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Cubs mailbag: The lineup, pitching outlook and more · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
0:08
Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
0:11
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick, Cubs fans
0:16
Speaker 1: have a lot to say. They are they are angry,
0:20
Speaker 1: They have lineup questions, they have mostly line up questions.
0:28
Speaker 2: Bring it on, Yes, yeah, the challenges man, bring them on.
0:34
Speaker 1: That's crazy. Yeah. The offense hasn't found its rhythm yet,
0:40
Speaker 1: so you know they're they're going to complain and they're
0:43
Speaker 1: going to demand that buttons be pushed to try and
0:47
Speaker 1: and make things happen. Uh, let's get to our first question. Uh.
0:54
Speaker 1: This is from Tyler Dershall regular. Regular. I spelled his
0:58
Speaker 1: name wrong. That's not good, Like he deserves his name
1:01
Speaker 1: spelled right, Tyler. As much like they did with Tucker,
1:09
Speaker 1: could the Cubs shake things up with giving guys like
1:11
Speaker 1: Suzuki and Bush some extra days off to see if
1:14
Speaker 1: they can get back on track. Look for me, Patrick,
1:20
Speaker 1: I I just don't know if if that's like a
1:24
Speaker 1: cure all. I think Tucker got to a point where
1:28
Speaker 1: it was absolutely necessary for him to take multiple days.
1:32
Speaker 1: You were seeing very obvious frustration. You're seeing just completely uncharacteristic,
1:44
Speaker 1: both behavior and and performance. The way he was swinging
1:47
Speaker 1: the bat. You know, I don't know like we can
1:52
Speaker 1: we can tie the two together. Because he had one
1:55
Speaker 1: game back it looked bad, and then he went on
1:57
Speaker 1: the road and everything was fixed. So I like, did
2:01
Speaker 1: it work. I guess we could say yes, because he's
2:04
Speaker 1: playing better now. I don't know if that was exactly it,
2:07
Speaker 1: if this was bound to happen, but yes, I do
2:10
Speaker 1: think breaks help can help it. It like sometimes they
2:14
Speaker 1: work on specific things, like Miguel Amaya did last year
2:17
Speaker 1: when he took that break, he was making mechanical changes.
2:20
Speaker 1: Or was it two three years ago when David Ross
2:24
Speaker 1: sat say Suzuki for a long stretch and then he
2:29
Speaker 1: came out and he was red hot. So these things
2:32
Speaker 1: can work. I think in particular, Bush gets days off
2:37
Speaker 1: against lefties. He's sitting and gets time to think and
2:43
Speaker 1: work through things. I don't know. I think this is
2:46
Speaker 1: just like kind of a slump for Bush. I'm gonna
2:48
Speaker 1: talk more about Suzuki later, but I don't think he's
2:53
Speaker 1: as bad as some people are suggesting.
2:58
Speaker 2: Well, if I was a hit, I would not want
3:01
Speaker 2: a day off at course field.
3:03
Speaker 1: So I'm curious to see how.
3:07
Speaker 2: Things present that way, Suzuki. I'm curious to get your thoughts.
3:15
Speaker 2: I think what Dustin Kelly had told us in Anaheim
3:18
Speaker 2: last weekend was just feels like he's kind of caught
3:23
Speaker 2: in between, just kind of in one of those ruts
3:27
Speaker 2: where and I think Bush is kind of in that
3:31
Speaker 2: category as well, of just like wanting to be so
3:35
Speaker 2: sure that the pitch is a strike and then just
3:38
Speaker 2: that split second kind of hesitation has him in kind
3:45
Speaker 2: of a rough place right now. Council said the same
3:47
Speaker 2: thing about Suzuki, of he's he's just off. He feels
3:50
Speaker 2: like he's close. I'm probably reading too much into it,
3:55
Speaker 2: but like after Wednesday night's game, say, I was just
3:57
Speaker 2: at his locker and just looked like he just kind
3:59
Speaker 2: of like this like head back.
4:01
Speaker 1: Just felt like it was.
4:04
Speaker 2: Just kind of one of those nights in San Francisco.
