Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / The Cubs picked a bad time to have their worst stretch

Transcript

The Cubs picked a bad time to have their worst stretch · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
0:09
Speaker 1: Zaadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
0:12
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick, the Cubs
0:17
Speaker 1: sure have picked a bad time to have their worst
0:19
Speaker 1: stretch of the season. I mean, I guess you could
0:22
Speaker 1: argue they've played worst baseball at different points over the
0:26
Speaker 1: course of the season, but context wise, Tuesday was probably
0:31
Speaker 1: felt like the worst loss of the season. You blow
0:35
Speaker 1: a six to one lead. Honestly, that's not even the
0:38
Speaker 1: worst part of it. We should just get right to it.
0:40
Speaker 1: Kate Horton left after the third inning with what turned
0:46
Speaker 1: out to be back tightness, and as someone that I
0:50
Speaker 1: was at the game as a fan with my kids,
0:53
Speaker 1: my son was really excited to see Kate Horton pitch.
0:57
Speaker 1: So he's like telling me, every two minutes, can you
1:00
Speaker 1: find out what happened to Kate Horton? What happened to
1:02
Speaker 1: Kate Horton. I'm pretty sure that was emblematic of the
1:05
Speaker 1: entire Cubs fandom during that moment.
1:11
Speaker 2: Just, you know, not utter disaster.
1:15
Speaker 1: You know, you didn't leave with a shoulder aching or
1:19
Speaker 1: elbow aching or an oblique This sounds like they dodged something.
1:25
Speaker 1: I think I said the same thing a month ago
1:27
Speaker 1: about Kyle Tucker.
1:29
Speaker 2: So what were the vibes like.
1:35
Speaker 1: In the postgame session with Council with Horton and what
1:39
Speaker 1: what is your understanding of what's happening right here?
1:44
Speaker 3: Apparently the Cubs have had an illness running through their clubhouse.
1:50
Speaker 3: Council indicated that several players were sick in Cincinnati. I
1:58
Speaker 3: guess you could also know the Cups that they're big
2:00
Speaker 3: clinching celebration last week in Pittsburgh before heading to Cincinnati.
2:05
Speaker 3: That's just in a side that is not what Counsel said.
2:10
Speaker 3: But Horton had been coughing, and that he did not
2:18
Speaker 3: feel any symptoms while throwing, say Sunday and Monday like
2:22
Speaker 3: a bullpen and kind of a regular throwing session on
2:26
Speaker 3: the day off before his start, but that as he
2:30
Speaker 3: got into the game, Horton said he felt some stiffness
2:36
Speaker 3: in his back and some tightness in the rib area,
2:39
Speaker 3: and that breathing, particularly deep breathing, became harder and just
2:45
Speaker 3: everything sort of tightened up on him, and that Council
2:51
Speaker 3: said it made no sense to push it Horton says
2:56
Speaker 3: he would absolutely pitch through if it was a playoff game.
3:01
Speaker 3: He said he has no doubts about his ability to
3:05
Speaker 3: get ready for a playoff start, which we had been
3:08
Speaker 3: assuming was game one. Maybe it's game two. Certainly the
3:12
Speaker 3: Cubs aren't gonna announce it now given that and also
3:17
Speaker 3: just the fact that the Padres are still on their
3:20
Speaker 3: heels here and home field advantage has not been locked up.
3:25
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think your son was like everyone in
3:29
Speaker 3: the press box, wait, what's going on here?
3:32
Speaker 2: Yeah?
3:33
Speaker 1: In fact, I looked up and I saw like the
3:36
Speaker 1: pitching change graphic, and I wasn't really like looking at
3:38
Speaker 1: the mound, and I was like, why are they doing
3:40
Speaker 1: that that that's a mistake, Like that was last inning
3:43
Speaker 1: for the Mets. Why do they have that graphic up?
