Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / How the Cubs are lined up for October

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How the Cubs are lined up for October · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory File Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. If there
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: ever was a hangover game, I guess you could say
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: that's what happened Thursday. That's probably the best, the the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: best excuse you could give the offense for that performance.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hunter Green when he's on, he's obviously nasty, and he
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: was on Thursday night, and that was a really impressive performance.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: One hitter the Cubs avoid a no hitter. I mean,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: in general, for me, I'm not overwhelmingly concerned about the offense.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I think my main concern for the offense is you
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: want Kyle Tucker healthy. But I'm seeing some signs in
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: general that I feel like the offense may be close
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: to turning a corner, if not already turned a corner.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: And in Thursday, you hope is a one off against
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: a picture that's really talented and was on. I don't
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: know what your feelings are about the offense in general,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: but I felt like the past week before prior to Thursday,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: was actually what you want to see from this offense.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: It was funny on Thursday in the visiting clubhouse a
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: player was joking around like like I'm not hungover and
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: then pretended to like trip, but no, I really didn't.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I don't think that was I think Hunter Green was
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: the issue. Like they put out a pretty robust lineup
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: for a day, yeah after a clinch. This is like
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: we talked about earlier. This is not a group that
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: really kind of goes hard.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: In that air. They are very like serious, focused, dated team.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: I think it was just Hunter Green was so good.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: As Craig Council said after the game, it's elite velocity.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: It's a guy throwing I think it was.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: One hundred and two miles an hour on pitch one
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: oh eight in the ninth inning, like that's and that
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: was like Counsel's that's where his head went immediately, you know,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: one of the best fastballs in the game. So yeah,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: I don't think you have to overreact to that one.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I'm still a little I'm skeptical at the offense, but
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: you you've always been in general more optimistic about the offense.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: I do think though, Yeah, this will come down to
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker and as well as Piker Armstrong.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: Was a I'm probably reading too much into this.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: But Counsel was asked about Piker Armstrong before Thursday's game.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: He just seemed like exasperated about a question about sort
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: of like like what are you looking for?
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: And is that basket? What do you see?
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Like was there something I'd missed on like the last
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: homestand like it was just like maybe I don't.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Know what are your thoughts?
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: So I I happened to watch the pregame. I watched
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: that and I was lapping. My kids are sitting by
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: me as I'm watching on YouTube the pre game and
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I'm just cracking up because I assume that's a non
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Chicago reporter, non someone that's not used to Counsel that
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: asked that.
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: I couldn't.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't recognize the voice immediately and he, uh, Counsels.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: I think what it was, if I'm reading Council right,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: it's like what are you seeing in his swing? And
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: that's not like Council doesn't do that. He doesn't say, like,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: you know, that's that's what the answer was. And yes,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I think he has been asked a ton about Pete
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: lately and and I think it was just a little
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: bit of like you know, Counsels doesn't. Sometimes he doesn't
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: love these analyze the approach.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Someone asked about the approach.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I think I may have asked about the approach and
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: he's like, I don't know what, like.
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: What I'm supposed to say to that.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I don't even remember if it was me, but I
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: remember that that happened as well. He sometimes he doesn't
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: like these generalized questions that seem like specific questions, if
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: you know what I mean.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I will say he did give I believe.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: The same reporter asked a question about Clayton Kershaw's retirement
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: and Counsel gave a fantastic answer to that, like I
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: didn't really do much for me because I wasn't writing
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: about Clayton. But I'll ask Counsel again this weekend. I
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: just thought it was.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: To me.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: I think with Pete, it's all about mentality right now,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: That's what I think. Yeah, the hitting coaches have stressed
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: of flipping the switch to the playoffs. You know you've
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: had a great season. It's all about competing on that
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: pitch and that's just not a pe thing. I think,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: like in general, this offense is just gonna have to
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: kind of kind of scrap in October.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Well, so I want to touch on the offense as
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: far as my perspective on the offense and why I
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: think it's looking so much better. First of all, I'm
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: not sure people realize, or at least I didn't fully realize.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: I noticed this whenever the Cubs play the Reds. But
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: it's true for all season long. They have some of
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the best starting pitching in baseball.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: They do.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Their staff is really good, and it's particularly tough. Hunter
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Green isn't a lefty, but it's particularly tough for the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Cubs because there's so many lefties in there, really good
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: lefties at think Lodolo Abbott. Do they have one more lefty,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but those two seem to always have
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: good games against the Cubs. Just a tough matchup for
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: this for this team. You almost don't want the Reds
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: to make the playoffs because they can make some noise
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: and then they could really shut down an offense like
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the Cups. I said it on this podcast. I was
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: saying it during the game. That was it a Monday
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: in Atlanta. It was Monday in Atlanta. That may have
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: been my most disappointed in this offense. I thought there
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: was just nothing I saw that made me feel good
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: about the offense. Sometimes you can score two three runs
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: and you're like, you know what, that should have been
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: the seven run game. They're putting pressure on the team.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: They're doing a lot of good things since that Monday,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: basically Tuesday to before the Hunter Green start. I like
