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Dansby Swanson’s Surge And The Cubs’ Second-Half Blueprint · Monday Morning Cubs Show

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we're clear.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, good afternoon, and evening Chicago Cubs fans, and welcome back to the Monday Morning Cubs Show.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Monday and off day, July 6th, at your host, joined by my close pal Mahoney, off just a wonderfully historic 250 year anniversary of July 4th.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: No show on Friday, Mahoney, in celebration of the holiday.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just good to see you.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to see the maniacs.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I owe people an apology who wanted it on July 3rd.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you guys had stuff going on.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Cubs 4 and 2 last week.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Carl, there has to be an observation regardless of if the 4th of July is going to fall on a Saturday or not.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: So you're giving the people a breather, a break.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're giving yourself a breather and a break on Friday as well.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that is as forgiving as we can get with uh the Monday morning Cub show and the Maniacs.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I said I didn't want to talk about it personally, but we have to mention it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm battling through this show.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now on Friday, I made the conscious decision.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: My folks were coming over, they haven't seen each other.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's a long story here with us getting a birthday present, and it's I'm about to turn 40, and my brother's got these golf clubs.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, hey, listen, I don't want these golf clubs.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And Mahoney, you know this about me.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need to get into this.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I very much like photography and have a bunch of like these big fucking nice rigs and stuff for certain circumstances.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And a buddy had hired me to help him shoot a project.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the long story, but my folks had basically said, Hey, instead of these golf clubs, I was like, I there's this lens I really want.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to fucking putter, I want a lens.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And my dad's like, You're such a weirdo, dude.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my dad, whatever.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Anyways, Friday's the day we go pick out this lens, bad storms come in.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in this almost I wouldn't call world famous, but Chicago famous camera store out in Aurora.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm there talking to this guy about this lens, this landscaping lens, on how much great stuff I can do on my photography and other large pieces of photography out there.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: I got a text message from my neighbor.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: A 120-foot oak on my property fell through my fucking garage, smashed my 04 suburban on the Horn with State Farm, brings down the three transformers with it in rural America, pal.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: This July 3rd, 1 o'clock.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: You think they're fixing this thing before the fourth?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: No offense to the linemen or the local.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's protected stuff in the Union Bargaining Agreement, but you know, if I seem like I'm going through it, I just the power.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: The timing of a tree falling down and having a power grid knocked off for over 48 hours during the 4th of July holiday weekend, the 250th Fourth of July weekend.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, big bonfire to celebrate, my friend.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm happy that we're juiced up at least this morning because we were we were question marking if I was going to be doing a solo show.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't, it was just gonna be Mahony here for 45 minutes off the cuff, just talking about God knows what.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Just shooting the shoe.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, do I have to go into the photography stuff or the fact that I'm with my parents or this?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's what it is, is that I have these two older brothers that have gotten brand new sets of irons custom that are very expensive, and there's just a funny thing where I'm helping out a buddy who does custom fucking irons with a project.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going, I don't need that.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have custom irons.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: We have there's custom iron.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: If there's one, you know what I do need.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I need that's just about as expensive as custom irons?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: RFS.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: I need a I need a Sigma 15 millimeter prime fixed with aperture that goes down to 1.4 for these very dark situations because I'm gonna be out here with low-level sunlight and I need to make some fucking features pop.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now we don't need to go down this rabbit hole.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: The only reason it's funny is that I live on the perfect testing grounds for this exact piece of equipment that I'm finding as I'm talking to the guy behind the counter about like, oh dude, I got these gorgeous fucking oak trees.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: These trees just yeah, they speak to me.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be perfect because there I could I'll take it home tonight and I'll frame it against I've got all these different types of backdrops where I can have one against the house, one against this and that.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: My neighbor texts me, he's like, dude, one of the oak trees just fell and smashed.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm getting different text messages.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, that sucks.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: I got the chainsaws, I got the buddies, we can figure this out, my honey.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I know if I asked you to come out here and just fucking rip one of these chainsaws with me, not a problem at all.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Won't need your help right now.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty sure insurance is gonna cover all that stuff.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: But just the fact that we were out of power around the fourth for the 250th just meant it was a bar crawl city.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You pack up the car in the morning, it's 98 degrees, can't do jack shit.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: You got Cubs Cardinals, World Cup slate.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: There's you're not gonna miss those, and you can't always rely on 5G, you know, to bring you home on a small screen.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I we did our best.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: We watched Patriot on July 4th after the cup games.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: We went out and watched them charge all our devices at a local bar.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're nice, they let you plug it in.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Hey, I want to talk about this limited off the top.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like complaining.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing this to complain, I'm just letting you guys know I'm in a certain mindset or mind frame.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I watched box scores this weekend.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I went into this Cardinals series all fucking positive, can't wait.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just following box scores down.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: We just won by 20.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Mahoney, do the math for me.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have a major league stat?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's funny.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: I actually I sharpened my pencil, Carl, and this after the 23-3 win after then getting drubbed 17 to whichever, it's the largest disparity in major league baseball history between a run differential win and getting you just got run differential ratio, is what they call that in the bigs, and yeah, it's the largest one in between two games.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that we beat the Padres, swept them, you know, not whatever, dropped the series of the Cardinals.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Hot, we're hot, dude.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Danzig Swanson's hot.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot we're gonna get into.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Baller strike.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: This should be a nice show, it should be a tight show, it's an off-day show.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have one last week here before we we get into the all-star break.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some bad news, I guess, with the all-star break, but also good news.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you are a maniac and listen to the show last year, then guess what, folks?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: We get to connect some major, major dots between a talking point last year around this time that then triggered a complete nosedive into a talking point this year that'll completely support a hypothesis that we should play our best baseball in August into September.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it has nothing to do with the trade deadline, my friends.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Cannot wait to get to that.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Before we do get to this stuff, there's two things I want to mention.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: First off, again, I don't bring up the tree falling through the thing to smash this or that to complain.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm certainly not looking for anybody to come over here with chainsaws.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be very specific in this, though.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you do own an LLC and you do have the capacity to run a chainsaw, come over here, clean this up, pick me up as a 1099 for the day, and then pay me out on the invoice that I will then later submit to my insurance company.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Under no fraudulent circumstances, I'll give you 10 to fucking 20 hours of my absolute best work that I can do.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: But that's an arrangement I'm looking to work out.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I bring up the tree volum through here.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, no, under no fraud, we'll commit no fraud either.