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Three things to watch with the Cubs in May · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm sad,
0:09
Speaker 1: I've sharma. With my partner Patrick Mooney, we are your
0:12
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick, it is May.
0:18
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie to the listeners. We're not recording
0:20
Speaker 1: in May, but when you guys listen to this, it
0:22
Speaker 1: will be May. So let's talk about what we're gonna
0:29
Speaker 1: be looking for, what we're kind of expecting for May,
0:32
Speaker 1: or the biggest things to keep an eye on for
0:35
Speaker 1: this team. And we touched on it last episode, and
0:41
Speaker 1: I don't know how you can't you can ignore this,
0:45
Speaker 1: but it's gonna be about the pitching, pitching health and
0:48
Speaker 1: pitching performance. I think that's, you know, who steps up
0:52
Speaker 1: with all these injuries, who comes back from injury, who
0:56
Speaker 1: can stay healthy. I think that's what we're gonna be
0:59
Speaker 1: watching and paying attention to it, and maybe even who
1:03
Speaker 1: do they add like, is there an early move whether
1:07
Speaker 1: it's like a Drew Pomerance move or is it you know,
1:10
Speaker 1: when I say Drew Promarence, I mean that type of
1:12
Speaker 1: move that happened last year. Was it in May? Was
1:15
Speaker 1: it the beginning of May? Or was it the end
1:17
Speaker 1: of April?
1:17
Speaker 2: I think it was. I think it was April.
1:19
Speaker 1: Okay, well it happened. Yeah, around this time of year.
1:24
Speaker 1: Rare to get something bigger than that, it does happen.
1:28
Speaker 1: I believe the Brewers acquired Quinn Priester in April, and
1:34
Speaker 1: that was when they were absolutely decimated by injuries. At
1:38
Speaker 1: that point, comes aren't quite there. Maybe you could say
1:41
Speaker 1: that with the bullpen, but I think that's we're going
1:46
Speaker 1: to be watching this and talking about it, if not
1:48
Speaker 1: all month, probably all season two.
1:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the injury update story is the injury
1:55
Speaker 2: update questions are not the most like fascinating ones, but
2:00
Speaker 2: it's become like the story in a lot of ways
2:05
Speaker 2: in the Cubs could be getting healthy in the bullpen.
2:10
Speaker 1: Uh.
2:11
Speaker 2: You know, Friday is a day the Cubs have circled
2:13
Speaker 2: to potentially activate Daniel Plentia. If it's not Friday, it
2:18
Speaker 2: shouldn't be much long after that. You know, Ethan Roberts
2:24
Speaker 2: is kind of on the horizon there. Guys have stepped forward,
2:30
Speaker 2: like Ben Brown, but you know, just overall, it's hard
2:35
Speaker 2: to see this getting like easier. I know, counsel usually
2:41
Speaker 2: historically targets like the first three weeks this season has
2:44
Speaker 2: like a really delicate point for starting pitchers. But like
2:47
Speaker 2: once you get into this, like it is just so relentless,
2:52
Speaker 2: and to have the attrition rate this high this early
2:59
Speaker 2: is alarming. You know, there's not the trade deadlines, not
3:06
Speaker 2: until early August. I'm with you. I think the Cubs
3:09
Speaker 2: will keep looking. They'll probably be a guy they pick up.
3:13
Speaker 2: I mean, like Ryan Robson was not you know, super
3:16
Speaker 2: highly up there on the radar, and he's contributing. But yeah,
3:22
Speaker 2: you can't have what happened Wednesday and San Diego, Corbyn
3:26
Speaker 2: Martin just you know, walking three guys and handing Ben
3:30
Speaker 2: Brown a bases loaded situation against Tatisa Machado and he
3:35
Speaker 2: gets a sacrifice fly in a double play ball like
3:38
Speaker 2: a total escape act. And you know, credit to Ben
3:41
Speaker 2: for all the work he's put in to you know,
3:45
Speaker 2: get to that point. You know he's really grateful for
3:49
Speaker 2: the opportunity and you know kind of the support he's felt.
