Top pitching prospect Cade Horton will be considered for the opening in the rotation, though the Cubs have not made any decisions on what route they might take. They won’t need a pitcher for Imanaga’s turn until Saturday at the earliest, though that could be modified to a later date due to off days the next two Thursdays.

Right-hander Chris Flexen, currently in the bullpen, will also be in the conversation to start. He remains stretched out enough as the Cubs’ long reliever. But nobody in the Cubs’ system who could be in the mix has as much upside as Horton, the No. 7 pick in the 2022 MLB draft.

“He’s continuing to get better from start to start, and he’s been consistently good down there,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of Horton’s Triple-A Iowa performance. “He’s built off a good spring training, but his last couple starts were better than the first couple starts down there. He’s been going six innings and throwing well, so he’s done his part in Triple A certainly, throwing the ball well.”

A Grade 2 subscapularis strain in his right shoulder limited Horton to 34 1/3 innings in 2024, and the right-hander didn’t pitch after May 29. He’s almost eclipsed that mark this year, sitting at 29 innings through six starts with Iowa.

Among the areas the Cubs wanted Horton to focus on this year was the consistency of throwing competitive pitches. Hoyer said they have seen progress in that area.

“Throwing non-competitive pitches in the big leagues puts you in bad counts pretty quickly, counts that you can probably pitch out of in Triple A easier than you can in the big leagues,” Hoyer said. “So this consistency of your pitches — not throwing one good, one bad — but making sure you’re consistent and therefore, like I said, avoiding free pitches.”

As the Cubs weigh what path they want to take to fill Imanaga’s innings, the organization must decide whether Horton’s continued development at Triple A is more valuable than bringing him up sooner rather than later to see how his stuff plays against better hitters. He’s thrown at least 76 pitches in his last four outings, the last two getting through six innings, but he hasn’t hit the 80-pitch mark yet this year.

Hoyer stated there isn’t hesitancy relating to Horton himself, rather the Cubs are making sure it’s the right time to bring up Horton.

“It’s easier to work on things in the minors and he didn’t pitch a lot last year,” Hoyer said. “I think if he had pitched all last season he may well have debuted by now. But if he had debuted, we’d have a better sense of what he is, whereas because he missed a lot of time last year that it’s been good to give him a foundation in Iowa.”

How much longer left-hander Shota Imanaga will remain sidelined is not yet known. Imanaga went on the 15-day injured list Monday with a left hamstring strain. Right-hander Gavin Hollowell was recalled from Triple-A Iowa.

The 31-year-old was scheduled to meet with head team physician Dr. Stephen Gryzlo on Monday night to review the MRI results, at which point Imanaga and the Cubs will have a better idea of the severity of his hamstring injury.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer didn’t want to speculate on a potential timeline for Imanaga’s return, though he conceded that hamstring strains are usually more than a two-week injury, “but after that it’s a pretty wide disparity.” Another wrinkle to the situation: Imanaga said Sunday he has never dealt with a lower-body injury, so he won’t have a frame of reference for a return, which could make it a challenge when gauging the recovery process.

“I mean, no one’s going to be Shota, but we have to have guys step up,” Hoyer said. “Our depth is getting challenged a little bit, but I think we still have pretty good depth and options.

“The most important thing with that kind of injury is to get him back and healthy for the remainder of the season. You talk about returning to play versus returning to your previous form, and that’s the most important thing, and it may take some time to get there.”

Top pitching prospect Cade Horton, who is at Triple A, and right-hander Chris Flexen, currently in the bullpen, are both options to take over Imanaga’s rotation spot, a turn that could come as soon as Saturday against the New York Mets at Citi Field. With upcoming off days on the next two Thursdays, the Cubs have some flexibility with how they can utilize their pitching staff.

Horton, 23, has impressed through six starts with Triple-A Iowa, where he has logged 29 innings with a 1.24 ERA.

Imanaga pulled up after attempting to cover first base in the sixth inning of Sunday’s loss in Milwaukee. He came out of the game following the sequence. Imanaga also exited his April 29 start in Pittsburgh one batter into the sixth because of cramping in both legs.