3:46
Speaker 1: And then I looked down and I was like, what
3:48
Speaker 1: is happening right now? And just my mind went to,
3:53
Speaker 1: like are they being extra aggressive here with like shortening
3:57
Speaker 1: his outing and getting him ready for the playoffs. I'm like,
4:00
Speaker 1: that's kind of insane if that's what they're doing. Like
4:02
Speaker 1: he's still gonna need to win games. And I'll tell
4:04
Speaker 1: you this, the way he's pitching and the way he
4:07
Speaker 1: looked after those first two batters, they win that game
4:11
Speaker 1: with him out there, Like I like, uh, there's no
4:15
Speaker 1: doubt in my mind he's pitching so well.
4:17
Speaker 2: He looks so good out there.
4:19
Speaker 1: And I also believe him when he says he'd be
4:21
Speaker 1: ready to go if it's a playoff game, because he
4:24
Speaker 1: seems like that type of guy where you know you're
4:28
Speaker 1: gonna have to drag him off the mound in in
4:30
Speaker 1: those situations.
4:32
Speaker 4: Uh.
4:33
Speaker 1: That's that's just the vibe I get from him. That's
4:36
Speaker 1: how coaches talk about him. That's how his teammates talk
4:38
Speaker 1: about him. He's a tough guy. So uh, I you know,
4:46
Speaker 1: I guess there, you know, you you it sounds like
4:50
Speaker 1: it's fine. I just don't know if we can feel
4:53
Speaker 1: good about it until we see him on the mound
4:55
Speaker 1: or they say yes, he's starting Game one, and even
4:58
Speaker 1: then you want him to you know, deep into the game.
5:02
Speaker 2: I I do.
5:04
Speaker 1: Here's here's how I take away what I take away
5:06
Speaker 1: from Tuesday. There's two big bad things. The lost obviously,
5:12
Speaker 1: because you're your lead in in the wild card is
5:16
Speaker 1: down to one and a half games two in the
5:18
Speaker 1: lost column. And and Kate Horton's injury, Like that's those
5:23
Speaker 1: are the two things. All the stuff that happened from
5:25
Speaker 1: the third inning on, I'm not taking too much away
5:28
Speaker 1: from because in all likelihood, if you know, if you
5:31
Speaker 1: get injured in the postseason, if someone gets hurt like
5:34
Speaker 1: that's like that. Those aren't things you can like account
5:37
Speaker 1: for and say like or predict or anything like that.
5:40
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to look at it in terms of
5:43
Speaker 1: how the Cubs are playing like you didn't want like
5:48
Speaker 1: Taylor Rogers likely isn't going to pitch big innings in
5:51
Speaker 1: the playoffs.
5:52
Speaker 2: If it gets to that point, something's gone awry. Uh.
5:55
Speaker 1: The offense does seem like it was the Reds that
5:58
Speaker 1: were stifling them and not the other way.
6:00
Speaker 2: Not like the offense is a mess.
6:03
Speaker 1: I think it was really good to see the offense
6:05
Speaker 1: put up seven runs, uh nine or ten hits. I believe, Uh,
6:10
Speaker 1: you want to see them hit the ball out of
6:11
Speaker 1: the park a little bit more.
6:12
Speaker 2: Uh that that's that is if.
6:16
Speaker 1: You are looking for a silver lining, it's I think
6:20
Speaker 1: the offense looks pretty good right now. Nico Horner is
6:23
Speaker 1: just like a hit machine, really impressive at bats.
6:28
Speaker 2: In and have continues to hit the ball hard.
6:29
Speaker 1: I think it was a good sign to see, say,
6:31
Speaker 1: Suzuki hit the ball hard up the middle, because when
6:34
Speaker 1: he came up, I was like two outs, like this,
6:37
Speaker 1: this threat is kind of over. That's the way he's
6:39
Speaker 1: been going, you know. There were just some things that
6:44
Speaker 1: happened that, you know, I don't think you are you gonna.
6:46
Speaker 2: Are you worried about Caleb steel Bar.
6:48
Speaker 1: Like it's almost like, Okay, he gave up his runs
6:51
Speaker 1: for the for the next.