3:54
Speaker 2: But you know, I'm just kind of wondering, you know,
4:02
Speaker 2: what's gonna happen with Edward Cabrera showed him in Naga
4:05
Speaker 2: jameson Tyn, Like we just can't take for granted that
4:08
Speaker 2: the guys who are healthy now are just gonna keep
4:12
Speaker 2: staying healthy, and that yes, you'll have some more like
4:20
Speaker 2: guys who go on the injury list eventually come off.
4:22
Speaker 2: But to just have Justin Steele in this sort of
4:28
Speaker 2: murky state of hopefully sometime after the All Star break
4:35
Speaker 2: barring a setback, like that's tough. That's a tough diagnosis
4:40
Speaker 2: for him. It's a rough assessment for the Cubs because
4:42
Speaker 2: I think if we were recording this, you know, early
4:46
Speaker 2: in the week, you know, we would be circling Hey,
4:50
Speaker 2: maybe there's a chance Justin Steele comes back at the
4:53
Speaker 2: end of May. Like that still I think would have
4:55
Speaker 2: been an aggressive timeline. But now it's really you know,
5:00
Speaker 2: he'll be reevaluated at the end of the month and
5:03
Speaker 2: then they can sort of come up with a new plan.
5:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to hope that the starting rotation stays healthy.
5:12
Speaker 1: They just have to. Right now, I don't know, like
5:15
Speaker 1: a you know, they don't they don't update us on
5:17
Speaker 1: minor league injury so I'm not sure when Jackson Wiggins
5:20
Speaker 1: will start pitching. But that was someone that you know,
5:23
Speaker 1: with all these injuries, you'd be like, hmm, can he
5:26
Speaker 1: come up and help the bullpen, obviously not an option
5:29
Speaker 1: right now. Corbyn Martin was someone that you know you
5:34
Speaker 1: could dream on to hope for. It's it's really hard
5:38
Speaker 1: to repeat Brad Keller finds. You're not going to find
5:40
Speaker 1: a Brad Keller every season, but you know, if you
5:43
Speaker 1: wanted to dream, that was probably one of the guys
5:45
Speaker 1: that you point to, like he's got a chance. Ryan
5:49
Speaker 1: Rolinson has looked good. He was someone that looked like
5:52
Speaker 1: he needed to do more things, get more work in
5:56
Speaker 1: in spring training, but that he had potential because there
6:00
Speaker 1: was like a velocity jump, there were new pitches. It
6:02
Speaker 1: was okay, this is interesting. Where does it go. I'm
6:05
Speaker 1: not sure if he's a dominant forest juice yet, but
6:07
Speaker 1: he's been really good for them, So you'll take that.
6:11
Speaker 1: One name that I know that they're hoping can be
6:16
Speaker 1: ready at some point in May is Trent Thornton, who
6:19
Speaker 1: is pitching in the minors. I think the stuff is there.
6:24
Speaker 1: He's had success at the major league level. He's been
6:27
Speaker 1: part of a really good, I want to say, part
6:30
Speaker 1: of a really good Mariners bullpen in twenty twenty four
6:34
Speaker 1: Tours Achilles last season, it was kind of like he
6:39
Speaker 1: had solid peripherals. One horrible blow up outing that made
6:43
Speaker 1: his ra look bad. It was kind of like getting
6:47
Speaker 1: back in form and then Tours Achilles, and he's just
6:54
Speaker 1: coming back from that. But I think the stuff is
6:56
Speaker 1: come like it looks pretty good. So maybe he's an
6:59
Speaker 1: option at some point. But you're gonna want even more
7:05
Speaker 1: more depth than that. I think, like, like you're just
7:08
Speaker 1: gonna constantly be looking for depth, and I like, I
7:11
Speaker 1: think there's like I wouldn't be some like they're already
7:14
Speaker 1: claiming random people, right, I don't know everybody that they've claimed.