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, that none.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: None.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying if you need an honest day's work from a guy, I'm out here.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have the equipment.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: One, two, thirsty vaquero mahoney, an all bite, no rattle, Mexican style soda.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those things were flying off the shelves in Monterey on Sunday, which I found out is a dry town in Mexico.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Who fucking knew?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thirsty Vicero is a Mexican-style soda with the signature spicy finish.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's all bite, no rattle.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Less than 100 calories per can with 100% full of uh organic agave, full organic juices, full real.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: All this shit's natural, dude.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: One thing about Thirsty Vicero, Carl, is it plays at altitude.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hats off to Mexico for a hard-fought game against a tough, tough, very talented English team.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: And the last game in the Azteca arena in Mexico City, you know, some two 2300 meters above sea level.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: You best your ass though those folks were drowning some of their sorrows in a mango muerte.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: But proud of them.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: And here's the thirsty vaquero.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't have a Cub show without it, and we wouldn't have some World Cups fans being able to uh, you know, take care of some vigilante trios while while they're drowning their sorrows.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good point at elevation.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry if I cut you off there.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: I do just want to make it clear.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I got hacked by AI, but someone was saying Aztec is higher than Mount Everest.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: That I couldn't tell you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if that's gotta be wrong.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's gotta be wrong.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I can't do research on the fly while we're recording.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I noticed last year or last week, if there is echo, one of the problems that I've had with echo, I think, is because I was plugged in Thunderbolt to an external.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want to get too specific, but here's what we are doing for this specific episode is we're having a lot of spicy watermelon.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Since having spicy watermelon, uh the Cubs are 16 and 6 over their last 22, Mahoney.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: 16 and 6 last 22.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: And just a quick check-in, Carl, at Mount Everest is vastly higher.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: It is at uh 8,848 meters, so that's 29,000 feet roughly.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, it's about 2,240 meters.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I got got just so you know, you got got.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it happens to me all the time.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: With most important thing, though, is I didn't come in here and repurpose it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: What I did is I said I came in here and I think I got it.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about this yet.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But those guys were at elevation last night.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now I did see this, and I don't think I got got by this.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Bolivia, who is in South America, they are not nearly as good as their neighboring South American neighbors.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, what they did in 2024 is they moved their national team to the highest elevated point of Bolivia, which is way higher than anybody's fucking stadium in South America.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And teams can't make it through the game and they break down.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: They beat Brazil at home like two years ago.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: They've never beaten Brazil, they never they've never beat Brazil, and so they're undefeated at home since movement of the stadium since 2024.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's talking about home field advantage, that's talking about going out of your way to create a home field advantage.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what are we doing for the Chicago Cubs?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're playing 120s, and are we taking advantage of that?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a good question.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I get a little bit mad when I see Peacock wants a piece of the action, ESPN wants a piece of the action, Fox wants a piece of the action, Apple TV wants a piece of our action.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just let us fucking get our home field advantage.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Those should all been 120s, and even the 130 game, it's not 120.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's a 10-minute difference.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hate it, hate it.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: That throws me off for the rest of the afternoon.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'd hate a 121, I'd hate a 119.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even play for these guys.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: I hate it.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: 120 is one fucking 20, Mahoney.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: You ain't kidding.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So uh another thing to address with audio purposes.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I literally just plugged in to my microphone.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: So for the first seven minutes of this show, I was speaking into my into my Mac.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Normally, Mahoney and I would rip this back from the top.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have time.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: No time.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the I'm lit, I'm literally have to get back outside and tend to this fire and continue to burn some of this debris so I can get back, so I can get to some of the artifacts that have been crushed under the carport.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And again, if you know a guy who can erect a carport is comfortable with making insurance claims, again, I'll give you I'll give you an honest day's work.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in at the same token, during that storm on July 3rd, I believe it was, I was running with the kids with the stroller.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: My legs went to failure.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't go anymore.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, I was just walking through, and the you know, branches were literally falling in front of us, but we made it through.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the Cubs had made it through this past stretch, right?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: When we didn't think things were gonna go all that great, and you know who definitely ended up making it through, Carl?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thirsty Vaccarrow, Thirsty Vacaro, but also somebody named Dansby the Mansby.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: I like to play.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, let's get into the talking points then.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do that.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Can we?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, is that what you're doing right now?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you trying to transition pushing your kids in a stroller into Dansby Swanson?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was trying to be like the branches were falling, it felt like all was lost.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't see two feet in front of me, and we made it through.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I think somebody made it through their struggles as earlier on in the season.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's Dansby the Mansby Swanson.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm never gonna discourage you from wanting to take a take a stab at a transition like that.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um the one thing there is like the kids in the branches falling, where it's like it was very scary.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: You could have just left it to yourself where you were scared, you know.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that that the boys, you know, or I should say the kids were at risk.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: They were, but we had the stroller that had the protection.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like I had there was an overhang there, you know.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: We were running, I was looking up, making sure that there was nothing coming down on us at the time.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we made it to the car.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was only four blocks away, but it felt like four miles.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And Carl baller strike.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: The Hall of Fame should be requesting that scorecard from Dansby's double header day against the Mets.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, how about it, right?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's what a turnaround, man.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is outside.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I guess we didn't cover that on the Friday, right?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Did so we haven't even gotten into any of that.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: They had requested it this week, so that's why I'm bringing it up that the Hall of Fame had requested the scorecard from that series this week, and Dansby really hasn't cooled off all that much since then.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, he's he has been red hot.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: I guess this kind of does validate the fact that I I mean, I've said this before, I know a lot of other people have said this too.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So this isn't like if you listen to me, I mean, if you listen to people who talk about the Cubs and follow the Cubs, you one of the things they'll you hear frequently about Danzby Swanson, particularly offensively, is that he works on his stuff relentlessly, and as a result, he's very hot or cold.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's always working to get better.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually very frustrating, similar if you're following like a golfer.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Why'd you change your swing or something?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: But it's the pursuit of perfection or you're trying to feel or something.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so he is red hot.