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If you thought chat rooms ended with the 90s, you’d be wrong. They’re more popular than ever, especially adult chat rooms.

There are two types: classic/text and video. Remember old-school AOL chat rooms? They’re a huge hit with adults looking to talk dirty on the Internet. And video chat rooms take the beauty of classic rooms and add video capability.

Adult chat sites have become the go-to for any busy adult looking for that quick gratifying fix. You don’t have to leave your couch to find excited sexy people who want to talk about naughty things. There’s a little something for everyone here, no matter how specific your sexual kink is.

But some sites do it better than the rest. It’s going to take far too much energy for you to peek through the Internet looking for the best. Some are too expensive, others are too boring, and some are just plain bad. Skip all that nonsense and read below to find the top free adult chat sites (or almost free) with the sexiest users.

Top 15+ Adult Chat Rooms for Sex Chat Reviewed

Sl*tRoulette: Best overall adult chat site321 SexChat: Most entertaining siteJerkmate: Get off with sexy strangersChatAvenue: One of the most popular chat roomsChaturbate: Most well-known video chatChatRandom: Quickest way to meet someone newChatropolis: Kinkiest chat room categoriesAdultFriendFinder: Meet horny strangers on AFFFlingster: Most discreet option on this listAshley Madison: Best for affairsChatville: An adult site that offers a sense of communityChatzy: Old-school, no-frills chattingDirtyRoulette: Sexy roulette-style websiteChatroulette: Most active roulette websiteOmegle: Free chat site for random encountersiSexyChat: Share nudes with new friendsLewdChat: IRC platform for adultsFlirtLu: Sexiest webcam experience

Honorable Mentions

Flirt: A hybrid of erotic chat and a dating siteWeird Town: Chat about any weird thing you can think of. It doesn’t have to be weird sex, but it can be!CooMeet: Like Chatroulette with more attractive people!Cuckold Chat: Cuckold-oriented chat roomsChat Zozo: Run-of-the-mill free adult sex chat siteFreeChatNow: Quick free sex chat site with forums and discussion boardsKinksters Chat: BDSM and kink chat roomsChatPig: Sexy chat rooms with regular and adult actress usersTempoCams: Naughty roulette-style chatShagle: Meet new hotties through video chat!

1.  Sl*tRoulette: Roll the dice to find someone nice

Sl*tRoulette helps shake things up in the adult chat room world, where many sites look and function in basically the same way. Sl*tRoulette is pretty much like it sounds—you get a random cam model on your screen. You can then select “Next” if you want to move onto someone else. 

(Fun fact: Sl*tRoulette is a new take on ChatRoulette, a similar site whose adult version was taken down.) 

Like many adult chat rooms, Sl*tRoulette is free, which is always a plus, right?  All you have to do is simply verify your age. After that, you’ll be free to sit back and enjoy a wide range of women performing cam shows. The Sl*tRoulette uses an algorithm that selects top-rated models, helping ensure a more enjoyable experience from the get-go.

Sl*tRoulette Live is a platform within SlutRoulette that has more diverse offerings instead of the stream of solo women on the regular platform. Here you will see men, straight and gay couples, group sex, trans performers, and more. 

Like most other adult chat sites, Sl*tRoulette uses a tip system that incentivizes the performers to use the platform and put on an enjoyable show for viewers like you. You can also upgrade to Premium for more features. 

Pros:

Fun conceptAttractive modelsFree

Cons:

May not appeal to everyoneMinimal control can be frustrating

Price: Free (with option to upgrade) 

2.  321 SexChat: Quirky and silly chat site

321 SexChat is for someone who doesn’t take their sex chat needs all that seriously. Don’t get us wrong, 321 SexChat has got the goods. It’s designed like a normal adult chat site, but it’s designed in a way that’s bubbly, over-the-top, exciting, and a whole lot of fun. It’s not dark or serious in any way, but it will seriously get you off if that’s what you’re looking for.

For one, 321 SexChat has tons of unique rooms for you to join, whether you are into furries, nymphs, saunas, or whatever else. All the rooms have fun names, too, like The Lurker Zone, Yes Daddy, or Pegging Palace. Once you are in the chat room, there are so many fun features for you to play with. You can send emojis, fun texts, memes, and even GIFs.

321 SexChat is a fun way to explore your adult fantasies with strangers online. It keeps everything lighthearted, which is a welcome change of pace in comparison to many of the other video chat sites on this list.

Pros:

Fun and quirky approachExtremely niche roomsFree

Cons:

Not a ton of users in the roomsMale users dominateSome ads

Price: Free

3.  Jerkmate: Masturbate with new friends

Jerkmate is a free sex chat site that claims you’ll never have to masturbate alone again. It also calls itself the ultimate live masturbation experience. It’s a bold claim, but a very real one. If you couldn’t tell by the name, Jerkmate will help you find a jerk-off partner through their group chat sessions or one-on-one chats. This person could be your average guy or gal, but they might also be a professional adult star.

Signing up for Jerkmate is fairly simple. Create a free account by adding your e-mail, nickname, and password. From there, you’re guided to a page full of beautiful people who want to share this journey with you. It can tend to feel more like an adult video chat experience, but it’s a fantastic way to meet someone.

Enjoy shows performed to a wide audience, or settle into a more private one-on-one setting. Use their great search features to filter by category, body type, or fetish. Aside from being a unique adult chat experience, Jerkmate has a lot to love in terms of usability.

Pros:

Fantastic enthusiastic usersHigh-quality showsTons of search options

Cons:

Can sometimes be a struggle to find someone hot enough to go one-on-one withMore cammy than adult chat

Price: Free, but can pay for upgraded features

4.  ChatAvenue: Clean-looking naughty chat site

ChatAvenue is one of the cleaner options for chat sites on this list. If you’re concerned about someone checking out your Internet history or a nosy neighbor peering into your window and seeing what you’re up to, ChatAvenue will make you feel secure in its squeaky appearance.

ChatAvenue isn’t designed just for dirty talk. There are all types of rooms available to everyone, like sports, teen, and college chat. There are also flirtier options like dating chat. Of course, there’s an adult section, otherwise ChatAvenue wouldn’t make the cut for us!