4:08
Speaker 2: So I think the Tucker saga just drew so much attention,
4:15
Speaker 2: and it like eventually Kyle Tucker was gonna hit again,
4:20
Speaker 2: which is a way it unfolded.
4:22
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, let's.
4:23
Speaker 2: Try that with everyone now, you know what I mean.
4:25
Speaker 2: Like it's it doesn't always work that way, but I
4:29
Speaker 2: think Tyler's onto something. Like they have to be talking
4:32
Speaker 2: about all of the stuff because it's gone on for
4:36
Speaker 2: a bit. They've pushed this position player group.
4:41
Speaker 1: Pretty hard.
4:43
Speaker 2: They have a nice super utility piece in Willie Castro,
4:50
Speaker 2: so like, I would bet it's on the table and
4:53
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised if we see kind of a
4:55
Speaker 2: day off here or there. Obviously the matchup stuff with Bush,
5:01
Speaker 2: but they need those guys to get going. I mean,
5:04
Speaker 2: Bush has carried the team for stretches and like, sayah,
5:09
Speaker 2: I'll ask you of it. What do you see going on?
5:11
Speaker 2: Because he's just been He's been quiet for a while.
5:13
Speaker 1: Now, Yeah, I mean there's a there's another question coming up.
5:19
Speaker 1: I'll just answer it, but I'll talk about it now.
5:22
Speaker 1: I think I think it's worth getting into. Look, his
5:25
Speaker 1: expected stats aren't everything. I don't like to go too
5:28
Speaker 1: deep into expected stats because I think they're imperfect the
5:31
Speaker 1: public stuff, but expected offensive stats are pretty good. You know,
5:37
Speaker 1: they do tell a story. He's been like by expected numbers,
5:43
Speaker 1: this is August, it would be his best month, but
5:48
Speaker 1: it's been his worst month. But expected, like by actual performance,
5:53
Speaker 1: he's been I agree, he's had some there's there I
5:57
Speaker 1: want to say. Sunday in I didn't like is at bats.
6:02
Speaker 1: I thought he looked off. I thought, like what DK
6:07
Speaker 1: must have told you guys was absolutely true, like he
6:10
Speaker 1: just didn't look like he knew what was coming and
6:14
Speaker 1: kind of up there guessing. But then you go back
6:16
Speaker 1: to Friday and Anaheim, he hit like three rockets and
6:21
Speaker 1: they were all caught. And I think that's happened more
6:24
Speaker 1: often to him this month than in any other month.
6:27
Speaker 1: This has been his unluckiest month. He's also just been
6:32
Speaker 1: like slightly below average overall. I did like, I do
6:36
Speaker 1: like that he's starting to take walks again. I think
6:38
Speaker 1: that's a good sign for him. Like, Okay, now he's
6:41
Speaker 1: seeing the ball better and he's still hitting the ball
6:44
Speaker 1: hard and in the air. There was a point in
6:49
Speaker 1: time in twenty three maybe or even twenty two when
6:53
Speaker 1: he was hitting the ball hard, but it was just
6:54
Speaker 1: always on the ground. That's when I did That's what
6:57
Speaker 1: I don't like seeing with him, because he's always going
6:59
Speaker 1: to hit the ball hard almost always. It's just one
7:02
Speaker 1: of his characteristics. If he stops hitting it in the
7:05
Speaker 1: air and it's like always on the ground. That's when
7:07
Speaker 1: I start to wonder, Okay, his timing is way off.
7:11
Speaker 1: Then right now I'm not seeing that as much. I
7:15
Speaker 1: am seeing balls hit in the air and hit hard.
7:18
Speaker 1: I I don't think he's that far off. I'm a
7:21
Speaker 1: little worried. I don't know if worries the right word.
7:25
Speaker 1: I think Bush is the bigger concern. I think Bush
7:28
Speaker 1: it like what like, we just haven't seen a hot
7:31
Speaker 1: stretch from him in a little while. Now. I don't
7:33
Speaker 1: have the exact numbers on him, but I feel like
7:34
Speaker 1: it's been a while since we've seen that Michael Bush tear.