It’s another blow to the Cubs’ rotation with left-hander Justin Steele already out for the season following surgery on his elbow. Right-hander Colin Rea has admirably filled in since replacing Steele in the rotation, posting a 1.86 ERA over 19 1/3 innings in four starts.

In eight starts this year, Imanaga owns a 2.82 ERA in 44 2/3 innings.

The performances from right-hander Jameson Taillon and left-hander Matthew Boyd have helped the Cubs’ rotation rank second in the National League and fifth in the majors in ERA (3.44) entering Monday, while the group’s 188 1/3 innings are 10th.

Hoyer and the Cubs didn’t need a reminder of the value of pitching depth, though the injuries to Steele and Imanaga within the first five weeks of the season certainly reinforce that importance and value of having options. Although there are regular conversations with other teams, Hoyer doesn’t expect a significant trade to materialize this early in the season.

“You just sort of expect you’re going to need all your depth, and I think that when you have moments of relative health, realizing that can be fleeting and things happen,” Hoyer said. “It’s a major-league season, it’s play every day, and we’re going to have injuries. All those guys are going to be pushed.

“You can never stop trying to push guys to optimize because you’re going to need a lot of guys to get through a major-league season.”

But what exactly does that mean?

When I asked Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell before Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, he wasn’t sure himself.

“What are we supposed to tell Pete to stop doing?” he replied. “I don’t know either.”

One Marquee Sports Network personality interjected by saying Crow-Armstrong ticked off other teams with his celebrations. But there’s no real evidence that anyone has objected to his display of emotions.

“I just don’t think he’s done anything I would describe as ‘showy,'” Counsell said. “There are things you can do (that are showboating), but I don’t think he’s done anything of that nature.”

Crow-Armstrong was quiet on Sunday as the Cubs offense was shut down by Freddy Peralta and three Brewers relievers. The bigger concern was the possible loss of starter Shota Imanaga, who carried a shutout into the sixth inning before being removed with a left hamstring strain injury while covering first base on a play.

Imanaga will get an MRI on Monday before the Cubs decide whether to put him on the injured list.

The Cubs finished the road trip with a 4-2 record and series wins in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

“Today obviously we’d have rather put up more runs than none and win the game,” Kyle Tucker said. “But we can’t complain too much. We won the series and you’ve got to take the good with the bad and move forward to the next series.”

Tucker incurred right hip pain during a ninth inning slide but insisted he’d be fine for Monday’s game at Wrigley Field against the San Francisco Giants.

Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-3 Sunday after hitting three home runs in the two Cubs wins. He entered the game tied for second in the majors with a 2.2 fWAR, and from April 13 through Saturday had more home runs (9), RBI (21) and extra-base hits (16) than any other player.

It was one year ago this month that Crow-Armstrong was demoted to Triple-A Iowa after hitting .236 with one home run and 9 RBI in his first 23 games of 2024. He was quickly brought back up, and the Cubs decided to let him learn at the major-league level.

What a difference a year makes.

Crow-Armstrong credited Counsell for allowing him to stay true to himself.

“From the jump that’s been (Counsell’s) m.o. for me,” the 23-year-old said. “He’s never wanted me to do anything but be myself, and he’s given me a chance to see how I fit in with this team over the last couple years. We all talked about it a lot last year where I had a lot of opportunities to fail and they gave me some good time to find my footing.”

Counsell likes to point out that baseball is entertainment. He often likens it to a reality TV show, where some players are bigger characters than others, and he considers himself a flop as an entertainer. If that’s the case, if the Cubs were like “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” of the baseball world, Crow-Armstrong would be one of the housewives with top billing, on which everyone has an opinion.

“It’s cool that he’s got a pretty big personality and he hasn’t lost that at all,” starter Jameson Taillon said. “Sometimes in the big leagues (that’s discouraged). It’s a testament to everyone in the Cubs organization for letting him shine bright. Sometimes with young guys, people want to tell them to stay quiet. I feel like we’ve done a good job of being like, ‘Nah, go be yourself. Go be a dude, be a star.’ And I think that helps.”

