Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / The playoff buzz is back at Wrigley Field

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The playoff buzz is back at Wrigley Field · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome into north Side Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick.
0:10
Speaker 1: Moody, and this is your first ever North Side Territory
0:14
Speaker 1: episode following a playoff game. Following a playoff victory, Patrick
0:21
Speaker 1: really was electric today.
0:24
Speaker 2: That was fun to cover it.
0:28
Speaker 1: Obviously, those who watched the game took a little while
0:31
Speaker 1: for the offense to show up, but by the fifth inning,
0:36
Speaker 1: I haven't heard that place like that in a while.
0:38
Speaker 2: It's it's really fun when it is like that.
0:41
Speaker 1: But back to back home runs by Saya, Suzuki Eras
0:44
Speaker 1: to one nothing lead, say a Suzuki Carson Kelly Eras
0:47
Speaker 1: to one nothing lead flipped it a two to one.
0:50
Speaker 1: Cubs didn't look back. That's as fun of a game
0:54
Speaker 1: as you'll experience. And just you know, the vibes were
0:59
Speaker 1: a mac as they say.
1:02
Speaker 3: Definitely, I think it brought back some flashbacks of remembering
1:10
Speaker 3: certain playoff moments. Those home runs did get a little
1:15
Speaker 3: bit of that shaking in the press box that we've
1:18
Speaker 3: felt before, not you know, to the nth degree, but
1:22
Speaker 3: I kind of came out of Wrigley Field feeling like
1:24
Speaker 3: this could be building towards something.
1:27
Speaker 4: I feel like just the way they won and how.
1:33
Speaker 3: People kind of had this pent up energy for October
1:37
Speaker 3: baseball at Wrigley Field, and I think today was an
1:39
Speaker 3: amazing atmosphere but still had a lot of kind of
1:43
Speaker 3: room to grow, like if this kept keeps going, and
1:46
Speaker 3: I thought they kind of won this game in ways
1:50
Speaker 3: that showed how they could advance.
1:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, they they haven't had an opportunity to cheer at
1:59
Speaker 1: a playoff game, you know, twenty twenty obviously, no fans
2:03
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, there's no reason to cheer those games that
2:07
Speaker 1: the offense broke, and in twenty seventeen was the last
2:12
Speaker 1: time we felt this and those were fun games against
2:15
Speaker 1: the Nationals. The Dodgers not as much, but you know,
2:19
Speaker 1: fans had reason to cheer, and you're right, like this
2:22
Speaker 1: game kind of had Craig Council said that, you know,
2:26
Speaker 1: it's going to be tough to score runs.
2:27
Speaker 2: He kind of had that feeling about this series.
2:29
Speaker 1: We'll see how it is Wednesday and if needed on Thursday.
2:34
Speaker 2: But he was absolutely right.
2:38
Speaker 1: And a big you know, like we saw like a
2:42
Speaker 1: lot of what made the Cups good over this season.
2:46
Speaker 1: Power they they went when they're going right, they hit
2:49
Speaker 1: for power. The bullpens stepped up, the starting pitching. You know,
2:54
Speaker 1: it's playoffs are different, you're managing differently. So Matthew Boyd
2:58
Speaker 1: was great. Like Matthew Boyd was, did what he needed
3:00
Speaker 1: to do. You look at the box scoring and C
3:02
Speaker 1: four and a third inning. If you grew up, if
3:05
Speaker 1: you're our age, you're like, what the hell is going on?
3:08
Speaker 1: But but you know, this is modern playoff baseball, and
3:11
Speaker 1: Craig Council handle it perfectly. I think, you know, I
3:15
Speaker 1: almost forgot about it. But Dansby's are defense really saved
3:20
Speaker 1: some runs early on. The Padres could have tacked on
3:27
Speaker 1: quite a few times, and Dansby made some plays saved
3:31
Speaker 1: They really saved the game.
3:32
Speaker 2: Probably the unsung hero of that game.
3:36
Speaker 3: You felt that nervous energy, you know, early in a
3:41
Speaker 3: playoff game, and the way Paveta was pitching it was
3:48
Speaker 3: relatively subdued, i'd say in terms of the crowd's reaction,
3:52
Speaker 3: but the Cubs were kept it close, remained in striking
3:57
Speaker 3: distance because of just two great plays that Dan's be made.
4:02
Speaker 3: And I you know, we've listened to so much Craig
4:06
Speaker 3: Counsel that like his voice was in my head after
4:08
Speaker 3: watching dance we make that over the shoulder catch, It's
4:10
Speaker 3: like that's like hitting home run, you know, it's like
4:12
Speaker 3: it's taking a run away, like when you when you
4:14
Speaker 3: think about it in those terms, you understand how this
4:18
Speaker 3: Cubs team was built. And so that's kind of what
4:21
Speaker 3: I dance We obviously has a great perspective as someone
4:24
Speaker 3: who's won World Series in Atlanta, someone who decided to
4:27
Speaker 3: sign up for a rebuild here, and you and I
4:31
Speaker 3: both have had these ongoing conversations with him literally for
4:34
Speaker 3: years now of kind of how this group was put together.