The 18+ Adult Chat section on ChatAvenue is one of the most active adult rooms on the site. There are tons of users online at any given time with floods of messages from the moment you enter! Before you can come into the room, you’ll be agreeing to a list of reasonable terms. One of those terms is no solicitation, so you know you won’t be enticed to purchase anything you weren’t planning on buying. Offering services will actually get you banned from the room, which is good news when you just want a free good time! Also, there isn’t any registration required.

Pros:

No sign-up necessaryVery active roomSolicitation of any kind will get a user banned

Cons:

Only one adult chat room availableIt’s both good and bad that it is flooded with users

Price: Free

5.  Chaturbate: Sexy online video chat

Chaturbate offers webcam video chat where you can message and watch the stunning users and their livestreams through the platform. There’s nothing that’s not drenched in hot sexual energy over at Chaturbate, which is why it’s one of the hottest places to engage in erotic chat room discussions with likeminded adults.

This site is one of the biggest players in the adult world, so they’ve got their ducks in a row in terms of functionality and navigation. It’s not a totally free site, though, which is the one drawback. Transactions on Chaturbate are done through a credit system, which you can use your credit card to purchase or even some forms of cryptocurrency.

The main pull to Chaturbate is that it’s a well-known site full of beautiful people. What’s not to love about that? You’ll need to shell out some cash to get the full experience, but it’s worth it on this amazing platform!

Pros:

Attractive usersWebcam video chatEnthusiastic members

Cons:

It’s not the cheapest option

Price: Credit-based system

6.  ChatRandom: Speedy random chat site

ChatRandom is a chat site that randomly pairs you up with others around the globe who are also on ChatRandom at the same time as you. You don’t have to do anything, aside from have a working camera and microphone, to find someone to talk with. Just allow the site to access your camera, and instantly you’ll be met with a new Internet buddy.

ChatRandom has over 35K daily users, so there’s never a shortage of people to meet while you’re engaged on this roulette-style adult chat. If you want to make the experience a little less random, you can filter by country or gender you wish to talk with.

Though it was developed a decade ago, it still has a modern feel and works very quickly. In fact, it’s way more modern than a site like Chatroulette or Omegle. That’s why it’s higher on our list! It also offers rooms in addition to random chat. These rooms have themes like gay, adult dating, role-play, flirt, and more.

Pros:

No sign-up requiredInstant random chatTons of people to meetChat rooms along with random one-on-ones

Cons:

No major filtering or search featuresChat rooms are on the smaller side

Price: $17.99/month

7.  Chatropolis: Most diverse chat room options

Chatropolis is fairly average in that it directs you to chat rooms once you’re on the website. The dark colors and nude images give you the indication that all these rooms are going to be adult themed. There are no gamer rooms or anime discussions on this website. What gives Chatropolis its edge (aside from the edgy colors used throughout the site) is the fact that it has a plethora of themes that cater to unique types of individuals. For example, there are chat rooms called Celeb Flesh, Cougars Till Dawn, and Office Seduction. There are plenty for you to choose from aside from these highlights, as well.

It would be surprising to learn that you didn’t find any room (among their 200+) that hit your sweet spot on Chatropolis. If you want to create your own room, that’s possible on this site! You can come up with the name, choose your colors, etc. However, in order to create a room, you need to sign up and pay for Chatropolis. It’s pretty reasonable, though, and won’t break the bank if you’re dead set on starting your own room.

Chatropolis gets a good amount of engagement and activity on a daily basis. You are able to be in multiple rooms at a time if you’re someone who likes a lot of action.

Pros:

Plenty of chat room themesPremium members can create their own roomsPretty active site

Cons:

Some of the rooms you might want to enter could be fullNo exciting features on Chatropolis

Price: $12.95/month

8.  AdultFriendFinder: Best way to find a new kinky chat

If you’re privy to the world of online adult fun, you’ve probably been introduced to AdultFriendFinder at least once. It’s one of the most popular ways for kinky adults to meet each other. While AFF has various means and methods of introducing people, their chat function is one of the best.

We love AdultFriendFinder because it has so many users. The site has millions of members, but about a quarter-million of those folks use the AFF chat capabilities. Members of AFF seem to love doing sex broadcasts that invite other users to join in and meet new users. There are also fantastic rooms and one-on-one options.

Being so popular, AFF does a fantastic job of creating unique categories and opportunities. You can search the site for various groups, forums, and chat rooms broken up by fetish. For instance, do you have a thing for older women? They’ve got you covered. Do you enjoy being a voyeur on your naughty neighbors? There’s a discussion for that too. Whatever you are into, you’ll find (and more) on AdultFriendFinder with plenty of other adults who are into the same thing.

Pros:

Tons of usersUnique groupsNo shortage of fun featuresEveryone is kinky

Cons:

ExpensiveTends to have a lot of annoying ads

Price: about $40/month (that price decreases if you sign up for a longer time)

9.  Flingster: Anonymous adult video chat

Flingster is another random video and chat site for kinky adults. You might be puzzled as to how it could be an anonymous video chat site. Well, Flingster makes anonymity a possibility by implementing two very important features.

For one, Flingster doesn’t require anything aside from choosing a gender to begin talking. Also, it allows you to mask your face if you wish! Think of this mask as something similar to a social media filter. You can cover your face with an emoji or disguise. These masks follow your face, so you can move around and your face will stay hidden. It’s a fairly advanced feature that other random chat sites don’t have, making Flingster totally unique!

It’s a free chat site unless you want to take advantage of its premium features. We don’t think you need it as you can access the video option without paying a dime. However, premium members do enjoy their ability to use the search features and perform non-video calls.

Pros:

Virtually no registrationTotally anonymousFun filters to cover your faceTons of users who get right down to business

Cons:

Some people report fake usersTends to have a lot of annoying ads

Price: Free unless you upgrade

10.  Ashley Madison: Chats between taken people

Are you someone who isn’t technically single, but you’re still looking to get your kink on with someone on the Internet? Listen, we aren’t here to reprimand you for your choices. Maybe you’re in an open relationship or separated! Again, we aren’t your parents. What we can tell you is that Ashley Madison is a fantastic way to meet others who want to have a naughty chat with you, taken or otherwise.