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: everything I saw from the offense. It wasn't always blowout offense.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: They didn't come up with every clutch hit, but they
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: consistently were putting pressure on the opposition. Michael Bush looks
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: like he's coming out of his slump. He's hitting the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: ball hard, uh and in the air pek Armstar should
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: have had two hits yesterday. He hit the ball really
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: hard on a line twice.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Uh.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: And he looks like after it looked like it took
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: him a couple of games to get back in that
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: rhythm after he foiled the ball off his knee. But
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: he looks so much better. He just he does look
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: like a better player right now. Ian Happ will talk
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: about him very soon. He's red hot. I think Dansby
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: has kind of been. He's not like red hot, but
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: he's putting up much more consistent bats. At nico Is
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: is red hot, and he's been really hot for a while.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: That's why I say, like, I feel good about this offense.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: But Bias Terris has been great in in a short
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: burst here. If Saya can turn the corner and if
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker comes back, I'm not too concerned with the offense.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: You just don't know what you're gonna get a day
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: to day with anything, so you like, I don't want
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: to predict that. I have no concerns. I just feel
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: like this this past week looked so much more. At
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the Paul Skien's game, that was some of the best
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: approach I've seen from this team since the first half.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: And it's just good to see that. It gives me
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: confidence that, Okay, they've they've turned that corner where this
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: slump is kind of over, or the deep slump is over.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: You're not gonna score six runs every game. But I
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: just they were getting runners on and doing a lot.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: The Hunter Green game kind of throws that off and
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: and you know, makes it seem like it's.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: Not as good of a stretch.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: But I really liked what I was seeing up until Thursday.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We'll see if they can continue. Like I said, This
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: is just a bad matchup for them with the Reds.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: They never seem to do much. I don't even know
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: who's pitching today for the Reds tonight that this is Friday.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: It's Nick Lodolo, so you know he's tough for them.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: They just don't do well against these guys. So I'm
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: not I'm not addicting that the offense breaks out all
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: weekend long.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: But like I said, I just like what I saw.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Patrick, should we let's let's let's talk a little bit
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: about Ian Halp. Put him under our Draft Kings player spotlight.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, we talked about him a little bit
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the other day. But Ian Halp is on a really
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: great stretch since get this July twenty third, I went
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: all the way back to July twenty third, A one
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: fifty six way to runs creative plus that'd be.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: That's that's great.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: That's nearly two and a half months of really impressive performance.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, just I guess it's two months, right, yeah,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: two months of really strong performance just to like he
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: has turned into this player that I'm just really impressed
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: with what he's become for the Cubs.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: No doubt, And it is amazing how like every year
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: he seems to wind up in the same place.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: It's been a process to get to this point.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: We all remember him coming to as a rookie, struggling
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: to find every day playing time, struggling to find a position.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: And we talked about this earlier, but.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: I think it's worth mentioning, and I think you'll probably
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: kind of write about this idea as well, just him
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: as kind of this bridge from one er to the next,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: as a great resource for.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Other players.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: I mentioned Ian Hap while asking Pete Kormstrong a question
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: during the postgame celebration in Pittsburgh, and I wasn't really
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: looking for an Ian half a quote about Ian Hap
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: at all, but Pete just would not stop raving about
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Ian Happ. And I think you just can't fake stuff
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: like that. I mean, whatever, fans on the outside see
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Ian's demeanor, how it's pretty cold, unemotional. That does not
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: mean that's what he's like in the clubhouse. Yes, he
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: is pretty reserved, he's serious. He has a dry sense
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: of humor. But there's a consistency to that that really
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: matters over the course of one hundred and sixty two
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: game season, and players appreciate it. When their teammates are
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: the same guy every day. And you mentioned it earlier,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: this week'sa hotave of this is a moment for him,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: and when they get into the playoffs, if he's hot
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: or even he just comes up with that one big
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: hit that swings a playoff game, that wins a playoff series.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: I think everything could be reevaluated. That's just kind of
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: how it works in October. Like these these very small
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: samples but can have just a huge impact on how
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: players are perceived.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you can make your name a name for yourself
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: in a city with one big performance one you know, a.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Couple of weeks.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, Hobby Baia is probably his overall numbers, i'd
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: say in Chicago aren't insanely good. I don't have them
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: in front of me, but I would guess he's not
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: like standout numbers over his Cub's career. But because of
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: his October performance and the way he plays the game,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: that's that's absolutely true. The way he played the game
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: for the Cubs, he broke out in fifteen and sixteen
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: in the playoffs. He was just so good for them,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and it was just fun to watch him play in
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the postseason. I think Ian has a chance to He
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: may not be the star of the postseason. That's probably
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: going to if you know, that's going to go to
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: someone a little more flashy, but he could he could
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: make a name for himself. You know, I'm looking forward
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: to seeing what he can do. U. Let's uh, let's
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: hear from Milana Rizzo and get our Northside Territory pick.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: Thanks so much Sahtev for my pick this week. I'm
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: looking at the road ahead. The Cubs are plus seven
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: hundred to win the National League Pennant on DraftKings Sportsbook.
