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Cubs close to switching over to playoff mode · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory File Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic and Patrick, the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Cubs are inching closer and closer to clinching the playoffs.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: They we just had this discussion before we started recording,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: what's the what's the magic number? As we record here
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: on Tuesday morning after the win, it was three. I'm
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: pretty sure it's two now, but you know, they're they're
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: likely in all likelihood going to clinch a playoff spot
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: this week. It's that close. Whether they get the top
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: wild card spot or not. That's a little more winning
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that they need to do to get there. But looks
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: like their playoff bound and I think even Jamison Tyn
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: said I don't want to jinx anything but and and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: talked about setting themselves up nicely for the playoffs, and
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: I think that's kind of where they're at. The pitching
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: looks good. Figuring out who's going to be in that
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: rotation and in that bullpen, I think is kind of
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: what's on Craig Council's mind as he gets his team
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: prepared for the postseason, which will be the first one
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: in front of fans since twenty eighteen. That's kind of
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: crazy to think, but yeah, and the last time they
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: won a game in the postseason was twenty seventeen. It's
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: been a while.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is a bit of a digression, but
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: it is a little odd how it becomes. We've just
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: been in this place for such a long time now
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: where the playoff odds are like ninety eight ninety nine,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: ninety nine point nine percent, but the division has been
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: out of reach and it's not a one game wildcard
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: that you're dropped back into. Its should be for them
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: a pretty nice three game series at home. And so
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: it's just been this. The anticipation I think has not
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: quite been there. It'd be interesting to see how they
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: celebrate because this group, as Tayon also said, is very.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: Focused on their process.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: It's all about today, and I'm sure they'll let it
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: rip and let it loose a little bit in the clubhouse.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: But yeah, they're in the spot where they're gonna have
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: the luxury to sort of line things up, make sure
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: pictures are healthy, whether it's giving them an extra day
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: more rest, limiting their innings, pitch counts, whatever it is.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: This is not a team that's going to be running
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: on fumes by the time the wild card round opens.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we can talk about whether you know Matthew Boyd
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: or showed a Monaga aren't at their peak right now.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: But you know, James and Tyne looks really good. Kate
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Horton goes against Paul Skins, and when when you enter
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: a game like that and you feel like, yeah, this
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: is a good matchup, that's that's saying something about the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: starting picture you have on the mound, because Paul Skins
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: is arguably the best picture with Durik Derek Scooble in baseball.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: So you know, I'm not sure who what Boyd We're
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: going to get, what Showo we're going to get. I
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: think they especially showed to well, both of them. They
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: have this tendency lately to start off a little shaky,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: but they find it quickly, which I think is incredibly impressive.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Give you give your team a chance, that's all you
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: can really ask. I thought I liked what I saw
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: from Soroka. I think that can be an X factor
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: in a wild card in the playoffs. His performance, he's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: touching ninety seven. I did not expect that, and and
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: he you know, these multi inning weapons are So that's
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the other thing. We haven't covered playoffs in an era
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: where the game has really changed. In October, I remember
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: was at the GM meetings in two thousand and seventeen,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: whatever it was, it was around that time, and Jed
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: basically saying, we still believe in you know, you want
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: the seven inning starter and all that stuff. The game
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: has completely changed. Jed's philosophy has changed. Even he is
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: accepted like the game is very different. So how we
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: kind of how you and I have to look at
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: this compared to what we were doing last time they