As far as chat sites go, Ashley Madison is a lot more personal than the others. It’s not totally anonymous (unless you disguise your identity, which you are welcome to do) and it doesn’t lead you to a page full of video models or chat rooms. It uses a matching algorithm to effectively pair you up with horny people in your area to have a sex chat with.

Ashley Madison attracts over 10K new users per day, so finding someone you’re attracted to is a cinch. It also gives you the ability to take your sex chat into a real-life experience.

Pros:

Easily meet real horny adultsGenuine interactionsNon-judgemental environment

Cons:

Video isn’t availableNeed to payLong registration process

Price: About $50 for 100 credits and about $150 for 500 credits

11.  Chatville: A video chat community

Chatville is an adult video chat room similar to the likes of Omegle. In fact, it dubs itself as the best Omegle alternative site. It also calls itself a virtual nightclub. Chatville does offer random one-on-one options similar to other roulette-style chats, but it also has features that set it apart from those.

For instance, when you hop onto the Chatville homepage, you’ll be given the option to instantaneously jump into a 16-way video group. It makes Chatville more of an adult video community than it is just a roulette-style adult site. You can also video up to four feeds at a time if you wish. Also, you can register, but you don’t have to. It’s free either way, which is another reason to hop aboard the Chatville train.

Chatville is a great mix of a chat site and a social network where you can meet new friends. It’s like a forum site but with video capabilities. You can create your own room if you want and become the moderator. There are tons of naughty rooms already, though, like Foot Fetish, Swingers, and Nudists. You’ll need to register to do that, but it’s not complicated and you won’t be asked for credit card information.

Pros:

Tons of options and roomsBest way to meet friends through videoOpen-minded users

Cons:

Not for beginnersCould be more user-friendly

Price: Free

12.  Chatzy: Old-school chat room

The ideal Chatzy user is someone who has been to chat rooms before, might be on the older side, and has an affinity for the classic setup. Chatzy is one of those sites that has been around for ages and really hasn’t changed with the times. It’s stuck in the early 2000s. It was created 20 years ago and refuses to add any bells and whistles, which we kind of respect.

If simplicity is important to you, Chatzy delivers. There are no confusing features, no additional portals, and no frills. There’s nothing to distract you from your chat. The only thing that might get in your way is that Chatzy is used for all sorts of discussions. They aren’t all kinky conversations. In order to find the juicy stuff, you’ll need to do a little bit of research, but it’s not complicated.

When you hit Chatzy’s home page, look to the left and click on the tab titled “Find More Rooms.” From there, you’ll be given the option to search for a phrase or word of your choosing. Look up your favorite fetish or anything related to sex. You will then be directed to the appropriate rooms.

Pros:

Simple as can beNo distractionsFree

Cons:

Not modern at allNeed to search for your room in the “Find More” section

Price: Free

13.  DirtyRoulette: Naked roulette video chat

DirtyRoulette is a site that’s powered by Flingster, so you can bet that it’s just as interesting and suitable for sexy video chat. It’s a free chat site that employs straightforward navigation capabilities rather than bogging you down with nonsense.

DirtyRoulette keeps things engaging while maintaining its simplicity. All you need to do is press the “Start Chatting” button to be launched into viewing a free random live sex chat. If you enjoy what you’re watching, you can stay on the show and begin chatting. If you’d like to see something else, you can hit “Next” to view another random feed. Once you land on something that whets your appetite, you can start communicating with the other DirtyRoulette users. Enable your own video camera if you wish to show off your raunchy side.

DirtyRoulette is a saucy platform that invites people to let their freak flags fly. There’s no prudishness on DirtyRoulette. The feeds load very quickly and you can also check it out on your mobile device!

Pros:

Easy navigationNo distractionsExciting and fresh

Cons:

A handful of reported fake usersSome users are boring

Price: Free

14.  Chatroulette: Best roulette chat site

Chatroulette used to be a roulette-style chat site that wasn’t for nudity. They’ve since updated their site to include two sections: Random Chat and Unmoderated. For the purpose of dirty sex chat, you’re going to want to enter the Unmoderated section. It still gives users the chance to report anything that they deem unsavory; however, nudity isn’t banned from this section.

Chatroulette is potentially the most famous sex chat site around. It’s a cure for boredom, a way to meet cool Internet folk, and totally addictive. The website has undergone some cosmetic changes over the years to keep it modernized and entertaining, and we think it’s done a really good job. For quick adult chat, there really isn’t a better option than Chatroulette.

There are over 30K people on Chatroulette at any given moment! In terms of what to expect, with that many people, you never really know what you are going to get. But that’s the beauty of Chatroulette. It’s completely random, mostly kinky fun!

Pros:

No sign-up requiredDownright addictingA huge amount of users online at any given time

Cons:

Seedy past reputationMust enable camera

Price: Free

15.  Omegle: Random free chat

Meet new friends without registering on Omegle, the ultra-famous randomized video chat site that allows you to plug in some keywords so that the site can match you according to your interests. Omegle is only for adults; however, like Chatroulette, there are two types of roads you can travel while you are on Omegle. You can either head into the monitored section, where dirty video chat isn’t allowed, or the unmonitored section. You’re going to want to swiftly head into that unmoderated section.

Unlike Chatroulette, Omegle will give you the opportunity to list things that are exciting to you, things that interest you, or keywords that help express what you’re looking for while on the site. This will inform the algorithm and help to pair you with someone you’ll enjoy chatting with.

Omegle is totally free and most people take advantage of the randomized video option; however, you can also go into “spy mode,” which means that your camera is off, but you can still chat with strangers. If anonymity is your thing, try Omegle with spy mode! Just don’t expect strangers to completely open up to you without that camera turned on!

Pros:

No registrationEasy way to meet hot strangersYou can plug in keywords for a more filtered random chat

Cons:

Not that modernA dime a dozen

Price: Free

16.  iSexyChat: Erotic free chat site with nudes exchange

iSexyChat is a really intuitive, welcoming, navigable chat site that gives you more control than many of the other websites we’ve covered. It’s free, anonymous, and completely dedicated to sexual chat between adults. Though it was started back in 2006, the site itself is very modernized, making going from page to page feel like a total breeze.