7:18
Speaker 1: I don't know, Like that's how it is. Sometimes you
7:20
Speaker 1: don't even know these names. They'll probably do that a
7:24
Speaker 1: lot over the next month. My guess is that, like
7:27
Speaker 1: that Nick Hasey addition is not going to be the
7:31
Speaker 1: last to like cycle through guys at the bottom of
7:34
Speaker 1: the forty man roster. See what sticks. See if you
7:37
Speaker 1: find lightning in a bottle, See if you find Drew Pomerance,
7:39
Speaker 1: See if you find someone that can get out for you,
7:44
Speaker 1: whether it be in the sixth or the seventh or
7:46
Speaker 1: they whatever. Yeah, so it's it's not it's not an
7:50
Speaker 1: easy spot to be in, but Uh, they're not. They're
7:54
Speaker 1: not alone, but right now that it's pretty high up
7:57
Speaker 1: there as far as who has the most injuries, they're
7:59
Speaker 1: they're up there.
8:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess on the flip side, you knows. Council
8:05
Speaker 2: and other players like to say, this does create opportunities,
8:08
Speaker 2: So by the end of May, there probably will be
8:09
Speaker 2: circle of trust relievers that we are not maybe thinking of,
8:13
Speaker 2: or we're't on our radar. Whatever that does happen. They
8:19
Speaker 2: have been able to figure it out. It just gets
8:24
Speaker 2: more difficult the farther you go into the season, and
8:27
Speaker 2: that's why this is what sort of keeps them up
8:34
Speaker 2: at night. I don't know if literally maybe just sort
8:36
Speaker 2: of figuratively speaking here, but it is, as Jed Hoyer said,
8:40
Speaker 2: like a constant source of concern.
8:42
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's take a quick break and talk
8:45
Speaker 1: about more topics for May. All right, folks, it is
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Speaker 1: See Geek. Okay, Patrick, what else are we looking forward
10:14
Speaker 1: to in May? What? What are we going to watch? You?
10:17
Speaker 1: You kind of touched on this, you wrote about it
10:19
Speaker 1: a little bit. Mois's Biosarius is hitting the crap out
10:21
Speaker 1: of the ball. He's I mean just like been one
10:25
Speaker 1: of the one of the best rookies in baseball, but
10:28
Speaker 1: he's a DH came up as a catcher, obviously, is
10:34
Speaker 1: bat is the reason he's in the majors right now.
10:37
Speaker 1: But he finally caught a game. It was Monday. It
10:40
Speaker 1: was a bunday loss to San Diego with Matthew Boyd
10:44
Speaker 1: on the mound. Will he get more opportunities to catch?
10:48
Speaker 1: Is that kind of what is that something that we
10:51
Speaker 1: need to be paying attention to this month?
10:55
Speaker 2: For sure? Craig Counsel, when I asked him that question,
10:58
Speaker 2: gave one of his sort of cryptic elliptical answers. But essentially,
11:04
Speaker 2: it could be more often if things happen, if things
11:09
Speaker 2: don't happen, it could only be may only be occasionally, obviously,
11:16
Speaker 2: And I asked someone about this the other day in
11:18
Speaker 2: San Diego. Of like, like, ideally they want to get
11:22
Speaker 2: Moists to a place where he can catch any pitcher
11:25
Speaker 2: on the staff at any time. At the same time,
11:29
Speaker 2: the optical outcome this year is that he never catches
11:31
Speaker 2: again because Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya stay healthy, so
11:35
Speaker 2: they have to kind of prepare for that. They don't
11:40
Speaker 2: want him kind of coming in cold in case something
11:43
Speaker 2: does happen. I do think the way he's hitting sort
11:47
Speaker 2: of forces them to look at maybe some different ways
11:51
Speaker 2: to get him in the lineup as well. You know,
11:56
Speaker 2: I don't think they'll do like a personal type deal.
12:01
Speaker 2: But Matthew Boyd is a guy who makes sense. Not
12:03
Speaker 2: that he's the only starter who can do this, but
12:08
Speaker 2: you know, he's so well prepared. He has such a
12:11
Speaker 2: pleasant demeanor as a left hander with a great pickoff move,
12:15
Speaker 2: he can really control the running game, which takes you know,
12:19
Speaker 2: one element off of Moysus's plate, so to speak. So
12:25
Speaker 2: you know we've gone through this before with certain catch
12:28
Speaker 2: You know, pitchers usually say the right things about catchers,
12:31
Speaker 2: and Matthew Boyd is such a nice guy. He's not gonna,
12:33
Speaker 2: you know, rip someone, but he Boyd has been playing
12:36
Speaker 2: attention like he's thrown to Moyses since spring training last year.