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: But do you know that he did give an extended conversation or I should say extended answer and spoke specifically about his work with John Maley, who got fired by the organization, but then brought back as a third-party hitting coach, famous hitting coach from the 2016 team, Northwest Indiana guy.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and he collaborates with the Cubs hitting staff and coordinators and has worked relentlessly with Dansby.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: But want to talk to you just quickly about Dansby and like this Mahoney to you, as I would say, regular run-of-the-mill Joe Cubs fans.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you hear about him and you go, runners in scoring position doesn't come through.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Weak hitter, 180, as bad as it gets.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: But then there's other people that are saying, well, just wait a second, because typically what happens is over a two, three-week stretch is where he accumulates a lot of his numbers.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: So now let me just turn it back to you, average guy, regular Joe Cubs fan.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Does that bother you that he's this hot now and can be this bad that the spectrum that he lives on both ends of the spectrum?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: It it does bother me.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always somebody who really does like a consistency thing, and that's only just for you know for my own feelings.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: But if he could take himself out of it the way that he has, I'm also fine with that.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's the whiplash of what is following Dan's B offensively, I feel like.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And um just him being able to turn it around speaks more to who he is than me being able to judge whether I care or not.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll just give you some more context on over the last two weeks.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: 51 plate appearances, eight home runs, obviously leads major league baseball.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's unbelievable.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, 26 RBIs leads major league baseball.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: 560 isolated slugging, leads major league baseball, 880 slugging, leads major league baseball in that category.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Zero walks, 51 plate appearances, zero walks, major league average in those 51 plate appearances would be around four or five walks, zero walks.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: So now the question is are we willing then for a guy who's gonna get into these situations?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because we as we as fans love to say work the count, work the count, work the count.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: I've said abandon that shit.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've said for particular guys, especially if you're slumping, just hit the ball any way possible.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you need to be hitterish, you need to be you need to be looking more zones as for a specific pitch, etc.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd hate to be too, I should be more celebratory, but that's super interesting about Tansby Swanson.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: That for as good as he's been, as hot as he's been, as best as he's ever been his entire time wearing a cubs uniform, and it doesn't look like it's slowing down.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So much that you open this by asking about Cooperstown, and I'm pointing back and going zero percent walk rate, pal.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's not that's that's so atyp, that's more atypical than the fact that he's got a 560 ISO.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: No, and quite honestly, I never would have guessed that or would I have looked for that statistic.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, the fact that he hasn't walked is all it's just telling me he's looking to swing.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's somebody who's going to play for that, you know, 150 plus game pace offensively, and he knows it more than we do, clearly.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: But and it's funny because like what two weeks ago, I remember you were specifically asking, like, who's gonna have a bigger week, PCA or Dansby?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, dude, come on, PCA.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how can you not like this kid is uh spend lighting the world on fire, and then leading into that week, I'm like, what the hell kind of crystal ball, you know, did you have?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: But you it was in front of you, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: The numbers were showing you what was gonna happen with Dansby, and then he exploded and kept that base up.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: I tried it.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: These these are some esoteric concepts here that I've tried to do my absolute best to try and make it real and tangible and feel it looked like you were fortune telling for for Dansby, in particular, Dansby, and this is where you get mad, you go, dude, 27 million, you're way better.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: You have so much experience about this.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that he was getting beat um was soft, early, non-hard, non-break, non because, like most most major league starters have variations of breaking stuff, right?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have a sweeper, you're gonna have a slider, you're gonna have a cutter, you're gonna have a curve, you're gonna have not maybe not all of it, but you have a range.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like you just throw a slider.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Those guys are called relievers.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Starters typically have the capacity to manipulate stuff, and so to Dansby and Bregman, two guys in particular getting paid a ton of money, what you would see differently, particularly through the month of May, was early in the count, first three pitches, the amount of like average to below average breaking stuff, which is a catch-all for saying stuff that starters throw to get a strike early in a count, but usually when they're down 2-0, usually when it's 2-0 and you're geared in for a fastball, most average to like at least average below average starting pitchers can what's called spin it in for a strike, just spin one in and just jump in there.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: But then you would see those guys throw that pitch consistently to Swanson and Bregman 0-0-0-1-1-0-1-1 without really much threat at all.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where like now you're starting to get in once you get past two, three pitches per plate appearance, is where you're starting to get into swing and miss territory.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And now you've earned the right.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Have you earned the right to try and get swing and miss or extremely weak contact?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Where like we were at those phases in at bats with Swanson and Bregman, where you were seeing stuff that typically you only see on 2-0.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: You'd see on 3-1.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you'd see it on 3-0 if you know it's a guy who jumps on fastballs 3-0.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: You're seeing very low quality spin right over the heart of the plate, knowing that hey, I can jump back in with a fastball aggressively, and the amount of time Swanson would foul off a fastball back to the screen or would just be late on a fastball after seeing weak spin.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so to me, it's like, dude, that's not a crazy adjustment for a guy at 10 years.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not that's something they're clearly just baiting this guy early because they know his timing shits down.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Either it's foot or it's something's down, something's off.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so he had recently talked where he's like, Hey, it had clicked.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: And hitters will talk about that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's a common thing in baseball where you'll hear hit her say, like, hey, it clicked.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think it's it's much different to people who have not played baseball past high school or even in high school at all.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Where, like, if you've ever done a math problem, you're like, no shit, or like you've ever done something at work and you're like, I didn't know it was that easy, or like just something clicked.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, oh shit, like this is how it works.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it can be similar to that in hitting.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think Swanson went through that phase.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Long-winded answer, Mahoney.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: My question back to you again is are you okay that he lives in both ends of the spectrum?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: You want a little bit more consistency.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's wrong.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, yeah.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's just and that's just what it is.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: That as a fan, I'd like to have more consistency.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of hopefully what is applying to Dansby is the same thing with Bregman, right?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Pitchers aren't really pitching them any differently than they ever have before in their career because one, the over the 500 plate appearances stuff, but two, they know who these guys are.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And well, I mean, I think the exact difference is what I was saying is that like Swanson was a getting absolutely pitched, like they they they fucked with Swanson right primarily with just soft, weak shit.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think the same thing with Bredman where there's less heat.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing way more hittable pitches than I think his approach has been geared toward.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like the adjustment is that the league's being more aggressive with these guys now that they're older.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Where my my thoughts stem from, I did I looked at pitch selection, so that's more so like what people were using against those banners.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not how they were using those pitches.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I I can't decipher, and I completely understand your point.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to confuse the maniacs.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, I would hate to like speak down you or ever try and correct you in the middle of the way.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is a different, this is a different thing.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Bregman's pissing people off too because and I think he he's has in the same sense like the capacity to do what Dansby's done is just turn it around quickly.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: Where like now you'd be kind of silly to sit there on Twitter during the game and complain about Dansby, right?