There are a lot of refreshing features on iSexyChat, but it doesn’t bog you down with unnecessary bells and whistles. We also appreciate that iSexyChat is transparent about the fact that it’s totally supported by ads. Something about mentioning that on the homepage makes the presence of ads way less annoying.

Ok, here’s what’s special about iSexyChat: The rooms are very pointed. Yes, there are your run-of-the-mill chat rooms like sex chat, video, gay, singles, live, and video. There are also neat rooms like Trade Skype/Kik?Etc. In a room like that, there’s no guessing as to what you’ll get. You are trading usernames for the purpose of sexting. There are also rooms titled Sex Modeling and Trade Pics.

Pros:

Unique chat roomsModern interfaceErotic-centric chat site

Cons:

Lots of ads, just be preparedSome rooms redirect to other sites

Price: Free

17.  LewdChat: Sext chat site

LewdChat is dubbed as an adult matching site, but it’s really an Internet Relay Chat platform that connects adults who want to sext. This free site allows for a seamless registration that will take you seconds. Once you confirm that you are over the age of 18, you will be brought to the chatting platform where you’ll be prompted to give your name, sex, age, and location.

LewdChat is pretty advanced in terms of the users it attracts. If you choose to enter the #Lewd room, you’ll be met with other online users on the gray message feature. While not all that complex, LewdChat doesn’t shy away from throwing you right into a chat room without any real explanation of what you’ll be met with. It’s essentially a sexting message forum filled with a handful of online members discussing sexual topics.

If you wish to head over to another channel, you can click the magnifying glass on the left-hand side. Then, click “Find More Channels” to be given the option to search for specific keywords. Those keywords will direct you to channels containing similar titles and you can explore from there.

Pros:

No hefty sign-up requiredLots of channels to choose fromTalkative members

Cons:

Small user baseLess than intuitive navigation capabilities

Price: $12.95

18.  FlirtLu: Video sex platform

FlirtLu is a video sex chatting platform that makes it easy to find women and men on camera who are willing to flirt with you. The site doesn’t require that you register at all; however, it will prompt you to register later by tempting you with free credits. These credits are what will allow you to have a private chat with anyone you meet on FlirtLu. Until then, you are welcome to watch the gorgeous people on FlirtLu in a group setting.

FlirtLu is not a random chat platform. It’s designed so adults can get their rocks off to beautiful people who are on their webcams. They are hoping you’ll want to pay for credits to enjoy private time with the people on the site, which you likely will. Your options for who to watch are laid out in the form of thumbnails, making it very easy to choose. You can easily move from room to room for free if you wish to look around.

When you click a thumbnail, you’ll launch into a model’s room and profile. There, you’ll find hot pictures and a livestream where you can join in on the chatting and sex conversation. The women on this site are absolutely beautiful, so there’s a good chance you’ll want to spend some money in order to spend some private online time with them.

Pros:

Beautiful usersVery erotic and sensualNo buffering on your computer or mobile device

Cons:

Need to pay for one-on-one actionFeels sort of cammy

Price: Free unless you decide to buy credits for private chat

Adult Chat Sites 101

How to have the best sex chat site experience:You’d think that chat rooms are pretty self-explanatory, but as you’ve read, these sites are all different with features that make them unique. In order to make the most of your adventures, you’ll want to be sure that you’ve found the absolute best adult chat site that fits your specific needs. Figure out if you want to find a website that introduces you to random strangers or one that allows you to learn about someone on a deeper level. Are you someone who gets off on one-on-ones, or would you prefer a group setting? These are questions you’ll want to ask yourself before landing on a site.

How we came up with this list:We’ve spent a fair amount of time on many websites and apps to determine which are the best. Essentially, the list came down to a handful of factors. We wanted to find the fastest, most effective, and most user-friendly sites that are either free or low cost. We looked at some reviews and reflected on our own time spent on each of the sites.

All the things you can do on sex chat sites:Believe it or not, sex chat sites serve many purposes. You can use them for sexting, video chatting, watching a livestream, broadcasting, sharing nudes, and meeting friends. People also love to get onto these sites when they’re going through a fit of boredom. There’s nothing more entertaining than meeting someone totally new on the Internet for some naughtiness. People also use these websites to link with folks they plan on meeting in the real world. If you go this route, make sure you do it safely.

Free adult chat sites vs. paid ones:Yes, there are plenty of free sex chat sites for you to enjoy. You’ve got nothing to lose by testing those sites out for yourself. Of course, the sites that want you to pay will offer a greater array of features and a bit more enjoyment. Most randomized chatting sites won’t make you spend a nickel, which is a nice touch. If that’s all you’re after, don’t bother paying anything. However, if you want something with a bit more excitement and frills, you might need to get your wallet out. Don’t worry though, these sites usually don’t cost that much and allow you to pay monthly. Usually it’s less than $1 per day, which is very manageable.

Are sex chat sites anonymous?All of the sites listed allow for anonymity. Discretion is important and the creators of these sites get that fully. But if you’re really worried about the outside world knowing your dirty little secrets, check out one of the sites that doesn’t require registration at all. They won’t ask for your e-mail, name, or anything else. These types of chat sites are also the quickest in terms of getting straight to the saucy stuff.

Safety tips:Make sure you’re speaking with an adult; some of the best chat sites aren’t fully adult. They include some PG-13-type rooms that attract a younger crowd. Tread carefully on this site. In other words, don’t pull out your junk on one of these non-18+ sites before figuring out who is on the other side of that webcam.

If you meet up, be careful. Most of these websites don’t cater to meeting up for a romp or a date. However, if you do decide that the person you’ve been hitting it off with online is worth a trip into the real world, make sure you meet in a public setting first.

Stay anonymous. All of these websites let you keep your identity a secret. When dealing with the combination of sex and the Internet, staying anonymous is the best way to stay safe!

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been one of the more active teams during the 2022 off-season. There were a lot of draft picks, trades, and signings made to try and help this team rebuild. One of the moves involved sending Kirby Dach to the Montreal Canadiens.

Since arriving in Montreal, it was clear that Dach had a lot to prove as the first few years of his career with Chicago had some ups and downs. However, they clearly have faith in him and showed it to him with his new contract that he signed officially on Wednesday.

The Canadiens announced Wednesday that they agreed with Dach on a four-year deal worth 13.45 million dollars. It will have a cap hit of 3.3625 million dollars. It could prove to be a lot of money for his production or it could prove to be a steal.