12:40
Speaker 2: He has a new free agent and it's sort of
12:42
Speaker 2: been been tracking this and you know, it was really
12:46
Speaker 2: spoken highly of his willingness to work council raves about
12:53
Speaker 2: biasteriosis instincts. Boyd and Ben Brown have both made this
12:57
Speaker 2: point separately of like he's such a good hitter that
13:00
Speaker 2: he understands the strike zone and that you know, is
13:04
Speaker 2: applicable to his defensive responsibilities behind the plate as well.
13:08
Speaker 2: So it's like Visaras begins a year in this you know,
13:14
Speaker 2: not quite part time role, but definitely not a full
13:16
Speaker 2: time role, you know, the kind of strong side platoon
13:19
Speaker 2: bat as a d h As you say, hits the
13:24
Speaker 2: crap out of the ball. Gives me a chance to
13:27
Speaker 2: ask counsel if he'll hit four hundred this year, which
13:32
Speaker 2: he said, which he he laughed even harder at that one.
13:34
Speaker 2: He said, get back to me in June. But like
13:38
Speaker 2: you can see on social media, like people want to
13:42
Speaker 2: see this guy hit and Rick Sutcliffe, you know, he
13:45
Speaker 2: said it on one of the broadcasts in San Diego,
13:47
Speaker 2: like the Kyle Schelbrook comparisons, like he hit that grand
13:50
Speaker 2: slam into Schwoberland, and it's like, how good is biasterious
13:56
Speaker 2: as a catcher, Like he hits grand slams. Like so
13:59
Speaker 2: I think if you sort of like play this out,
14:04
Speaker 2: he's not there yet, but if he could become a
14:09
Speaker 2: viable semi regular catcher like who's also a middle of
14:14
Speaker 2: the order presence and makes essentially a minimum salary, Like
14:19
Speaker 2: you're talking about one of the most valuable players in
14:21
Speaker 2: the game period.
14:22
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, So, you know, we hear things about how
14:26
Speaker 1: people feel about young players, their work eth they cut
14:30
Speaker 1: when they come in and like they rape, Like behind
14:34
Speaker 1: the scenes, people rave about him. And I mean when
14:36
Speaker 1: I say that, I mean coaches, teammates, those are maybe
14:40
Speaker 1: that's not always what matters the most, like because the
14:42
Speaker 1: front office is going to dictate who comes up, who
14:45
Speaker 1: stays and all that stuff, but like that he's he's
14:49
Speaker 1: stood out about that, Like for even you know, last
14:53
Speaker 1: year when he came up, they they I think his
14:55
Speaker 1: teammates really appreciate the work he puts in, and obviously
14:58
Speaker 1: counsels highlighted this blade. You know, it's not just that
15:04
Speaker 1: he has things to say, it's that he's willing to
15:06
Speaker 1: speak up and then give unique insight like that takes
15:11
Speaker 1: that's hard to do when you're in a team meeting
15:14
Speaker 1: and there's all these veterans around and like it's not
15:18
Speaker 1: easy to have the confidence to say something and then
15:23
Speaker 1: actually say something that's valuable and unique and insightful in
15:27
Speaker 1: helping Like that's hard to do in any circumstances. Really,
15:30
Speaker 1: like if you're around the best of the best, and
15:33
Speaker 1: like you're able to contribute and hold your own. That's impressive.
15:36
Speaker 1: And he's done that at a young age while you know,
15:39
Speaker 1: trying to acclimate to all these new things that are
15:42
Speaker 1: going on in his life. He's doing a really great
15:44
Speaker 1: job that like get to get this opportunity to catch.
15:48
Speaker 1: I think it matters when you have two very good
15:51
Speaker 1: catchers that you know, you're on a winning team, Like
15:55
Speaker 1: you talk about not this isn't a place to develop.
15:58
Speaker 1: This isn't a time for development as much like they're
16:02
Speaker 1: allowing him to do these things because they trust him,
16:04
Speaker 1: like it's not going to set them back.
16:06
Speaker 2: Uh.