4:38
Speaker 3: A lot of it had the long haul of one
4:41
Speaker 3: hundred and sixty two game season in mind, and it's
4:43
Speaker 3: kind of the stuff that's not super glamorous, doesn't always
4:47
Speaker 3: have a wow factor, but like pitching, depth, defense, opportunistic
4:54
Speaker 3: base running, you run into a pitch and winds up
4:59
Speaker 3: in the bleed. And I thought he made a good
5:01
Speaker 3: point of just saying you the postseason is not this
5:04
Speaker 3: sort of like mystery, like you're you're good can be
5:08
Speaker 3: great in the postseason, and he stressed that this group
5:11
Speaker 3: has done this all year. It's just going to be
5:15
Speaker 3: more magnified because more people are seeing it. But if
5:19
Speaker 3: you've been watching the entire arc of this season and
5:23
Speaker 3: really this entire organizational rebuild, like that was kind of it.
5:27
Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean it's like mission accomplished, but you
5:30
Speaker 3: kind of see like, oh, Okay, this is how the
5:34
Speaker 3: forty million dollar manager is gonna line it up. And
5:37
Speaker 3: oh they're in the position because of those momentum shifting
5:40
Speaker 3: game turning plays. And then if you do just enough offense,
5:45
Speaker 3: an offense that you were very optimistic about, soha, to
5:47
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, you know, go Cubs Go is
5:50
Speaker 3: playing and the crowds walking home happy out of really field.
5:56
Speaker 1: You know, dasy By Swanson takes a lot of heat
5:59
Speaker 1: at times because he's not this monstrous offensive force and
6:02
Speaker 1: he's paid a lot of money. But Jed Hoyer I
6:06
Speaker 1: remember having conversations with him that that offseason with the
6:09
Speaker 1: monster first stop class, and you know, we weren't one
6:14
Speaker 1: hundred percent sure what direction we were going, but we
6:16
Speaker 1: had pretty good feeling that Dansby Swanson may be the guy.
6:20
Speaker 2: You know, prices, whether it's prices or whatever.
6:23
Speaker 4: It may be.
6:25
Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer wanted defense. He saw how he won, how
6:28
Speaker 1: he won a World Series in twenty sixteen. He rarely
6:31
Speaker 1: felt up the middle defense would be a difference making aspect,
6:36
Speaker 1: and I think plays like that that.
6:39
Speaker 2: Dansby Swanson made it changed. It changed game one.
6:43
Speaker 1: And it may be the type of thing that you
6:46
Speaker 1: know it's going to go overlooked if the Cubs make
6:49
Speaker 1: a deep run, but you know, you win the first
6:52
Speaker 1: game of a three game set.
6:53
Speaker 2: It's huge in these playoffs and if.
6:56
Speaker 1: They're going to make a deep run, those little things
6:58
Speaker 1: matter and these are the things that we're gonna forget
7:01
Speaker 1: about if they if they go deep. But it changed
7:05
Speaker 1: that game. And yeah, Saya Suzuki, uh, you know, I
7:10
Speaker 1: think a week ago, neither one of us would have been,
7:14
Speaker 1: you know, surprised if maybe Moises by a stero somehow
7:18
Speaker 1: snuck in there and was getting some at bats because
7:21
Speaker 1: Seya Suzuki was cold.
7:22
Speaker 2: He hadn't done a lot.
7:24
Speaker 1: And this is this is part of the reason why
7:28
Speaker 1: Craig Council is so adamant about it. And I get
7:31
Speaker 1: it when when you stick with your veterans and you
7:34
Speaker 1: want you need them to get hot, because this is
7:37
Speaker 1: what happens in the playoffs. Your veterans can do that
7:40
Speaker 1: I thought Ian have made a good point like this
7:43
Speaker 1: isn't new for Saya.
7:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's new for.
7:45
Speaker 1: Him in Major League Baseball, but he played in big
7:49
Speaker 1: games in Japan. Uh, he's experienced this. Uh he he's
7:55
Speaker 1: put up big numbers before. It's like, there are certain
7:59
Speaker 1: things that you just need to you need to trust
8:02
Speaker 1: your guys. It doesn't always work. I think Moisberspy Serius
8:05
Speaker 1: is a really good player, but I think, you know,
8:07
Speaker 1: this last week is shown like, oh yeah, say this
8:10
Speaker 1: is who Key probably should have been an All Star
8:12
Speaker 1: and it seems to have found his stroke. It just,
8:17
Speaker 1: you know, a huge swing of the bat, Carson Kelly's
8:20
Speaker 1: was that That was the most fun covering this team
8:24
Speaker 1: it's been in a while, the Carson Kelly home run,
8:26
Speaker 1: because I like, I like that energy.
8:28
Speaker 2: You feel like it was a.
8:29
Speaker 1: High arcing home run and you're not sure if it's
8:32
Speaker 1: gonna get out, and you hear the fans like are.