6:53
Speaker 3: Side of life is too short to worry about Caleb
6:55
Speaker 3: steel Bar, right, I mean, yeah, he's he's really really good.
7:01
Speaker 2: Yeah.
7:01
Speaker 1: I just don't think there was much to take away
7:04
Speaker 1: from that game outside of Kate Horton's injury and the
7:08
Speaker 1: padres are creeping. What I would say to Cubs fans,
7:11
Speaker 1: you know, like if the Cubs are like losing five
7:15
Speaker 1: in a row, you know, it's not ideal timing. But
7:17
Speaker 1: a week ago they were on a seven and one
7:19
Speaker 1: run like this, This stuff changes quickly, so I don't
7:22
Speaker 1: know what they're going to look like on the playoffs.
7:24
Speaker 2: Here are the things that need to happen.
7:25
Speaker 1: They need to play well over the next five games
7:28
Speaker 1: and somehow win three of them.
7:30
Speaker 2: If they can win.
7:30
Speaker 1: Two, that probably help gets them into the top seed.
7:35
Speaker 1: You know, like it's just the I just don't see
7:38
Speaker 1: the Padres reeling off like a huge run here. I
7:42
Speaker 1: could be completely wrong because a week ago they were reeling.
7:46
Speaker 1: So baseball is weird, like impossible to predict. The Cubs
7:51
Speaker 1: need to win some games against some two young, really
7:54
Speaker 1: talented arms that are going to be going for the
7:56
Speaker 1: Mets these next two nights, So not an ideal to situation.
8:00
Speaker 1: They still control their destiny. Focus has to be on
8:04
Speaker 1: the health health of their players. We're going to get
8:06
Speaker 1: to another Kyle Tucker update later in this show. Kate
8:10
Speaker 1: Horton's back is all that really matters right now. He
8:13
Speaker 1: is he is their best picture. Uh, you need Matt
8:16
Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd to bounce back tonight because it's a it's
8:19
Speaker 1: a it feels like a big game. You just need
8:21
Speaker 1: to win. Just get a win, just get a win,
8:23
Speaker 1: and this streak move on. Like that's kind of how
8:26
Speaker 1: the mentality needs to be. I don't think anything else
8:30
Speaker 1: that happened in that game is needs to be analyzed
8:33
Speaker 1: much more because the Kate Horton story is just like
8:37
Speaker 1: all that matters and and where you are in the
8:39
Speaker 1: wild card standings.
8:41
Speaker 3: I mean, you know how quickly I moved on side
8:45
Speaker 3: I started. I booked a hotel for San Diego after
8:49
Speaker 3: the game. I was gonna say, chatting and chatting with
8:53
Speaker 3: another writer who I will not name. That idea came
8:57
Speaker 3: up and it was a good one, just to have
9:02
Speaker 3: myself covered. You know, it's it can still cancel it.
9:07
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's wild how the Cubs have managed Horton
9:13
Speaker 3: so conservatively that there was this sort of maybe they
9:20
Speaker 3: just took him out after three innings like that was
9:23
Speaker 3: clearly not the case, and I think you're right that
9:27
Speaker 3: game turns out differently if he gives them whatever, probably
9:32
Speaker 3: two more innings. I mean, they wouldn't have pushed a
9:35
Speaker 3: much beyond that, Horton said. Pitchwise, he felt great. I mean,
9:42
Speaker 3: Lindor Francisco, Lindor leadoff hitter, you'll put one in the bleachers.
9:47
Speaker 3: But otherwise, he just gave up a single to Juan Soto,
9:50
Speaker 3: no walks, once again, showing just his control, command, composure,
9:57
Speaker 3: all of those things. So you know, it sounded you
10:04
Speaker 3: relatively optimistic post game. You know, his blister didn't become
10:09
Speaker 3: a thing. I thought that was going to become a thing. Yeah,
10:11
Speaker 3: it was in August, and definitely his attitude and mentality
10:16
Speaker 3: like he's going to be pushing for that. But like
10:20
Speaker 3: Counsel said, I have to see how how it goes
10:23
Speaker 3: this week.
10:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, we may need to book tickets for or hotels
10:28
Speaker 1: for la as well, because I think the Padres are
10:30
Speaker 1: only like a I think they have the same record
10:32
Speaker 1: as the Cups.
10:33
Speaker 2: The Dodgers too, so we don't.
10:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, let's uh, let's take a quick break
10:41
Speaker 1: and talk more Cups when.
10:42
Speaker 4: You come back.
10:43
Speaker 2: FT fan.
10:43
Speaker 5: Superpower believes that every human has one hundred year potential
10:47
Speaker 5: and they're going to help you get there.
10:49
Speaker 2: I like the sweatshirt.
10:50
Speaker 5: Aercrats, and I also love the way that Superpower takes
10:53
Speaker 5: care of its members.
10:55
Speaker 6: Yeah, you go get your lab test. You become the
10:59
Speaker 6: best you you'd be a member of this group, and
11:02
Speaker 6: your test will come back. It's unlocking things that you
11:05
Speaker 6: didn't know about yourself. This is stuff that players used
11:07
Speaker 6: all the time. You can do it now too.
11:10
Speaker 5: Exactly Kratz, how many of you have gone to a
11:12
Speaker 5: doctor's appointment? You get the classic oh you're fine, or
11:15
Speaker 5: just drink more water. No real data, no real game
11:18
Speaker 5: plan with one simple blood draw with Superpower and over
11:22
Speaker 5: one hundred biomarkers that is way more than what you'd
11:25
Speaker 5: usually get and it unlocks so much more about your
11:27
Speaker 5: own body. Head to Superpower dot com to learn more
11:30
Speaker 5: and lock in the special one hundred and ninety nine
11:32
Speaker 5: dollars price while it lasts. After you sign up, they'll
11:34
Speaker 5: ask you how you heard about them. Please make sure
11:36
Speaker 5: to mention the FT podcast to support the show. Your
11:40
Speaker 5: Biology Decoded, Your Blueprint Activated with Superpower?
11:45
Speaker 2: All right?
11:46
Speaker 1: Patrick matt Shaw talked to the media before Tuesday's loss, addressing,
11:55
Speaker 1: you know, confirming that he was at the Charlie Kirk
11:58
Speaker 1: memorial on Sunday, and I believe he also confirmed that
12:02
Speaker 1: he asked out of the game the day of Charlie
12:06
Speaker 1: Kirk's death, that was Wednesday in Atlanta, So you know,
12:13
Speaker 1: just more reporting on that, more confirmation on that, and
12:17
Speaker 1: finally we hear from him and he shared, I guess
12:21
Speaker 1: the history behind their friendship and how they became friends
12:25
Speaker 1: and you know what values they share?
12:29
Speaker 3: Do you set the scene for our listeners. The media
12:32
Speaker 3: was allowed into the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon and within a
12:38
Speaker 3: few minutes, matchall was at his locker. He turned around
12:42
Speaker 3: and said, yeah, I got a couple of minutes, and
12:45
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, there was a relatively big group
12:48
Speaker 3: around him. He did not sound defensive at all. Most
12:54
Speaker 3: of the questions were just confirming his relationship with Kirk,
13:03
Speaker 3: his thought process and how this came about. And the
13:09
Speaker 3: first takeaway was Okay, what was the extent of their relationship?
13:13
Speaker 3: And Shaw said they met this past offseason while living
13:17
Speaker 3: in the same Arizona complex. Kirk, who grew up in
13:22
Speaker 3: Suburburan Chicago graduated from Willing High School, is a very
13:28
Speaker 3: big Cubs fan. Shaw said Kirk would text him basically
13:33
Speaker 3: after every game. Obviously, he visited Wrigley Field this summer.