The Cubs open a three-game series Monday against the Giants, another National League West team off to a strong start after the Cubs finished an opening-month gauntlet that included an 11-9 record against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Following an off day Thursday, the Cubs travel to New York to begin a three-game weekend series against the Mets, another elite team and the organization where Crow-Armstrong started his career before being dealt to the Cubs in 2021 in the Javier Báez deal.

Crow-Armstrong recalled the time as a Mets prospect when he overslept on a day he was scheduled for a COVID-19 test and was called on the carpet by farm director Jared Banner, who is now an assistant general manager under Cubs GM Carter Hawkins.

“That was the best blessing in disguise because we obviously talked about it,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We got to know each other from the jump. Everybody, all the way back to the Mets, I’ve felt pretty free, but especially here. The people have given me the green light to go be myself without question. I’m grateful for that because it’s probably a different story if I am being held back.”

The Cubs have had players over the years who’ve crossed the line and done or said things that weren’t in the best interests of the team. Former pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who became a preacher after retirement, was constantly under the microscope for letting his emotions get the best of him.

Counsell said if he saw Crow-Armstrong do something that “didn’t make sense for the team” he would say something, as he’s done in the past with players he’s managed.

“But I haven’t seen anything like that,” he said.

The Cubs have a veteran-infused clubhouse, and Crow-Armstrong’s teammates also would say something if needed.

“There are times when we all need to be reigned in a little here and there, and if somebody can point something out, and we all keep each other humble,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “This team loves to talk trash to one another. All the ways we hold each other accountable is a way to keep everyone in line, but also comfortable in their own skin.”

Few players are as comfortable in their own skin as PCA, and his sudden emergence in ’25 has the rest of baseball talking.

“Not even close to (making a decision on Imanaga) yet,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said afterward.

Imanaga will receive an MRI on his left leg Monday, Counsell said, after the left-hander felt something while covering first base on a potential double-play grounder in the sixth inning.

Imanaga said afterward through his interpreter: “I’m at the point where I don’t know what exactly is going on, don’t know what the damage is.”

He was removed from the game with two outs in the sixth in a scoreless tie, and things quickly caved in after he left. Julian Merryweather’s first delivery was a wild pitch, allowing a run to score. A two-run double by Daz Cameron and a run-scoring single by Lake Forest’s Caleb Durbin gave the Brewers a 4-0 lead, and the Cubs offense was muted Sunday, limited to five hits by Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta and the bullpen.

Imanaga’s injury follows a start Tuesday in Pittsburgh in which he left in the sixth inning with leg cramps in both legs. He said he felt good Sunday before the injury, and “there was no sign in the back of my leg” before the start.

“It’s the front of the thigh, that’s different from Pittsburgh,” he said. “I’m walking naturally, so this is the first time it’s ever happened, so I can’t really tell how bad it is.”

In the ninth, the Cubs had another scare when Kyle Tucker slid into second after a stolen base and lay on the ground for a few anxious moments. Counsell said Tucker felt something in his right hip. But Tucker remained in the game and both downplayed it afterward.

“We’ll check on him tomorrow, but pretty optimistic,” Counsell said.

Tucker called it an “awkward, hard slide” and said he had some treatment after the game, but did not elaborate.

“It’s all good,” he said. “I’ll play (Monday). I’ll be fine.”

Tucker has played in all 35 games and helped the Cubs lineup become one of the most lethal in baseball. He’s a free agent after the season and well on his way to a megadeal from some team, perhaps even the Cubs if Chairman Tom Ricketts changes his philosophy on awarding long-term, nine-figure deals that typically go to the game’s elite stars.

The Cubs obviously need to be cautious with Tucker, even though he didn’t sound like the slide would affect his playing time. The offense could survive without him for a few days.

The pitching situation is an entirely different matter if Imanaga goes on the injured list, as seems likely. The Cubs have already lost Justin Steele to season-ending left elbow surgery and replaced him in the rotation with Colin Rea.

Reliever Chris Flexen has starting experience and pitched three innings in Friday’s 10-0 win, so he could be stretched out enough if the Cubs decide to promote from within. Jordan Wicks, who was recently demoted to Iowa, is also on the 40-man roster and could slide into the rotation again.

Even if Imanaga goes on the IL, the Cubs could hold off on making a rotation decision. Jameson Taillon pitched Saturday in Milwaukee and, thanks to an off day, could start on Friday in New York against the Mets on his usual rest.