8:35
Speaker 2: We gonna explode? Are we gonna explode? And then they
8:38
Speaker 2: go nuts and you just you feel it. It's fun.
8:41
Speaker 2: It's fun to be there.
8:42
Speaker 1: You know, we're all doing our job and getting work
8:44
Speaker 1: done at that moment, but.
8:46
Speaker 2: Feeling that energy even if we're not the.
8:49
Speaker 1: Ones, you know, screaming and yelling in the stands, it's
8:53
Speaker 1: it's an exciting moment for everyone, so that those that
8:56
Speaker 1: crescendo and building up, Okay, are they gonna explode?
8:59
Speaker 2: Ye?
9:00
Speaker 1: Here it is and that's Those are those unforgettable moments,
9:04
Speaker 1: probably the you know, postseason wise, like what Miguel Montero
9:08
Speaker 1: Grand Slam was the last time we felt something like that. Uh,
9:12
Speaker 1: and that was and those were also back to back
9:14
Speaker 1: home runs Miguel Montero to Dexter Fowler. Those are just
9:20
Speaker 1: those unforgettable fun moments in sports when you're when you're
9:23
Speaker 1: covering a team like this.
9:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, this is the moment that had to happen.
9:26
Speaker 3: I know Jed Hoyer got his contract extension before the
9:29
Speaker 3: trade deadline, and I know that there's been lots of
9:33
Speaker 3: good individual performances on this team, but like you're saying that,
9:42
Speaker 3: we had not gone into a postgame playoff clubhouse at
9:48
Speaker 3: really Field since twenty eighteen, which is a lot of
9:52
Speaker 3: just you know, John Lester's saying versions of we got
9:56
Speaker 3: our ass.
9:56
Speaker 4: Kicked, and maybe that's a good thing. I think he
9:58
Speaker 4: used a different frame.
10:00
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna say, but it's a good phrase too.
10:05
Speaker 3: And then you have the last winning i mean, the
10:07
Speaker 3: last winning pitcher for the Cubs in the postseason game
10:10
Speaker 3: throughout the first pitch.
10:11
Speaker 4: Today, Jake Ariana. Yeah.
10:14
Speaker 3: And so you see them bringing back Jake Eddie Vedder
10:17
Speaker 3: singing the seventhing stretch National TV.
10:20
Speaker 4: I think it was an ABC game kind.
10:23
Speaker 3: Of beaming Wrigley Field across the country. Like you can
10:30
Speaker 3: talk about process, you can point to all these positive developments,
10:34
Speaker 3: but like until that happens, it it doesn't really matter.
10:40
Speaker 3: And it kind of struck me waiting to get into
10:41
Speaker 3: the clubhouse after the game today.
10:43
Speaker 4: Of all these years I kept.
10:45
Speaker 3: Seeing it was like Bias Bryant, Rizzo Rizzo, Bias Bryant.
10:50
Speaker 4: And you know, no one.
10:54
Speaker 3: Should you know, burn those jerseys or anything like that,
10:57
Speaker 3: but it's just such a reminder that there has been
11:00
Speaker 3: this void for years of whether it was the personalities,
11:04
Speaker 3: and Pek Armstrong has you know, kind of made progress
11:08
Speaker 3: in that area and kind of filled that void a
11:10
Speaker 3: little bit. And obviously, you know, there are talented players
11:15
Speaker 3: up and down this roster, that's why they won ninety
11:17
Speaker 3: two games, but like it, you could just sense that
11:21
Speaker 3: Cubs fans were waiting for some sort of moment like this,
11:25
Speaker 3: and they got I was, and you know they gotta
11:28
Speaker 3: gotta go back Wednesday afternoon. We'll see, like how long
11:31
Speaker 3: the good vibes last. But right, I'm sure it be
11:33
Speaker 3: a fun night Wrigleyville for those partaking.
11:37
Speaker 1: Absolutely right, let's come back and talk about that that bullpend,
11:41
Speaker 1: just the pitching in general, it's, you know, lined up
11:45
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12:49
Speaker 1: It seemed pretty obvious that Craig Council. I think we
12:53
Speaker 1: all knew he was going to be very aggressive with
12:55
Speaker 1: how he used his bullpen when he was pulling his
12:58
Speaker 1: starting pitchers. We just you know, you listen to him.
13:03
Speaker 1: The playoffs are so different. He knows that he's going
13:05
Speaker 1: to manage differently. Uh, he has to. I think it's
13:10
Speaker 1: the right move with what he has to work with
13:14
Speaker 1: right now, and not that these starting pitchers are bad.