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: were in the playoffs, it's just doesn't that doesn't work
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: anymore so how and Craig Council is known for this.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: If there are managers that are known for how they
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: handle their pitching staff, it's probably Terry Francona's is up there.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: And you know, I don't watch every other team regularly.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I believe Kevin Cash is supposed to be really good
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: at that. And and Craig councils up there in his ability
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: to you know, really leverage a deep pitching stappen. Right now,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: it looks really talented and deep. Maybe not the elite
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: swing and miss talent that you want to cross the board,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: but when you count Keller, Kittridge, Soroka, the lefties, Pomerants
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: and and theelbar, it's a it's a good group behind
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: your starters.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Jed sort of laughs when he looks
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: back on that time period with the Cubs last World
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Series era of like, all right, Arietta, Hendricks, Lester, they'll
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: go seven plus. Then you just sort of let maybe
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Strope or Rondon get a couple hitters, and then they
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: had Chapman in the ninth or ninth inning. Plus obviously
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: it's say got to October. It was sort of like,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: you know, the circle of trust was extremely small back then.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: But you just can't do that anymore. The game has changed,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: and Soroka acknowledged that. He said the last five years,
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: for sure, maybe even longer, you've seen these changes in
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: baseball to where someone like Soroka could be an X factor.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Jamison Tyn, like you said, has looked pretty sharp and
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: he's not a reliever by any stretch of the imagination,
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: but he's an exemplary teammate. And I'm sure he'll be
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: ready whenever the bullpen phone rings, Like if he's the
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: best guy for that situation, that's who the Cubs are
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: going to go to. And that was the point Council
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: made on Monday in Pittsburgh that he is someone who's
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: very proactive in terms of managing Picture's workloads. He's very
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: conscious of picture health, but he does not care at
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: all about your feelings. And part of that just the
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: way the game is now, Like he was not taking
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: credit for that, like that's just kind of how the
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: modern game operates now. But the Cubs in spring training
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: have been communicative, they've been proactive, they've been prepared, not
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: that they were setting everything up for October, but I
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: think it sort of lends itself to this all hands
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: on deck mentality. And one quick note since we mentioned him,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: you know in prior episodes, Daniel Palencia had a light
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: throwing session on Monday, scheduled for a full bullpen on Wednesday.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: If that goes well, he could be on a rehab
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: assignment with Iowa this weekend, I believe, pitching Saturday. So
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: all that is very very much in motion now and
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: we don't expect him to come back and automatically be
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the ninth inning guy.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: But his vlow is.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Looking very good and foretold, so that it seems like
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: they've avoided what looked like a worst case scenario when
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: he walked off the mound with the trainer at Wrigley
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: earlier this month. I think he's added to that mix,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: just not as the anointed closer.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think him being added back. Porter Hodges looked
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: a little shaky after seeming to turn a corner, but
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: if those are your I don't know, third or fourth,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: fourth and fifth, Righty's out of the bullpen or best
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: writings I should say out of the bullpen for the playoffs.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: I think you'll take that. I think that's pretty huge.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: If you get Soroka looking good over the final whatever
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: we have left twelve games to go, I think you
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: can feel good about your righties and your lefties. I'm
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: liking the way this bullpen has set up. Jeduyer may
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: not have gotten a nasty closer at the deadline. I
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: think Kittridge has turned out to be a great addition,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: and Raeli has helped set things up and stabilize things
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: even though they lost their de facto closer. I get
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I guess all right, Let's take a quick break and
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: then come back and talk about a potential breakout last night.