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like he's just been he's been so good, and you can see how good he is.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so then you'd say, like, all right, well, if it's like that, imagine if he was that hot the last week of September.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying he will be, but like that guy lives, that guy exists in the multi-universe.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: He could show up the he could show up in the first playoff series, and like now you have not the not a great shortstop, not a shortstop who belongs on the field.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now you have one of the best players in the playoffs on your team hitting eighth.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's how good Danzby Swatson can be.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: And what does it do too with Danzby's power?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: If he's hitting, you know, eight home runs and whatever, however many games, and he's our seven, eight, or nine hitter.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: How's that gonna treat our top four guys?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like it all is gonna just cater to each other.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now keep in mind they're gonna pitch him different now.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna this is what happens, you know.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever he has feasted on, he should see limited of that.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: But the nice thing is we're going to the all-star break.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like one more week.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: You get all the Orioles who never see him, don't know shit about Danzby Swanson, never saw him before.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like he came from the AL East or any of the stuff.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: He did the Orioles would be on a list of teams that have the least amount of experience against Danzby Swanson.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a great opportunity for him to stay hot, you know, off day.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're in Cincinnati.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, we'll get to that later when we look ahead, because I want to look ahead at the end of the show, but I just want to stay on a couple more ball and strikes, and like I got one for you.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I got a little bit longer here on Dansby Swanson, but I do think it's important, and I think the most important thing is that he has bothered me and can bother people significantly, and he's failed to come up in huge moments and stuff like that.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: And like, this is the cross you bear as a Dansby Swanson fan, as you know in the back of your head that he has the capacity when the timing's right to be better than anybody else on the field, like anybody, and so month and a half ago, you're seeing all about like look at his contract.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be an absolute, you know, atrocious eat over the next few years, and then two months later, it's completely different viewpoints.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he makes you do that, he may he makes you mad because it's like the fact he is as good does then make the 180 worse.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's like I live it on both ends of the spectrum, it just means when you're in the shittier part of the spectrum, it just really stinks because you know, you know, whether it's just an adjustment here or and we talked about this again is it injury related?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe it's like a shitty soft ankle, and it's like I can't really get everything I have into that, so now I have to make adjustments into it, and so it's so hard as a fan to be like, take this into consideration before you get mad when he strikes out with runners on second and third and a tie game in the eighth inning.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's so hard to remember all this stuff, but that's the point of the show, buddy.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's the point of having a conversation, and and what also is shitty is losing to the Cardinals, right?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: But ball or strike, we needed that to salvage not only for the week, but to keep the Cardinals, you know, behind us in the standings.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the tone of the show would have been a little bit differently had we been swept, obviously.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, we needed that game on Sunday to just keep this thing rolling, yeah, and weird too, like just weird game, weird times, weird everything, weird for comeback win.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm happy about the comeback on yesterday.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: I thought as soon as we had dropped that lead in the sixth inning, that this was gonna be um, you know, a really crappy end to the holiday weekend, but they fought, came back, couple big errors on the Cardinals end, and you know, now they're still one and a half games behind us, and we don't have to talk about the Cubs being in third place, and we're 10 games over 500 with a week to go before the all-star break.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's kind of weird to talk about this.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: I yes, I do it's weird to talk about the standings now.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is in context of saying it's nice to win that game because it keeps us one and a half above the Cardinals, and I agree with that.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's a way to talk about the standings, there's a way to do it.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: You're right.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: And when we talked about the Brewers last week, it was the same thing.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: If we lose that last game at seven and a half, instead it's five and a half, and so now as we record at six, and you know that's a big difference because six and eight, you know, like that's where those two games come into play.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we just keep this in mind, and I think it's like important we just have these preliminary conversations because we are one week until the all-star break.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like, we kind of get it fresh because we're gonna go through the all-star break, and then we get through the trade deadline, and then we have the trade deadline guys kind of assimilating the team, and then from like the first week of August towards the end, like that first or second week in August, for the next seven, eight weeks, it's all standings talk.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's all standings talk.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I just moved the Brewers and the Cardinals into my favorites on the score app, just so as soon as I log in, I can check exactly where they're at, which is like that's a timing thing, that's a mechanism thing.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's just like the Masters app on a phone.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you you know there's a good 10, 12, 13 week period where like I'm gonna know want to know exactly what's going on with the Brewers and the Cardinals, but we're getting there, Mahoney.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Understood, understood.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: It is just it's a baller strike, it's nice to have a nice win on Sunday.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's just right down the middle.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Cookie, cookie cutter mahoney for you.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Had to keep the conversation moving along.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're gonna take a look.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: We brought up the all-star break, you know.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Baller strike, PCA is the only Cubs all-star, and he's the only really one I think that's a good one.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a strike, right?
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: But who else would deserve it?
