Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / New podcast home! Cubs offense outage, Imanaga roaring

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New podcast home! Cubs offense outage, Imanaga roaring · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You have lots of you know, talent coming in the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: system that can fill pieces, and you have a manager
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: now who's really good at like playing matchups, but like
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: where's the star.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Welcome into north Side Territory, your new Cubs podcast. This
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: is Sahadev Sharma with my co host Patrick Mooney. We
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: have joined the foul Territory team. We're very excited. You've
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: may you may have been listening to us in the past.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: We both write for The Athletic.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Our podcast was on The Athletic with our good friend
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Brett Taylor, and we have we have changed locations and
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: we are with the foul Territory family. Really excited to
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: be back talking Cubs baseball. Uh, it's you know, it's
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: really fun for both of us to do. And that
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: foul Territory was willing to host us and give us
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: a platform to talk Cubs baseball with our fans is
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: a really exciting opportunity for us. We're excited to get
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: back at it after a few months off and obviously
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: there is a lot of comes baseball to talk about.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean just great, great people at the foul
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Territory Network, and I think what they have done really
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: well in a short amount of time, is established themselves
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: as a voice of authority and talking about the game
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: in a meaningful way, in a substantial way that takes
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: you know, listeners or readers behind the scenes. And that's
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: what we always try to do at Wrigley Field, and
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: that's what we're gonna do here on North Side Territory.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Have some guests, we'll do some interactive things once we
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: get this up and running. Lots of airing of grievances.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: And I don't know, man, did we like pick like
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: perfect time to launch this podcast, like right after losing
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a four game series of the Pirates and like, you
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: know they're getting no hit, you know, needing a you know,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: a replay confirmation. Uh, you know, could get a one
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: nothing walk off win to avoid a sweep. Like, I
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: don't know, A lot going on?
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Man?
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: What what what jumps out at you?
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: I mean this is you're right.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: When when things aren't going well and things are expected
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: to go well, even when they're not expected to go well,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: when they're not going well, Cubs fans, all fans, right,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: that's when they get riled up and they want to
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: hear what is going on?
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: You know, it's easy to say.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: It's one hundred and sixty two games and I and
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I do believe things will get better for the Cubs
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: in general.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: I I do like how this team is built.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I think right now it's hard to look at anything
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: else there there are there are other flaws, but the
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: way the offense is playing right now is costing this
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: team wins. There's there, Yes, there are injuries. There have
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: been injuries. This team is not been healthy and that's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: going to lead to bad play right There's there's sloppy defense.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: That's that's really cost them. But when you're scoring one
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: two runs a game, it's really hard to win win games.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: And right now what we're seeing, you know, it's easy
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: to point fingers, but I think it's hard to ignore
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: what Ian Happ has done. He is he's a better
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: player than this right He takes a lot of heat
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: in general, but right now, with when Cody Bellinger was down,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: when Saya Suzuki was down, he didn't step up and
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: rarely perform at a higher level. Uh and he hasn't.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: He hasn't looked any more comfortable at the plate since
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: they've returned. You would think, you know, maybe there's less
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: focus on Ian Hap by the pitchers.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: That hasn't happened. Uh Hap.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: I saw him take one right down the middle. Uh
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: today he had that first home run in this series.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: And that's that's about it. Like there have been some quality,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: quality contact. It hasn't all been terrible at bats, but
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: clearly when you take a sinker like that down the middle,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: that's that's not that's what he and Happ should be attacking, right,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: So he's off nothing else and everything else just feels
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: like where where are the big hits?
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I know, Christopher Morell in a different day, we're probably
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: talking about a different game, right because that ball that
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: he hit probably goes out instead of being a sack fly.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: So little things like that aren't going their way. But
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: that those are few and far between from what I've observed.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: I don't feel like this is like, oh, they're having
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: great at bats and things aren't falling.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: It's just not enough is happening.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: When they do have people on, they're not getting the
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: big hit, sackflies here and there, groundfielder's choice, scoring a
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: run here and there, things like that.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: But where where the big hits?
