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Wrigley Field is rocking again · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:06
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
0:10
Speaker 1: Saha Dam Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are
0:13
Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. The
0:18
Speaker 1: Cubs are sixteen and ten. They look as good as
0:21
Speaker 1: any David Baseball right now. And I got to say, like,
0:25
Speaker 1: we've seen two games that are about as exciting as
0:29
Speaker 1: they come, both at home, both at Wrigley and and
0:33
Speaker 1: Wrigley Field has been up to the effort there. They
0:38
Speaker 1: are like the fans are packing the ballpark and the
0:43
Speaker 1: energy is back at Wrigley. It's something that I think
0:47
Speaker 1: we've seen in glimpses, right maybe the first packed house
0:52
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty one.
0:55
Speaker 2: Home run.
0:58
Speaker 1: We didn't quite get it in twenty three. I feel
1:01
Speaker 1: like there were moments, There were probably moments. There were
1:03
Speaker 1: moments in twenty three when they were hot, and I
1:06
Speaker 1: remember if they would have swept in London, you and
1:10
Speaker 1: I talked about, man, how Wrigly would have been insane,
1:14
Speaker 1: like like them coming back. There were some things that
1:17
Speaker 1: kind of dulled that right, like the weather got weird,
1:21
Speaker 1: the air quality that was the air quality, Yeah, Canadian
1:24
Speaker 1: wildfires rage yeah, yeah, yeah, so but right now, like
1:29
Speaker 1: this is it's been a while. It has been a while,
1:32
Speaker 1: i'd say pre pandemic since it felt like this. The
1:34
Speaker 1: combination of this team is good, like you feel confident
1:38
Speaker 1: that this team is good and the fans are showing up.
1:42
Speaker 1: The weather's kind of nice, like the weather has arrived too.
1:46
Speaker 2: It wrily.
1:47
Speaker 1: It's not quite you know, bright sunny days just yet,
1:50
Speaker 1: but the weather's nice. We don't have the green ivy yet,
1:54
Speaker 1: but it's starting. This This place is fun. It's fun
1:57
Speaker 1: to it's fun to you know, we're not sitting there
2:00
Speaker 1: cheering and and and you know, drinking beers, but it's
2:03
Speaker 1: fun to be in an atmosphere like that. It's fun
2:04
Speaker 1: to like work in an atmosphere like that. It makes
2:08
Speaker 1: it a little easier, uh, to go to work, Like
2:11
Speaker 1: it's easier to write pieces when you feel that energy.
2:14
Speaker 2: I feel like I thought.
2:16
Speaker 3: You outlined it all very well in your most recent
2:20
Speaker 3: piece on the athletic of the Cubs are becoming this
2:24
Speaker 3: must see attraction again, I think across baseball, if you
2:31
Speaker 3: look on social media, like these comebacks have drawn the
2:35
Speaker 3: attention beyond just the Wrigleyville neighborhood. You have Pete crow
2:43
Speaker 3: Armstrong kind of emerging as a star. You have Kyle
2:47
Speaker 3: Tucker as maybe you know, an early MVP front runner
2:51
Speaker 3: and like the number one free agent on next Winter's market.
2:55
Speaker 3: Potentially the way in which these games have been unfolded
3:01
Speaker 3: just absolutely bonkers, adding to the entertainment value as well.
3:07
Speaker 3: And I thought you explained it very succinctly of like
3:12
Speaker 3: this city is sort of starving for a winner. I
3:17
Speaker 3: was gonna say, just like basic competency, but I think
3:20
Speaker 3: the cops sort of cleared that bar. But when you
3:23
Speaker 3: when you look at some of the peer franchises in Chicago,
3:28
Speaker 3: it's been pretty bleak, and uh, you know, even Craig
3:35
Speaker 3: Council's kind of got swept up in it the other night.
3:40
Speaker 3: And you had followed up with him the next day
3:42
Speaker 3: at Wrigley and he said, look, this is a Tuesday
3:45
Speaker 3: night in April, like look around. And I thought for
3:49
Speaker 3: sure that Craig Council AI, you know, machine would have
3:53
Speaker 3: said something like, look, it's a long season. It's only
3:56
Speaker 3: one game. We got another game tomorrow, another game the
3:58
Speaker 3: day after that. But he said, no, I thinks this
4:01
Speaker 3: build resiliency, and that this is the these are the
4:04
Speaker 3: moments that can carry forward for a team, which is
4:07
Speaker 3: just not at all what I expected. But there is
4:11
Speaker 3: more dimensions to Craig Council, and there is you know,
4:14
Speaker 3: some unique characteristics already emerging about this team.
4:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, I oh, there was this moment that kind of
4:21
Speaker 1: hit me the other day when he said it postgame Tuesday.
4:26
Speaker 2: I remembered I wrote a column.
4:30
Speaker 1: Maybe it must have been it was twenty twenty one early,
4:33
Speaker 1: it was April, and the team was bad, they were
4:35
Speaker 1: not playing well, and and they were on Sunday Night
4:40
Speaker 1: baseball and it felt dead, and I wrote like this
4:43
Speaker 1: team basically, like the point of my piece was like
4:45
Speaker 1: this team doesn't deserve national attention.
4:48
Speaker 2: They have all these like they've.
4:49
Speaker 1: Squandered all the you know love they got from twenty
4:53
Speaker 1: sixteen and seventeen and those years of playoff runs. It's
4:58
Speaker 1: over and like it seems like this Corps is done.
5:01
Speaker 1: And you know, they went on a little mini run
5:03
Speaker 1: before the long losing streak right in twenty one, and
5:05
Speaker 1: obviously that the nail and the coffin that pushed Jet's
5:08
Speaker 1: hand to make the huge trades, but like it feels
5:12
Speaker 1: so different from that moment, like we're in the same
5:15
Speaker 1: time of year, things can change quickly. I'm not saying that,
5:18
Speaker 1: you know, anything's a lock. I tried to make that
5:20
Speaker 1: point in there, like you know, things happen they need to.
5:22
Speaker 1: This is an imperfect team, but when you're scoring the
5:26
Speaker 1: type of runs, when you're winning the way you win,
5:29
Speaker 1: when you're beating really good teams like these aren't middle
5:33
Speaker 1: tier teams, okay teams or like suddenly resurgenced teams. We're
5:37
Speaker 1: talking about probably the two best teams last year and
5:41
Speaker 1: the Padres and the Dodgers that didn't. You know, the
5:44
Speaker 1: Dodgers are probably better talent wise than last year, and
5:48
Speaker 1: the Padres. That team's tough, Like that team's really good.
5:52
Speaker 1: I think the Diamondbacks are really good, like they've faced
5:55
Speaker 1: the toughest competition. I mean, just I don't think it's
5:58
Speaker 1: much of a debate. I don't think I need to
6:00
Speaker 1: convince anyone. But the way they're winning, the way they're playing,
6:05
Speaker 1: it's just pure entertainment, right. It may not be the
6:07
Speaker 1: prettiest sometimes. Yes, I understand the questions about the bullpen.
6:11
Speaker 1: I understand when fans are like what about this or that, Yes,
6:16
Speaker 1: they need to improve. They need to continue to get
6:18
Speaker 1: better in different areas. But man, when when you're scoring runs,
6:21
Speaker 1: it's kind of like, you know, a passing game in
6:24
Speaker 1: the NFL. If you're just like like a high flying
6:27
Speaker 1: offense and you're racking up, you know, four hundred passing
6:30
Speaker 1: yards and you're just scoring forty points, that's really fun
6:35
Speaker 1: and entertaining. There may be imperfections in other areas, but
6:38
Speaker 1: how they're gonna give you an entertaining game and every
6:41
Speaker 1: single time out so far, there will be moments. Sunday
6:45
Speaker 1: was one, right, like the last game in San Diego
6:48
Speaker 1: was another. There will be moments where the offense doesn't
6:51
Speaker 1: fully like click. As long as you bounce back like
6:55
Speaker 1: you did Tuesday and Wednesday, nobody should complain. That's just baseball, right.
6:58
Speaker 1: It's a long season, and there will be moments. But
7:02
Speaker 1: like this this is a fun team that that just
7:06
Speaker 1: is not short on entertainment that like I just keep
7:08
Speaker 1: coming back to that. It's like like there's an energy
7:11
Speaker 1: and there's there's something about that feeling that they bring
7:13
Speaker 1: to the ballpark that you know, is it's just hard
7:17
Speaker 1: to deny and and you know, like like you mentioned
7:20
Speaker 1: and like I wrote, like this.