13:16
Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd was great. The one run he allowed it
13:20
Speaker 1: was a bloop double to Jackson Merrill. And then and
13:24
Speaker 1: then Xander Bogart's ripped a double. That was a yeah, yeah,
13:29
Speaker 1: that was uh. But to limit it to one, great
13:33
Speaker 1: job by him. We talked about Dansby Swanson, but great
13:35
Speaker 1: job by him to as well not not give up
13:38
Speaker 1: much more hard contact after that, Uh, kept it to one,
13:41
Speaker 1: and then you knew you knew the way that game
13:44
Speaker 1: was going. Two times through the order kind of felt
13:47
Speaker 1: like this is what's going to happen. The righty's at
13:50
Speaker 1: the top were coming. Fernando Tatis Uh. I gotta say
13:55
Speaker 1: when I saw Daniel Palencia warming up, I was like, Okay,
13:58
Speaker 1: that's what he's doing. Interesting And he did a great
14:01
Speaker 1: job coming in getting those first two guys that he
14:04
Speaker 1: had to get out with a man on. I was
14:07
Speaker 1: shocked that he gave him an updown, that he put
14:10
Speaker 1: him in again for another inning. Our boy Jesse Rogers
14:14
Speaker 1: loves to harp on the updowns. Council won this round
14:18
Speaker 1: with that. I did not expect it to happen. I
14:22
Speaker 1: didn't know if it was gonna go. Well, you're facing
14:24
Speaker 1: the heart of the order. This guy's amped up, ready
14:28
Speaker 1: to go and just mowed those guys down. I mean,
14:31
Speaker 1: boguards did hit the ball hard again, but it didn't matter.
14:34
Speaker 1: Like you know, PCAs out there in center field. That's
14:37
Speaker 1: what you got a good defense for. Like that outing,
14:41
Speaker 1: what he went through, whether you're talking about off season,
14:44
Speaker 1: you know, being kind of off our radars, guy with
14:47
Speaker 1: stuff rededicates himself in the off season mentally and physically,
14:54
Speaker 1: doesn't make the team out of spring training, ends up,
14:57
Speaker 1: the closer gets hurt, loses the closer job, comes back
15:02
Speaker 1: for two outings.
15:03
Speaker 2: That's it. Two outings, not high leverage.
15:05
Speaker 1: Nothing comes out there one and two thirds in the playoffs,
15:09
Speaker 1: that's huge outs. And then the bullpen as a whole
15:13
Speaker 1: was perfect, nothing, nothing allowed. And we've talked about the
15:16
Speaker 1: Padres bullpen and that's an awesome bullpen. And we still
15:20
Speaker 1: have two more games for the Cubs to face them,
15:22
Speaker 1: and they're going to be a factor. But God, props
15:25
Speaker 1: to this bullpen, Props to Danil Palencia. These guys, Drew
15:30
Speaker 1: Pomerants off the you know, out of nowhere coming and
15:34
Speaker 1: being a dominant lefty. Brad Keller non roster invite, just
15:38
Speaker 1: just a great job and Kittridge, who's getting the start tomorrow.
15:43
Speaker 4: Classic.
15:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great inning as well. I don't know, I
15:46
Speaker 1: just gotta like it's a you know, not big names.
15:49
Speaker 1: Nobody in the national outside of Chicago, No national news
15:53
Speaker 1: org is gonna be talking about this bullpen or was
15:56
Speaker 1: saying great things about this bullpen. But there's these guys
16:00
Speaker 1: been really good, especially this core group that pitched today.
16:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think if the Cubs hadn't gone through such
16:07
Speaker 3: an extreme offensive lull in the second half there, we
16:12
Speaker 3: might have talked about the bullpen a little bit more because,
16:14
Speaker 3: as you saw, they're putting up zeros like left and right.
16:20
Speaker 3: But the Cubs didn't win enough of those games to
16:23
Speaker 3: you know, take down the Brewers or put up, as
16:26
Speaker 3: counsel would say, a really really big number in terms
16:29
Speaker 3: of wins. It was more like, Okay, bullpen just kind
16:33
Speaker 3: of quietly does its job. There's a lot of competence,
16:38
Speaker 3: as we've written in terms of kind of they're pitching development,
16:43
Speaker 3: they're pitching infrastructure, their game planning system. And I got say,
16:49
Speaker 3: I was curious to see, Okay, yeah, that's one thing
16:54
Speaker 3: to kind of match up against some five hundred team,
16:59
Speaker 3: say in August or to kind of, you know, win
17:03
Speaker 3: series on the roads against non contenders, or just kind of,
17:08
Speaker 3: you know, keep it close. But to do it on
17:11
Speaker 3: that stage in that moment, I thought was extremely impressive.
17:18
Speaker 3: I think it's I mean, it's possible not to walk
17:20
Speaker 3: away from that performance and be like wow. And this
17:24
Speaker 3: is not really a bullpen that has a lot of
17:26
Speaker 3: like wow factor, but you can see, all right, this
17:32
Speaker 3: is why you hire counsel, this is why you kind
17:36
Speaker 3: of totally overhaul your pitching development system. You retain someone
17:43
Speaker 3: like Tommy Hottevey h and you kind of put in
17:46
Speaker 3: the work and as Jed says, you never stop. It's
17:51
Speaker 3: like a volume game, shots on goal, whatever analogy you
17:54
Speaker 3: want to.
17:54
Speaker 4: Use, it's it's yeah, Brad Keller.
