It was a different White Sox team that got swept out of Wrigley Field earlier this season. Leading for all of two innings during the first Crosstown Classic series in May, the Sox were outscored by the Cubs 26-8, stirring a familiar sense of hopelessness for a South Side squad treading the same water as the historically bad 2024 team. Two months and a few rookie callups later, the Sox have stormed out of the All-Star break with the hottest offense in baseball, a 5-1 road trip capped by a thrilling comeback win over the wild card-contending Rays — and a sneaking suspicion that maybe, just maybe, this rebuild is turning a corner. Teel will get his first taste of Cubs-Sox fun this weekend at Rate Field along with rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery, who was still licking his developmental wounds from a brutal start at Triple-A Charlotte while the Sox were getting spanked at Wrigley.