7:38
Speaker 1: Maybe we talked about it last episode. I was talking
7:41
Speaker 1: about how you know, things turn on a dime in baseball,
7:45
Speaker 1: so it maybe he'll figure it out right away. Uh.
7:48
Speaker 1: Maybe Colorado is the elixir that all these guys need. Uh,
7:52
Speaker 1: but I don't. I don't see that that say, Suzuki's
7:55
Speaker 1: way off. It's just my you know, it's what the
7:59
Speaker 1: numbers are saying, and it's and it's kind of like I,
8:03
Speaker 1: like I said, I like the walks recently too. He
8:06
Speaker 1: does need to produce. That's the bottom line. Baseball is
8:09
Speaker 1: about production and results. So all sports are you know,
8:13
Speaker 1: you got to get the results. Sometimes process only gets
8:15
Speaker 1: you so far. Otherwise people are gonna complain and people
8:17
Speaker 1: are gonna get frustrated. So I get that. Here's something
8:22
Speaker 1: that I, honestly I've been wondering as well. Not the
8:25
Speaker 1: biggest lineup guy, Hey, David, neither am I, but at
8:29
Speaker 1: some point Mattshaw has been awesome and may need to
8:31
Speaker 1: be moved up. Do they think he's more comfortable at
8:34
Speaker 1: the bottom of the order. That's from David kep Patrick.
8:39
Speaker 1: Let's do our Let's make Mattshaw our draftking spotlight. All right, Patrick,
8:50
Speaker 1: Mattshaw has been really impressive in the second half. One
8:55
Speaker 1: of the best players, not only like best offensive player
8:59
Speaker 1: on the Cubs and sell star break, one of the
9:02
Speaker 1: best in baseball. Completely turned his season around. That's not
9:08
Speaker 1: even talking about his defense. I am legitimately blown away
9:14
Speaker 1: and how good he is defensively. There are some defensive
9:19
Speaker 1: metrics advanced defensive metrics that don't like him. There are
9:22
Speaker 1: some that love him. I am unclear as to what
9:26
Speaker 1: there it is that they don't like about him. As
9:29
Speaker 1: far as I believe, it's out above average that doesn't
9:31
Speaker 1: like him. DRS loves him. He passes the eye test. Defensively,
9:36
Speaker 1: he's a stud in money in my opinion, if it
9:38
Speaker 1: weren't for what's his name with the reds Now, Cabrian Hayes.
9:42
Speaker 1: I think he's up for gold Glove. Maybe he doesn't
9:47
Speaker 1: get there because I don't know how it works anymore
9:48
Speaker 1: with gold Glove, and I think there's a lot of
9:50
Speaker 1: metrics involved. But he's been brilliant and offensively, you know,
9:56
Speaker 1: I think it's worth asking the questions. Should he be
9:59
Speaker 1: hitting higher when the offense is struggling?
10:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're on agreement here. Not huge lineup
10:05
Speaker 2: construction guys. But the longer his comfort, sorry, the longer
10:14
Speaker 2: this streak goes, this run goes. As he gets more
10:18
Speaker 2: and more comfortable, that seems kind of like a why
10:22
Speaker 2: not type of move. Clearly they must see something. There's
10:28
Speaker 2: a reason why he's at the bottom there, and that
10:30
Speaker 2: maybe that is partially why he is performing as well
10:36
Speaker 2: as he has. But I thought it was interesting. I
10:39
Speaker 2: asked Justin Kelly about this last weekend in Anaheim, and
10:43
Speaker 2: he gave some good context in terms of, you know,
10:48
Speaker 2: this was a learning process even though he was he's
10:52
Speaker 2: a homegrown guy. He did not spend a lot of
10:54
Speaker 2: time in the minor leagues. He got hurt right around
11:00
Speaker 2: the start of spring training, so some of the stuff
11:03
Speaker 2: that they wanted to do, just like getting that familiarity
11:07
Speaker 2: of how he likes to game plan, how he likes
11:10
Speaker 2: to prepare, Like there was a gap, which I hadn't
11:13
Speaker 2: really thought of it that way until he mentioned it,
11:18
Speaker 2: and that they feel like he's always going to be
11:20
Speaker 2: sort of a tinkerer and something Shaw had told me
11:29
Speaker 2: it was just kind of and he's said similar things
11:32
Speaker 2: to Yu Sah hate of, like it is hard to
11:35
Speaker 2: kind of find your role on a veteran team with
11:40
Speaker 2: big playoff expectations, And I think part of this first
11:46
Speaker 2: half was feeling out his role and how he should
11:51
Speaker 2: go about his job. I mean, that's obvious he's a
11:53
Speaker 2: rookie in the majors, but I think there was just
11:55
Speaker 2: another layer to that because he wasn't on a rebuilding
12:01
Speaker 2: team that was, you know, projected to lose ninety something games.