7:21
Speaker 2: The city just needs it so badly.
7:23
Speaker 1: Like the Bulls just I don't know what they are,
7:26
Speaker 1: just this middling franchise. Black Hawks, you know, they're rebuilding.
7:30
Speaker 1: Maybe in a few years they'll be entertaining the Bears exciting,
7:34
Speaker 1: but they still haven't won yet, right like we were.
7:36
Speaker 1: And then you can like point to the sky as
7:38
Speaker 1: being solid whatever, Like there's just not enough. The White
7:40
Speaker 1: Socks are terrible, like the other baseball fans in this
7:44
Speaker 1: town have like one of the worst teams in baseball.
7:47
Speaker 1: So this is like at least some fans and hopefully
7:50
Speaker 1: white Like I know white Sox fans don't love the Cubs,
7:53
Speaker 1: but you know, hopefully they can take some pride that
7:55
Speaker 1: the city has some uh some team that that're representing them.
7:59
Speaker 3: Well, there's definitely a Dodgers factor as well. I mean
8:05
Speaker 3: some of this is I guess unconfirmed, but we're on
8:10
Speaker 3: a podcast and just throw it out there, like minunderstand,
8:12
Speaker 3: Like in talking to people at Wrigley, like the Dodgers
8:14
Speaker 3: are rolling like six buses into Wrigley Field, like I
8:19
Speaker 3: think it was like a family staff trip as well.
8:23
Speaker 3: I mean we had heard that they needed like two
8:26
Speaker 3: charter planes on this trip just like a massive operation,
8:31
Speaker 3: like that's undeniable. Like maybe some of those details are
8:35
Speaker 3: a little hazy, but it gives you the sense of
8:37
Speaker 3: like kind of like the show coming to town, and
8:44
Speaker 3: you know, seven games against the Dodgers, the Cubs did
8:48
Speaker 3: not look out of place, did not look overmatched obviously,
8:55
Speaker 3: and it just created this sense of, you know, there'll
9:00
Speaker 3: be a fun matchup to see in October, and there's
9:04
Speaker 3: a long way to go still. Jed Hoyer emphasize that
9:08
Speaker 3: when I asked them about the schedule the other day,
9:10
Speaker 3: like Cub's had a pretty good start last April. They
9:14
Speaker 3: had a hard schedule last April. Like there is no
9:18
Speaker 3: there can't be any sort of exhale. But I think
9:23
Speaker 3: part of the entertainment factor too is the Cubs winning
9:27
Speaker 3: at a time when things aren't going perfectly and we
9:31
Speaker 3: can run down some of the quick bullet points here
9:34
Speaker 3: now Saha, they have of kind of the shape of
9:36
Speaker 3: the roster at this particular moment.
9:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's let's get to that.
9:39
Speaker 1: Let's let's take a quick break and we'll get to
9:42
Speaker 1: some of the news of the week.
9:44
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10:47
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, Good, there was some news this week.
10:51
Speaker 1: We got some moves on the roster. Obviously, we talked
10:55
Speaker 1: about Drew Pomerance. He was activated Wednesday, a quick cameo
11:02
Speaker 1: from Gavin Hollwell, who really saved that game on Tuesday.
11:05
Speaker 2: He looked pretty good. I'm my guess is we're gonna
11:08
Speaker 2: see him again.
11:10
Speaker 1: Beyond that cage Workman had a really rough night on
11:13
Speaker 1: Tuesday and he's been DFAD. I'm not sure if they'll
11:17
Speaker 1: be able to find a way to bring him back.
11:19
Speaker 1: But Nicki Lopez is here. Nicki Lopez signed to a
11:21
Speaker 1: major league deal, veterans stability, you know, can play good defense.
11:28
Speaker 1: My guess is he's gonna get plenty of time at
11:30
Speaker 1: third base with John Birdie probably are your primary third baseman.
11:36
Speaker 1: Breuhan seems like more of like a pinch runner type
11:39
Speaker 1: guy right now, and and Turner's not not going to
11:43
Speaker 1: get a ton of time at third like that's more
11:45
Speaker 1: of an emergency situation like we talked about in the spring.
