Bleacher Nation

CUBS LINEUP — Okay, you split against Milwaukee. Fine. Not great, but fine. Now go win back the top Wild Card spot, starting with a sweep of the Marlins this weekend in Miami. Here’s a look at the Cubs lineup for the first of three games against the Marlins with Shota Imanaga on the mound against a guy named Junk.

We can make all the optimism jokes we want, but the reality here is that Major League Baseball and its constituent organizations have to operate right now as though things with the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement talks will go smoothly. You can’t just punt on all the things you’d normally be doing in September because of a lockout that only might be coming (it’s definitely coming) and only might impact next year’s calendar (it’s definitely going to impact next year’s calendar).

Any time Pete Crow-Armstrong homers these days, it’s notable. He’s now just one away from 40 homers on the year, a wholly-arbitrary, but wholly-impressive threshold to cross. It’s going to be a very cool moment when he does it. (And then he’ll just need to run wild and steal a bunch of bases in the final few weeks of the season to get to 40-40.) Last night’s home run number 39, therefore, was notable even if for no other reason.

The Cubs primarily focused on pitching at the trade deadline, trying to fix the team’s most obvious need. Along with the pitching problems was a need for a bench bat that did well against left-handed pitching, something Craig Counsell and Ryan Flaherty told Jed Hoyer the roster was lacking. The one position player they acquired was Tyrone Taylor, and although that addition was underrated at first, he’s making waves in Counsell’s lineup.

Don’t get it twisted. Caleb Williams is the most important Bears player entering the 2026 NFL season. And Head Coach Ben Johnson could probably stake a claim to being the most important person at Halas Hall. But left tackle Ozzy Trapilo is a certified X factor, which is a sentence I can’t believe I’m typing, given that he is just weeks into building up for the upcoming season after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon in Chicago’s playoff victory against the Green Bay Packers last January.

Happy NBA 2K27 release day to all who celebrate! Our Chicago Bulls’ overall 2K ratings have been fully unveiled. All-Star shooting guard Norman Powell, inked to a two-year, $45 million one-plus-one deal in free agency this summer, paces the club with an 84 overall rating. But in a bit of a surprise, $100 million point guard Josh Giddey is right there with him.

It’s Friday night, and we have some fun college football matchups on tap! Three early CFP contenders – 7 Miami, 10 Oklahoma, and 14 USC – are in action, plus a whole lot more.

The 2026 college football season and the nation’s biggest stars are ready to take the field. Who is the preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy? Let’s look at the odds from FanDuel Sportsbook. Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr leads the odds to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy with the season underway. He is +700 to win the award. Carr is followed by Arch Manning at +850. Last season, Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a national championship win over Miami.

Long before the Cubs traded for Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes at the 2026 MLB Trade deadline — and even before they dealt for David Peterson at the end of June — rumors swirled around the team’s interest in trading for one of the young Red Sox starters, Payton Tolle or Connelly Early.

NBA TV is picking up 60 upcoming 2026-27 games’ local TV feeds for national syndication, the network announced in a press release. Two of those contests are Chicago Bulls games, which will bring the total to five nationally televised Bulls games during potential rookie phenom forward Caleb Wilson’s inaugural pro season. So what are the two new NBA TV contests? The Bulls will host the revamped Cleveland Cavaliers, now with $88 million man Peyton Watson, on Thursday, Dec. 3.