The Cubs’ nine-game winning streak kept rolling Friday night, and Scott Kingery was designated for assignment as Craig Counsell cleared a roster spot while Chicago prepared to open a six-game stretch against the Dodgers and Padres in Los Angeles.
Chicago was scheduled to face the Dodgers at 9:15 p.m. CT on AppleTV+, with the Cubs already in longest winning streak since 2016 territory. The eventual 2016 Cubs won 11 games in a row that summer, and this run had pushed the club into the same conversation after nine straight wins.
Kingery’s move was blunt. Counsell did not trust him enough at the plate or on the field to keep him on the roster, and that made the 26th man the odd piece out on a night when the Cubs needed to keep the machine moving. The roster call landed on April 24, 2026, the same date the team was trying to extend a streak that had already changed the feel around the clubhouse.
The larger picture was simple enough. The Cubs were starting six-straight games in Southern California, with three in Los Angeles before the road trip continued, and they were doing it while the club’s momentum was drawing fresh attention in the 2026 Chicago Cubs Power Rankings, Episode 59 of the Bleacher Nation Cubs Podcast and the Cubs Prospects Report from April 24, 2026.
That mix of a hot team, a hard roster decision and a West Coast test made the night feel like more than a routine stop. If the Cubs kept winning, the Kingery move would look like a small cost. If the streak broke against the Dodgers and Padres, it would be one more reminder of how thin the margin gets once the games get bigger.