13:38
Speaker 3: That photo was widely circulated, particularly after his death that
13:46
Speaker 3: night in Atlanta. Shaw said it hit him and he
13:53
Speaker 3: just couldn't really describe it, but just felt that he
13:56
Speaker 3: wasn't ready to play that night. He did eventually entered
14:00
Speaker 3: that game, and he declined to speak to reporters. You
14:04
Speaker 3: were there in Atlanta, Sahadev through the club's media relations department,
14:08
Speaker 3: and it was important for Shaw to explain this. I
14:15
Speaker 3: think I've seen some comments. I've tried not to look
14:18
Speaker 3: at too many of the comments, but of like, why
14:21
Speaker 3: are you writing about this again? Well, to be fair,
14:25
Speaker 3: you have to ask Matt Shaw his thoughts on this.
14:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, like and you know, why was.
14:31
Speaker 3: It a story in the first place. Well, he missed
14:36
Speaker 3: a game in the middle of a pennant race and
14:41
Speaker 3: his absence was even noted by Terry Francona, the Reds manager.
14:46
Speaker 3: He did not know why he wasn't there, but he
14:50
Speaker 3: found it curious that counsel did not use a pinch
14:54
Speaker 3: runner from Moys's by steros in the ninth inning of
14:58
Speaker 3: a one nothing game. And so Matt Shaw uh spoke
15:04
Speaker 3: very calmly directly about his friendship with Charlie Kirk, Kirk's wife,
15:12
Speaker 3: according to Shaw, asked him to attend this memorial service
15:17
Speaker 3: where uh, Donald Trump and JD. Vance you know, addressed
15:21
Speaker 3: an NFL stadium sized crowd on Sunday while the Cubs
15:26
Speaker 3: were in Cincinnati. And so Shaw was asked about the backlash,
15:31
Speaker 3: she said, I'm I'm okay with that. That his relationship
15:35
Speaker 3: with Kirk, he said was based on their their faith,
15:39
Speaker 3: that it was a religious based relationship. And another reporter
15:44
Speaker 3: mentioned Trump's comments about Yeah, essentially sending in the National
15:51
Speaker 3: Guard to Chicago that Trump claimed one of Kirk's last
15:58
Speaker 3: words to him were please serve save Chicago, and when
16:03
Speaker 3: that comment was relayed to Shaw, he said, I'm very
16:08
Speaker 3: comfortable here in Chicago. He said, he kind of evaded
16:13
Speaker 3: it of like, look like that part wasn't really for me.
16:18
Speaker 3: I'm paraphrasing here. I don't have the exact quotes it was.
16:20
Speaker 3: He said. The more powerful parts for him were people
16:23
Speaker 3: talking about their faith. And obviously there are lots of
16:28
Speaker 3: interpretations from there. Just looking at the comments on X
16:34
Speaker 3: on our stories on the athletic people feel very strongly
16:40
Speaker 3: about this, both criticizing Shaw and also praising Shaw. I
16:48
Speaker 3: think you know one thing I forgot to mention, you
16:52
Speaker 3: know the other day while we were talking about this,
16:54
Speaker 3: which is obviously political violence is unacceptable, and I do
17:00
Speaker 3: you think Matt Shaw uh was able to express himself
17:06
Speaker 3: and put some context around a difficult decision that was
17:12
Speaker 3: cleared by Cubs President Jed Hoyer and Cubs manager Craig Council.
17:19
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:19
Speaker 1: I think you said everything there. I'm not sure I
17:21
Speaker 1: have much to add. I'll echo your sentiments that political
17:25
Speaker 1: violence is unacceptable. I just you know, I completely agree
17:31
Speaker 1: with you that this is this was a story that
17:34
Speaker 1: had to be written. His his response needed to be written.
17:38
Speaker 1: What happened on Sunday needed to be written, like these
17:40
Speaker 1: are things. This is our job, like we have to,
17:42
Speaker 1: we have to put this information out there. We don't love,
17:46
Speaker 1: you know, waiting into the topics that you know, get
17:51
Speaker 1: out of the sports arena. But this is, this is
17:55
Speaker 1: part of it. This happens, and you know it is
17:58
Speaker 1: a topic that is going to lead to a lot
18:01
Speaker 1: of angry comments. And that certainly was the case. It
18:05
Speaker 1: certainly has been the case. We understand you guys want
18:07
Speaker 1: us talking baseball. Uh, we will.