In his draft class, he went third behind Jack Hughes and Kappo Kakko. He is making significantly less money than Hughes but a bit more than Kakko. The Blackhawks didn’t use him right and that kept him from reaching his potential but he has a fresh change of pace ahead of him.

Kirby Dach has a good thing going now that he left the Chicago Blackhawks.

He will be surrounded by a lot of hungry young kids trying to win in Montreal. They just made the number one overall pick (Juraj Slafkovsky) back in the 2022 NHL Draft and have a bunch of other great young players trying to make their way. It is going to be fun to watch them ascend.

With Chicago, he scored 19 goals and had 40 assists for 59 points in 152 games played. It is okay production as you can see the talent but he has a long way to go before realizing his true potential. Montreal is paying him decent money to try and get him there.

With the camps just a couple of weeks away, he got this deal done just in time. Now, he has some stability with his new team and can focus on his game. He was a good player for Chicago that gave it his all but we know how messed up this organization has been over the last few years.

Dach deserved a better situation and now he has it. In return, we have to hope that the Blackhawks use the assets from the trade and develop them properly with their new regime in place. Hopefully, both the Hawks and Dach will be better because of this trade.

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Fast-forward past middle school to 2019, when Graham began hanging out with Pivot Gang, a west-side collective of independent Chicago rappers that includes Saba, Joseph Chilliams, MFn Melo, and Frsh Waters. Graham won a grant from the John Walt Foundation, named after Saba’s cousin, an early Pivot Gang member who was killed in 2017. The foundation awarded her $1,000 to further her creative career, and she put it toward refining what she wanted her sound to be and finding what worked. Her breathy, fast-paced flow and her Chicago accent brought fun to her music and caught listeners’ attention. 

“Chicago culture is different,” Graham says. “My experience being from Chicago is what makes me an artist. . . . We say shit like ‘G’ and ‘on bro,’ and I can put that in my songs.” The influence of the city is in her blood. 

Still, despite the new influx of high-profile women in hip-hop, Graham faced obstacles as she worked to discover her identity as NaomiG—especially from peers skeptical of her seriousness. “I hate when people be like, ‘Oh, you do music for real?’ after I show them my music,” she says. “I do this because I studied this . . . the same way [people] go to school to be a lawyer or doctor . . . I studied this shit.”

When people make Graham prove herself to them, it always annoys her, but she knows it’s part of being a woman in hip-hop.

Graham’s writing process involves creating a structure for each new song—she’ll include an intro, pre-hook, hook, verses, and other parts. She says she’s a perfectionist because she’s a Virgo. 

She pulls out her laptop and plays a beat to freestyle to: “Lead it to my next eye, gotta make it better for the holidays / Take a trip to Bali, we could party and all festive ways.” Graham nods to the beat, and she responds to different parts of the instrumental track—she knows just where to give listeners ear candy and a catchy hook. She explains how she thought on her feet and let the words flow first, so the rap wouldn’t feel technical. She’s aware of her ability to make catchy music, and she emphasizes certain foundational aspects of songwriting: repetition of letters, wordplay, metaphors. 

“I’m not trying to sound like anybody else,” says NaomiG, “but I know who to take inspiration from.” Credit: Courtesy the artist

Artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nicki Minaj have paved the way for female rappers, so there’s more room for them to experiment with rapping and singing without being put in a box. But this is still a pretty new development, considering the long history of the genre.

“I think this industry hasn’t always favored people who are multi-talented, multi-hyphenates, especially Black women,” says Gabby Bulgarelli, senior producer on NPR podcast Louder Than a Riot, which describes itself as exposing the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. “I feel like [with] Black femmes in hip-hop, it’s a very stay-in-your-lane mentality.” 

When Graham was 12, she started out singing R&B. She transitioned into rapping in 2019, at which point she realized that people who’d originally known her as a singer might subconsciously consider her less than a “real” rapper. “You just got to prove people wrong,” she says. “You just got to show them that you can do it and do it correctly.”

As Graham stepped into the Chicago music scene that year, her combination of singing and rapping immediately attracted comparisons to Doja Cat. She realized that Doja had helped make that sound an accepted standard, and she knew that its increasing prevalence in hip-hop and social-media marketing confronted artists with a challenge: to balance authenticity against the need to appeal to Gen Z on platforms such as TikTok. 

NaomiG performs for the Music Garage’s live in-studio series earlier this summer.

Virality now plays a significant role in how artists gain traction with their music. According to TikTok, users often have “heard it on TikTok” moments during their day-to-day lives. According to a report published by TikTok in 2021, 72 percent of TikTokers say that they associate certain songs with the platform.

“Virality [is] a huge income stream for artists, especially Black women who get fucked over by record deals by the predatory loan system that is the music industry,” Bulgarelli says. “Having a viral dance or viral social-media [presence] building an online fan base—who will buy tickets, merch, and come to shows—is a lane that a lot of artists, regardless of genre, are turning to.” 

Graham still worries about the business side of her career, whether it’s distribution, marketing, or finding her brand as an artist. For now she’s a one-woman show, but she hopes to put together a team—a manager, a booker, et cetera—so she can focus on her music. 

It’s stressful for Graham to feel like she has to promote herself by creating content and challenges on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. She doesn’t have a passion for it, but she understands that it’s how to play the game if you want to get the music out. “I could care less about the business and marketing,” she says. “Having to come up with [multiple] pieces of content just to promote one single . . . that shit is a lot.”

Angelica George, a documentarian and creator of the series The Sound of Milwaukee, thinks artists should avoid leaning too much on social media when promoting their music. “Media rollouts or rollouts for albums are not the same anymore,” she says. “The [social media] challenges [should happen] naturally.”

For Graham, the stakes are especially high surrounding the launch of NoSpace Pt. A, because it’s her official introduction to the city as an MC. “[The project] represents authenticity,” she says. “This is me tapping into all my frequencies that I can give to the world.”

Graham’s 2021 R&B project, Late or Early, focused on emotionally intense stories, but this rap tape is about fun. “All the people supporting me are seeing my transition in real time,” she says. On her Instagram earlier this month, she posted: “My upcoming project ‘NoSpace’ is about embracing my identity and brand through my OWN interpretation of Hiphop.”