17:57
Speaker 3: You showed up in spring training and you wanted to
17:59
Speaker 3: write about Brad Keller because you were you were had
18:02
Speaker 3: a had a clue that they were pretty high on him.
18:05
Speaker 4: But I didn't see him.
18:07
Speaker 3: I mean saving a playoff game at Wrigley Field and
18:10
Speaker 3: Drew Pomeran's it was like a dollar to pick him
18:13
Speaker 3: up from the Mariners and assuming the balance of his
18:17
Speaker 3: major league a major league contract as well, I mean Palencia,
18:24
Speaker 3: Kid Ridge, like it's also I think reflection too of
18:30
Speaker 3: how the Cubs manage that group over the course of
18:32
Speaker 3: the season. You look at their appearances, it wasn't crazy high. Uh,
18:36
Speaker 3: it seems like there's still still something left in the tank.
18:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's you know, that's a great point
18:43
Speaker 1: because fans especially and you know, people watching from the
18:50
Speaker 1: outside looking in, will say, why didn't you use this
18:52
Speaker 1: guy in this moment and you lost a game or
18:54
Speaker 1: you cost your team a game.
18:56
Speaker 2: Counsel's diligent about that. A guy is down, he's down.
19:01
Speaker 1: They'd make those decisions before the game, and there's no
19:04
Speaker 1: gray area.
19:05
Speaker 2: He's down. He's not an option for me, and he
19:09
Speaker 2: sticks to it.
19:10
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it costs him a game, because
19:13
Speaker 1: he believes it could win you multiple more games down
19:15
Speaker 1: the line. You know, maybe that that won them a
19:20
Speaker 1: game today and maybe it'll win them more in October,
19:23
Speaker 1: because the guys really aren't going to have days off
19:26
Speaker 1: going forward, Like now's the time when you ride him,
19:29
Speaker 1: you know, And I mean, I just I love like
19:34
Speaker 1: bullpens to as far as trying to figure all this
19:38
Speaker 1: stuff out, it's maddening, like trying to predict it, but
19:42
Speaker 1: I kind of love how random it is every year,
19:45
Speaker 1: and this is I try and emphasize this. People are like,
19:48
Speaker 1: what's what, what's Jed Hoyer doing picking up Drew Pomeranz?
19:53
Speaker 1: What a waste of time? This guy's done like he does,
19:55
Speaker 1: like he's in triple A. He can't even he's not
19:58
Speaker 1: even on a major league roster. How's he gonna help
20:00
Speaker 1: a team that wants to make the playoffs? You just
20:03
Speaker 1: don't know what are they doing signing this Brad Keller guy.
20:06
Speaker 1: He was defaed by the White Sox, one of the
20:10
Speaker 1: best relievers going right now, Like I I don't know
20:14
Speaker 1: what's going to happen with these relievers. Nobody does. So
20:18
Speaker 1: when when they pick someone up and you haven't heard
20:20
Speaker 1: of them, don't say who's this guy? He stinks? Like
20:24
Speaker 1: just except that we cannot predict what's gonna happen with relievers,
20:28
Speaker 1: Like somebody that was terrible last year could be great
20:31
Speaker 1: this year. Danny Palencia has struggle. Last year, Porter Hodge
20:34
Speaker 1: was the closer and dominant. Porter Hodge couldn't break the
20:38
Speaker 1: postseason roster. And Daniel Palencia has made got five insanely
20:43
Speaker 1: huge outs. Uh, it's just I love the randomness of it.
20:48
Speaker 1: It is again, it is maddening to cover because like
20:51
Speaker 1: I'd like some sense of knowing what's going to happen.
20:55
Speaker 1: But it's kind of fun in another way because it's like,
20:58
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna know, Like I I could have looked
21:01
Speaker 1: like a pool for writing about Brad Keller. On my
21:03
Speaker 1: first day of spring training. I show up and see
21:06
Speaker 1: that he's throwing in the upper nineties. I'm like, that's
21:08
Speaker 1: kind of cool. It may not matter. I may better
21:10
Speaker 1: take advan advantage of this opportunity. I may never write
21:12
Speaker 1: about this guy again, and he turns out to be
21:15
Speaker 1: this insanely I think the story was about Keller and Palencia.
21:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, you did know it was funny because I remember
21:22
Speaker 3: I think I had to the way we staggered our
21:24
Speaker 3: spring training schedule. I basically had some version of an
21:27
Speaker 3: Alex Bregmant headline maybe for ten straight days, and then
21:31
Speaker 3: it kind of resolved, I think when I was leaving.
21:34
Speaker 3: And then You're like, I think we would write about
21:36
Speaker 3: Valencia and Keller, and I'm like, whatever floats your boat, man,
21:40
Speaker 3: you know, like we I was, but I was. We
21:43
Speaker 3: needed we needed one, a change of pace in the
21:46
Speaker 3: daily coverage anyways, And I did trust your instincts on that,
21:50
Speaker 3: and I remember reading Council's quotes like he was like,
21:55
Speaker 3: you know, he definitely confirmed it. I was like, that's interesting.