18:10
Speaker 2: We will get right back to a passage.
18:14
Speaker 3: One thing in terms of like Charlie Kirk coming to
18:18
Speaker 3: Wrigley Field and posting a photo with Matt Shaw and
18:21
Speaker 3: Michael Bush, like in our eyes, did not meet the
18:23
Speaker 3: threshold of news worthiness that to us was not really
18:29
Speaker 3: a headline. But the events of the last several days
18:33
Speaker 3: were just sort of no doubt stories. And I think
18:39
Speaker 3: Cubs fans benefited from hearing Matt Shaw directly. And then
18:44
Speaker 3: everyone can kind of draw their own conclusions and move on.
18:51
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
18:52
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk more baseball. When we come back
18:55
Speaker 1: after this, Bury.
18:56
Speaker 5: Thought Father, You and me grew up in Jersey. We
18:59
Speaker 5: liked to collect cards, but the way the process got
19:03
Speaker 5: was ridiculous. You open up a pack, there's a bunch
19:08
Speaker 5: of cards you don't care about. Then you want to
19:10
Speaker 5: get certain ones graded takes forever right, then you want
19:12
Speaker 5: to maybe sell one. It's such a to do. Arena
19:16
Speaker 5: club has been the solution for us.
19:17
Speaker 4: Arena Club has been a solution for everybody. You go online,
19:21
Speaker 4: go to Arena Club and you check out what they have,
19:24
Speaker 4: put a little cash down. You might get one of
19:26
Speaker 4: the best cards that you've ever seen in your life,
19:28
Speaker 4: and autograph cards and guess what, if you don't like
19:30
Speaker 4: the card, easily you could sell it back and make
19:33
Speaker 4: a little cash. You never know what to expect. It's
19:36
Speaker 4: a cool way of doing it. You're gonna get a
19:37
Speaker 4: surprise every time. And if you're in the cards, this
19:40
Speaker 4: is something you really need to get into.
19:41
Speaker 5: Right now. You can get twenty percent off your first
19:44
Speaker 5: slap pack or card purchase by going to arenaclub dot com,
19:47
Speaker 5: slash foul and use code foul like Todd Father is
19:50
Speaker 5: talking about. With those slap packs, every pack is a
19:52
Speaker 5: grail that's at least twenty x the price of the pack.
19:56
Speaker 2: Check it out here. It is Patrick are.
20:02
Speaker 1: Daily are episodically time.
20:08
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker update.
20:10
Speaker 1: This one is is it's a very real update in
20:13
Speaker 1: the sense that Tucker spoke he is back from Tampa. Look,
20:20
Speaker 1: I I this morning, I watched all the all the
20:25
Speaker 1: all the stuff, all the pregame stuff. I'm not sure
20:29
Speaker 1: if if Kyle Tucker is the most emotive person we've
20:32
Speaker 1: talked to. Uh, it's really hard to read him. So
20:37
Speaker 1: you just kind of got to go off off what
20:40
Speaker 1: he's saying, and it's hard to get like context clues
20:45
Speaker 1: beyond that. I think sometimes with guys you can kind
20:48
Speaker 1: of tell, like, you know, beyond the words, what's going on?
20:53
Speaker 1: I can't read anything beyond what's going on with with
20:56
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker. Well, what did you hear when you were
21:00
Speaker 1: there regularly yesterday?
21:02
Speaker 3: I think your observations have also sort of line up
21:05
Speaker 3: with the CUBS organization of just like you know, there
21:10
Speaker 3: isn't a lot of history there. And to your point,
21:17
Speaker 3: Tucker is just such a mellow, even keeled personality that
21:24
Speaker 3: you can't really read that that much into it, which
21:28
Speaker 3: is fine. I mean maybe this is maybe he does
21:33
Speaker 3: kind of like a Schwarber and he just like barely
21:35
Speaker 3: gets any warm up time and it just starts raking.
21:40
Speaker 3: In the playoffs, he's at least progressed to running again.