NaomiG released a video for her R&B song “Late or Early” in December 2021.

While making NoSpace, Graham gave herself grace—she’d previously struggled to accept her voice and tone, but now she’s fallen in love with them. “I’m like, [my voice is] my superpower, [and] it didn’t take long for me to realize that,” she says. 

Graham’s writing process has evolved too, allowing her to pinpoint what kind of energy she wants to release with the wordplay and lyrics in each song. On “Down South,” she says, “I definitely gave bars.” In its second verse, she raps, “I be heavy on the move, heavy pushin’ 200 / Yeah, thick thighs, baby, heavy on some food.”

“If I’m gonna talk about my weight, I’m gonna come back and be like, ‘I’m OK with that shit,’” she says. With the release of NoSpace Pt. A, Graham is taking the space to brag on herself and prove that the work she’s put into the craft of rapping has paid off. Next, she hopes to manifest features on her tracks from her favorite Chicago artists—including Jean Deaux, Saba, and the rest of Pivot Gang—as well as bigger shows and recognition from her community. She wants people to know what she knows: that NaomiG is an artist here to stay.

Read More

“Art can be a powerful ‘leveler’ of difference,” says Nicole Dreiske, founder of the WorldScene Film Residency, a program designed to provide detainees at Cook County Jail with a voice to share their experiences and confront the damaging stereotypes perpetuated by popular media. This week, the WorldScene Film Residency culminates in a film festival curated to illuminate the struggles of young men entangled in the justice system, giving the detainees a voice to share their experiences with their community. 

The WorldScene Film Festival was developed by the International Children’s Media Center (ICMC) and Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort (S.A.V.E.) at Cook County Jail to promote empathy toward detainees and help improve rehabilitation efforts for the court-involved young men. The festival is curated by inmates ages 18 to 25. This year, WorldScene’s participants created the Through My Eyesprogram to encourage audiences to not discredit young men trapped in the justice system’s cyclical patterns.

The film festival features six award-winning films from four countries, including Academy Award-nominated short Feeling Through. The participants spent six months watching, discussing, and selecting the films chosen for the festival, highlighting the topics and emotional experiences that influenced them during the program. 

During the residency, the participants produced their own short film, More Than a Uniform, which will premiere to the public this weekend. More Than a Uniform engages with themes of empowerment, judicial obstacles, and diversity, intending to further destigmatize incarceration and separate the individual from the dangerous stereotypes. 

“We want our guests to see the men on camera and think, ‘Hey, this guy sounds like my son, or my neighbor, or my grandson,’” Dreiske says. “Just seeing the human potential of individuals in custody would be a win-win for our society. Countries with correctional systems focused on rehabilitation, not just retribution, have far, far lower rates of recidivism than the U.S.  

“WorldScene wants to be part of that movement here,” she continues. “We want to ignite the idea that individuals in custody deserve a pathway to meaningful and productive lives that will bring real value to our communities.”

WorldScene Film FestivalFinal screening September 10; opening reception at 6 PM, festival at 7 PM, virtual Q&A session with directors immediately following; ICMC headquarters, 625 N. Kingsbury; free, with a $10 suggested donation

Before the festival, the Cook County detainees participated in the 16-week WorldScene Film Residency. The residency included a two-day filmmaking workshop, professional development classes, daily film viewings, and discussions. By encouraging the detainees to engage in difficult conversations, the residency intends to help foster a productive dialogue that will improve reentry and reduce recidivism later on. 

Young adults, ages 18-24, represent 9.5 percent of the United States population, but account for 23 percent of all arrests, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This program seeks to reduce these numbers by providing young people with better tools for conflict resolution, anger management, self-reflection, and personal agency. So far, WorldScene’s impact has reached over 300 detainees in the Cook County Jail system and 220 “at-risk” youth.

“WorldScene was created to support marginalized youth and young adults who are homeless, abused, and often justice-involved,” Dreiske says. “These young people face challenges and traumas which are hard to discuss, including media filled with damaging racial, gender, and other stereotypes. WorldScene provides a safe, intentional space where films become springboards for youth to engage in honest, peer-to-peer discussions about many ‘hot button’ topics and about themselves. As far as we know, no one has used film in this way or in these kinds of venues before.”

WorldScene’s first Through My Eyes showing opened for detainees in the Division 11 Chapel at Cook County Jail on Wednesday, August 31. On Saturday, September 10, the film festival will host its second showing for the general public at the ICMC headquarters (625 N. Kingsbury). The encore event will begin with an opening reception at 6 PM before the film screenings at 7 PM.

Participants in the WorldScene Film Residency are granted Certificates of Achievement with the ICMC phone number and email. Once released, the men can mark the ICMC as a reference to better reenter the job market. Some participants return to the program as facilitators as well. 

“We’d love to see WorldScene brought to scale across the country because it’s so much more than a festival,” Dreiske says. “If the broader filmmaking community embraces WorldScene, there could be real filmmaking programs, mentoring, and even boundary-breaking films from directors who never imagined they could become professional filmmakers.”

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“Art can be a powerful ‘leveler’ of difference,” says Nicole Dreiske, founder of the WorldScene Film Residency, a program designed to provide detainees at Cook County Jail with a voice to share their experiences and confront the damaging stereotypes perpetuated by popular media. This week, the WorldScene Film Residency culminates in a film festival curated to illuminate the struggles of young men entangled in the justice system, giving the detainees a voice to share their experiences with their community. 

The WorldScene Film Festival was developed by the International Children’s Media Center (ICMC) and Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort (S.A.V.E.) at Cook County Jail to promote empathy toward detainees and help improve rehabilitation efforts for the court-involved young men. The festival is curated by inmates ages 18 to 25. This year, WorldScene’s participants created the Through My Eyesprogram to encourage audiences to not discredit young men trapped in the justice system’s cyclical patterns.

The film festival features six award-winning films from four countries, including Academy Award-nominated short Feeling Through. The participants spent six months watching, discussing, and selecting the films chosen for the festival, highlighting the topics and emotional experiences that influenced them during the program. 