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I get it. You're pointing the finger at Ean half.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: That was kind of that's all I heard from that. No,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, certainly he bears his share of the blame here,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: but I don't know. This weekend to me, you know,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: leaving the clubhouse Sunday late Sunday afternoon felt like, I
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: don't know of the first times, you know, of the
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: you know, Craig Council era in which the Cubs were
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: kind of like, yeah, we're not playing our best baseball
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: right now, Like this has been kind of sloppy. This
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: has not been crisped or organized, and you can see
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: just the injuries have piled up. And I think Counsel
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: was pretty real in terms of, like, yeah, I hope
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Dan's being Nico are back in the lineup on Tuesday.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I'll be happy that they're playing, but that's no guarantee
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: that we're going to score start scoring runs again, because
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I think they might be facing Max Freed on Tuesday night.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But I mean, whoever it is, you know, you got
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: to give the Pirates credit, right, I mean, Paul Skins
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: look nasty. They have some real nice young pitching coming
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: if it can stay healthy. But the lineup to Cubs
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: rolled out the last couple of days were once you
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: kind of got past a certain point. I think it
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: was pretty easy to navigate and look, I guess that's
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: why you bank those wins early, because you know it's
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: not going to last forever. But uh, you know, it
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: does make you wonder, like, where's this coming from. It
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: wasn't like sayah and Bellinger got healthy and activated and
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the offense took off. I think in reading you know,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: our colleague, you know here and at the Athletic Ken
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Rosenthollow his story on the massive gap between Triple A
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: and the majors, bigger than ever, and that's something where
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I think we can't be pinning this on you know, Oh,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: maybe Matt Shaw comes up, like no, it's like these
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: guys have to get right. And our understanding at this
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: moment is that Louis Fasquez is coming up, as ESPN
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: first reported. However, that is not tied to Dansby Swanson's injury,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: which the full expectations that he will be activated Tuesday.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: There's been this weird lingering Nico Horner hamstring issue. I
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: think it's been six games where he set out. The
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Cubs are still optimistic about Nico playing on Tuesday, so
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: we'll see what mister Vasquez can bring. But it's it's
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: been a weird stretch, and I'm sure there's got to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: be listeners who are like, really, you're starting this podcast
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: right after they're losing. You can have done it. You
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: know we're rolling.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: You know, well, okay, here's like I do think there
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: are if you're just angry to be angry and you
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: don't you don't want to hear excuses. I think that's okay.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: I think the way they played that they should they
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: should be playing better. But I do I do agree
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: with when you're talking about Master Bony and Madri Girl
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: playing every day. That's just I mean, it's it's hard
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: to do that. They're they're fine bench players. Are they
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: great bench players?
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: No?
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I expect both of them to be better at the plate.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Like my Master Bony, I I expect him to be better.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: He I think he expects himself to be better offensively
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: putting him at short for that many games, like eventually
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: it was going to catch up to them, Like that's
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: too much exposure for him at shortstop. Madrigal is I
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: think what he's turned into is like a contact guy
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: off the bench that can play a good third base
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and he should not like unless you know, he just
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: had he had these flashes when he was healthy, but
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: that's what that's what he is now. I don't I
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: just don't think he's ever going to be that player.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: And I think most fans would strongly agree with that.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Those are the excuses, right, and and then I mean
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: this team should just be I have higher expectations for
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: them on offense. Right, Eventually they're going to get going.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: I do believe that, But you can't the other excuses.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Look at the pitching that they've gone up against. I
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: know you hear Pittsburgh Pirates, but they faced three really
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: good pitchers. They should have done better against Bailey Falter.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: But I do think there's and I've talked to coaches
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: about this in the past over the years. You face
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: a run of good pitchers and then you get in
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: your head and then you don't. You can't hit the
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: hit pitchers that you should hit, right, And they struggled
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: against Chris Sale, they struggled against Rinaldo Lopez, like all
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: these guys have been pitching.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: Well.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: I was looking at some numbers since since they were
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: in Boston. That game in Boston the Friday, they were there, good,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: good game, right, seven runs? They they played really well.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: That's probably one of their best offensive performances. But since
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: that game, which is about twenty one games, No, it doesn't,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: it doesn't count Sunday Sunday's game, so twenty two games.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: But the twenty one games before Sunday two to eleven
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: bad average, which is third worst in baseball eighty seven
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: weighted runs created plus, so like about thirteen percent below
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: average overall offense. That it's just not good enough. Like
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Saya and Bellinger are back, they need to be hitting.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: I get it. It's good pitching Garry Jones and Paul Skins.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: They're gonna be thorning the cub side for a while,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I believe, and I do believe. What's funny, And when
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: I say that, I think their best offensive performance has
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: been in the past ten days. It was against Garry
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Jones in Pittsburgh, r Like, that was one of their
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: best games, and it was one of those things where
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: it's like, huh, are they going to turn it around?