16:07
Speaker 1: I think that, Like think about where we were a
16:09
Speaker 1: year and a half ago with Moyses's biasaers. What we
16:12
Speaker 1: were hearing you and I were hearing and others, you
16:15
Speaker 1: know around the team. What we were hearing from them
16:18
Speaker 1: was e catcher, He's going to be a really good hitter.
16:22
Speaker 1: He's going to hit. Now that that changed the what
16:26
Speaker 1: people were saying over the course of last summer and
16:28
Speaker 1: then this off season. It was a different tune. And
16:32
Speaker 1: that's that stuff that we were getting, Like when they
16:34
Speaker 1: were being completely honest that that changed. Uh So, like
16:39
Speaker 1: that that's credit to Moyses, Like what incredible work ethic.
16:44
Speaker 1: It takes a lot like these guys, you never know
16:46
Speaker 1: he doesn't like catching. I talked to a lot I've
16:50
Speaker 1: talked to a lot of people, like I'd say over
16:52
Speaker 1: the past couple of years, because the Cubs have been
16:54
Speaker 1: looking for catching. So I was curious, like, hey, is
16:57
Speaker 1: this prospect available that you guys have in your system?
17:00
Speaker 1: Would you be willing to trade with the Cubs? Do
17:02
Speaker 1: you need outfielders? And feels whatever? Right and and like
17:06
Speaker 1: and I was like I've heard this guy can't catch,
17:08
Speaker 1: like this guy and a lot of people in front
17:11
Speaker 1: office is like, look, that may be true now, but
17:13
Speaker 1: you just cannot say that about catchers, like definitively, Like
17:16
Speaker 1: these things change, and they sometimes some guys like it,
17:19
Speaker 1: Like they come into the miners and they're like, yeah,
17:21
Speaker 1: that guy can catch. That guy's good, Like he's really good,
17:24
Speaker 1: like an Ari Armis in the Cubs farm system. They
17:28
Speaker 1: they rave about his catching abilities. Can he hit enough
17:30
Speaker 1: to be a major leaguer? That's that's the question. But
17:34
Speaker 1: those guys are rare, Like a lot of times they're
17:36
Speaker 1: like these monsters on offense, and it's like, is he
17:39
Speaker 1: gonna figure this out? Will it click? Can he put
17:42
Speaker 1: in the work to get to that spot? Obviously there
17:45
Speaker 1: are physical limitations with with noises in a sense, but
17:48
Speaker 1: I don't ever think he's gonna be great. But I
17:50
Speaker 1: don't think it'll be because of a lack of effort
17:54
Speaker 1: on his part.
17:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, he put in the work to you get his
18:01
Speaker 2: physical conditioning into a good spot to where you see
18:07
Speaker 2: more of that potential. And you know, the way counsel
18:10
Speaker 2: explains it, like Bias Tereos is involved in the catching
18:16
Speaker 2: groups daily process, so like he's catching bullpen sessions, he's
18:22
Speaker 2: working on is throwing and receiving, you know, various drills.
18:28
Speaker 2: He's participating in meetings, so like he's definitely given himself
18:32
Speaker 2: a chance in that sense, and then he's obviously just
18:36
Speaker 2: forcing the issue. Like you know, he's you know, one
18:41
Speaker 2: of the one of the best hitters in a lineup
18:43
Speaker 2: that's supposed to score about runs like he is, you know,
18:47
Speaker 2: more than doing his part.
18:50
Speaker 3: Here.
18:51
Speaker 2: You see him hitting in the two spot, you know,
18:54
Speaker 2: against a team the Cub's face in the playoffs last year.
18:59
Speaker 2: You see him, you know, performing at Dodger stadium and
19:05
Speaker 2: he's twenty two years old. I mean, just very impressive obviously.
19:09
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's take a quick break in here
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Speaker 1: I'm for this weekend. I got Dansby Swanson staying hot
19:56
Speaker 1: with the power. I think Dansby Swanson's gonna hit a
19:59
Speaker 1: home run this weekend. It's hard to know when they're
20:02
Speaker 1: at Wrigley Field. I just don't know, Like it's hard
20:04
Speaker 1: to make these predictions. But who you got? Who you
20:07
Speaker 1: got to hit a home run for the Cubs this week?