But Horton is the one Cubs fans have been salivating over. He has a 1.24 ERA in six starts for Triple-A Iowa and threw six innings Sunday, allowing one run on two hits. Horton told the Des Moines Register he’s not paying attention to the hoopla surrounding his hot start and the possibility of him joining the Cubs at some point.

“It’s just a matter of getting ready and going out there each and every day like I’m a big leaguer and pitching like it,” Horton said.

The Cubs don’t want to rush Horton, who missed time in 2024 with a shoulder injury. But sooner or later, he’ll be pitching for the Cubs, and it’s just a matter of when the Cubs believe he’s ready.

As Counsell told it, the family was having a nice dinner when the brother-in-law told them to hurry up and get ready to leave.

“They’re like, ‘Why do we have to go?'” Counsell said the family asked.

His brother-in-law quickly responded: “I want to see Craig get booed.”

Counsell said the family made it to the ballpark on time, and his brother-in-law, whom he identified only as Todd, got his wish. Afterward, someone in the family showed Counsell a video of Todd the brother-in-law joining the thousands of Brewers fans in booing the Cubs manager.

You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives.

As it turned out, Counsell had the last laugh, watching the Cubs score nine runs in the first two innings of a 10-0 rout of his former team to grab the opener of the first series between the defending National League Central champions and the current leaders.

The Cubs took Game 2 of the series Saturday, riding three home runs to a 6-2 victory. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking three-run blast in the fourth — his third in two nights — and Dansby Swanson and Kyle Tucker added solo shots to give Jameson Taillon his second win.

Even the players are getting into the act when it comes to Counsell-baiting.

“Couns getting booed every time he comes in, I kind of love it,” Crow-Armstrong said afterward. “I’m over here booing him in the dugout too. We’re so glad we have him. It’s definitely a fun, rowdy environment when we come to play Milwaukee.”

Crow-Armstrong’s three-run shot off Jose Quintana kick-started the offense, which continues to dominate opposing pitching. He was behind 1-2 against Quintana before taking a couple of outside pitches and cranking an 89-mph four-seam fastball to right.

“That was one of my more professional at-bats,” he said, adding that reliever Daniel Palencia asked him when he would hit one so he could win a home-run-guessing contest in the bullpen.

“The pitchers drop their hats for home run calls, and Danny was smart and came over and asked what at-bat I was going to hit a home run, and I said the second at-bat,” Armstrong said. “Danny was freaking out for good reason over there.”

Crow-Armstrong has nine home runs, tied with Seiya Suzuki and Tucker for the team lead, but still doesn’t consider himself a home run hitter.

“I don’t know who I am as an offensive player yet,” he said.

The rest of the league is finding out, and it has been a fun thing to watch. Counsell said the ball is “exploding off his bat” and changing perceptions of the second-year center fielder.

“This is star-level production, no doubt about it,” he said. “It’s been the power lately, but great players can affect the game in a lot of ways, and Pete has that ability. Some days it’s the defense, some days it’s the baserunning. He’s in a good place now for sure.”

A lot has changed after the first month of Counsell’s second season as Cubs manager. They’re one of the top-hitting teams in baseball and the division leaders while the Brewers are struggling to get over .500.

But one thing remains the same — Counsell is not well-liked in Milwaukee, where he grew up and was the proverbial local kid who lived out his childhood dream of playing with, and then managing, his hometown team.

The booing begins when he is introduced on the video board a few minutes before the first pitch and continues whenever he goes out to the mound to talk with a pitcher or make a move.

It’s just as heated as it was last year when all of Milwaukee was seemingly in a state of shock at Counsell’s alleged act of treason — going to the hated Cubs for more money and theoretically a better chance of winning with a larger payroll.

Counsell has grown accustomed to being a villain in his hometown, and he doesn’t expect things to change much.

“I think it’s going to happen for a while,” he said. “That’s OK.”

He still maintains his home in Whitefish Bay, Wis., and has been able to sleep in his bed this weekend. And at least the booing doesn’t happen around his house, right?

“It does,” he said with a laugh. “I make unpopular decisions there too.”