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: It just has been consistent. They're not grinding pitchers down,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: they're not hitting for power, and sometimes you need bounces
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: to go your way. When when you're not when you're
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: not really swinging the hottest bats and they're not even
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: getting that, so nothing's really working and out like the
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: defense looks sloppy, and we know the issues with the bullpen.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: We'll talk about that, but.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: There is one thing that looks great, right the starting pitching.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: And you were there Saturday, and every single time we
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: cover this guy, it's at least I start to have
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: this feeling. It's like, wait a second, what are we
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: watching here? Like how special is this?
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Sure?
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: And then you look up the numbers and you're like, okay,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: so nineteen eighty one Fernando Vealezuela, Like I wasn't. Neither
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: of us were old enough to remember that, but we've
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: all heard of it, right, we know it was like
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: a sensation and it was a thing. It was like
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: took over La. They ended up winning the World Series.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: It was it was a whole season of Fernando Mania.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: But nine games in ten, nine starts in, we're starting
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: to see something which showed it that we just haven't
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: seen before.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, you and I talk well every day,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: but then with our editors and co workers of okay,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: what do we got? What are we doing? And I
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: don't know showed us in that territory now where it's
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: like he's kind of a headline no matter what. It
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: started out as, Okay, it's his debut, and then all
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: he's facing the and it's like, oh wow, like look
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: at his where he's at, you know, four starts into
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: his career, and it's like, oh, well, he's probably going
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: to get lit up one of these nights, right, and
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: like that'll be a story of Okay, the leagues figure
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: something out. He's making adjustment and the seeing where he
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: is now is just amazing because that's not how the
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: cups talked about him. That is not how showed Up
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: presented himself. I think he was very much aware of
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: how hard this could be, and to me sitting in
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the press box taking it in on Saturday, it was
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: just like, oh, okay, like this this could be like
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: you know, Fernando Valanzuella Bellinger had heard of that, was
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: aware of it. Obviously didn't know the full dimensions of it,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: but I don't know, Like Jay Garriott is a young season,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: right and even you know what Dustin Steel did for
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: a long stretch last year, elevated that team into playoff contention.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: And when did they fall out of it? When he
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: like he had two so so starts when they absolutely
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: needed to win, and like this team and you've been
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: on this for a long time side of it, you
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: know the idea of like where are the stars? That's great,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: you have depth, you have lots of you know, talent
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: coming in the system that can fill pieces, and you
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: have a manager now who's really good at like playing matchups.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: But like where's the star? And I don't know, what
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: do you think do they have one? In Showdom?
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: It's starting to feel that way. I'll say this, I
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: know he can be that type of presence, right he
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you feel like, well, oh what about the language barrier?