20:10
Speaker 2: I gotta stick with Pete Krow Armstrong since I wrote
20:13
Speaker 2: I know I put a question mark in the headline,
20:15
Speaker 2: But is Pete Crow Armstrong heating up. I'm going to
20:17
Speaker 2: stick with that. I'm going to go with the narrative
20:20
Speaker 2: after him seeing him last year on the West Coast
20:24
Speaker 2: and how that momentum carried over. I think you're gonna
20:27
Speaker 2: see it, if only because it feels like he's due. Obviously,
20:32
Speaker 2: he's been great on defense. He can impact the game
20:35
Speaker 2: with his speed on the basis, but we just haven't
20:37
Speaker 2: had a whole lot of like the the like highlight
20:42
Speaker 2: reel moments offensively, just those huge swings. You know. Last
20:47
Speaker 2: year we were talking about him as the guy that
20:50
Speaker 2: you know, you don't want to miss his at bat,
20:52
Speaker 2: you don't want to be running at the concession stand
20:55
Speaker 2: or the bathroom, you know when he's due up. And
20:57
Speaker 2: he's just been a little quiet in that regard. Uh,
21:01
Speaker 2: he's starting to stir again, and I think even despite
21:05
Speaker 2: the conditions at Wrigley Fields, he's a guy I'll be watching.
21:10
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Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let me let me clean up this.
21:51
Speaker 1: Uh this stuff. It's always a chore for me. Figure
21:56
Speaker 1: out what buttons?
21:57
Speaker 2: Does that mean you're gonna put You're gonna put me
21:59
Speaker 2: on mute?
21:59
Speaker 1: That's I unmuted you. This time, I've figured that one out.
22:04
Speaker 1: I think I think I got that right. We'll see
22:07
Speaker 1: next time I'll screw it up. All right, One more
22:10
Speaker 1: thing I'm looking at. In May, we have we had
22:15
Speaker 1: any we have not. I just wanted to double check
22:17
Speaker 1: the schedule. There has been no NL Central games yet. No, No,
22:21
Speaker 1: they're sorry Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh the Pirates series. Yes, so, but
22:27
Speaker 1: this month they play all four teams once each, starting
22:32
Speaker 1: with Cincinnati next week. It is I believe thirteen What
22:38
Speaker 1: did I say? I counted this out before we started recording.
22:40
Speaker 1: Thirteen games I believe against the NL Central one series
22:44
Speaker 1: each I think this is a big month to figure out,
22:48
Speaker 1: you know, like who's real and who's not in this division.
22:51
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you saw before we started recording
22:53
Speaker 1: Patrick Brandon Woodriff was pulled with an injury. We'll see
22:57
Speaker 1: how bad Like he was throwing like eighty seven miles
23:00
Speaker 1: eighty six eighty seven. That's down, Like that's down like
23:03
Speaker 1: six miles per hour from what he was averaging for
23:05
Speaker 1: the season. Like not great. They're here's a before anyone
23:11
Speaker 1: writes off the Brewers. They're not short on talent in
23:14
Speaker 1: the minor leagues. They have a lot of guys ready.
23:16
Speaker 1: So if you're a Cubs fan, that's like, oh, maybe
23:19
Speaker 1: we don't have to worry about the Brewers. That like,
23:22
Speaker 1: injuries are piling up everywhere. The Reds are having a
23:25
Speaker 1: hell of a start. Some of the underlying numbers on
23:28
Speaker 1: offense suggests they may cool off. Saint Louis is playing
23:32
Speaker 1: much better than I expected, probably than anyone expected. I
23:36
Speaker 1: don't know if that lasts. Milwaukee's always good. They're just good.
23:40
Speaker 1: I know they're not great right now, and they've had
23:42
Speaker 1: some inconsistencies after that hot start, but they're good in Pittsburgh.