During the residency, the participants produced their own short film, More Than a Uniform, which will premiere to the public this weekend. More Than a Uniform engages with themes of empowerment, judicial obstacles, and diversity, intending to further destigmatize incarceration and separate the individual from the dangerous stereotypes. 

“We want our guests to see the men on camera and think, ‘Hey, this guy sounds like my son, or my neighbor, or my grandson,’” Dreiske says. “Just seeing the human potential of individuals in custody would be a win-win for our society. Countries with correctional systems focused on rehabilitation, not just retribution, have far, far lower rates of recidivism than the U.S.  

“WorldScene wants to be part of that movement here,” she continues. “We want to ignite the idea that individuals in custody deserve a pathway to meaningful and productive lives that will bring real value to our communities.”

WorldScene Film FestivalFinal screening September 10; opening reception at 6 PM, festival at 7 PM, virtual Q&A session with directors immediately following; ICMC headquarters, 625 N. Kingsbury; free, with a $10 suggested donation

Before the festival, the Cook County detainees participated in the 16-week WorldScene Film Residency. The residency included a two-day filmmaking workshop, professional development classes, daily film viewings, and discussions. By encouraging the detainees to engage in difficult conversations, the residency intends to help foster a productive dialogue that will improve reentry and reduce recidivism later on. 

Young adults, ages 18-24, represent 9.5 percent of the United States population, but account for 23 percent of all arrests, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This program seeks to reduce these numbers by providing young people with better tools for conflict resolution, anger management, self-reflection, and personal agency. So far, WorldScene’s impact has reached over 300 detainees in the Cook County Jail system and 220 “at-risk” youth.

“WorldScene was created to support marginalized youth and young adults who are homeless, abused, and often justice-involved,” Dreiske says. “These young people face challenges and traumas which are hard to discuss, including media filled with damaging racial, gender, and other stereotypes. WorldScene provides a safe, intentional space where films become springboards for youth to engage in honest, peer-to-peer discussions about many ‘hot button’ topics and about themselves. As far as we know, no one has used film in this way or in these kinds of venues before.”

WorldScene’s first Through My Eyes showing opened for detainees in the Division 11 Chapel at Cook County Jail on Wednesday, August 31. On Saturday, September 10, the film festival will host its second showing for the general public at the ICMC headquarters (625 N. Kingsbury). The encore event will begin with an opening reception at 6 PM before the film screenings at 7 PM.

Participants in the WorldScene Film Residency are granted Certificates of Achievement with the ICMC phone number and email. Once released, the men can mark the ICMC as a reference to better reenter the job market. Some participants return to the program as facilitators as well. 

“We’d love to see WorldScene brought to scale across the country because it’s so much more than a festival,” Dreiske says. “If the broader filmmaking community embraces WorldScene, there could be real filmmaking programs, mentoring, and even boundary-breaking films from directors who never imagined they could become professional filmmakers.”

Read More

Fast-forward past middle school to 2019, when Graham began hanging out with Pivot Gang, a west-side collective of independent Chicago rappers that includes Saba, Joseph Chilliams, MFn Melo, and Frsh Waters. Graham won a grant from the John Walt Foundation, named after Saba’s cousin, an early Pivot Gang member who was killed in 2017. The foundation awarded her $1,000 to further her creative career, and she put it toward refining what she wanted her sound to be and finding what worked. Her breathy, fast-paced flow and her Chicago accent brought fun to her music and caught listeners’ attention. 

“Chicago culture is different,” Graham says. “My experience being from Chicago is what makes me an artist. . . . We say shit like ‘G’ and ‘on bro,’ and I can put that in my songs.” The influence of the city is in her blood. 

Still, despite the new influx of high-profile women in hip-hop, Graham faced obstacles as she worked to discover her identity as NaomiG—especially from peers skeptical of her seriousness. “I hate when people be like, ‘Oh, you do music for real?’ after I show them my music,” she says. “I do this because I studied this . . . the same way [people] go to school to be a lawyer or doctor . . . I studied this shit.”

When people make Graham prove herself to them, it always annoys her, but she knows it’s part of being a woman in hip-hop.

Graham’s writing process involves creating a structure for each new song—she’ll include an intro, pre-hook, hook, verses, and other parts. She says she’s a perfectionist because she’s a Virgo. 

She pulls out her laptop and plays a beat to freestyle to: “Lead it to my next eye, gotta make it better for the holidays / Take a trip to Bali, we could party and all festive ways.” Graham nods to the beat, and she responds to different parts of the instrumental track—she knows just where to give listeners ear candy and a catchy hook. She explains how she thought on her feet and let the words flow first, so the rap wouldn’t feel technical. She’s aware of her ability to make catchy music, and she emphasizes certain foundational aspects of songwriting: repetition of letters, wordplay, metaphors. 

“I’m not trying to sound like anybody else,” says NaomiG, “but I know who to take inspiration from.” Credit: Courtesy the artist

Artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nicki Minaj have paved the way for female rappers, so there’s more room for them to experiment with rapping and singing without being put in a box. But this is still a pretty new development, considering the long history of the genre.

“I think this industry hasn’t always favored people who are multi-talented, multi-hyphenates, especially Black women,” says Gabby Bulgarelli, senior producer on NPR podcast Louder Than a Riot, which describes itself as exposing the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. “I feel like [with] Black femmes in hip-hop, it’s a very stay-in-your-lane mentality.” 

When Graham was 12, she started out singing R&B. She transitioned into rapping in 2019, at which point she realized that people who’d originally known her as a singer might subconsciously consider her less than a “real” rapper. “You just got to prove people wrong,” she says. “You just got to show them that you can do it and do it correctly.”

As Graham stepped into the Chicago music scene that year, her combination of singing and rapping immediately attracted comparisons to Doja Cat. She realized that Doja had helped make that sound an accepted standard, and she knew that its increasing prevalence in hip-hop and social-media marketing confronted artists with a challenge: to balance authenticity against the need to appeal to Gen Z on platforms such as TikTok. 

NaomiG performs for the Music Garage’s live in-studio series earlier this summer.

Virality now plays a significant role in how artists gain traction with their music. According to TikTok, users often have “heard it on TikTok” moments during their day-to-day lives. According to a report published by TikTok in 2021, 72 percent of TikTokers say that they associate certain songs with the platform.