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, maybe Ben Brown before he had gotten hurt.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Other than that, the month of June, dude, PCA, player of the month, by the way, hit 381, 468, 781, 300, 11 dingers and eight steals at OBPSI just added up 1249 OPS plus.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: He had one of the greatest months of all time.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know you had alluded to that.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Put it up there with Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, all these other crazy ass names.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this has been such a historic season from one way or the other, whether it's the disparity between the 23 run game and the 17 run loss.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, PCA's our all-star, and that's a strike, folks.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I suppose the only other person you could make an argument for, and this is one of the hardest things we talk about with them, is Alex Bregman.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or not Alex Bregman, is Michael Bush.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Why did I just say that?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, Michael Bush.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, I yeah, I got a little confused there, but um, I feel like Michael Bush doesn't get his due in a lot.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the problem, is he's just a first baseman, and I think this is this is the reason I'm bringing him up, is not to say he should be a he should be an all-star.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just it's impossible to be an all-star as a first baseman.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's so many good existing first basemen, there's so many good guys in the minor leagues that can hit that, like they're only gonna get their opportunities at first base, and then there's so many guys that have career years at that position because you're just talking about the most talented hitters, like the position group hitters.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: The as those you had to take all the position players and say third baseman stand over here, first baseman over here, center fit, blah blah blah blah blah.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: The best hitters by far, in a way, not even close.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: The position group is always first base, and so it's not that Michael Bush is a great first baseman and he gets better as a gold glove and stuff.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the pool of guys that are eligible to be first base.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: A, you're dealing with there's so many just general generational players at that position to begin with, and B, it's like the guys you never even heard of that break out are all over the place.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's always people breaking out at the position, it's just such a competitive position based on how quality of the hitters are.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when I go back to PCA, I think it is a strike that he is the only deserving player, just considering like how much Nico's fallen off.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he was always a popular person to make an argument for.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: What about Ian Hap as a reserve?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just because he's had a career year, he's been an all-star before, and he's like way better than he was his all-star season.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: I could see him now.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, just refresh my memory.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do they name they name reserves?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's not a voted thing.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so are we just at the point where we have our votes in, right?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if we have the starters are out there, and then I think that the league or managers are allowed to to vote in.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I apologize, maniacs, for me not having this exact format nailed down at this point, but you know, why does it bother me so much that I I just like love and respect baseball reference so much?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: I go to it all the time, I talk about it all the time.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Alex Bregman so far in 88 games is at 2.2 wins above replacement, but somehow Ian Hap is at 1.8 and Michael Bush is 1.9.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if we just use that metric in an argument through 88 games, you would say comfortably that like Alex Bregman is supposed to be like noticeably or should be better.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's odd to me.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, does he get more opportunities at third base to ground like to field a grounder?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, we should stay on Pete Crow Armstrong for purposes of this baller strike and just say you know, I mean, he's on pace for 10.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know I just ragged on it, but like he's on pace for 10 more.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's on pace for 35 something 40 homers, he's on pace for 45 stone.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: But he's just he's on pace to be better than he was last year, and last year he's one of the best cubs of all time.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, and more walks than he has at this point in the season and all last year.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, lastly, with PCA too, very happy.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Baller strike, you're happy that he's not participating in the home run derby.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is a good thing to talk about with the all-star game.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like, I don't want any of our guys, and it's great.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're always like, I'd prefer not to have our pitcher on the team.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Do I want our guy to rest?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, do you want to rest, or do you want to go and have your pitcher taken with Juan Zoto?
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, fuck that.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Who cares?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if we have Vlad Guerrero Jr.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: was like, nah.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, that'd be so sick.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, can we talk about the fact PCA has 41 walks this year last year?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: He had 29 the entire season.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: Ridiculous, dude.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just insane.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: OPS 910.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: And like, dude, there's six weeks in there where he looked lost.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And he, I know, and the way that he came out of it is absurd.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I think that this guy has just perennial written all over him.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Just put him in center field as long as he's healthy over the next four years.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't want to get technical.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just say the actions are so short, you know, the swing he gets to his power quickly, his impact is quick.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's just it's generated so briefly and quickly, explosively.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's patient.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: His knowledge of the strike zone has adapted, and not just knowledge of it, just his his interactions with it, his relationship with it, his confidence around it.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many good things to say about him.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think ultimately, though, it's back to your baller strike, is he he's the only deserving.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're right.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then that's a good reminder that the only reason we are as good as we are.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we could we could be fine without him.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: We could be a 500 team without him, maybe.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, did you want me to go through our player injuries?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: The fact you have PCA.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we know, yeah, but he has definitely came and and taken over the spotlight and the engine of this Cubs team.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to see him get two innings of play.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I brought this up.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I'll have an opportunity to do a deep dive on this.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to say, thank goodness that we don't have that.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Cubs are good, so let's put six guys on the team in the playoff in the All-Star game.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: I hate that.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: I hate congratulations to Matt Boyd.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's great for free agency and all that stuff last year.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about that.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, congratulations to Nico Horner.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's great for contract extensions.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's something where you personally feel for these guys.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: As a Cubs fan, if you give a shit about the second half, you want these guys at home with their feet up.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: You want these guys getting a rub down from the training staff, you want these guys taking a deep breath.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if if last year's second half isn't indicative of the fact that like it can take more, it's it's difficult.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just go home and rest.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like bad things can happen when you send too many guys to the all-star game.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's exactly what happened last year.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, and even with PCA, you know, he kind of had fallen off after, you know, post-all-star game.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the I remember I had to take something like I want him to get the taste, I want him to be there, I want him to be around the superstar.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: But he's gotten that plenty now.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: USA baseball, you know, and he's gonna be at the all-star game again.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Go in, take the festivities, just get in, get out, no derby.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, get some scratch out of the deal, a couple endorsements, and you're riding high.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he's already gotten paid, like he already has profile.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's why I like him sitting out of the home run derby.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, that's somebody else.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: Get some endorsements out of the way.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need it.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, dude, he's already got his scratch.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: And what kind of like the thing that now the next step for him is not a home run derby, it's not a great moment in the all-star game.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: The next step for him is doing what he's doing right now in October, and he's smart enough to understand that.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a lot of faith and confidence that this guy's just heading on the right path.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: The walk rates through the roof, and he doesn't miss mistakes now.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, whatever shit people were talking about, the version you're seeing now, he's not making mistakes.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: Last year, you could make the argument the league doesn't know who he is, they're throwing him down and in.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're this they adjusted and he struggled, and they struggled for a long time.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: He struggled for a very long time, and then he just kept adjusting, adjusting.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: You saw small increments, and now boom, we're back to square one.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's the argument against BCA here?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: The argument is we just don't know how good he can be.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: We've we've taken a full circle back to that argument.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: We're just not sure exactly what we're dealing with here.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: We do know he's 24 years old, we do know he's well on the his way to leading position players and wins above replacement.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: He should shatter numbers last year that were by and large cubs records for the first time in gross totals since Ernie Bay, you know, whatever 30-30, this and that.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just lucky to have him.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: Strike right there, lucky strike.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, yeah, and then baller strike last season.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: We are a wild card team.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Baller strike, yeah.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: I I just I'm nervous about Mizorowski, I'm nervous about Kyle Harrison when we have this conversation.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I guess there's gonna be a lot of things.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: We just have no starting pitching, so I think that's the case.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: We have no starting pitching.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just because these guys, so let's do this instead.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you can be the one seed, or you can, which is when you have the buy and you host the NLDS.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: The Dodgers have what 5960 wins.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: The the Brewers are somewhere around 57ish.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it almost feels impossible at this stage, right?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: To say that to get the one seed.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, yeah, it's a mountain to climb that we don't have the tools.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if I understand, don't I understand this correctly?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't the two the two gets a bye as well.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: The three plays the three plays the six and the four plays the five.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now my understanding is that there's nobody in the east that's gonna be in competition with the Brewers and the Dodgers at this rate.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: The Brewer, the Braves.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right, right.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: How many wins do they have, Moni?