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: How do we get there? Well with a healed Kyle
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: Tucker and if Kate Horton continues his role, the sky
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: is the limit. We're feeling the clinching high still in
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: the air. I'll take the Cubs to win the Pennant
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: one hundred dollars at plus seven hundred Seahatevan Patrick back
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: to you.
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• 14:37
  Speaker 4: All right, Patrick cad Horton, you wrote it.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Why wouldn't he be the game one starter for the Cubs?
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: I you know, when I started.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Thinking this, and I don't know a couple of weeks
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: ago when people started suggesting it, and when I even
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: was like, maybe, and I'm being too aggressive here.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: They're being too aggressive where we're living in the moment
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: too much. Uh.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: It's it's gotten to the point where it feels like
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: kind of obvious that he has to be the game
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: one starter.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: That's kind of how I approached it, knowing that Craig
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Counsel was not going to really entertain this line of questioning.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: I loved your you're back and forth. I don't know
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: if that was you asking the questions or what.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: But it was.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: It was wonderful.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: It was mostly me.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: And I could tell like in the moment, it didn't
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: sound as annoyed, but he dropped the like, uh, my
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: first name Patrick as sort of an exclamation point or
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: a period, like what do you want?
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: What do you want us to do? Patrick?
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: And then when you hear the hear the recording, it
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: just sounds a little more, uh, you know, annoying, annoyed
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: at that point. But look, Counsel is great because you know,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: you just just ask him the question and he'll give
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: you an answer. And even if it's not the answer
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: you're looking for it, you can kind of have that
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: back and forth, and you know, I wasn't trying to
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: set him up.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: But the other day after the Skins.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Game, you know, I just asked, like, you know, you know,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: has Caid sort of entered that discussion as one alongside
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Skeens is one of the best pitchers in the game,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: And he said, you know, he's pitching as well as
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: anybody in the game. So of course I brought that
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: quote back up to him on Thursday, and he was
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: just like, look, we've made plans to be flexible, and
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: we know the guys we want to be flexible with.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: There's no reason to.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Announce this basically two weeks ahead of time, which I get,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: but I'm with you to het of like, I feel
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: like they've managed Caid Horton so conservatively that it was
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: kind of hard to like go overboard with some of
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: this stuff. You kept being like, all right, let's see
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: him do it a couple more times, Let's see how
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: he responds, you know, later in the summer, what about September,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: And it just feels like, I don't know, like watch
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: the games, like he's carving teams up, Like I just
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: don't And we'll get into this later. I don't think
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: anyone else has sort of like stepped forward and sees
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: the assignment either. So it's both him going out and
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: grabbing it and also possive elimination in my mind.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with the ladder, but it's probably more
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: the former of him great. Yeah, yeah, and I'm I
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: think what I want to see. I think there is
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: something to the mentality of I only have X number
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: of pitches, I'm just gonna hammer the zone and see
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: what happens. I hope that cade and and I've seen
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: no signs that this guy can't embrace any challenge, or
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: that the mentality will shift to a bad place or
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: anything like that. But I hope come playoff time when
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: he's full, when he probably won't have a pitch count limit,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: you know, beyond unreasonable suggestions like I hope that mentality
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: doesn't change because the results have.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: He's stepped up his.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Game to this level where it's like, you're not getting
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: on base unless you can somehow hit my stuff. There's
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: no he doesn't issue these walks very often because he
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: and he's admitted it. The mentality is I have this
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: these number of pitches, I'm not going to be here
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: all game. So I'm just firing in the zone, try
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: and hit it. And what he's learned from game one
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: to whatever start he's at now.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: Is it's not that it's not that he wasn't throwing
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: strikes early. It's that he's learned where in the zone
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: and his stuff plays best.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: He's really and for me, learning that that quickly is
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: incredibly impressive, Like that's things that we've watched young pictures
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: take months or years to figure out.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: It just it's not something that clicks like that.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: I think I'd say that justin Steele, it took him
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: about a year year and a half to learn like, oh,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: my stuff plays here, I can get away with this.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: I remember when Edward Alzalie first.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Came up, they had to like really hammer into him,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: like your stuff will play in the zone, throw it here,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: throw it in the zone. And it's something that Kate
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Horton like he already knew that, and now it's like
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: where in the zone and he's learned that. I hope