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess Sotani has blown that out the
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: water and shown that that doesn't matter. You just perform
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: and do amazing things on the field. People will will
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: take notice. But with him there's also a personality and
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: I feel like I want to hear his post games
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: because he's got a sense of huge. He seems to
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: he likes the moment, like when he's on the mound
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: and he gets pumped up. Come on, fans love that,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: like fans eat that up. We eat that up. As
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: media because it's easy to write about. And then and
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: his teammates. I heard someone on the radio the other
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: day They're like, you know, I like the stoic guy too,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: but there's something about playing behind that that guy that
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: gets really pumped up and fired up. I think it
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: was Nico Horner was talking about this. You know, it's
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: one thing like to be there's certain guys you play.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Maybe it was happy because he played behind all these guys.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It's like Lackey and Lester get fired up. Arieta was
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: more stoic, showeda like he's he shows all the energy
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: in the world. Like he like he gets a big out.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: He is pumped up, he's fired up. He's flexing on
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: the mound. That's exciting, and he like he comes up
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: big right now. He has all the recipe, like every
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: all the ingredients to lead to Yeah, this guy's a
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: superstar type at like type player. It's I don't want
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: to go overboard because it's not even two months into
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: his career, but it's leading up to that.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: It has that feeling.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: He has those abilities and and the charisma and everything
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: that you want.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Uh for a guy that you know, it.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Makes it easy to root for and and fun to
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: cover and fun to watch for. The fans and the
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: teammates love him. So he's got everything there, and let's
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: see if he can do it for another four months
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: and then into the playoffs too, and then do it
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: again next year, right, Like, that's that's kind of like
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: what what we're waiting for with Justin Steele. Don't want
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: to take too much away from a couple of rough
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: starts for him, but you know that's you want to
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: see him keep doing it. You want to see these
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: guys keep doing it. But Showa Shoda has has everything
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: you want to see. The fastball is where it's at, though, right, Like,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: what what's that going to do? As as it gets
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: warmer it's blowing out? Does the rise stay? How how
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: it is? Do the metrics stay? Specially if they do,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: even if they drop a little bit. I think I
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: think he can handle it. Like that's what. I love
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: his mound presence, Like I like how he takes charge
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: on the mound. I like when he goes to get
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: a grounder. He's telling Michael Bush get back to first
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: base because I'm going to talk to this dude. Don't
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: come come over here. I got this stuff like that,
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: he knows how to pitch. The splitter is a really
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: nasty pitch and he confounds hitters right now like that.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of chase. But it's not like he
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: walks people. So when you can combine that, like that's
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: that's pitching. You know, it's hard to see a guy
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: that doesn't. It's not like he's in the zone all
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: the time, but if he needs to be, he will.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: He doesn't get recognized much at Duncan Donuts though he
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: gets a smaller medium ice latte and as large. You know,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: he says he goes from his house to the field,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: no house, Duncan Donuts, field, goes back home, does it
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: over again? But yeah, it is just I think the Cubs,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: while they didn't necessarily, like I don't know, put the
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: full court press on Shoda, they were very aware of him.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: They had scouted him for a long time. They remained
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: engaged in the entire negotiations. And you know, did other
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: teams miss on showda? I mean probably right. I mean
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of teams that would want that in
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: that contract right now, but you know, I don't. And
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: this is not taking anything away from Shoda. I don't
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: know if this success would have come like so quickly
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: in another place. I do think the Cubs, and you've
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: written about this, a lot of the Hubs are good
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: at kind of emphasizing pictures strengths and you Darvish said
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the same thing the other day when he was at
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Wrigley Field when when I asked him, and that having
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: say a Suzuki there helps, and having staffers with you
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: a Japanese background and ability to kind of help him
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: with the assimilation process. Some really encouraging teammates as well,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: a very thoughtful progressive manager. Like all these elements, a
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: city that you know, he stayed in for a long
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: time this offseason, waiting for an offer from the Cubs.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: So like all these things I think have really helped him.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: And you know, we'll see, we'll see where Showdomania goes.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: But like he is the difference between this team like
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: you know, maybe like five under and us being like
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: what's going on here? To like all right, that had
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: a bad bad weeking against the Pirates. Like wherever they're