11:47
Speaker 1: And then Javirasad with the setback. We'll get more information
11:52
Speaker 1: on that on Friday. I believe I think he's was
11:55
Speaker 1: on his way to Chicago when we talked to Craig
11:57
Speaker 1: Council on Wednesday, and you know, he essentially felt some
12:03
Speaker 1: pain in the side right in the left side. Again,
12:07
Speaker 1: was looking really good in his start as far as
12:10
Speaker 1: you know, looking at the box score out in Iowa,
12:13
Speaker 1: and unfortunately that was a setback.
12:16
Speaker 2: Am I missing anything? Was there any? Was there another move?
12:19
Speaker 3: Ryan Presley had present the need drained, had been dealing
12:24
Speaker 3: with some sort of lingering issue. That's why Porter Hodge
12:28
Speaker 3: closed out Wednesday nights. Win and Council said the hope
12:35
Speaker 3: is that Presley will be available Friday for the start
12:37
Speaker 3: of a three game series against the Phillies. But I think, look,
12:42
Speaker 3: we've seen urgency and how they're maneuvering the roster, particularly
12:48
Speaker 3: some of these bottom spots. You know, if Gage Workmen
12:52
Speaker 3: can't be trusted as a fielder, he has no business
12:55
Speaker 3: being on the team. Maybe he becomes a good player,
12:59
Speaker 3: an interesting developmental player, does not fit on a win
13:05
Speaker 3: now team. And then I think it's what we're just
13:08
Speaker 3: talking about. You don't get the sense that the Cubs
13:11
Speaker 3: are playing totally over their heads now. I think the
13:14
Speaker 3: offense will regress. Offense always sort of comes and goes.
13:18
Speaker 3: But they're finding ways to win. I mean winning in
13:25
Speaker 3: different ways, you know, different types of games, doing it
13:30
Speaker 3: against you know, high levels of competition, comeback wins that
13:41
Speaker 3: council thinks are important in terms of building kind of
13:45
Speaker 3: an identity or a mindset that can be carried through
13:50
Speaker 3: the rest of the season. So, you know, I think
13:54
Speaker 3: there's been this pent up energy that you've alluded to
13:57
Speaker 3: so hot of at Wrigley Field, and you're just kind
13:59
Speaker 3: of just seeing it now, And I'd imagine this weekend
14:04
Speaker 3: be rocking again, you know, Sunday Night baseball, Kyle Schwarber,
14:09
Speaker 3: Bryce Harbor, it was just a star Layden Phillies team,
14:13
Speaker 3: and we might finally be past the point of not
14:19
Speaker 3: totally looking at the Phillies and being like, why can't
14:21
Speaker 3: the Cubs build a team like that? Like there are
14:23
Speaker 3: enough strengths that have started to emerge that make you
14:27
Speaker 3: think this is going to be an entertaining summer at
14:30
Speaker 3: the friendly confience.
14:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely this, Uh I think what's a one thing
14:37
Speaker 1: that gives people pause, right is probably so I just
14:41
Speaker 1: wanted to check they're They're four and two in one
14:44
Speaker 1: run games, so nothing crazy, Like it's not like they've
14:46
Speaker 1: been winning a ton of close games or eking out
14:50
Speaker 1: these one run games. It's just just a couple in
14:52
Speaker 1: the last few in the last week, like games like Wednesday, Tuesday, Friday,
14:57
Speaker 1: those are tough to pull off, right.
14:59
Speaker 2: I appreciate what counsel is saying when.
15:01
Speaker 1: He says it like builds some character and and it
15:05
Speaker 1: shows some resiliency.
15:06
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you don't want to fall behind whatever.
15:09
Speaker 1: What was it? Eleven to to seven right, uh on
15:13
Speaker 1: on Friday? Uh ten to seven on on on Tuesday?
15:18
Speaker 1: Like you don't want to build these big leads and
15:20
Speaker 1: continue to lose them.
15:22
Speaker 2: Uh.
15:22
Speaker 1: There are There are a couple of things that I feel,
15:25
Speaker 1: and I feel strongly about this. I did not feel
15:28
Speaker 1: this way two weeks ago. I think the good I
15:32
Speaker 1: think the bullpen is fine. I do. I think it's okay.