22:00
Speaker 3: You know, we're onto something. That's a good question.
22:02
Speaker 4: And it wasn't the like it's you know, first couple
22:05
Speaker 4: of days of spring training. What are you talking about?
22:07
Speaker 2: Yeah.
22:08
Speaker 1: When he didn't deny it and actually engaged on it,
22:11
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, okay.
22:12
Speaker 2: I just thought I was, you know, searching for a
22:16
Speaker 2: story here. Ay, one, I just landed and wanted to
22:18
Speaker 2: get something out there.
22:20
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's fun, you know, this type of
22:22
Speaker 1: stuff is great to write about. It's great to dig into.
22:26
Speaker 1: It bakes the job a little bit easier in a
22:28
Speaker 1: sense because it's like, this is a great story. This
22:30
Speaker 1: is an easy story. Like these guys come out of nowhere.
22:32
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's that's fun and that's interesting. All right, let's
22:36
Speaker 1: take a break and you know, a more Craig Council
22:41
Speaker 1: pitching weirdness. I think we can just as long as
22:44
Speaker 1: they're in October, we're gonna have to deal with this.
22:47
Speaker 1: So let's take a break and talk about that.
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23:51
Speaker 2: When talking to Craig Council.
23:53
Speaker 1: I can't remember what day was, but recently he didn't
23:57
Speaker 1: rule out openers. He said, you know that the Padres
24:02
Speaker 1: to struggle against lefties, but that top of that lineup,
24:09
Speaker 1: you may want a righty out there, and with two lefties,
24:12
Speaker 1: you know that we assume we're going one two. He
24:17
Speaker 1: basically wasn't ruling out someone opening the game, or showed
24:21
Speaker 1: him and I go, sure enough, it's an Andrew Kittridge.
24:24
Speaker 2: That's kind of a surprise.
24:26
Speaker 1: But you know, I think he was just looking at
24:27
Speaker 1: any righty, maybe anyone but Keller, probably because he just
24:32
Speaker 1: probably wants to deploy Keller in any fashion he can
24:36
Speaker 1: in different moments of the game. But who knows, maybe
24:39
Speaker 1: he considered Keller as well. But it's Kittridge. Kittridge has
24:44
Speaker 1: a rubber arm. I would not overthink him pitching on
24:48
Speaker 1: on Tuesday and being concerned about that. This guy, I
24:52
Speaker 1: don't even think he pitched that many through that many pitches,
24:57
Speaker 1: he's gonna face three batters and then you're gonna have
24:59
Speaker 1: a run, uh, assuming the Patres have the same lineup
25:03
Speaker 1: out there, and and and then.
25:05
Speaker 2: It showed him anog of time we'll see how he does.
25:08
Speaker 2: You know, I.
25:11
Speaker 1: Think playoff pitching handling, pitching staffs in the playoffs is
25:15
Speaker 1: so different nowadays that like us trying to predict it
25:19
Speaker 1: or understand it fully is is a little.
25:21
Speaker 2: Is a little difficult.
25:23
Speaker 1: Maybe you see some you know, Gar Crochet through a
25:26
Speaker 1: ton today. Uh, Derek Schouoble. The Cubs don't have that guy.
25:30
Speaker 1: So this is this is what Greg Counsel is doing.
25:32
Speaker 1: And you know, I think what Craig Council said it
25:35
Speaker 1: is opening press conference. If you're gonna like something about
25:38
Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer, Like if you're gonna he told Jed Hoyr
25:40
Speaker 1: if you're gonna hire me for how I handle a bullpen,
25:43
Speaker 1: don't hire me. Yeah, but you know what, this is
25:47
Speaker 1: why they hired you.
25:49
Speaker 3: Something like that. Get it right, dude, I mean it's
25:53
Speaker 3: it's funny. Today has made me think of lots of
25:59
Speaker 3: sort of player memories that you and I have experienced
26:04
Speaker 3: over the years. And just you know, seeing Arietta up
26:08
Speaker 3: on the screen and you know, one of the sort
26:11
Speaker 3: of conventions of playoff coverage is the next day starting
26:14
Speaker 3: pitcher does he goes to the interview room or the
26:17
Speaker 3: interview storage closet whatever it happens to be that year,
26:22
Speaker 3: and you remember, oh, like John Lester going up against
26:27
Speaker 3: Max Schurzer or he's going into New York or Arietta
26:33
Speaker 3: during that run of You know, I think you might
26:37
Speaker 3: have said that on Twitter at the time, but when
26:39
Speaker 3: he told, you know, Pittsburgh fans like, you know, I'm like,
26:43
Speaker 3: it doesn't matter, you know, I'm.
26:45
Speaker 2: Coming do whatever you want, none of just know that
26:47
Speaker 2: none of it matters or whatever.