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not editing this.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not editing this.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just talk through this.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: My point, what I'm trying to make, is because Mohnie's asking, are the Cubs a wild card team?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they're gonna be able to do that.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: They're 52 and 36 currently with the three-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: So if the Cubs were to catch the Brewers, that's a re that would be remark obviously that would be remarkable because of our pitching situation.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: That would then justify the bye week, or I should say, you know, whatever, the bye week, that's NFL talk.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: The buy into the NLDS where you host the four or five.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: So realistically, our week, that's a strike right now based on the starting pitching.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: The question is, how much do you want to go with the trade deadline under the mindset that you can get a buy into the NLDS?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to avoid?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you are gonna be a wild card team, then be the first wildcard team and host the second wildcard team.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like last year, the Dodgers were the three-seed and they hosted the Reds, who were an 83 team, and it wasn't even close.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was just an absolute tragic blowout.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: The Chicago Cubs is the four seed in the first wild card hosted the Padres.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: That was a great six.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, are we a wild card team?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right now we are, but those are just kind of the considerations.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's okay if we're a wild card team if we're the first wild card team.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: If we're the second wild card team, I hate it.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: If we're the last wildcard team, I'm really mad we broke the luxury tax.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I kind of understand it with the started pitching injuries.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a long-winded answer, my homie.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry I can't do a better job explaining where I think what I think about this.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's almost as a fan, you want a home series or not?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: What I want is a what I want is to consistently be one or two.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I want.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what I want is to consistently never play in the wild card round.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want our guys rested, and I want to have a full rotation against somebody who just played in the wild card round.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: At Wrigley Field, I want that very badly.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: But to get that, we need something.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, and I'm never gonna sit here and say, Oh, I can't.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: I hope something bad happens to so-and-so on the Brewers.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: I hope nothing bad happens to those guys.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: I hope they make every start they're supposed to make, and I hope we can outcompete them.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, who's pitching around?
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: David Peterson goes out and gives up 10 runs against the welcome to the Cubs, buddy.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then those guys have to just ride it out because we're saving the bullpen arms.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, dude, just you're sticking around for this one, Dave.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, pal.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Bryce.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, Raoul said, Oh man, yeah, you know, and like I had to just the other day, I was like, oh god, Tyler Ferguson, Trent Thornton, those are different guys.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're still at that stage with this bullpen, no matter how much of an expert I am.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: I can only remember 30 pitchers at a time.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah, no shit, dude.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that just to recap, ball or strike, are we a wild card team?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: At this moment, you know, we are unless there's you know, mother nature, catastrophic injury.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: So do you disagree?
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you disagree?
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean we are.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you look at the standings right now, we're we would be a wildcard team, and that's what the identity is.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: With zero starting pitchers, we're not going to be able to make up, I think, a six-game lead.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know it's early to say, but as it is now, I do not see the Cubs winning the division.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, here's a better ball or strike, or I should say derivative from that baller strike being a wild card team changes how much Jed is willing to go in this trade deadline.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's a toughie.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm gonna say ball because I I don't think that with the trade ships they have or whatever, unless like they were gonna go all in, but we're not there yet.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I can't see that it changes really their philosophy.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: So then that would be yeah, it does.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is that a strike?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: I meant strike.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying, man.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows at this point?
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: I I I my okay, here's an easier one.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, would the Cubs still be interested?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: Say Terek School School checks out, medicals check out.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: That that's people love talking.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: It only matters if the medicals check out, meaning he can give you what what you're trading for.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: There, if there's any indication he cannot give you 12 starts, you don't make the or 10, you do not make the trade.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the Cubs have historically been extremely sensitive to medicals, so just assume they go fine.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: You trade for Terek Scuble, that's a transition is something I want to talk about for a second.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's the high end, we say, of like you're going all in for it.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm saying if they if they profile as a four-five versus they're in competition with Milwaukee for the two seed.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think either of those or is Jet operating we're just trying to go to the playoffs?
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's operating at this point as if we're just trying to go to the playoffs.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I still think he's willing to get a Scoobol, then.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just gotta get in no matter what.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have an ace like Scuble, that's gonna give you a pretty good chance.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't think that it's gonna do anything to push them over the top line of the division.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it changes their philosophy.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's what that's relationships.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: The trade deadline rolls around.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: Are you making moves for October?
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: Are you making moves to win the division?
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: October, and that's it.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: You have to put it in the rearview mirror.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that's the best way for me to ask that.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you get a guy like Scuble, the idea is for October.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna run him out there on short rest or ask him to pitch seven innings and these you're you're gearing him for an October run.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I would say getting School doesn't mean we're coming after the Brewers, it means we're solidifying ourselves for October because we need a number one.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: We need one.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't think, and maybe that would be a good partnership with School Bowl if that's communicated before the trade where it's like, hey, we're not trying to ride you, we're not trying to take the wheels off.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're just ramping you up.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where I stand with him.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I stand with trade deadline subs, which means I do think there's two pitchers that get traded for.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's somebody that gets traded for that pitches, you know, a number three, a number two.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, names.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: We should have names for next show.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's time plenty of times to talk names.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm already talking about Scoobyl, but I'm saying you would pair Scoobyl with someone with another trade chip.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason you would do this basically, you see the high end of Danz V.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: Swanson, you've seen how good say PCA is, you've seen how good Say Suzuki is when he's healthy.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: Michael Bush is being a fine player.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're making a bet that, like, okay, what if Ian Bretton, or what if Alex and Ian continue, like Alex gets hot and Ian has a good second half.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're making these bets to be like, we could actually be a team that makes a run in a playoff if we have some damage.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if listen, if PCA was below average, or if Danzby Swanson wasn't the best player of all time, I think we could be having different conversations.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'm saying is when you see the high end of this team, am I crazy?