Well, it’s a tough town, Milwaukee. Their winters are just as cold as ours.

Counsell can at least take solace in the fact his team is living up to expectations in what everyone concedes is a crucial year for him in Chicago. He doesn’t have to worry about job security with a record-setting $40 million contract that runs through 2028, but after a mediocre 83-79 season in 2024, there were grumblings that the Cubs were no better under Counsell than they were under the man he replaced, David Ross.

Now he’s pushing all the right buttons.

So what has changed?

Mostly it’s the improved offense, which went into a two-month funk at the end of April last season and now looks like it should be able to sustain its early-season success. With 202 runs entering Saturday, this is only the third time in Cubs history the team has scored more than 200 runs in its first 33 games. The other times were in 1929 (215 runs) and 1938 (203 runs). Both of those teams won pennants before losing in the World Series.

The lineup is hitting up and down, and of the top-21 run producers in the majors going into Saturday, five were Cubs: Tucker and Suzuki (29 RBIs apiece), Crow-Armstrong (23) and Carson Kelly and Michael Busch (22 each).

“You get confidence individually and it gives the group confidence,” Counsell said. “I do think that not having it be one person, or one pocket of the lineup, to produce runs (helps). … It lets you go through some struggles without feeling the pressure that ‘It’s on me today.'”

Having so many off days in the early going has helped keep players fresh, and Counsell has started his regular outfield of Tucker, Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ together in all but one game. Tucker was DH once, with Suzuki playing right. While Suzuki played the outfield in several spring training games, Counsell has kept him at DH lately because of some right wrist discomfort.

But that might change soon.

“This series has been his most active throwing series,” he said of Suzuki. “He threw up to 150 feet (Friday), so it’s something I would like to do.”

Counsell said there was another reason why Tucker, Crow-Armstrong and Happ start every day.

“Well, they’re good,” he said.

Confirmed. Still, they’re human.

“I’d like to get them DH days and put Seiya in the outfield,” he added.

When a team is hitting on all cylinders, as the Cubs have on offense, it makes it easy for Counsell to go with what works. But it’s a long season, and if Counsell wants his bench players to contribute more, it also would make sense to give Vidal Bruján a day in the outfield, using Happ or Tucker as DH that day.

Maybe even a day off from the field for Crow-Armstrong? Not likely.

Having too many players and not enough spots to play them all is a problem any manager would like to have. Counsell doesn’t seem worried about much these days. The Cubs starters’ 3.46 ERA was third-lowest in the National League, and the bullpen has stabilized somewhat since the demotions of several relievers after poor performances.

If the Cubs can build on their early success, the booing of Counsell in Milwaukee will only get louder every time he comes to town.

Strangely, it has become music to his ears.

The organizer of a GoFundMe page for Kavan Markwood, the 20-year-old who slipped off a railing and onto the field during the seventh inning of the Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Cubs, shared an update Saturday that Markwood is improving.

According to Jennifer Phillips, who is organizing the fundraiser, Markwood has made significant progress since being admitted to the trauma center at Allegheny General Hospital on Wednesday in critical condition.

“After everything he’s been through since the accident on Wednesday night, this progress feels nothing short of miraculous,” wrote Phillips, who once taught Markwood. “He still has a long road ahead of him, but today brought a moment of hope that we’ve all been holding onto.”

Phillips added that Markwood can speak and encouraged others to support him during his “next phase of recovery.”

As of early Saturday evening, the GoFundMe had raised more than $27,000.

The Pirates have conducted an internal investigation into the incident, which included interviewing fans and analyzing credit-card receipts by others in Markwood’s group.

Brian Warecki, the club’s senior vice president of communications, said the investigation concluded that Markwood did not buy any alcohol but did consume two beers over the course of the game.

Markwood attended the game with three other people, the team said. Credit-card receipts indicated that one party in the group legally bought seven alcoholic beverages during the contest.

The team said it received conflicting accounts from fans who sat near Markwood in the section that sits above the Clemente Wall, which is named for Hall of Famer and franchise icon Roberto Clemente.

One fan told the team that Markwood appeared intoxicated. Others said he did not do anything of note until the moment he stood up to celebrate a hit by Pirates star Andrew McCutchen, at which point Markwood leaped out of his seat toward the 36-inch railing in front of him before flipping over the top.

Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, has labeled the incident an accident.

Crow-Armstrong’s solo home run in the second was part of a seven-run inning, two batters after Michael Busch slugged his first career grand slam, and he delivered another solo shot in the seventh as the Chicago Cubs’ exclamation mark in a 10-0 blowout of the Brewers. The largely pro-Cubs crowd among the 34,559 fans broke out in “PCA!” chants following each home run and by the end of the game it became a “Let’s go, Cubbies!” party in the first meeting of the season between the division foes.

The two-home-run night was his second in Crow-Armstrong’s last 16 games, a torrid stretch in which the 23-year-old is hitting .349 with a .359 on-base percentage and .857 slugging percentage. He had a great chance for his first three-homer game when Brewers infielder Jake Bauers took over in the ninth.

Crow-Armstrong joked he was ready to charge the mound after Bauer’s first pitch, clocked at 54.4 mph, buzzed his head and quipped to catcher Eric Haase if that was on purpose.

“But, nah, I’m not thinking homer,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’d be foolish to do so, I’d probably fall down swinging or something.”

In the last three weeks, Crow-Armstrong has hit more home runs (eight) than singles (seven).

“It’s nice kind of seeing myself grow into my power, or just being able to use it properly,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But doubles is what I want at the end of the day. Doubles is what I’m going for hitting to the big part of the field. … Being able to utilize that power is nice, but it’s just baseball. I’m just trying to hit the ball to the big part of the field.”

The Cubs’ major-league leading 202 runs are their third most through the first 33 games since 1901, bested only by the franchise’s 1938 (203 runs) and 1929 (215) teams. The 2016 World Series squad had 196 runs in that span.

The Cubs (20-13) scored at least 10 runs for the eighth time this season.

“Not to discredit myself, I’ve been saying this a bunch recently, like, it’s so easy to hit in this lineup, I just feel so confident going up to the plate in the 7-hole, talking about flying under the radar,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I feel like I can kind of hide in there in a way because it’s so easy to want to go have a good at-bat and when you’ve got eight other guys that can really do it behind you and in front of you.”

Before the game, manager Craig Counsell praised Busch, who came into the series opener with a .282/.373/.515 slash line and 150 OPS+, and noted how “there’s a consistency to it that almost makes you not realize how good he is.”

Busch’s maturation as a hitter was evident in the at-bat leading to his grand slam. After taking right-hander Quinn Priester’s curveball outside for a called strike two, Busch went after the same pitch that had moved a couple of inches closer to the edge of the plate and went with it for the opposite-field home run and a devastating blow to the Brewers.

“I feel like I’ve done a decent job just trying to minimize the lows and stay as consistent as I can throughout the season,” Busch said. “Month one’s done, but moving on to the next one, and just kind of keep going. And I think that experience is good, talking to guys is good, but continuing to keep going month by month, day by day, honestly.”

Right-hander Ben Brown made sure the Cubs’ early big lead wasn’t wasted. He pounded the strike zone, especially with his four-seam fastball that recorded 17 called strikes, and scattered four hits in six innings. Brown knew he needed to give the Cubs quality innings in this type of game, and he delivered.

“Obviously I know it’s at stake here,” Brown said. “I have a really good opportunity on this team, and I don’t want that to go away. I want to contribute. I want to be there for this team. I want to save the bullpen. I want to do things that I have to do. I want to win ballgames, and I’ve got to pitch better. So that’s been the focus this whole week is getting back on track.

“Today was probably the closest I felt to where I was at last year, just from a command standpoint and attack standpoint, where my curveball is at.”

Most of his at-bats were expected to come against left-handers, especially on days Turner plays first base to give Michael Busch a break from left-on-left matchups. But with how well the Cubs lineup has collectively been hitting, Turner’s opportunities have been limited lately.

The 40-year-old has started only twice since April 15 and logged 14 plate appearances in six games during that span, going 2-for-12 with one walk and five strikeouts. He was not in the starting lineup Friday for the series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Look, we have an offense that’s playing really well, we have not faced a lot of left-handed pitching, and so it’s just the nature of the schedule and it’s the nature of a team,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday.