23:46
Speaker 1: They're pitching is scary and they have young talent, So
23:49
Speaker 1: I don't know if I would pick one to zero
23:52
Speaker 1: in on. Outside of saying like this division is better
23:55
Speaker 1: than any of us expected, I think coming in as
23:57
Speaker 1: a whole and who wh kind of like this, the
24:01
Speaker 1: things kind of filter out after this month. Do we
24:04
Speaker 1: see a month where it's the Cubs in the reds
24:06
Speaker 1: and everyone else starts losing? Or is it different team?
24:09
Speaker 1: So like who's gonna kind of emerge and kind of
24:12
Speaker 1: get hot going into the part of the summer.
24:17
Speaker 2: I'm looking at the schedule now and I think we
24:20
Speaker 2: have you down for Pittsburgh and Saint Louis at the
24:25
Speaker 2: end of the month. I don't want you to have
24:27
Speaker 2: too much fun in those cities. I know you probably
24:31
Speaker 2: got your plans already lined up for both of those
24:35
Speaker 2: glamorous stops on the NL Central Tour. Now, we love Pittsburgh, right,
24:44
Speaker 2: I am curious to see, like you said, like who
24:47
Speaker 2: emerges who doesn't? Like this is kind of that point
24:52
Speaker 2: where you do get a better sense of these teams,
24:56
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm not we can't right off the Brewers.
24:59
Speaker 2: I think it's kind of we've we've learned. I think
25:03
Speaker 2: the Cardinals they got to be benefiting from like just
25:06
Speaker 2: kind of a it seemed like said they were in
25:07
Speaker 2: this weird holding pattern for so long, like that sort
25:10
Speaker 2: of transitional year just awkward. Uh. And yeah, I look
25:16
Speaker 2: the Reds. They have talent, they have a Hall of
25:18
Speaker 2: Fame caliber manager, they have that you know, offensive friendly
25:25
Speaker 2: ballpark that just you know, kind of does things for
25:27
Speaker 2: their hitters. And I also feel too, like it's not
25:32
Speaker 2: you think, okay, you get back from the West Coast
25:35
Speaker 2: and facing a playoff team going through Dodger Stadium, like, oh,
25:38
Speaker 2: maybe it eases up now, Not really, I mean Diamondbacks, Reds. Uh,
25:43
Speaker 2: you know, the road trip to Texas, Atlanta, Crosstown on
25:47
Speaker 2: the south Side, Brewers, maybe the Astros. Maybe this is
25:51
Speaker 2: sort of it for that era of Houston. We'll see
25:55
Speaker 2: and then you know, your road trip there through the
25:59
Speaker 2: rest of the Central at the end of the month,
26:00
Speaker 2: like with a kind of a balanced schedule, a more
26:06
Speaker 2: balanced schedule, I should say, fewer teams tanking. It just
26:11
Speaker 2: seems like you really have to grind through it. And
26:14
Speaker 2: that's why kind of we that's why we led this
26:17
Speaker 2: off with the pitching, like it's always about the pitching.
26:19
Speaker 2: It revolves around like who's healthy, who can absorb innings,
26:23
Speaker 2: kind of playing that long game. That council is very
26:26
Speaker 2: good at, and that Tommy Hotevey and his group is
26:30
Speaker 2: pretty adept at finding solutions problem solving in real time.
26:36
Speaker 2: And I think that's going to really be put to
26:39
Speaker 2: the test here. It's not like they're just going to
26:41
Speaker 2: be you know, handed a division title or like, you know,
26:45
Speaker 2: a wild card out of the Central like it is.
26:47
Speaker 2: I gotta admit, we cover the offseason so closely at
26:51
Speaker 2: the Athletic and here on the Foul Territory Network, and
26:55
Speaker 2: you just like rarely hear about the rest of the
26:57
Speaker 2: Central right and you just kind of forget about them,
27:00
Speaker 2: and like they haven't they haven't gone away yet.
27:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I'm just looking to try and see, like
27:06
Speaker 1: what are the great units in in the NL Central.
27:10
Speaker 1: It's it's the Cubs offense is probably the best of
27:13
Speaker 1: the bunch, and then outside of that, there's no other
27:17
Speaker 1: like as far as top five in pitching or hitting
27:19
Speaker 1: in baseball, it's Pittsburgh's pitching stands out. Saint Louis is
27:25
Speaker 1: having a decent season offensively, We'll see like, that's like
27:29
Speaker 1: a lot of young guys Weatherholt Walker has had a breakout.