12:06
Speaker 2: And you and I both have written about that reset
12:08
Speaker 2: he got at the All Star break and Shaw came back.
12:14
Speaker 2: The coach has noticed it. Of I think the quote
12:17
Speaker 2: from DK was there's an intensity to every single swing
12:22
Speaker 2: that we just had not seen in the first half.
12:26
Speaker 2: So I think you see someone just learning on the
12:28
Speaker 2: job and kind of getting it in a way that
12:32
Speaker 2: he had not on the front end of the year.
12:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, a ton of credit to Matt Shaw for getting
12:41
Speaker 1: you know, getting his head right. I guess his mentality
12:44
Speaker 1: right as he wants, as he's told us that All
12:49
Speaker 1: Star Break was a huge mental reset for him. And
12:53
Speaker 1: you know, I think we've talked about this a little bit.
12:55
Speaker 1: I think it clearly the Cubs are doing something right
13:00
Speaker 1: as far as the environment for young players. This has
13:04
Speaker 1: become a trend now where multiple young players have struggled
13:09
Speaker 1: out of the gate and then they've they've been given
13:12
Speaker 1: a chance to get out of those struggles. And you know,
13:16
Speaker 1: it's a different path for everybody. This wasn't the exact
13:19
Speaker 1: same path that Peter Armstrong took. Matt Shaw and Miguel
13:23
Speaker 1: Amaya all took different paths, but they've had resets and
13:27
Speaker 1: the and they've and they've had moments to get better.
13:29
Speaker 1: Like this is they've created an environment for these players
13:33
Speaker 1: to thrive. I think the Cubs deserve some credit there.
13:36
Speaker 1: They're they're they're not perfect. They need uh, you know,
13:39
Speaker 1: as we've seen with this offense as it continues to struggle.
13:43
Speaker 1: But I think that's that's uh, that's something that you
13:47
Speaker 1: know deserves some uh, they deserve some love there, whether
13:50
Speaker 1: it's Dustin Kelly, John Mayley, or just the organization in general.
13:54
Speaker 1: Clearly they've they've put these guys in positions to succeed
13:58
Speaker 1: and and allowed them to figure things out. But ultimately
14:02
Speaker 1: it's on the players. All right. Now, let's turn it
14:05
Speaker 1: over to Alanaizzo for our North Side Territory pick.
14:09
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15:16
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's get back to the questions. More
15:20
Speaker 1: lineup stuff. This is justin Devorak. Why does counsel insist
15:25
Speaker 1: on batting Carson Kelly in the fourth or fifth hole?
15:28
Speaker 1: Seems he has been just as bad, if not worse
15:31
Speaker 1: than Dansby with runners in scoring position. We know that
15:35
Speaker 1: Danesby struggled this season with runners in scoring position. I
15:37
Speaker 1: think he's been a little bit better lately, but it's
15:40
Speaker 1: it's not happening often enough. Look, I think we can
15:45
Speaker 1: all struggle from recency bias with this stuff. Carson Kelly
15:51
Speaker 1: was a monster in March and April with runners in
15:54
Speaker 1: scoring position. He had four to seventy four with runners
15:59
Speaker 1: in scoring position in March and April. In May it
16:02
Speaker 1: was the exact opposite. It was his worst month, one
16:05
Speaker 1: seventy six in fact, May through July it was really bad.