26:50
Speaker 3: Just like the larger than my figures that starting pictures
26:55
Speaker 3: were in that twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen era
26:59
Speaker 3: was they just so heavily invested in starting pitchers and
27:03
Speaker 3: they have stayed so unbelievably healthy. The game changes, and
27:11
Speaker 3: you know, for the Cubs, just sort of as an aside,
27:15
Speaker 3: I don't know however long it was after the game ended,
27:17
Speaker 3: however long after we walked out of the club aspect,
27:20
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Kittridge tomorrow. Very symbolic of kind of how
27:26
Speaker 3: things have changed, how the Cubs organization. I know you
27:29
Speaker 3: remember this at of I think it was kind of
27:30
Speaker 3: a Cubs convention and maybe you asked to follow up
27:33
Speaker 3: of the idea of using openers and stuff like that,
27:38
Speaker 3: and I think it was maybe THEO and or Jed
27:41
Speaker 3: maybe separate times, just saying like, we are an organization
27:44
Speaker 3: that believe in starting pitching, and they still do, but
27:49
Speaker 3: they've definitely evolved along and changed along with the times.
27:53
Speaker 2: I believe it was a GM meetings.
27:55
Speaker 1: I don't remember what year it was, but yes, that
27:58
Speaker 1: specific answer, the one where he said we are I
28:01
Speaker 1: think that was Jed, but it could have been. I
28:03
Speaker 1: think you're right. I think both of them kind of
28:05
Speaker 1: emphasized that. But yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that distinctly
28:11
Speaker 1: because it like stuck in my head, like, Okay, maybe
28:14
Speaker 1: maybe he's right, maybe this isn't the trend. Maybe maybe
28:16
Speaker 1: it's just a fad. Clearly the game has changed. Uh,
28:21
Speaker 1: it's become a thing, and you know, they've tried to
28:24
Speaker 1: even change the rules around it to make it and
28:27
Speaker 1: and it has altered things slightly. But you know, I've
28:33
Speaker 1: talked to THEO about this a lot, because we both
28:35
Speaker 1: grew up loving starting pitching. Like he he talked about
28:38
Speaker 1: how he'd make his summer schedule around like count the
28:42
Speaker 1: days out, when can I go see Roger Clemens? And
28:45
Speaker 1: I remember doing that and when I when I first
28:48
Speaker 1: moved to the city. When can I go see carry
28:50
Speaker 1: Wood or Mark pryor pitch So like these are that's
28:55
Speaker 1: how you know, like when you're a baseball fan, that
28:57
Speaker 1: used to.
28:58
Speaker 2: Be how it is. I don't know fans that anymore.
29:01
Speaker 1: I know, Like when I took my kids the other day,
29:03
Speaker 1: like I was, like, my son was excited to see
29:06
Speaker 1: Kate Horton. So maybe he can be a throwback. But
29:09
Speaker 1: you know, these things aren't. It's just not the same
29:12
Speaker 1: as it used to be. And that's okay, Like it's
29:14
Speaker 1: still fun and like I said, like the.
29:16
Speaker 2: Unpredictability of it kind of makes it interesting. You know,
29:22
Speaker 2: he used to be a throwback. I don't think he
29:24
Speaker 2: is anymore.
29:25
Speaker 1: But going up against Dylan Cees, I.
29:27
Speaker 2: I know he struggled on the road. I know his
29:31
Speaker 2: numbers aren't great. I know people are gonna tell us.
29:34
Speaker 1: You and I both heard things that he's just not
29:37
Speaker 1: as good as he once was. I still would not
29:40
Speaker 1: overlook Dylan Cees. He can strike guys out. If he's
29:45
Speaker 1: locked in, it'll be a tough day. And all he
29:48
Speaker 1: needs to do is give them five and keep them limited,
29:53
Speaker 1: you know, limited to one or one or no runs,
29:56
Speaker 1: and he's probably in a good spot because I don't
30:00
Speaker 1: care who they use today, They're going to that bullpen
30:02
Speaker 1: probably after five again. Uh So I'm not I don't
30:06
Speaker 1: I'm not guaranteeing anything. I think the Cubs are obviously
30:09
Speaker 1: in a good spot. You win the first game of
30:11
Speaker 1: a three game postseason series, you're in a great spot.
30:15
Speaker 2: But this won't be easy against Dyllan Cease.
30:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got a Dylan See's story. It's from the
30:25
Speaker 3: way back machine, but I think speaks to what you
30:31
Speaker 3: just alluded to, Sahadev of like Dylan Cees was like
30:36
Speaker 3: freakishly athletic. That's why the Cubs you know, drafted him,
30:39
Speaker 3: they developed him. And Justin Steele told me a version
30:43
Speaker 3: of this story a while ago that Cees essentially confirmed
30:48
Speaker 3: uh this year of just how they were both when
30:50
Speaker 3: they were rehabbing at the Arizona Complex. They wound up
30:55
Speaker 3: at like a lifetime fitness or something like that. They're
30:58
Speaker 3: messing around play in basketball, and the way Steele described
31:03
Speaker 3: it was like you could tell Seas didn't play like
31:07
Speaker 3: a lot of basketball growing up, Like he was just
31:10
Speaker 3: super like baseball, almost robot growing up in Georgia. But
31:15
Speaker 3: like all of a sudden, he was doing these like
31:18
Speaker 3: windmill dunks and stuff like that, and that Seas was like, yeah,
31:23
Speaker 3: I can't really do that anymore. Like that was at
31:25
Speaker 3: the time of his career when they were just like
31:29
Speaker 3: training all the time, coming back from Tommy Johnson that
31:32
Speaker 3: he was just in like unbelievable shape and did not
31:34
Speaker 3: have any of that sort of.