Counsell also noted how Busch has been playing at a high level — he entered Friday with a .282/.373/.515 slash line and 150 OPS+ — and there aren’t really candidates in the lineup for whom to pinch hit regularly.

“It’s just the nature of how it’s unfolded so far,” Counsell said. “If a player’s trying to get on track, it’s tough with less at-bats. I acknowledge that, but that’s how it’s going to have to happen, unfortunately.”

Amid the limited chances, Turner has gotten off to a slow start with his new club. He is 7-for-44 (.159) with no extra-base hits.

“He had a rough month of May last year where it was very similar,” Counsell said. “But it’s part of this, man, like we’ve got eight guys swinging it well and one guy struggling.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s arm playing a role in his all-around defense

Crow-Armstrong’s defensive ability has been a staple of his performance at the big-league level, and as he continues to hone the accuracy on his throws, his arm can add yet another dynamic element to his game.

He nearly added another stellar defensive play to his highlight reel in Wednesday’s road loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, initially throwing out catcher Joey Bart at home from center field on a tag-up attempt. The one-hop throw and tag by catcher Carson Kelly was overturned on replay review.

“The accuracy of the throw was great, and I think it just sends a message, like, he can be really accurate from a long ways away, and that is going to deter baserunners in the future — that’s what’s going to happen with Pete is baserunners are going to start getting deterred,” Counsell said. “You don’t notice that as much sometimes, but it’s going to start to happen. I think his defense has improved, really, in all aspects: the accuracy of the throwing, the knowing when to throw, when you get your glove on the ball, catch it. He’s improved in all aspects.”

Sports Info Solutions on Thursday named Crow-Armstrong its National League defensive player of the month for March/April. Crow-Armstrong recorded 6 Runs Saved, the most by any center fielder, with 5 Runs Saved coming from his range and 1 Run Saved from two outfield assists.

Injured relievers continuing to progress

Right-hander Tyson Miller is continuing his rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, where he last pitched Tuesday night.

Miller tossed two shutout innings and has yet to allow a run during his rehab stint (6 1/3 innings over five appearances). Counsell said the Cubs are monitoring every outing and then seeing where the team is out. Miller has been sidelined since the start of the season with a left hip impingement that bothered him during the spring.

Right-hander Ryan Brasier (left groin strain), who also has been out since the beginning of the year, threw a bullpen Tuesday and will start facing hitters in live batting practice.

The Cubs are not sure yet how much time right-hander Javier Assad will need to build back up after he was shut down from his last rehab start at Iowa when he reaggravated the left oblique strain he suffered the week before spring training in early February.

Kavan Markwood was in critical condition as of Thursday after falling onto the warning track in right field just as Pirates star Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-3. Markwood was tended to for about five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. He was taken to the trauma center at Allegheny General Hospital.

Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, posted on X Thursday that the “incident is being treated as accidental in nature.”

Fans died after steep falls at ballparks in Arlington, Texas, in 2011 and Atlanta in 2015.

Here’s a look at safety measures instituted by MLB and its teams.

Ballpark railings

Railing heights at ballparks are team decisions based on local laws and codes. The railing that runs along the Clemente Wall is 3 feet (36 inches) high, which exceeds the building code requirements of 26 inches, according to Pirates vice president of communications Brian Warecki.

Those rail heights have come under scrutiny at other ballparks after fans died. The Texas Rangers raised the height of the front-row rails at their former ballpark by as much as 12 inches to 42 inches in July 2011 after a fan named Shannon Stone fell about 20 feet.

The Atlanta Braves settled a lawsuit in 2018 with the family of Gregory Murrey, who died after falling from Turner Field’s upper deck three years earlier. Murrey fell over a rail that was 30 inches high — industry code standards mandated 26 inches or taller.

Foul ball netting

Until 2015, many ballparks had netting separating fans and the field only directly behind home plate. After several incidents that season in which fans were hospitalized after being hit by foul balls, MLB encouraged teams to extend netting or screens to run dugout to dugout behind home plate in December 2015. Three years later, all 30 ballparks had netting reaching to the far ends of each dugout.