16:07
Speaker 1: Get Patrick, what do you think he's hitting with runners
16:11
Speaker 1: in scoring position in August? Like? Just based on and
16:14
Speaker 1: I like, I mean, I'm setting you up here because
16:17
Speaker 1: I was surprised by this too. I won't make you guess,
16:19
Speaker 1: but he's hitting three oh four with runners in scoring
16:23
Speaker 1: position in August. He's he's had a yeah, I mean,
16:27
Speaker 1: he's had a solid month. Here's the thing, you know,
16:32
Speaker 1: how many of those hits are for extra bases? Zero zero?
16:38
Speaker 1: He had a twelve sixty three slugging in March and
16:40
Speaker 1: April with runners in scoring position. He's hitting three oh
16:43
Speaker 1: four with a three oh four slugging percentage. That's why
16:46
Speaker 1: you feel like he's not coming through the power is gone,
16:51
Speaker 1: which tells me you can't bat him fourth or fifth anymore.
16:54
Speaker 1: I kind of agree with this. This is good ties
16:58
Speaker 1: back to the previous question, I think it is time
17:00
Speaker 1: to move Matt Shaw up. He hits for power. Carson
17:03
Speaker 1: Kelly isn't doing that. I don't think Carson Kelly's bad.
17:06
Speaker 1: I think Carson Kelly's kind of a singles hitter who
17:08
Speaker 1: will take walks. That's kind of what he's become right now.
17:12
Speaker 1: And I think, hey, it was great that he gave
17:14
Speaker 1: you March in April, but he just didn't feel like
17:17
Speaker 1: it was gonna last. I think I really don't love
17:22
Speaker 1: debating lineup stuff, but I do think maybe it's time
17:26
Speaker 1: to make some tweaks there.
17:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, momentum seems to be moving in that direction. And
17:33
Speaker 2: to echo a point you made in an earlier show,
17:35
Speaker 2: like Council has actually been pretty proactive or aggressive or
17:41
Speaker 2: creative with some of these lineup decisions. That benching Kyle
17:47
Speaker 2: Tucker being the number one kind of take away in
17:52
Speaker 2: that regard. So yeah, wait, a couple of days, I
17:57
Speaker 2: guess wouldn't be shocked. I mean, Dan, he's been dropped,
18:02
Speaker 2: HAPs been moved around, players have sat Shaw's been demoted,
18:10
Speaker 2: brought back reset it just seems like something that whenever
18:17
Speaker 2: the Cubs lose, it becomes a lineup thing, like it
18:20
Speaker 2: just become a thing. Maybe that's everywhere, Maybe that's every season.
18:24
Speaker 2: I mean, the bottom line is the guys at the
18:27
Speaker 2: top the middle ork just have to produce and those
18:30
Speaker 2: complimentary players have to come through once.
18:32
Speaker 1: In a while. Yeah, I mean, the big guys have
18:37
Speaker 1: to hit, and they're like, guy, I don't. I mean,
18:40
Speaker 1: Carson Kelly is at the biggest issue, but maybe him
18:43
Speaker 1: batting forth or fifth. It doesn't need to happen anymore.
18:46
Speaker 1: I get it. Here's the question everybody's asking a you know,
18:50
Speaker 1: why Zo and Casey with the team right now if
18:53
Speaker 1: not to give a breather to hitters, especially say and Hap. No, Sahade,
18:57
Speaker 1: don't tell me how well Hap has looked lately. Blue
19:00
Speaker 1: line theology. Okay, I guess you don't want facts, blue ideology.
19:05
Speaker 1: He doesn't want to hear that. Who has who has
19:09
Speaker 1: a one forty one way to runs crated plus in
19:12
Speaker 1: August against right handed pitchers. That's that's Ian Happ. Who's
19:16
Speaker 1: hitting three hundred against right handed pictures in August? That's
19:19
Speaker 1: Ian Halp. He's he had a home run stolen from
19:24
Speaker 1: him in Anaheim. Otherwise his numbers would be even better.