15:35
Speaker 1: I don't think it's like this dominant force. But I
15:39
Speaker 1: like the group and I think what happened on Friday
15:42
Speaker 1: was largely on Porter Hodge, right. I mean, Jordan Wicks
15:44
Speaker 1: gave up three straight hits, but Porter Hodge gave up
15:47
Speaker 1: the majority of those runs. I think what you've seen
15:50
Speaker 1: since a Porder Hodge is the real Porter Hodge because
15:53
Speaker 1: everything before that and after that has been absolutely dominant,
15:57
Speaker 1: like just I mean filthy stuff.
16:00
Speaker 2: The last few.
16:01
Speaker 1: Days just just shut down the Dodgers and like some
16:04
Speaker 1: of their best hitters, and like, I am not concerned
16:08
Speaker 1: about him.
16:09
Speaker 2: Brad Keller, another guy had a terrible.
16:12
Speaker 1: Outing on on Tuesday, Right, I know fans aren't gonna
16:17
Speaker 1: trust him yet. I get that. He's like he's brand new.
16:21
Speaker 1: I've never had like this amazing, you know, run of success.
16:25
Speaker 1: He looks like a different picture to me. I am
16:27
Speaker 1: not concerned about him. I think he's one of their
16:29
Speaker 1: best relievers. If those two guys are giving up runs
16:32
Speaker 1: and costing, costing you games when when they actually won
16:35
Speaker 1: those games, they won those games. Right, in my mind,
16:38
Speaker 1: when I see stuff like that, right, what happened is
16:41
Speaker 1: you had the bad outings for your best relievers and.
16:44
Speaker 2: You won the game.
16:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, you will take that like that's like those are
16:48
Speaker 1: the types of things that you're like, Oh, something's happening here.
16:52
Speaker 1: Like they're getting the little those little bits of luck too.
16:55
Speaker 1: I think there's talent. I think I think there's a
16:58
Speaker 1: lot of things to be excited about with this team.
17:00
Speaker 2: I am. I'm not saying the bullpen is perfect.
17:03
Speaker 1: I'm not saying Jed Jed Carter and and council needs
17:07
Speaker 1: to continue, need to stop working at things or shuffling things,
17:10
Speaker 1: continue to look for better pictures, continue to work. Uh
17:14
Speaker 1: you know the trade lines. Uh, you know, make sure
17:18
Speaker 1: that July is active. Uh you know, the the waiver wire,
17:21
Speaker 1: whatever it may be. Now up until you can actually
17:24
Speaker 1: make real trades, right, shuffle through guys. That all that
17:27
Speaker 1: stuff is smart to do. Like that's how you find
17:30
Speaker 1: a mark lighter junior, right, Like that's that's how you
17:33
Speaker 1: figure these things out. But I'm starting to see some
17:36
Speaker 1: depth too, Like Daniel Palencia came up in a big
17:39
Speaker 1: moment and look good. Like he continues to look like
17:41
Speaker 1: a different picture than he was last year. The stuff
17:44
Speaker 1: is finally like you cannot there's there's a I had
17:47
Speaker 1: a chat with a with a with someone with the
17:51
Speaker 1: Cubs basically saying, like when guys would stuff, we gotta
17:54
Speaker 1: trust these guys with stuff.
17:55
Speaker 2: You got to push them.
17:56
Speaker 1: Eventually it clicks, you know, hopefully we're doing the right
17:59
Speaker 1: things to get them to where they are.
18:00
Speaker 2: I think Polentzia is a good good indication of that.
18:05
Speaker 1: Again, Bullpen is a work in progress, but I think
18:09
Speaker 1: I think there's good signs. I think we need to
18:11
Speaker 1: see what happens with Presley, right, Like, the reason I
18:13
Speaker 1: wasn't confident in saying this two weeks ago.
18:17
Speaker 2: Is because Presley looked rough.
18:19
Speaker 1: I thought he looked significantly better the past whatever ten
18:22
Speaker 1: days in two weeks. But if that knee is something
18:28
Speaker 1: that's going to you know, lead to struggles, it's it's
18:32
Speaker 1: a question. But I do have some you know, we
18:34
Speaker 1: saw some Julie Merriweather look nasty too, So they have
18:39
Speaker 1: some things that give you some optimism.
18:41
Speaker 2: Maybe they can even weather a Presley.
18:45
Speaker 1: You don't want him to struggle, Like, if he's struggling,
18:48
Speaker 1: that's that's a different thing than him if he's out.
18:50
Speaker 1: I think they can weather it. But you don't want him.