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: they're in pretty good shape.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: You know, I keep thinking about this.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Right last year around this time, the Cubs were not terrible.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Right that they were OK, and it was Miami and Washington, right,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: those two series, here's what like and I and I
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: kept coming back to that felt like it was I
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: think it was like a one in five trip against
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: two bad teams or who we thought the Cubs were
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: better than Miami turned out to be a playoff team, right,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: but we like the Cubs should have won more of
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: those games. Here's what I've been I've been thinking about this,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, is this a missed opportunity what we've
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: been watching? No, I don't think so. What's happening right
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: now is they're not playing well. They were playing well
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: at that time. They weren't getting the big hit in
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: that moment. That was what was going on in that moment.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: They weren't getting the big hit. There are no there
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: are barely any big hits to come up with right now.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Nobody's getting like, they're not putting up much of a threat.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: They're playing sloppy defense. All they're getting is good starting pitching, right,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: which you don't want to waste that. Sure, I get
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: that it's still bad to waste that, but it's not
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: like this is like, oh no, there you gotta bank
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: these wins when you're when you're playing well, they're banking
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: wins and not playing that well. They're four games under
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: or over five hundred, right, there are four games over
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: five hundred, yes, yes, and and they're and they're playing
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: bad baseball. The bullpen is every day. I'm wondering, who
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: does Craig Council go to if Mark Lighter isn't the
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: guy you're calling out of the bullpen. Like there's a
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: little bit of concern. Listen, Ben Brown looks great. Ben
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Ben Brown looks great. But our buddy Jesse Rogers brought
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: brought up a great stat the other day. Uh he
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: said he has the highest exit velocity of like an
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: x number of balls in play. And Ben Brown does
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: yeah yeah, so he's oh yeah, so so And I
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: think we kind of saw it today. He wiggled, he
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: wriggled out of a jam today, but he got hit hard.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: There were some balls that you know, on a different day,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: something different happens there. So and I like, this isn't
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: ripping Ben Brown at all. I think Ben Brown is
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: actually like their best chance to have like a show
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: down reliever in that bullpen.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: I'm just saying, like it's it's like, you know, you
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: if he can.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Figure out, like I'm just a little worried about that fastball,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: but the curve ball does keep guys off of it.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Nara has had that nice outing the other day. Maybe
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: that's a step forward, But man, is he walking a
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: fine line? You know, I know we all see it.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I don't need to explain it much further. What I
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: like about him is he's he's he's been there. He
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: doesn't get rattled in that moment, right, So so you
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: hope that this is if he can make it through
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: this hiccup. If this is the hiccup and it's like
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: a two five era in the bad time where he's
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: not getting the good peripherals, let's let's hope he can
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: figure out the peripherals and and kind of solidify some
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: of that.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: But you're starting to put a guy like.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Wes Nesky in in situations that he's unfamiliar with. He's
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: got to get used to that, right, He's used to
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: starting and now he's coming in with two men on
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: and two outs, and and.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: He's got it. He's got to attack right away. Right.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: It's not like he it was non competitive and he
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: just walked a guy in four pitches, But that's that
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: the those are situations that he's unfamiliar with that he's.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Got to learn.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Uh, you have to lean on guys that just haven't
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: really been around. I mean, Tyson Miller feels like he's
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: one of the more trusted guys right now. I don't
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: like when I'm saying something like that, like I just
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: feel like I don't know where this bullpen is with
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: the combination of injuries, in effectiveness and just like kind
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: of like nobody none of the young guys really like
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: taking over just yet and stepping up. And the biggest
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: issue I think when we talk about Ben Brown, Hayden
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: wass Nesky is I don't think Greig Council is at
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: a point where he can say they're in my bullpen.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I'm good with that. I don't need to keep him
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: stretched out. I don't need to worry about Martation. He's
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: not in that position. So it makes it it makes
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: it more difficult to how he wants to use them.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: But he explicitly said over the weekend he was asked
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and not for the first time, about you know what
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: about Ben Brown as your closer, and he's like, we
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: can't you'd say he's never gonna start again. And he
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: also thinks he gets better by pitching more. And this
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: is kind of the council factor. And we talked a
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: lot about David Ross. We will not linger on that
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: during this podcast. I think David Ross did a lot
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: of good things for the Cubs. I think he did