“Virality [is] a huge income stream for artists, especially Black women who get fucked over by record deals by the predatory loan system that is the music industry,” Bulgarelli says. “Having a viral dance or viral social-media [presence] building an online fan base—who will buy tickets, merch, and come to shows—is a lane that a lot of artists, regardless of genre, are turning to.” 

Graham still worries about the business side of her career, whether it’s distribution, marketing, or finding her brand as an artist. For now she’s a one-woman show, but she hopes to put together a team—a manager, a booker, et cetera—so she can focus on her music. 

It’s stressful for Graham to feel like she has to promote herself by creating content and challenges on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. She doesn’t have a passion for it, but she understands that it’s how to play the game if you want to get the music out. “I could care less about the business and marketing,” she says. “Having to come up with [multiple] pieces of content just to promote one single . . . that shit is a lot.”

Angelica George, a documentarian and creator of the series The Sound of Milwaukee, thinks artists should avoid leaning too much on social media when promoting their music. “Media rollouts or rollouts for albums are not the same anymore,” she says. “The [social media] challenges [should happen] naturally.”

For Graham, the stakes are especially high surrounding the launch of NoSpace Pt. A, because it’s her official introduction to the city as an MC. “[The project] represents authenticity,” she says. “This is me tapping into all my frequencies that I can give to the world.”

Graham’s 2021 R&B project, Late or Early, focused on emotionally intense stories, but this rap tape is about fun. “All the people supporting me are seeing my transition in real time,” she says. On her Instagram earlier this month, she posted: “My upcoming project ‘NoSpace’ is about embracing my identity and brand through my OWN interpretation of Hiphop.”

NaomiG released a video for her R&B song “Late or Early” in December 2021.

While making NoSpace, Graham gave herself grace—she’d previously struggled to accept her voice and tone, but now she’s fallen in love with them. “I’m like, [my voice is] my superpower, [and] it didn’t take long for me to realize that,” she says. 

Graham’s writing process has evolved too, allowing her to pinpoint what kind of energy she wants to release with the wordplay and lyrics in each song. On “Down South,” she says, “I definitely gave bars.” In its second verse, she raps, “I be heavy on the move, heavy pushin’ 200 / Yeah, thick thighs, baby, heavy on some food.”

“If I’m gonna talk about my weight, I’m gonna come back and be like, ‘I’m OK with that shit,’” she says. With the release of NoSpace Pt. A, Graham is taking the space to brag on herself and prove that the work she’s put into the craft of rapping has paid off. Next, she hopes to manifest features on her tracks from her favorite Chicago artists—including Jean Deaux, Saba, and the rest of Pivot Gang—as well as bigger shows and recognition from her community. She wants people to know what she knows: that NaomiG is an artist here to stay.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Not a soul is giving the Chicago Bears a shot to win a Super Bowl this season, let alone sniff a playoff berth.

Now, anyone who would try to argue for either of the latter might actually be out of their mind. This is not a “The Chicago Bears are going to the Super Bowl” narrative — far from it, in fact.

The 2022 season is, instead, going to be about looking for positives amongst what most might call a train wreck — and that’s okay. This season was never going to be a winning campaign. For those who understand the grand scheme of things, this year is all about watching Justin Fields develop further, in a system that fits him well, and trying to figure out which other players can stick around for the long haul.

But, are the Bears really going to be the worst team in the NFL, like some national reporters believe?

Sure, they might finish in the bottom 10 of the league. But, are they going to be that low on the totem pole? Some certainly think so.

In Pete Prisco’s latest NFL Power Rankings, leading into Week 1, the Chicago Bears and their fan base were obliterated.

Prisco’s power rankings have the Bears at no. 30 to start the 2022 campaign, just ahead of the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons. While that might seem justified, one could argue that there are a few worse teams than Chicago.

Quite frankly, the bottom 10 of those rankings might all end up in the bottom 10 but just in some other order. It’s going to be tough to predict.

There is a path for the Bears to finish with eight or nine wins this year, but there’s also a path towards somewhere along the lines of five or six. However, in order to finish the year at no. 30, the Bears would have to muster only two or three wins, and maybe four.

If Fields takes a big step forward in his development, and the defense can hold their own while being a top-15 or even top-18 unit overall, Chicago will be much higher than 30 come the end of the year.

For now, fans will simply have to deal with more national narratives and being completely thrown by the wayside.

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The Chicago Cubs are so far out of the playoff race but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things to watch for. It is exciting to see them try new things with different players as they see what they have in certain people. We saw a little bit of that on Tuesday night.

Now, it was against the Cincinnati Reds who are one of the few teams worse than them in the standings. It is still a Major League Baseball team though so there needs to be respect given.

For one, the Cubs announced a few big roster moves ahead of the game. One of them included the activation of Wade Miley and another had to do with the call-up of Hayden Wesneski. Both of these pitchers had a significant impact on Tuesday’s game.

Of course, Miley is a veteran pitcher that has been injured for a while now but it is good to see him back. He went 4.0 innings with only two hits (and two walks) allowed. Three runs were scored but just two of them were earned. He also had six strikeouts in his effort.

The Chicago Cubs saw Hayden Wesneski go out there and dominate on Tuesday.

It wasn’t a bad return for Miley at all but Wesneski stole the show. He is a prospect that the Cubs acquired in the Scott Effross trade with the New York Yankees. He projects to be a mid-tier starter but he showed that some of his stuff could play as a high-end starter in this one.

Wesneski figured to be in a long relief role but he ended up going a full 5.0 innings and finished the game after Miley went for 4.0. It was as impressive of a performance as you could ask for a guy making his Major League debut.

He went those aforementioned 5.0 innings and allowed no runs on two hits and a walk. He had a remarkable eight strikeouts in the effort as well. He was truly sensational to begin his MLB career and should be incredibly proud.

You might not be able to expect five innings out of him every time but he could continue in this role of being a long reliever with a spot start or two (if there is a doubleheader or a makeup game). This was a smart move by the Cubs as he can now continue to grow his game at the highest level.

Sometimes these trade deadline acquisitions turn out to be something. He has a high ceiling and a relatively high floor so this is exciting for the Cubs. The offense scored nine total runs so he was also credited with his first career Major League win. You haven’t seen the last of him this season.

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