
Nelson Maldonado: 2-4, 2B, HR (6), 2 R, 2 RBI, SF (.306)
Nelson Velazquez: 2-5, 2B, HR (2), R, 2 RBI (.292)
Brennen Davis: 3-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB (.274)
Andy Weber: 1-3, 2B, R, BB, HBP (.202)
Christopher Morel: 2-3, R, BB (.204)
Tim Susnara: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI (.295)
Cam Sanders: 6 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 5 K (W, 3-6, 5.49)
Erich Uelmen: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (S, 2, 4.66)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Power reliever Eury Ramos received a promotion to Tennessee. Capable of running the ball up into the upper-90s, Ramos spent the last couple of months as South Bend’s primary closer.
Outfielder D.J. Artis also received a promotion to Tennessee. He got off to a slow start this year as he bounced around multiple levels to fill in for injured outfielders, but seemed to settle in and showed a surprising bit of pop with South Bend over the past month.
Catcher and infielder Cam Balego was activated from the IL.
After falling behind 2-0 early on, the Cubs pushed across three runs in the 5th thanks to some shoddy defense, but then expanded their lead thanks to a couple of big bombs by Yonathan Perlaza and Alexander Canario (his 3rd in 3 games). Matteo Bocchi shut the TinCaps down over the final six innings.
Not only has Alexander Canario (.246/.331/.460 in 73 combined games between Low-A/High-A) hit home runs in three consecutive games, but he’s made a couple of nice plays in the outfield since debuting with South Bend, one in CF and another in RF. In 8 games with the Cubs organization he is batting .324/.378/.647. That’s a great way to make a first impression, especially since he was one of two pieces who came to the Cubs in exchange for a former NL MVP. The kid has some impressive bat speed and can really drive the ball when he gets his arms extended.
Hard throwing righty Danis Correa received a well-deserved promotion to South Bend. Finally healthy, Correa could become a fast moving reliever in the Cubs system. His fastball registers in the upper-90s, and his breaking ball has improved in consistency throughout the year. He is Rule 5 eligible in the offseason, and could become one of the Cubs more difficult roster decisions should he stay on the mound and have a strong 2nd half in South Bend.
The first member of the Cubs 2021 draft class to be assigned to full season ball is 6th rounder Liam Spence. An overage senior out of the University of Tennessee, he’s considered a solid defender at short or second, and provides the contact skills at the plate the Cubs have heavily favored in recent moves. Spence has been an All-SEC performer who led the conference in OBP last season (5th in all NCAA in walks). He is originally from Australia. His stint in ACL lasted just one game.
Additional shortstop help arrives for South Bend as their Opening Day starter, Luis Vazquez, has been activated off the 60-day IL. Former top prospect Aramis Ademan was also activated for the first time this season, as he too completed his rehab in Mesa. Ademan is returning to High-A for the third time.
Catcher Jake Washer was sent down from Tennessee to South Bend.
Utility man Jacob Olson was released to make room for Vazquez and Ademan.
Myrtle Beach won six straight on the road in their previous series, and they didn’t let a return home slow them down last night. Yohendrick Pinango hit a walk off double to win it, capping a three-run rally in the bottom of the 9th.
Yohendrick Pinango wasn’t going to let that winning streak end.
Recently acquired outfielder Kevin Alcantara has been red hot since joining the Cubs org (he was killing the FCL just as much as he has the ACL though). Below is video of his first home run with the org a couple of days ago. He hit another yesterday.
Some of the draft picks have begun playing in games this week. OF /1B Peter Matt (10th), and infielders James Triantos (2nd), B.J. Murray, Jr. (15th) and Liam Spence (6th) have all debuted.
Outfielder Bradlee Beesley has begun a rehab in Mesa, as has RHRP Shane Combs. Both played for South Bend prior to going down.
Infielder Reivaj Garcia returned to Mesa now that a couple of middle infielders are healthy with the full season affiliates.
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