19:28
Speaker 1: He's he's hitting really well against righties, and that's who
19:33
Speaker 1: you you would hit, That's who would like. That's when
19:38
Speaker 1: you play on Casey against righties. Ian half sat on
19:42
Speaker 1: Wednesday against the lefty. I think that's probably the right
19:45
Speaker 1: move going forward, or at least on occasion. He doesn't
19:48
Speaker 1: need to play against every lefty. But you can't tell
19:51
Speaker 1: me that like Ian Happ hasn't been playing well when
19:54
Speaker 1: he's facing righties. He has, say Suzuki, I agree. Look,
20:00
Speaker 1: he's been up and down. I think he's he's hit
20:02
Speaker 1: the ball hard at times, results haven't been there. There's
20:06
Speaker 1: no denying that. I do think. There have been five
20:11
Speaker 1: games on this road trip. Correct me if I'm wrong, Patrick,
20:14
Speaker 1: because I because you're out there. But he hasn't started
20:17
Speaker 1: a single game, right, Casey, Sorry, this is going to
20:19
Speaker 1: there's going to be six games when when this show airs,
20:24
Speaker 1: Casey hasn't started yet. I would have thought he would
20:27
Speaker 1: have gotten a start against Danna I'm against the Angels,
20:30
Speaker 1: but we didn't see it.
20:32
Speaker 2: He's gotten some at least some laid game pinch hit
20:38
Speaker 2: at bats. You'll look, Cubs invested one hundred million dollars
20:45
Speaker 2: in say A Suzuki's future. He exemplifies just about everything
20:52
Speaker 2: they want in a hitter in terms of his power,
20:55
Speaker 2: his decision making, his the commitment to his I'm still
21:03
Speaker 2: sort of like, when is it going to click for
21:08
Speaker 2: Owen case I think it'd be a very good Cup
21:10
Speaker 2: for a long time. But after watching Matt Shaw, Pekow
21:14
Speaker 2: Armstrong going back to the Kyle Schwarber's and Anthony Rizzos
21:18
Speaker 2: who had to go back to Triple A, Like, I
21:20
Speaker 2: just don't think it's realistic to think that you plug
21:23
Speaker 2: Owen Casey into this lineup and like all of a
21:26
Speaker 2: sudden he is going to be like the greatest hitter
21:29
Speaker 2: in baseball. And I was like, oh, get a spark,
21:32
Speaker 2: Get a spark. Well, if you're constantly doing things like that,
21:36
Speaker 2: like the team loses a kind of consistency.
21:44
Speaker 1: The if you're.
21:47
Speaker 2: Rearranging and shuffling in August when you have a ninety
21:51
Speaker 2: nine point nine percent chance to make the playoffs, like
21:53
Speaker 2: it just it just rubs people the wrong way, you know.
21:56
Speaker 2: I think it's like you have to deal with the
21:59
Speaker 2: people within your clubhouse, and I think you have to
22:04
Speaker 2: get say a right for the playoffs, and like, do
22:12
Speaker 2: you think, how do you think Casey will do in
22:16
Speaker 2: October when the other manager is lining up all of
22:19
Speaker 2: his relievers to face him, Like, I think it's gonna
22:22
Speaker 2: be a lot to expect him everything to just like
22:26
Speaker 2: suddenly click. Now he will have moments, no doubt, and
22:30
Speaker 2: I bet we will see him more, particularly if the
22:33
Speaker 2: Brewers extend their lead in the division and maybe some
22:37
Speaker 2: wildcard teams fall back. Like sure, but like he's with
22:42
Speaker 2: the team because he has nothing left to prove at
22:44
Speaker 2: Triple A and they think he can do something in
22:46
Speaker 2: a limited role. And that is exactly why he was
22:49
Speaker 2: brought up. There was never a thought like he was
22:52
Speaker 2: going to play every single day.
22:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, I look, I get it. When the team isn't
22:59
Speaker 1: winning and when they aren't putting up six seven plus
23:02
Speaker 1: runs a game, fans want something different. Yeah this is
23:07
Speaker 1: look like Kyle Tucker needed a break. He just needed it,
23:11
Speaker 1: and now he's back to being Kyle Tucker. I just
23:15
Speaker 1: don't I don't see that exactly with these other players
23:18
Speaker 1: outside of Michael Bush, I don't see like this deep struggle.