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: what he was hired to do. But this is one
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: area where council comes in with a lot of authority
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and credibility and an ability to I don't even know
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: if you'd say managing up considering his contract, but to
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: say this is what I want, this is what we need,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: this is what we should be doing. And so I
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: think it's gonna be fascinating to see how they handle
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Kyle Hendricks. I mean, we've gone twenty plus minutes here
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: have not mentioned how the last guy standing from the
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: twenty sixteen team has been probably what the worst starting
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: pitcher in baseball this year. And it's not easy to say,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: because everyone who's encounteredle Hendrix during his time in Chicago
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: has been impressed with his grace, his class, his professionalism,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: all those things, and he's delivered in the biggest moments
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: in franchise history, but like right now, if your Creig
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Council as much as you respected him across the way,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: like what does he do for you right now? And
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: then if your Craig counsel, you're also a little paranoid, right,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: that's the word easy use side of like how are
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: we going to get these innings? What happens if someone
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: else gets hurt? And then you look at his salary,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: his status, like there's a lot of moving parts here.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: So I think my read coming off this Pirate series
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: was Kyle will get another chance, or maybe he skipped
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: or maybe his bolt moved to the bull, But I
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: don't think he's getting defaded immediately. Maybe I'll be proven wrong,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: but it seems like they're going to try a little more,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: a little longer, to see if they could salvage it
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: or just like to have him as kind of an
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: insurance policy. But I mean credit counsel's tone of we
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: need to be better, this isn't working, that's not gonna work,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Like there was no uh spinning that one, Like he
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: was very clear how he felt coming off of that start,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and it's you know, hard to see where he fits.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: If all these guys get healthy, because that's happening too.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: You have Smile juw Smiley going out to pitch Tuesday
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: at South then Jordan Wicks should be following out a
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: minor like affiliate not far from then after that, you know,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know if he'd immediately go back on the
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: major league roster. But Valencia is out with Iowa, Daniel Palencia,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: that is, You've got Julian Merriweather on Monday starting a
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: throwing progression for basically another spin training almost and then
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: out Yen c Almonte, the hope being maybe by the
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: end of this week he could start throwing again after
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: a relatively short layoff. But I go back to side
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: of something you said to me at rig the other day,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: of something that was told to you of like what
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: do you expect when you have this many injuries? Like
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: do you think you know? Like who's still left at Iowa,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Like except for Kata Horton, who's not ready yet have
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: already been called up, right.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Right, I think they're all Like the the other names
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: I hear about were in double A, you know, Zach Lee,
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Michael Arrius, uh Eduardy, Old Nunez who just got bumped
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: up to triple a like they're they're not ready yet. Yeah,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: they they could be close. Maybe we'll hear them in
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: June or July. If they still need to keep calling
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: guys up. Uh, but yeah, it's no, no, And like
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: that's not a knock on the system, Like not many
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: teams can have this many injuries and then be like, Okay,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: let's keep calling pictures up that can be effective. You
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: have to like that's why they had to trade for
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Tyson Miller. That's why I like whenever someone is dfaide,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: now you have to wonder. It's like, can the Cubs
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: get in on that guy? Like okay, like like the
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: guy the Orioles just dfade Mike Bowman. It's like, Okay,
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: that guy's got stuff. Can he help the Cubs? Like
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying that the Cubs are in on them,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: but you just have to think about that every single
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: time that someone hits the waiver wire, because that's the
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: situation there. And uh, when it comes to Hendrix, when
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: I this always happens, right, it's the fans are out first, right,
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: the fans like it goes, the fans are like they're done,
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: and then if it continues.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: It's like media is like I don't know, like what
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: are they gonna do here? Then the team.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Finally is like, yeah, it's time, and the player is
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: the last to kind of like accept like this isn't.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: Working right, And I think that's the hardest.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: When when I saw the I was in the Pirates
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: clubhouse after that game because it was a Paul Skeens game,
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: And when I saw the videos, like the the difference
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: between like the complete like one to eighty between the
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: hender In council was like it, you know, because nobody
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: wants to see Kyle Hendricks fail, right, Like nobody, not
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: even like his opponents, like he's he's a he's a
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: good dude who like he never should have been this good.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: He just never should have been this good, and that
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: he was ever as good as he was is a
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: huge win. So like and you're always you've always been
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: like is it done?