• 9:31
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• 10:34
  Speaker 1: It seems like first game of a road trip that
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: uron Patrick Peek Armstrong will hit a home run. I
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: don't know if it's a sign that he has turned
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: the corner. I you know too, I believe it was
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: two hits at the end of the by the end
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: of the night that a great double and a deep
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: home run that didn't go into the water. Right did
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: that get out of the ballpark? I don't know, No, Okay,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: but you know, he's he looked much better, and it
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: kind of I kind of felt like he was. He
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: was heading in that direction right before he folwed that
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: ball off his knee. Uh So, I don't know if
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: it just took him a little while to get back
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: and now he's it's clicking, if it's a one game thing,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: whatever it was, it was nice to see for Cubs
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: fans and I'm sure the Cubs as well. What was
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: kind of the reaction from Pete? How is he feeling,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: What's what's the what's the consensus out there in Pittsburgh.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Pete was in one of those moods where he was
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: ready to sort of do the uh, the one man show,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: the monologue at his locker, but he was very I
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: felt like an Anaheim that he was a little more
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: all over the place, kind of you know, processing everything.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: He was very sharp last night, and I had kind
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: of two ideas I want to present to him, just
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: because I sometimes he does so much early work and
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: is you know, so focused on that it's sometimes hard
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: to get him at his locker. So, you know, I
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: just asked him this idea of, you know, looking forward
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs and just everything is about compete mode,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: that he can just go out there and be athletic
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: and try to beat the pitcher on that pitch rather
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: than carrying these frustrations that have clearly built up, you know,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: wanting so bad to do something to help the team
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: and kind of turn things around. I mean, he is
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: a phrase, you know when you're killing rallies, like that's
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: how he feels like he's been.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: On this stretch here for a.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: While now, and so he's like, yeah, sure, I mean
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: one swink can change things. But he also in the
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: same breath that I'm very impatient at times with this
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: sort of stuff. And you just listening to him, you
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: can tell how much he cares, how much he's looking
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: forward to a reset in October. And that was his point,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: it's all a wash, like the regular season games that
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: he was frustrated about, the regular season games that he
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: was happy about, like they don't matter anymore. That everything
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: resets at zero, and I think that will be good
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: for him, maybe more than any sort of like mechanical
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: tweak or like video session, which is not something he's
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: into anyways.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: He goes by feel.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: And the other point was I asked him, you're talking
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: about deep frustrations and long slumps, and you look up
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: in the middle of September and you've got twenty nine
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: home runs, which is kind of wild. And he acknowledged
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: that perspective has been harder to come by recently, that
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: how he performed in the first half, his own expectations
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: grew and Jankabreja, one of the Cubs hitting coaches told him, look,
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: you've reached your stat line for this season, like you've
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: fulfilled your obligations. You've exceeded the club's expectations, so don't
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: worry about that. And Pete said that is comforting. He
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: is very appreciative of all the support he's gotten from,
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: whether it's hitting coaches or teammates such as Justin Turner
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: who've been with him on this air quotes offensive journey.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's kind of how players talk now too.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I'm fascinated to see just kind of what
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: he does in October because Wanker Bray as someone who's
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: very close to Hovey bias and we all saw what
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Hobvey did when the lights came on, and not saying
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Pete will do that. But it's hard to imagine him
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: being a wallflower or a non factor during the playoffs.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you said something about him being frustrated during this
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: time or a little disappointed, whatever it may be. I
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: think fans expectations changed for him as well, and they've
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: been frustrated with his performance and results of late. And
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: it's exactly what he said, it all changes in October.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: If he performs in October. Who cares what he did
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: in August September. It just doesn't matter because they're that
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: close to getting in officially getting in, and if he's
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: their best player, uh, they have a chance to do
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: some damage. And I completely agree with you the hobby
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: bias comparison. Well, we'll start talking about that again if
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: he performs uh in October, because it is it's it's
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: set up for him to be, you know, in the
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: spotlight and thrive. And I think he's shown us we
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: haven't had enough moments, but he he does seem like
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: someone that could kind of, you know, blossom in those
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: moments and and really stand out. And it's not like
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: he already hasn't had the spotlight on him and become
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: a you know, a face of MLB. But this could
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: really be big for him and and obviously for the team.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: They need him, they need him to be playing at
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: a high level. I think it's a I think it's
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: it should be really fun. I think you said it perfectly.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: I'm fast sated to see what he does because he's,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: you know, probably when he comes to the offense, the
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: most interesting storyline for October for this team. You know,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: we'll get to Kyle Tucker, but that Pete's the most
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: one of the most exciting offensive players in the game
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: when he's going right. So if he can perform up
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: to his capabilities, it just means so much for this team.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: And even if he's not hitting, he's just so valuable
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: defensively as well.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he has a chance to be the
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: best player on the field in every playoff game he's in,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: and maybe with the Dodgers that might be a little
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: higher bar to clear.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: But we've talked about the need for a star player.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: For a long time and it's that elite talent that
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: can change playoff series, that can do it against the
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: best of the best on the biggest stages, and Pete
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: I think fits that bill And we'll see.
