The Cubs are 9-9 and the mood swings are already doing midseason numbers. I’m solo today, trying to keep it tight, and I start with the thing that actually keeps you sane over 162 games: stop living and dying on every pitch and start measuring the season by series. The Phillies set gives us the perfect example, from an ugly start to a loud offensive response that reminds us what this lineup can look like when the at-bats stack.

Then we get into the headline: Shota Imanaga. I walk through the contract and qualifying-offer weirdness and why it might have lit a real chip on his shoulder. The early returns are nasty: command, strikeouts, and the kind of presence that changes how you talk about rotation injuries and trade deadline urgency. From there, Nico Hoerner’s leadoff run becomes the engine for everything, and we talk about what’s working when the Cubs face different types of left-handed pitching.

The back half is a full Cubs vs Mets preview at Wrigley Field: three day games, weather and wind, and a Mets team dragging an eight-game losing streak into Chicago. I break down the Mets pitching matchups, where the Cubs have an edge, and the roster question that won’t go away: what do we do with Michael Busch against lefties, and how fast should Moises Ballesteros earn more reps?

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- Carl & Mahoney