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: Is it over?
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: And like when he came back last year and he
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: was good, I think it gave people a little bit
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: more optimism that it's like, oh, wow, he can still
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: do this great Okay, let's let's let's let's keep it
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: rolling and maybe maybe he's got a few more years
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: and maybe he does, maybe he comes back like it happens.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if we're ever gonna see it again
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: With the Cubs though, I think he's had like and
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: that's not saying I think he's done now.
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: I agree with you.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: I think I think they're in a situation where they're
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: gonna have to give him a start.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: Is it gonna be against Atlanta?
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: I hope not, just for his sake and for the
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Cub's sake, Like that's a tough that was a brutal
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: matchup last year when he was feeling good and when
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: he was getting results.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Facing the Cardinals, uh Bustadium more day weekend would be
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: a pretty but facing the Pirates twice in six days.
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: All right, right, you would think that would that would work.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: But yeah, and I think the bottom line is what
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: how you explained it? They they don't have They need
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: depth right now, and maybe it's just until they're absolutely sure. Yeah,
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Jordan Wick's is good, he's healthy, he's coming back, and
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: and that's why they have these guys like Dan Stralia
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: and Julio Terhran right.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: Like in Triple A.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: If if there are more injuries and they have to
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: get rid of Hendricks to make room for like, say,
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: they have to get rid of Hendricks and then the
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: injuries come again, Like, you just have to do what
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: you have to do, right. I don't like, it's not
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: it's not what anybody wants. But I think we're getting
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: close to that point. He like, it's every start by
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: start now I think he has I agree, he has
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: one more start, but every single start you're like, Okay,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: what does he have? What can he do? Can he
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: get through it? And when you're when you're living like that,
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: it's hard. It's hard to say, like feel comfortable that
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: that's a railway to succeed and thrive.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's really been the awkward part about this season.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: And in our episodes to come, we'll get into like
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: what Craig Council is really like, you know, our interactions
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: with him. It is really hard to talk about the
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Cubs right now without having like Council's kind of monotone
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: voice in your head of Okay, what is he thinking?
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: We have covering a pharm system that is interesting and
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: we'll show a lot this summer, right like will any
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: of these guys bring a spark way that a Schwarber
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: did or you know, hap came up and contributed Wilson
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: Cantreras when wires like and not talking about like, you know,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: Schwarmer's comeback in the World Series, just like like that
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: basic jolt of like, oh, this guy's up and you
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: know he's he's on a heater, like let him go,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Like I don't know if I see that, we'll have
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: the cad horton watch or countdown be interesting. And then
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: this is all really kind of geared up towards the
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: trade deadline, and to me watching showed to the other
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: day was kind of like, all right, like if if
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: they have this guy at the front of their rotation
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: and they can clean up some other areas and and
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: get healthy, does that make you pushing a little more?
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: And I have a hard time seeing this team just
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: totally bottoming out. And so I think this year will
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: be dramatic. It always is, right, I.
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: Mean, yes, it's always something.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: This is a podcast about a circus, and we know
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: that the Cubs will deliver the drama and it'll be
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: stuff that we couldn't even like dream up when we
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: were first talking to our people here that fount like
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: there's crazy stuff is going to happen all season and
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: we can't wait to discuss it with you guys.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's see if they get a little spark on Tuesday,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: if Nico and Dan's may come back, that that should
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: at least solidify something, at least defensively, I'd like to hope.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: Other than that, they obviously need to wake up offensively
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: and get going and make things more interesting at least
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: for us to watch on a daily basis.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm really.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: Excited to have a podcast back talking with my buddy
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Patrick Mooney.
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: We are going to be on top of everything.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: Cubs for you guys, So stick with us, keep listening, subscribe,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: do all that good stuff you do with podcasts.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: We're excited to be a part of Foul Territory. Keep listening.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: We're gonna have multiple podcasts for you this week, three
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: podcasts a week during the season, so so be ready
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: for that. Plenty of Cubs talk coming from us. Thanks
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: so much for listening. This is Sahata Sharma and Patrick
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: Mooney with North Side Territory.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: Take care