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, not at all.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: Really, not at all.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I I'm in I'm in lockstep there.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: Last thing I have, all right, because I wanted to do a little bit of a tire show on an off day.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about this.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love this guy inside and out.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: We made that argument.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you spend 35 million on Alex Brugman, when you have 27 million at Danzu Swanson, then you see the high end, you see the Sari.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm I know.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: When you have PCA performing on an extension, when say is winning games, he's healthy in right field.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, it's like, well, we could, we could, and it's like Kate Orton's hurt, Justin Steele's hurt, but you know what I'm gonna say.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_00: Your boy, your boy.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's probably gonna get traded.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think Shaw is a trade chip, and and really the way he's been used this year, is how can't he be?
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: I hate the fact that I'm gonna watch his career like I just hate the fact he's gonna be, he's I hate the fact he's gonna hit 50 doubles for the tigers.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_01: I just or like the Marlins or something.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it just it it chills me because we are gonna trade for Terrace Huble.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: The trade's only gonna be for like two starts in October, maybe one.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen no, once you said Detroit Tigers, too.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I see Mac Shaw in a Tigers uniform.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, their president of operations was Theo's right, is a guy named Scott Harris, who was Theo's right-hand man for 10 years and a close personal friend of Jed Warrior.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: And all the guys who still work for the Cubs.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: Scott Harris is a great guy, so he's great.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's our age, he's a nice guy.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_01: The fact, too, that you know, Matt Shaw is really uh he's our only like strong cornerstone of a of a significant trade package.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: He's the only one.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's that's it.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: That there's this kid, Josiah, that I talked about on a Friday show with Cody here, uh or with Cody Del Amendo, Josiah Harrison, who's in A ball looks to be the best height.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: What uh no, I'm talking about train for school, but you're gonna have to give up, like yeah, you're gonna have to give up Matt Shoss.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: Basically, well, that kid's the best height, he's not here.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just totally shift the gears here, but I was reading he's like our best drafted hitter in years, whatever out of high school.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: But what difference does it make?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: He's in single A right now.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's nice to see him getting some press.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, we have a guy that we drafted that plays third at a gold glove rate, can play shortstop for two weeks without major cracks in the foundation.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: Spell right field or two, probably could play gold glove caliber second base.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: Taught himself how to play right field well enough where he's actually is an everyday right fielder when he's healthy.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you know, after one spring training, he could get reps in center field, he could probably play a little bit of left field.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's difficult at Wrigley with the wall.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if he had any any bit of height, he would be a backup first baseman, which he's so good at the infield that they tried that anyways.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he let our team in slugging percentage in the second half, hitting almost as high as Anthony Rizzo hit in the entire season.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: We won a World Series, and then we signed Alex Bregman.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we're probably gonna have to trade somebody if we do want to get an arm.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I would guess that somebody based on what I've seen from Pedro Ramirez, cut Kevin.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: As we predicted, we don't have guys that can contribute at the major league level.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: We need to keep him in triple A.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have nothing.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess that's the question is is it worth it this year for one two starts of Derek Scubol?
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're not getting them to chase the Brewers.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's the point.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: People need to, we're not getting them and then saying, all right, go crush it.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting him and being like, How are your bone chips?
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna be okay to pitch at home in October?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it might that's it, it might take a break, it might shut him down a week or two here and there.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_01: You never know.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting Matt Shaw, is it would be giving away.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna leave maniacs with the show.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: Would you give up Matt Shaw for Tarek Scuble?
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: If it was the main part of the package, of course, you're gonna give up other people, Ethan Conrad, whoever else we fucking drafted, that's having a good season of them.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're giving up a lot of people.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever looks okay, whoever looks halfway decent.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just assume they're gone.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: Would you do it knowing that when we're getting we're not getting CC Sabathia when he came in with the Brewers?
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_00: And my point is okay, and quickly, Scuble's won back-to-back sideyons.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the high end of Tarek Scuble is 50-60 million.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's the only thing that prevents Terek Scuble from getting paid is an injury that prevents him from pitching whatever.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: So he just has to go into the winner healthy.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing he does not have tape.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the difference between 50, 60, 75 million is balling out in October.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: So he wants to get traded somewhere and he wants to get traded under the pretense that, like, obviously, going in October, the number one thing I want is health because that's how I get the 50 million year, 60 million year.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you want the 75 million a year, here a good way to go out and do that is to pitch well in October.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're Terrick Scooby, you're going into an environment, you're not you're gonna give him five innings, you're gonna throw 90 fucking pitches, you're gonna throw 85 pitches.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're not, we're gonna still use our bullpen if we get him.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's the point.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: You're giving up Matt Shaw for a guy who quite literally is going into the winter time going, I want 50 for 60 million, I'm never gonna get hurt.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: The second something feels off, he's coming out and not coming back.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's a tough I mean, it's tough, dude, but I would not trade Matt Shaw, but I'm saying that we probably will.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_00: Probably are going to.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I wanted to say.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_00: Would I do it, Moni?
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_01: You wouldn't do it.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know you wouldn't do it.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: I would have him hit third.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: But would Jed is Jed going to?
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: I would love I love him.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'd sign him to a lifetime deal.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'd give him the Wakefield.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: People think it's because you know what?
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: And people think this is some political fucking thing.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll take it up there.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Catholic.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I like the fact he's Catholic, and I and I like Catholics, and I that's sorry.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry that I'm Catholic and that I've when you find out that he's Catholic and that his faith means a lot to him, you're like, good for him.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_00: I like the fact that on a Sunday road trip he's finding a local church.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_00: I like the fact that he goes to confession and adoration in stations of the cross.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right, fine, whatever.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, whatever.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_00: It is one of those things where it's like that that's nice to me, okay?
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_00: Fine, fuck it.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: Blame me for being Catholic.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_00: My point is that I like the way he plays the game a lot.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you like him between the lines, and that's as much as anybody I've ever watched wear that uniform.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do I like him in between the lines for different reasons than risks?
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because and I may like him more as he gets older, but just where he's at in his career, gosh dang, does he play hard?
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, well, hopefully you'll be able to watch him a couple more times in a cup uniform over the next few weeks.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is a long-winded show.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to give you more of a platform to show that's quite all right, man.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_01: You're dealing with a lot right now.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_01: I would be remiss not to call out say a Suzuki hitting his 100th home run as a Japanese-born big leaguer, the fourth to reach that milestone besides Hadaki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and Shohei Otani.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: Carl, I did come across a documentary.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's called Homecoming.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_01: Check it out if you can.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's on CNN Films, but either way, I I it was uh what are you all about on CNN Films?