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: That's a matter of going out and doing it.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: And that is another thing he had sort of said
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: of just like you have to play the game in
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: front of you, that you can't be worried about the
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: trend lines or you're too wrapped up and trying to
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: mimic something you saw on video. Sometimes it's like he said,
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: a jam shot, a bunt, like something just clicks, And.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if it.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Happened in Pittsburgh because, like you said, it was the
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: same thing an Anaheim of like, oh, maybe he's coming
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: out of it. And then eventually he got one of
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: those resets that the council was handing out. But you know,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: it is just he is the character on this team,
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Like he is the the leading man, the most interesting
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: person in the clubhouse. Like there's just kind of no
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: way around that. Because he can do unbelievable things on
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: the field, and because he's so young, he's so inexperienced,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: he's such a magnet for the fans that one way
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: or another, he's going to be a big factor in
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: how this season is remembered.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And let's get to the second biggest. If you're
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: tied for the biggest offensive position, the position player on
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: this team, let's take a quick break.
• 19:40
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• 20:36
  Speaker 5: Slash foul and use code foul.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: All right, it seems like we have a it's not
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: even weekly, it's it's episodically Kyle Tucker update. And there
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: was another one. He's in today's Tuesday. He's not coming
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: off the IL on Tuesday. I don't know if they
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: fish rule that out, but I think that would be
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: a shock to everyone involved. Based on what I heard
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: over the weekend and what you heard out there in Pittsburgh.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the update or headline here is that
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is not making progress, that this calf injury
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: has lingered. He's kind of stuck at this point in
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: the rehab process.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Craig Counsel and Kyle Tucker.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Are not the most effusive personalities, so it's not like
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: they're going to be sweating it or showing too many
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: signs of concern or frustration. But this is not what
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: you want in the middle of September. There is still time.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: I asked Tucker if there's like a certain amount of
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: bats that he needed to feel ready for October, and
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: he said not really. He's obviously I'd like to be
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: out there right now. But you know, Counsel dropped one
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: of his you know, we're not making progress, frankly, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: that tells you what you.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Need to know.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: And it's really interesting to see what happens here with Tucker.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: The clubs nominated him for the Roberto Clemente Award, one
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: of baseball's highest honors, and it did signify something that
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: teammates have noticed behind the scenes. That Tucker really has
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: been invested in this team and this season and wanting
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: to extract the most from it. But he's just not
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: available to play right now. And you know, his availability,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: his health, his performance is potentially worth hundreds of millions
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: of dollars, So like getting him right and locked in
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: is important. But at the same time, same thing with Pete,
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: like it's all a washed, it all starts back at zero.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: And this is someone who's played and I think it
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: was sixty four playoff games with the Astro, so like
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: he knows what he needs to get ready. But again,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: like with Pete, this is someone who looked like an
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: MVP candidate out of the gate and has largely delivered
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: what the Cubs needed, but his struggles. Pete's slumps have
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: added to this feeling around the team of just sort
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: of like waiting until the playoffs start.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: No, absolutely. I guess if they had stayed hot, or
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: if one of the two had allowed them to, we
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: wouldn't you know, that'd probably still be in the division race. Yeah,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: so it would feel a little bit more exciting right now.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm trying to gauge like the level
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: of concern you know fans are I'm sure fans are concerned,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: and they have every right to panic whenever they decide
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: is the right time to panic. That it's fine. But
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: I this is a hard one to read for me
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: in the sense that this doesn't seem like a major injury.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: It never seemed like it was significant pain or like
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: just like I can't do anything. He's able to do
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: all the things except for run. And even that he
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: can run, they're just trying to get it so he
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: doesn't feel anything. Yeah, so where are we here? Is
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: if it gets to October, is he going to just
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: play with a little bit of pain or a little
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: bit of feeling in there? I would guess yes, yeah,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: but I yeah, and he he could probably perform perfectly