27:33
Speaker 1: It looks like we'll see how real that is, how
27:36
Speaker 1: long that can last. Milwaukee's pitching is kind of outperforming
27:39
Speaker 1: its peripherals. Cincinnati overall, Like this is this is very
27:44
Speaker 1: much if you look at the underlying numbers, they're about
27:47
Speaker 1: to come crashing down. Sometimes when that happens, the underlying
27:52
Speaker 1: numbers kind of change and it's like, hey, we banked
27:55
Speaker 1: all these wins when we actually weren't even playing our best,
27:58
Speaker 1: and then they start playing there like really good ball.
28:02
Speaker 1: You know, you could also attribute some of that to
28:05
Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame manager. I don't know, Like it's
28:08
Speaker 1: when when like guys outperform. There's all these theories, but
28:11
Speaker 1: right now, the underlying numbers say Cincinnati's not that great.
28:15
Speaker 1: Saint Louis pitching is rough, like that could be their
28:18
Speaker 1: downfall and probably will be. Uh, But like I I
28:24
Speaker 1: think it's it's really like I would still put it
28:26
Speaker 1: those four teams with Saint Louis probably falls behind it
28:30
Speaker 1: as the month goes on. But this is it's interesting
28:33
Speaker 1: to actually look at these numbers. I haven't paid much
28:35
Speaker 1: attention to the NL Central, just because the Cubs haven't
28:37
Speaker 1: been playing that much outside of just like kind of
28:40
Speaker 1: checking the standings. So I'm like, this next week we'll
28:45
Speaker 1: get our first taste of Cincinnati. Is this how real
28:48
Speaker 1: is their hot start? Can they live up? Can the numbers?
28:52
Speaker 1: Like what happens? Do they get do the numbers catch
28:54
Speaker 1: up to them? Or do do their numbers? Do they
28:56
Speaker 1: start putting up better numbers and adding to their win total?
29:00
Speaker 1: Because sometimes it's the best thing that can happen. You
29:03
Speaker 1: bank wins when you're not playing well. The Cubs are
29:05
Speaker 1: playing well and they're they're they should be happy that
29:08
Speaker 1: their banking wins despite all their injuries, because you have
29:12
Speaker 1: no idea like when the cold stretch comes.
29:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt it'll be. It'll be fun to kind
29:20
Speaker 2: of get into the rhythm of the season here at
29:24
Speaker 2: Riley Field. Maybe maybe we'll see the sun at some
29:27
Speaker 2: point in in May. You know, we can always always dream,
29:31
Speaker 2: But yeah, Cubs are We've been looking forward here. I
29:37
Speaker 2: think I think kind of wrap it up like looking backwards,
29:39
Speaker 2: like a lot of stuff went wrong. H James and
29:42
Speaker 2: Tyle made a good point. I asked him about this
29:45
Speaker 2: before we left San Diego. And he's like, it feels
29:49
Speaker 2: like this team isn't clicking yet. It certainly isn't fully
29:55
Speaker 2: healthy right now, and they're still winning games. And Tyne,
29:58
Speaker 2: who's is a student, as a stute and observer, as
30:01
Speaker 2: really anyone in that clubhouse, pointed out in some of
30:05
Speaker 2: these recent years here, there were times where I felt
30:07
Speaker 2: like the Cubs would hit well they couldn't pitch, or
30:10
Speaker 2: they'd pitch and they couldn't hit, and they kind of
30:12
Speaker 2: get in these cycles, whereas now like things aren't fully
30:17
Speaker 2: operational in all phases, but they're still finding ways to win,
30:21
Speaker 2: and I think that speaks to some resiliency that should
30:25
Speaker 2: help them in May. Yeah.
30:27
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think that's a good point and a good
30:30
Speaker 1: place to wrap it up. Let's wrap this baby up.
30:34
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with more episodes of Northside Territory.
30:37
Speaker 1: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
30:41
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic, where Patrick and I are
30:44
Speaker 1: on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for listening, everyone,
30:47
Speaker 1: Take care
31:04
Speaker 3: That the lady along the lead