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_01: This was through another route.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I didn't particularly watch it under the umbrella of legality.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_01: But all that said, we uh happen to watch it, coincidentally watched this movie, and it's about the Tokyo series with the Cubs and the Dodgers from last year, and it's such a celebration of baseball and Japanese culture in itself, as less than it is about the actual series between the two baseball teams.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, they had Sasaki, Otani, that means very, very much about Otani's influence in Japanese culture, and but uh they take you from you know guys making gloves and restoring you know 50-year-old baseball gloves so like a grandson can wear it and the craftsmanship and care of the Japanese culture.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to congratulate Seiya Suzuki for hitting his 100th as a big leader, and you know, as we have talked about, he's a major, major part of this current Cubs team, and has he he continues his at you know powerful at bats, and uh you know we could really shake things up offensively in the second half of the year should he not have any soft tissue issues.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to congratulate him in Japanese like he practiced in the green room?
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just no man, just congratulations, I'm gonna do it, American.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_01: I stopped doing that bit about a year ago because my neighbors and I had developed a beautifully beautiful relationship and it was almost out of respect.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: Even though I was never being disrespectful, I don't want to make a mockery out of such a beautiful language and a beautiful culture.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just proud to say a Suzuki.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was it's one of the longest born bits I think I've ever conceptualized with someone.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the bit payoff is that you would speak familiar in in familiar terms about Japan and Japanese culture, and specifically more southern parts of Japan.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you would do this for years, correct.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then we aren't the show's not going anywhere.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, there's a very good chance that I I pick up the old uh, you know, teach me Japanese book once more.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_00: And one day we'll talk about family.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_00: I have family friends in the southern provinces of Japan mind-blowing very high positions in Japanese government because a guy who's married to my dad's sister lived in Japan for a number of years while he's becoming partner at a large top 50 law firm in the world, and he and this Japanese man developed relationships.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_00: Best friends, absolute best friends.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this guy comes visit, and his kid comes visit.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, lit little did my grandfather or did my uncle know that the guy he became friends with through his law firm married into an oligarchical family.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean it was royalty in some some sense, and in royal he married into royalty, and and it was it's a crazy story, it's crazy.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_00: So the bit payoff was gonna be like one of his daughters is the head curator of museums, and what's the is it Changgu?
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's like the south, the most southern province, like her literal job is to curate the is to manage all curators at all museums.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are so we were gonna have you like when the cubs played the we were planning on going to Japan for the Monday morning cub show for just for content, but whenever they played, you know, we were gonna do this and it was gonna be set up, and it was like, Oh, this will be great.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling my own, I'm like, the more familiar you talk about Japan and stuff like this, the better it's gonna pay off when we get there.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: And no shit, the guy who moves across the street from you is his wife teaches Saya Suzuki's kids or something.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he was the principal at a school, and I won't say much more else than that, but whatever.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_00: There goes the bit.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_00: There goes the bit.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm I can't do this anymore.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_00: Bits out the door.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, congratulations to him on winning on hitting 100 home runs.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, just quick, when you see him come back and how well he plays, then it makes injuries sting a little bit more because when he's out, we obviously suck, and then you can just point your finger at like six different arms where it's like, see what we're and see what the difference it makes when you have these guys healthy, and it's see how good we are with see how much impact we can have, you know.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then you gotta go down the list, it's like who the fuck who's this guy?
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, all right, quick schedule this week.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're off today, then we're in Baltimore and then Baltimore to Cincinnati.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_00: Call me crazy, Mahoney.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're a father, you got kids, you drive a minivan.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_00: Am I nuts to think that Chicago Cubs are gonna take over Camden Yards and there's gonna be a huge turnover from people that went to Camden Yards that are gonna make a pit stop in Cincinnati on their way back to Chicago?
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_01: Carl, you ain't kidding.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_01: If I hadn't already done my little vacation two weeks back, I think that would be on the East Coast.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, over under, how many Cubs fans are gonna be eating lobster rolls?
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, two and a half lobster rolls apiece over the next few weeks.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_01: And they travel well.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's crab Baltimore.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: They do the crab.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, all that said, yeah, you don't get too often to go out to Camden Yards.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think that we are gonna fill that place.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Baltimore is kind of a middling team, they're fourth in the AL East.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they just came across beating Cincinnati, but all that said, I look for the fans to travel extremely well and to bring some of that National League Cubs presence to the yards of which are Camden.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they can't pitch that well, so that's an interesting thing.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: They keep changing the ballpark dimensions around to meet their lineup.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: They thought that they'd have a better, you know, they have a lot of good young players, but that's kind of similar to the problem the Cubs ran into with good young players 10 years ago is find them playing time for good young players, build it.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can only build around a couple of them.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you have a number of them that are great, and then you know, one of them isn't great, and then one guy's not that great.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_00: So they can swing it, but they you know, their their pitching staff is, you know, at best mediocre on some days.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's above average at best, though it's it's a very mediocre staff.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we should bang some runs in Baltimore, and then it'll be great to just finish the road in Cincinnati, knowing that we should show up at Great American Ballpark and have a great turnout.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I love again the number one thing I want to leave guys with.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's great that we are only sending one guy to the all-star break.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_00: We do not need to be at the all-star break.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be at home, getting rested, getting ready for a second half.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_00: We need to make a run.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_00: We need to get hot, we need to be healthy.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_01: You ain't kidding, Carl.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_01: Cubs 10 games over 500.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_01: We got a day off and a week of baseball coming up.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like Matthew Boyd, Colin Raid, and big dick, David Peterson coming down the line on Thursday.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what you're calling him?
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to tee up yourself for a little intro here?
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or is that was that it?
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna leave it at it.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Cubs.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Monday morning Cubs show Maniacs.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for sticking with us on Monday and have yourselves a fantastic week.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_01: For Carl, I'm a homie.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_00: I will be back for a quick solo on uh, let's see, that maybe that Thursday night because we play at 5 30.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_00: We obviously have USA today against Belgium.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't looked ahead to what a quarterfinal matchup would look like, so I'm not sure what the schedule looks like.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: But we will have at a minimum a Friday morning show that'll take us into the second half.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_00: At a minimum, it'll be me.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: At a minimum, it'll be half an hour.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: So sorry I missed it this past week.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_00: No fucking power.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_00: Just no other way to say it.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: So nothing you can do about that.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_00: But we got juice coming, boys.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_00: We got juice coming.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let's roll.