23:24
Speaker 1: And even Michael Bush, I don't see like a deep struggle.
23:27
Speaker 1: He's just not hitting like he was before. And when
23:32
Speaker 1: I say deep struggle, I mean like deep frustration and
23:35
Speaker 1: just like things that just like you're like, whoa, this
23:37
Speaker 1: is way out of character type stuff. Player slump. You
23:42
Speaker 1: need to play them. The established ones need to play
23:46
Speaker 1: to get out of those slumps. That's that's really how
23:48
Speaker 1: baseball works. I know fans want to like pound the
23:51
Speaker 1: table and say try something different. You know the definition
23:54
Speaker 1: of insanity is is trying the same thing over and
23:57
Speaker 1: over again. Actually that that's saying doesn't work in baseball
24:01
Speaker 1: because it just isn't. That's not how baseball works. It's yes,
24:07
Speaker 1: because you kind of you're right, it's insane. You just
24:10
Speaker 1: got to keep trying the same thing. When it says
24:13
Speaker 1: like this is these are the guys that you know
24:15
Speaker 1: are good unless they're hurt, play them. That's kind of
24:19
Speaker 1: how it goes. And that's not to say only case
24:21
Speaker 1: he shouldn't get any starts or shouldn't play at all.
24:25
Speaker 1: I think occasional start here and there is fine. We'll
24:30
Speaker 1: see how much that is. I don't think it's going
24:32
Speaker 1: to be a lot. I just don't think fans are
24:34
Speaker 1: going to get what they want here. He's not playing
24:36
Speaker 1: a lot. He's just not going to and that's been
24:38
Speaker 1: proven over the what ten days, two weeks that he's
24:42
Speaker 1: been on the roster now, so it just, you know,
24:45
Speaker 1: I think you've kind of gotten accept that this is
24:48
Speaker 1: this is what it is that you need your best
24:50
Speaker 1: players to perform. Let's take a quick break and wrap
24:54
Speaker 1: it up with a couple more questions here Patrick.
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26:00
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, a couple of injury updates. I'm going
26:02
Speaker 1: to have you give us the update since you are
26:06
Speaker 1: out there on the road. Let's start with Jameson. Ty
26:10
Speaker 1: On his latest IL stint. It's a groin injury. They
26:14
Speaker 1: finally put him on the IL Wednesday, I believe is
26:17
Speaker 1: when they put him on. G Allen wants to know.
26:20
Speaker 1: Can we expect anything out of Tyn in October?
26:25
Speaker 2: I think you should anticipate him pitching in September. The
26:30
Speaker 2: Cubs are framing this as a minimal stint. On the
26:33
Speaker 2: fifteen day, I l if this was the playoffs right now,
26:39
Speaker 2: Tyon said he would be pitching. I think there's just
26:44
Speaker 2: some concern given his injury history, even a recent issue
26:49
Speaker 2: he had with lower body this summer. The fact that
26:53
Speaker 2: they have depth, they can sort of get by here.
26:57
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think it's totally reasonable to expect him
27:01
Speaker 2: to be pitching in September and building towards being available
27:08
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. We don't know exactly what shape that
27:11
Speaker 2: series would take, but if the clubs are to make
27:17
Speaker 2: a deep run in October, they'd obviously would need tie
27:22
Speaker 2: On to be at his best. And that's why he
27:24
Speaker 2: felt it was really important to just kind of knock
27:27
Speaker 2: this out and not let it linger or develop into
27:31
Speaker 2: something worse, or compensate over compensate and have a more
27:35
Speaker 2: serious injury develop at the most critical time of the year.
27:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then it sounds like they're just setting this
27:44
Speaker 1: up for October. Let's yeah, whether he actually pitches in October? Yeah, yeah,
27:50
Speaker 1: well shape, you know, we'll see how deep of a
27:53
Speaker 1: run they can actually make. All right, another injury question,
27:57
Speaker 1: Any update on Soroka and if he comes back before
28:00
Speaker 1: the end of the season, will he strictly be a
28:02
Speaker 1: bullpen guy? I missed the waiver wire days. That's from
28:06
Speaker 1: John Rose. John Rose. Jed Hoyer misses the waiver wire
28:09
Speaker 1: days as well. I think most front offices do. I
28:12
Speaker 1: think they if you're a contender. You want to be
28:15
Speaker 1: able to pick guys up and shuffle through guys. Craig
28:19
Speaker 1: Console's kind of the master at it. If you remember
28:22
Speaker 1: back in the forty forty man days of September, how
28:26
Speaker 1: good those a lot of He got a lot of
28:30
Speaker 1: credit for maximizing all those roster spots. He really knew
28:33
Speaker 1: how to work it. My guess is he would love
28:36
Speaker 1: to have the not only the waiver wire days back,
28:38
Speaker 1: but the forty man roster days back, where you don't
28:41
Speaker 1: just go up to twenty eight September but forty What
28:45
Speaker 1: did you hear? What have you heard about Soroka on
28:47
Speaker 1: the road? Patrick and a Sroka.
28:49
Speaker 2: Has been traveling with the team, which tells you something
28:52
Speaker 2: about his time horizon here in terms of a return
28:58
Speaker 2: to play plan. He threw off the mound, I believe,
29:03
Speaker 2: on Tuesday in San Francisco, and the thought is, while
29:09
Speaker 2: he's not close to being activated in the near term,
29:13
Speaker 2: he's also not like, oh, he'll just get in the
29:17
Speaker 2: last series of the year. I think, like loosely the
29:22
Speaker 2: middle of September is not totally unrealistic. There's just not
29:28
Speaker 2: enough time for them to stretch him out as a starter,
29:33
Speaker 2: so strictly a bullpen guy, I would say, more like
29:37
Speaker 2: mostly a bullpen guy. I think they'd like to get
29:40
Speaker 2: him feeling good enough to where he could throw multiple innings,
29:46
Speaker 2: but that'll be more like out of the pen. Who
29:51
Speaker 2: knows if they'll be needing openers at some point, I
29:54
Speaker 2: don't know, but he's not. They're not gonna just stretch
29:56
Speaker 2: him out and you know, to one hundred pitches or
29:58
Speaker 2: something like that. It's the whole would be he stays
30:01
Speaker 2: on this track and can be an effective out getter.
30:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, it would have been ideal if he were healthy
30:10
Speaker 1: during that stretch that they just wrapped up of the
30:13
Speaker 1: fourteen games in thirteen days. I think that that's when
30:17
Speaker 1: you need a guy. I think Soroka is a good pitcher.
30:20
Speaker 1: I think he could could help this team when he's healthy.
30:24
Speaker 1: That like, those multi inning outings are going to be
30:27
Speaker 1: huge for them down the stretch. I think giving breaks
30:31
Speaker 1: to their their set up guys, their set up Righty's
30:34
Speaker 1: like Keller and Kittridge, who you just don't want them
30:37
Speaker 1: to wear down. Kiddridge seems to go like every other day,
30:41
Speaker 1: and I think that's why he kind of has that
30:44
Speaker 1: elevated ras. He's willing to throw whenever, you know, no
30:48
Speaker 1: matter the situation, no matter the day, no matter how
30:50
Speaker 1: much he's pitched recently. But it'll be interesting. I'm curious
30:56
Speaker 1: to see what type of impact Soroka has if he
30:59
Speaker 1: can help the team down the stretch, because I think
31:01
Speaker 1: they're gonna need as many arms as they can get.
31:04
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that's that's another mail bag episode. We
31:08
Speaker 1: know you guys are frustrated. We'll see, uh, we'll see
31:10
Speaker 1: if the Bats wake up in Colorado, if they can
31:13
Speaker 1: have some big games and maybe just gain a little
31:16
Speaker 1: swear and then come back and deal with Wrigley. Because
31:21
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna be blowing out. I think
31:23
Speaker 1: we're not gonna have many more of those blowing out days.
31:27
Speaker 1: It didn't get a lot this year. Not sure how
31:29
Speaker 1: many more we're getting. Thanks for listening everyone, This is
31:32
Speaker 1: Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to
31:35
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic, where Patrick
31:39
Speaker 1: and are on top of all things Cubs. Thanks everyone,