21:44
Speaker 3: That started Monday, and then Tuesday there was some agility
21:47
Speaker 3: work on the basis that is progress. Tucker explained why
21:54
Speaker 3: he moved his treatment program to Tampa, saying that that
22:00
Speaker 3: physical therapy group in Florida, near his off season home,
22:04
Speaker 3: has been working with him for like ten years, meaning
22:08
Speaker 3: they have snapshots of him, you know, from the winter,
22:13
Speaker 3: from his injury last year with the Astros that fractured shin,
22:18
Speaker 3: which was not an issue at all when he came
22:20
Speaker 3: back last Sumber September and had an amazing, amazingly productive month.
22:28
Speaker 3: I think coming back as a designated hitter before playing
22:32
Speaker 3: the field is realistic, Tucker said. Throwing and hitting feel
22:38
Speaker 3: pretty normal. It's just pushing it on the basis he's
22:42
Speaker 3: not quite there yet. To amend something I said in
22:46
Speaker 3: our last episode, I asked Tucker, like, if today was
22:50
Speaker 3: a playoff game, could you dh And he hesitated and said, well,
22:56
Speaker 3: you know, it's a hypothetical, which I understand. You know,
23:00
Speaker 3: he doesn't have to entwer that. He said had a
23:03
Speaker 3: week to go at that point, but he wasn't quite sure.
23:07
Speaker 3: It was certainly different from what we heard from Kate
23:10
Speaker 3: Horton later. And obviously there are different situations, different personalities.
23:14
Speaker 3: I don't think either one of those or like determinative
23:17
Speaker 3: determinative answers. But yeah, we'll see. I still have a
23:23
Speaker 3: hard time envisioning him not coming back, But like Counsel said,
23:31
Speaker 3: there is some urgency here. It really is truly a
23:37
Speaker 3: day to day, episode to episode situation.
23:41
Speaker 1: I'm just looking at its September last year, he slashed
23:45
Speaker 1: three sixty five, four fifty three, five eighty seven. Obviously,
23:49
Speaker 1: you know he that was like three months away from
23:53
Speaker 1: baseball and a more significant, we think, more significant injury.
24:01
Speaker 1: This is the guy that, Yeah, I think he can.
24:03
Speaker 1: I don't think he needs a ton of time. I
24:05
Speaker 1: think you'd like to get two three games in.
24:10
Speaker 2: I didn't from that from what I.
24:13
Speaker 1: Saw, like, I didn't get the feeling that he's going
24:17
Speaker 1: to be activated today.
24:18
Speaker 2: We record on a Wednesday.
24:21
Speaker 1: I guess I wouldn't be shocked if it happens in
24:23
Speaker 1: the sense like he comes to the ballpark, he goes
24:26
Speaker 1: through his you know, routine, and he's like, I feel great,
24:29
Speaker 1: let's get this started. But my guess is that's not
24:34
Speaker 1: happening today. You just hope he's back by the weekend,
24:38
Speaker 1: and if he's not, I guess, I guess you just
24:40
Speaker 1: throw him in the fire for the Wildcard series if
24:43
Speaker 1: he's good, to go for that, because I like, I think.
24:46
Speaker 2: You need him.
24:47
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm stating anything too too crazy there.
24:52
Speaker 1: The offense has looked better. Like I said earlier in
24:54
Speaker 1: this episode, I do believe that that they're they're they're
24:57
Speaker 1: looking better overall. Hopefully they're they're not I mean not
25:02
Speaker 1: hopefully they're not facing the.
25:03
Speaker 2: Reds right away.
25:05
Speaker 1: So the Reds and the Phillies are the two teams
25:08
Speaker 1: that I think in the NL that you say, like,
25:10
Speaker 1: woof that pitching that's gonna that's gonna be a problem.
25:14
Speaker 1: You want to be in a groove and you're gonna
25:16
Speaker 1: need to match their.
25:17
Speaker 2: Pitching type thing.
25:18
Speaker 1: It come if it gets to that point right now,
25:22
Speaker 1: it's just get healthy.