18:52
Speaker 1: You don't want to put him out there at seventy
18:55
Speaker 1: percent when seventy percent of him is just not it's
18:57
Speaker 1: not good enough right in all likelihood, Yeah, you don't.
19:01
Speaker 3: Want him compromised. And if you don't like the bullpen, like,
19:06
Speaker 3: don't worry about it will look totally different in a
19:09
Speaker 3: couple of days, next week, the week after that, next month,
19:12
Speaker 3: Like there's no, it's not a static situation. There'll be
19:18
Speaker 3: new pictures for you to get your hopes up and
19:20
Speaker 3: be like, oh wow, look at his numbers and look
19:23
Speaker 3: at his d low and then being heavily disappointed when
19:27
Speaker 3: at the first moment of trouble. So, you know, I
19:32
Speaker 3: think in the bullpen's defense too, I think there's another
19:37
Speaker 3: level with this defense. I don't think the defense has
19:40
Speaker 3: been quite as sharp or as exceptional overall as a unit,
19:46
Speaker 3: and I think the Cubs would have liked thus far.
19:51
Speaker 3: And yeah, you know, it's never really like too early
19:54
Speaker 3: to start thinking about the trade deadline and the moves
19:59
Speaker 3: that can be made. The we've seen the urgency. We
20:06
Speaker 3: know that there's resources available, whether it's trade chips or
20:13
Speaker 3: you know, eventually making some sort of appeal to ownership
20:17
Speaker 3: given where the current payroll levels are. So really, I
20:24
Speaker 3: mean we had talked about this in spring training. You know,
20:26
Speaker 3: everyone sees the schedule when it comes out. The post
20:34
Speaker 3: Alex Bregman decision vibes weren't exactly great and you felt
20:39
Speaker 3: sort of like this pressure building around the team. And
20:44
Speaker 3: to their credit, they've gone out and competed hard. I
20:48
Speaker 3: think council has been very good at shaping the message.
20:53
Speaker 3: That's what Nico Horner had told me the other day
20:56
Speaker 3: of like just embracing challenges in awesome environments, playing against
21:02
Speaker 3: the best players in the world and measuring your group
21:06
Speaker 3: against you know, the Padres and Dodgers, who I think
21:11
Speaker 3: most people agree we're probably the two best teams in
21:16
Speaker 3: baseball last year. I think that's kind of what the Dodgers,
21:20
Speaker 3: the message they had sent of like that felt like
21:22
Speaker 3: their World Series or a greater challenge surviving that than
21:26
Speaker 3: actually beating the Yankees in the real World Series. So
21:32
Speaker 3: you know, we all know how it is. You know, things,
21:34
Speaker 3: things can change, unexpected things will happen, but overall, this
21:43
Speaker 3: group should have a lot of staying power.
21:45
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, I think there's a lot to be optimistic about.
21:52
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we'll see what happens in July.
21:54
Speaker 1: Third base is an area, bullpen is an area, and
21:58
Speaker 1: you know the rotation, I think I think that you
22:01
Speaker 1: have to look at that right, like what can you
22:03
Speaker 1: do to upgrade the rotation? The bullpen is just always
22:07
Speaker 1: something that teams are looking for. So it's just like
22:09
Speaker 1: you almost don't even need to say it that they
22:12
Speaker 1: will be looking for bullpen arms in July, whether it's
22:17
Speaker 1: a stud or just depth, Like it's you're always looking
22:20
Speaker 1: to add in that area. I do the I like
22:27
Speaker 1: the guys in the rotation. I think there's there's a
22:29
Speaker 1: lot of talent, and I think they're they're really good starters.
22:33
Speaker 1: I just think like maybe that's where the splash needs
22:35
Speaker 1: to happen. It's gonna be hard to add a third basement.
22:37
Speaker 1: I don't know how you do that. Frankly, at the
22:40
Speaker 1: trade deadline. Maybe stability you can add. I don't know
22:43
Speaker 1: how you add impact. I just don't like it. It's
22:46
Speaker 1: gonna be hard to like pry Awate. I mean, the
22:50
Speaker 1: Cardinals will probably trade Nolan Ernado. I don't think they're
22:53
Speaker 1: trading him to the Cups.
22:55
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't see that happening. But maybe maybe
22:58
Speaker 2: something weird happens.