In 2019, a 2-year-old girl fractured her skull when struck by a foul ball at the Houston Astros stadium. The team later reached a settlement with the girl’s family.

The next offseason, MLB announced seven major-league teams would expand protective netting to the foul poles and 15 others would expand their netting generally to the area in the outfield where the stands begin to angle away from the field. The remaining eight teams already had installed netting that extended substantially beyond the end of the dugouts.

Alcohol sales

MLB does not mandate alcohol sales cutoffs, but most teams have stopped selling alcohol around the end of the seventh inning for years. After new rules aimed at increasing the pace of play led to shorter game times in 2023, several teams extended alcohol sales until the end of the eighth inning. Many of those teams have reverted back to the seventh-inning cutoff.

While the percentage of Black players in Major League Baseball remains low (just 6.2% on opening day), Black stars are prominent across all 30 teams. The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge holds the American League’s single-season record with 62 home runs. Mookie Betts hasn’t lost a step with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning his third World Series ring last fall. And the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen is a former MVP who could find himself in the Hall of Fame one day.

The Chicago White Sox have their own share of Black history. Hall of Famer Minnie Miñoso was the first Black player in a Sox lineup and finished his career with 2,110 hits, 1,225 runs, 1,093 RBIs and 216 stolen bases. The Cuban native also was the first Afro-Latin player to play in MLB, which was a massive leap for the Latin community. Now about 28% of the league is Latin American according to MLB’s opening-day report.

In 1959, the Sox traded the beloved Miñoso for another Black player, outfielder Al Smith. Along with Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn, Smith helped lead the Sox to the AL pennant in 1959. They would go 56 years before winning another pennant in 2005.

Before Thursday’s series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers at Rate Field, Sox left fielder Michael A. Taylor spoke about his views on Black baseball today. He said he had the “obvious” childhood heroes such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter, but he believes there’s work to do in terms of Black representation in the majors.

“I still think there’s room for growth,” Taylor told the Tribune. “But there’s things in place and the Players Alliance is doing a good job at growing the game, and in the next few years we’ll see that number (of Black players) increase.”

Black men were involved in the growth of professional baseball in the mid-1800s, with many of them playing at an elite level compared with their white peers. Those players didn’t see success due to the Jim Crow laws in place after the Civil War.

The players’ love for the game remained unscathed, so they created their own teams across the United States to continue to play. Pitcher Andrew “Rube” Foster gained national attention after winning 44 straight games for the Philadelphia Cuban X-Giants in 1902. He was widely seen as the best pitcher in the country, but race laws prevented him from making the strides he desired.

Still looking for a chance to play professionally, Foster partnered with John Schorling, the son-in-law of former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, to create the Chicago American Giants in 1911. With the team playing an exciting brand of baseball, attendance increased at Giants games as time went on.

Despite their success, Giants games — along with those of other Black teams — were strictly regulated by booking agents. Foster wanted better for his peers, so he began juggling the idea of a Black professional league.

The team’s owners met at a YMCA in Kansas City, Mo., to discuss plans for a professional Black baseball league. To their surprise, Foster came in with the papers, signaling that the Negro National League (NNL) was official.

In the inaugural NNL game played on May 2, 1920, the Indianapolis ABCs defeated the Chicago American Giants 4-2. This was the beginning of euphoria for Black baseball, and the NNL led the way up until Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier in 1947.

The stats from the NNL would go through a long process of being excluded from MLB record books before the Negro Leagues were classified as major in 2020. Four years later, more than 2,300 Negro League players were added to the major-league record books.

This flipped the history of baseball completely, and the hard work of Black players throughout history was finally recognized. The move was seen as long overdue by current players such as Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene.

“I’m going to have to do a little bit more research and understand some of the history to kind of rewire my brain on some of the best players,” Greene told the AP in 2024.

The pursuit for equality remains prevalent in the United States today. Former White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, now with the Los Angeles Angels, stood for equal rights during his time in Chicago. He kneeled during the national anthem in the 2020 season opener against the Minnesota Twins, calling it an “emotional moment.”

“I tried not to shed too many tears because we are going through something where the world needs to change,” Anderson said that day. “It was only right that I had to show my love, I had to support.”