25:23
Speaker 4: Uh.
25:23
Speaker 2: And that's that's a.
25:25
Speaker 1: Lot of times at this point in the season, when
25:28
Speaker 1: you're in that's all that matters. And it really feels
25:30
Speaker 1: like that's all that matters for the Cubs. Yes, home
25:32
Speaker 1: field advantage would be great, but get Kid Horton healthy,
25:36
Speaker 1: get Kyle Tucker healthy, and then see where everything goes
25:40
Speaker 1: from there. Like whether they're playing in San Diego, in
25:43
Speaker 1: LA or at Wrigley Field, whoever they're playing, I don't
25:46
Speaker 1: think it really matters anymore. Just just get healthy and
25:50
Speaker 1: play baseball. That's that. That's where I'm at right now.
25:55
Speaker 1: Whether they go into it losing a bunch of games
25:57
Speaker 1: in a row or eight to nine whatever, I just
26:01
Speaker 1: don't think any of that matters. Just just just perform
26:05
Speaker 1: when it matters.
26:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm still wrapping my brain around the idea of
26:10
Speaker 3: having to go to LA. I was not sorry like
26:13
Speaker 3: that that would that would just be you know, like
26:17
Speaker 3: the Dodgers the air quotes best team ever finishing in
26:20
Speaker 3: second place in their division. And like, obviously this is
26:25
Speaker 3: the time of year where we're starting to gather material
26:28
Speaker 3: for the big stories for the playoffs, storing away information,
26:34
Speaker 3: you know, we have to prepare as if we're going
26:36
Speaker 3: to be writing stories through Game seven of the World Series.
26:41
Speaker 3: And it seems like just as soon as I start
26:43
Speaker 3: collecting material on the padres the Dodgers start fading, A
26:49
Speaker 3: bunch of good interviews banked on Kate Horton haven't even
26:55
Speaker 3: transcribed him yet, and then he gets pulled after three innings.
26:58
Speaker 3: So I am not plain. It's more just as you
27:01
Speaker 3: were talking there, so my mind just went when some
27:04
Speaker 3: somewhere else. So, like you said, things change quick. I mean,
27:08
Speaker 3: the tone could be different next time we talk.
27:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see where they're they're at.
27:14
Speaker 1: They need some wins, calm down this fan base just
27:16
Speaker 1: kind of settle things down, and and and they should
27:19
Speaker 1: you know this, I think I think here's one thing
27:23
Speaker 1: that I haven't really said. We haven't really talked about.
27:25
Speaker 1: This team has responded all season long.
27:28
Speaker 2: They really have.
27:29
Speaker 1: There have been moments where we're like, both you and
27:32
Speaker 1: I are like, this is getting bad.
27:34
Speaker 2: This is the moment. Well, it's here, this is this
27:36
Speaker 2: is probably.
27:37
Speaker 1: The the toughest it's going to get, or could regular
27:43
Speaker 1: season wise, the toughest. It's it's gotten bad timing. How
27:48
Speaker 1: do they respond? What what type of performance? Two young
27:51
Speaker 1: pitchers back to back do their veterans studs step up
27:56
Speaker 1: Showa and Matthew Boyd. Does their offense perform well? Do
27:59
Speaker 1: they grind out these young kids and and and put
28:01
Speaker 1: up good at bats and and put up some numbers.
28:05
Speaker 1: That's you know, it's it's time to show up. Obviously,
28:08
Speaker 1: next week is when it really matters. But get some wins,
28:11
Speaker 1: get home field advantage that that that'd be nice for
28:15
Speaker 1: everyone to see.
28:16
Speaker 2: Uh, we'll see what happens.
28:17
Speaker 1: Like you said, we could be talking about something very
28:19
Speaker 1: different in two days or wherever and when we record next.
28:23
Speaker 2: All right, thanks for listening to everyone. This is Northside Territory.
28:25
Speaker 2: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
28:29
Speaker 2: and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are
28:31
Speaker 2: on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for listening everyone.
28:34
Speaker 2: Take care, going really hard