31:35
Speaker 4: Like pitching soreness going on.
31:38
Speaker 3: But he's like yeah, He's like yeah, I could. I
31:40
Speaker 3: could throw him down. Back then, I just thought that
31:42
Speaker 3: was hilarious. The way Steal like he kind of like, uh,
31:48
Speaker 3: you know, mimicked the way like you know he's dried.
31:51
Speaker 3: Season is like, sorry, Steel's like dribbling in imaginary basketball,
31:55
Speaker 3: trying to explain it to me that, like.
31:57
Speaker 4: All grey wasn't all of a sudden you just like
31:58
Speaker 4: throwing them down.
32:00
Speaker 3: That's like, see, if he had like any sort of
32:03
Speaker 3: decent year, like we'd be everybody be talking about this
32:07
Speaker 3: enormous contract he beginning. I mean I remember, I want
32:10
Speaker 3: to say, maybe last offseason or even the season before,
32:13
Speaker 3: it was like he was, you know, gonna be that
32:17
Speaker 3: guy who's going to get a huge monster contract. I
32:21
Speaker 3: don't know what the offseason holds for him. Don't really
32:24
Speaker 3: know what to expect, but I'm I'm with you. I
32:27
Speaker 3: think there's something you just can't dismiss someone who's like
32:31
Speaker 3: been that spectacular at different points in his career and
32:34
Speaker 3: has that much raw talent.
32:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying I don't feel comfortable
32:40
Speaker 1: predicting either way. Like I don't know that he's going
32:43
Speaker 1: to dominate, and I don't know that the Cubs. The
32:46
Speaker 1: Cubs very well could just get to him. I do
32:50
Speaker 1: feel like they're guys having good at bats. I think
32:52
Speaker 1: Bick Pivetta is going to get down. Like I just
32:55
Speaker 1: submitted my Nlcy Young Award and I considered giving a
32:59
Speaker 1: down ballot.
32:59
Speaker 2: But to Nick Babetta, that's the type of season he's had.
33:01
Speaker 2: He's had a great season, and.
33:03
Speaker 1: He, like Dylan Sees, has a similar arsenal type thing,
33:09
Speaker 1: like he's going to attack you with the four seamer
33:11
Speaker 1: up and he's got a breaking ball and that's a
33:13
Speaker 1: lot of what he has and it could be similar
33:16
Speaker 1: and a little lesser, and maybe that's a good thing
33:18
Speaker 1: for the Cups. That's I think is how you spin
33:20
Speaker 1: it positively. The other thing is that the negative is
33:24
Speaker 1: if he's locked in and he's got the swing and
33:25
Speaker 1: miss stuff, it could be a long day and then
33:27
Speaker 1: you just and then you fall behind and now you're
33:31
Speaker 1: you're in a really difficult situation. I didn't say that earlier,
33:34
Speaker 1: but that was that was a huge thing that that happened.
33:37
Speaker 1: To get those two runs and to not have to
33:40
Speaker 1: be chasing against the bullpen was so big. It just
33:44
Speaker 1: completely changed how that dugout must have felt. You get
33:50
Speaker 1: those two runs and like it was, you know it.
33:53
Speaker 1: It changed everything and could be what changes the series.
33:57
Speaker 2: We'll see if they finished it off.
34:01
Speaker 1: You know, I think I saw a stat that, you know,
34:04
Speaker 1: these wildcard rounds are new, but if you win game one,
34:08
Speaker 1: you're undefeated in the series. That's that's what it's been. Eventually,
34:13
Speaker 1: that's gonna change. Cubs fans certainly hope it doesn't.
34:17
Speaker 4: For this series.
34:19
Speaker 1: Uh, we got we got one more at least, Patrick
34:22
Speaker 1: and maybe we'll be seeing another champagne celebration. We'll see
34:26
Speaker 1: what happens. We'll be back at it as soon as
34:29
Speaker 1: as soon as we can. After tomorrow's game, we'll be
34:32
Speaker 1: chatting with you guys. Thanks so much for listening. Everyone.
34:34
Speaker 1: This is Northside territory, Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast, make
34:38
Speaker 1: sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
34:41
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick, myself, John Greenberg, everyone,
34:45
Speaker 1: we're everyone is writing crazy amounts of work. Dennis Dennis
34:50
Speaker 1: Lynn covering the padres Uh. Make sure you're checking out
34:54
Speaker 1: our playoff work and subscribe to the Athletic. Thanks for
34:57
Speaker 1: listening everyone.
35:00
Speaker 8: He again. Any read
35:22
Speaker 6: The le