23:00
Speaker 3: I don't know if you're going through my search history
23:01
Speaker 3: so hot, but I was doing that last night of
23:03
Speaker 3: looking at you know, all right, so they're either like
23:09
Speaker 3: you know, the Manny Machado's, you know, guys who aren't
23:12
Speaker 3: going to get moved Aeronauto and then there's not a
23:17
Speaker 3: whole lot after that.
23:21
Speaker 1: Ryan McMahon's having a terrible start to the season with
23:23
Speaker 1: the Rockies.
23:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, and the Rockies, you know, are
23:28
Speaker 3: kind of out on an island there in the mountains,
23:31
Speaker 3: but they do their own thing. A hitter out of
23:35
Speaker 3: course field on a long term or a multi year deal.
23:42
Speaker 3: And I think this comes back to they're crossing their
23:45
Speaker 3: fingers that Matt Shaw is going to be the guy.
23:47
Speaker 3: I mean that was a clear part of the messaging,
23:49
Speaker 3: Like they meant it when they said it, when they
23:52
Speaker 3: sent him out, being like we want him to take
23:55
Speaker 3: a deep breath and work on specific things and come
23:57
Speaker 3: back and be the everyday third basement like that is
24:01
Speaker 3: probably their best plan at the moment. We just don't
24:06
Speaker 3: know if that will actually come to fruition.
24:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly one one name I'm just gonna throw out there.
24:14
Speaker 1: I don't want to irritate Cubs fans, but Zach McKinstry
24:16
Speaker 1: is having a hell of a start to the season.
24:20
Speaker 2: With Detroit.
24:21
Speaker 1: But you know, that's let's neither here nor there that
24:25
Speaker 1: you never have these these baseball is weird like that,
24:27
Speaker 1: where guys suddenly figure things out or have hot stretches.
24:31
Speaker 1: Who knows how good his full season will be. Bottom
24:34
Speaker 1: line is, this seems fun and this team's exciting, and
24:37
Speaker 1: I think, you know, Cubs fans have to feel some
24:40
Speaker 1: optimism that you know, October, baseball could return.
24:43
Speaker 2: It's April, like there's a lot of baseball to be played.
24:46
Speaker 1: But you know, Baseball Reference has them it's like a
24:49
Speaker 1: ninety something percent chance of making the playoffs.
24:52
Speaker 2: I don't know about that.
24:54
Speaker 1: Van Grabs has them at like sixty something. I think
24:57
Speaker 1: that's a little bit more believable. I believe that, like
25:00
Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a
25:01
Speaker 1: solid number when you're clearly the most talented team. Uh
25:07
Speaker 1: in the NL Central where things happen, teams get hot.
25:10
Speaker 1: I think the Reds are tough. I think the Brewers
25:12
Speaker 1: are always going to be tough. We'll see, uh. I
25:15
Speaker 1: think next month you start seeing uh, some of the
25:18
Speaker 1: NL Central. The Cubs will start seeing those teams. So
25:21
Speaker 1: finally get get those games going, and and you know.
25:24
Speaker 2: I'm eager to see that. But right now, you know,
25:27
Speaker 2: great time at Wrigley.
25:28
Speaker 1: I'm expecting the same this weekend against the Phillies. Patrick,
25:33
Speaker 1: We'll see how how fun it is. I think it's
25:35
Speaker 1: supposed to be good weather too, So looking forward to that.
25:39
Speaker 1: We'll see if they can keep it up. The Phillies
25:42
Speaker 1: are struggling right now. You know, there's panic in Philadelphia.
25:45
Speaker 1: Obviously that you get swept by the Mets things. They're
25:49
Speaker 1: things will not go well for the Philadelphia Phillies fans,
25:52
Speaker 1: but I can't assume that that lasts at regularly. Feel
25:56
Speaker 1: but the Cubs are rowing. We'll see, uh, we'll see
25:59
Speaker 1: what happens is weekend. It'll be a fun one. We'll
26:01
Speaker 1: have one more episode for you guys this week before
26:05
Speaker 1: the Cubs start up with the Phillies.
26:06
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening. This is Northside Territory.
26:08
Speaker 1: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
26:11
Speaker 1: Subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are on
26:15
Speaker 1: top of all things Cubs. Thanks so much for listening
26:17
Speaker 1: to everyone.
26:18
Speaker 2: Take