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: fine and and just you know, may not be you
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: know that it'll be an obvious, like game planning thing
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: for the opposing team. This guy can't run at full speed,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: you know, so if he hits one in the gap,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: it's I mean, if he hits one, he's no, he's
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: not like legging out in extra base very often. You know,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: it has to be an obvious double or if it's
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: over the fence, that's the that's the ideal thing for
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: for Kyle Tucker, and I think that's where I'm at
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: with it. It's he could play in October probably right
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: now if they were if tomorrow was a playoff game
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: or tonight was a playoff game. And that's probably how
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: fans should just try and compartmentalize this. I don't it
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: doesn't seem like something bad. My My concern is when
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: you have that feeling there, it can always get worse.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: And that's probably what their concern is of, Like, let's
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: just get this to zero, and if it isn't zero
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: by whatever I think September already is the first game
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: of the playoffs, then then we're just gonna have to
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: go with what we have and play baseball. And if
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: he's confident that he doesn't need at bats, I guess
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: that's fine. It's not like he's he cannot swing right now.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: He's out there hitting. I mean maybe not. He never
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: goes out, uh you know what I mean, he's in
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the cage, is hitting. Maybe that's all they need. And
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: maybe we shouldn't or I shouldn't overthink this any further
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: than that, but I think it's worth it's absolutely something
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: that we have to pay attention to and it has
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: to be a slight concern just because he he's so important.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: It just like we said about Peek Armstrong, it's these
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: two guys. If you have these two guys playing well
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: in October, you're you know, you're one of the most
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: dangerous teams in the playoffs. And if they're not clicking,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: then you need a ton of luck and and other
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: guys to step up. And that's it just makes things
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: a lot harder when you're a superstar aren't performing. You know,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: you need you need unsung heroes in the postseason anyways,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: but you need your stars to perform as well. So
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I don't I don't know what else to add to that.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: The only thing I would say is that teams never
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: fully acknowledge publicly the extent of injuries until like they
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: absolutely have to, like Justin Steel's injury was not good,
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: and then they gather more information, more opinions, and then
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: you know, it takes another day or two before it's
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: just finally like, okay, this is you know, a season
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: ending thing. And that doesn't mean that teams are being
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: fundamentally dishonest. It's just that there are a lot of
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: gray areas here and that how they can frame it
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: how they want, and then we can interpret it to
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: the best of our knowledge and experience. And until this
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: like gets better, it has to be on your radar
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: if you're a Cubs fan or someone in the Chicago media,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: because he's so important, because he probably won't be here
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: for a long time. I mean, we'll see what happens,
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: but this was kind of a one year arrangement, and
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: then revisit it this offseason. He is still one of
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: the best hitters in the game when he's right, one
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: of their most accomplished players by far. So yeah, maybe
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: he does get into that whatever Cardinals series at the
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: end of September and everything's fine, and you know, we'll
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: wonder why we spent so much time talking about this
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: CAF injury, or maybe maybe it does keep linger, maybe
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: it continues to not get better and we have to
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: keep writing these updates that are rather tedious.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: All it takes is one one council pregame session where
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: he says today was a good day for Kyle Tucker,
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: and then that eases a ton of concerns until that happens,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: I think people are gonna be nervous about Kyle Tucker's status.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: It can quickly change. This is not you know, like
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: a very obvious injury where it's like this takes X
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: amount of time to heal. It could be a week,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: it could be a day. We just don't know when
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: he's gonna get like, you know, not start, when he's
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: gonna stop feeling whatever he's feeling in his cap. All right, Patrick,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: We'll be back later this week with another episode that
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Cobs Got two more, a big one, a fun one
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: tonight Kate Horton versus Paul Skins. By the time people
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: are listening to this, maybe that game has already been played,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: but should be a fun, exciting game. Always fun when
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: young aces go at it. Thanks so much for listening everyone.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: This is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things comes.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to everyone. Take