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: he doesn't divert from that, because now he has ninety
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: pitches instead of seventy five. I don't think he will,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: but that would be my only real concern like does
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: anything change because he knows he's not on as much
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: of a limit. But my belief in him is that, no,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: what he learned something from having that limit. It's not
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: that he's restricted, it's that he learned something about himself
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: and now he can apply that whether it's seventy five pitches,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: ninety one hundred and ten whatever.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And Council has made the point of you know,
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: it's real easy to say, just throw strikes, but when
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: he throws strikes, bad things can happen, and it takes
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: a lot of conviction and confidence to go out and
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: do it the way Horton has. It's it's the elite
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: pitchers who do that, who can play in the zone
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: and get strikes and get some chase and you know,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: kind of adapt from one at bat to the next.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: And that I think is a big part of this too.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: His pedigree, his personality, all of that stuff is what
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: you're looking for, like the intangibles, the mound presence, the composure.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: I don't think he could have done much more. I mean,
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: certainly under.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: These limitations possible to have like a better season than
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: what he's accomplished.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: And for me, like I kind of was waiting.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: You know, we started having these conversations, I want to say,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: around Labor Day weekend in Colorado, and you know, at that.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Point I thought maybe they'd split up the lefties.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: In Boyd and in Managa so that they wouldn't be
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: so bunched together and getting lots of similar looks. Council
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: dismissed that idea, although I don't think it's an unreasonable thought,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: and it comes have had in the past. It's kind
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: of floating around there now. But yeah, I think Whorton
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: has just stepped forward to degree that I don't think
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: you have to overthink it.
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Let's take a break and talk about someone that I
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: think is probably not in the discussion anymore.
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: For that game one starter crats.
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: I'm gonna steal a line right from the top here
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: about me Undies, a cut for every butt. I took
• 22:20
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• 22:22
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• 22:25
  Speaker 4: What do you have there.
• 22:27
  Speaker 8: Besides a huge Baduka dunk. This is my pair of
• 22:31
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• 22:33
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• 22:35
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• 22:38
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• 23:14
  Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, Matthew Boyd been a great story for
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: most of the season. It's it's been a rough go
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: for him. It's been maybe a little it's probably been
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: two months. Really looking back at his starts since that
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Milwaukee start at the end of July, he's given up
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: runs in one, two, three, four, five, six.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: Seven, eight, nine, nine of ten.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Starts, multiple runs in nine of ten starts, a lot
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: of fours and fives in there as far as runs allowed.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: And I'll say this, I've been impressed with his ability
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to quickly bounce back in those starts, it would be
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: like a bad first inning, and then he bounced back
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: this last one against the Pirates.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: Look you, if you look at the zone that he had,
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: it was really tough for him.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: He didn't get the corners, and that hurts for him
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: because you know, it puts him behind. But that's that's
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: excuse making because he's got to be able to bounce back.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: And he had a bad game against a bad team,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: against a team that's not that's like, that's not a
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: good offense, and he struggled. Uh, it was He's this
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: is not where you want him to be at this
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: point in the season. But it's also what like he's
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: at like one hundred and seventy something innings. It's a lot,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: you know for a guy that combined has he thrown
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: that in the previous five years, you know, like it's
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: just it's it's a lot for him right now.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's start with this that he's been a
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: the team's most valuable pitcher. He's been everything they could
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: have hoped for and more. He's an exemplary teammate. He
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: was an all star. I mean when you talk about
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: just like inning starts, wins, e Ra whip like he's
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: just he's carried this team for long stretches.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: It's hard to imagine where they'd be without him.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Yep, But at this moment a council was pretty candid,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: and I know there are times if you're watching the
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: kind of recorded TV part of his pregame stuff, you know,
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: sometimes he can come across as a little short where
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: there's just certain things that just don't interest him. But
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: there are times where he will just engage and be pretty.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Blunt and detailed.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: And I believe it's our colleague Megan Montemiro was from
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: the Tribune who was asking this, and counsels just like, look,
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: the inning stuff could be a factor, but that's every
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: starter in the league, every started going into the playoffs,
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: has been pushed and has carried a big workload, like
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: any starter you're counting on. There are some degrees to
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: this obviously showed to you know, having that lower body injury.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: I think Tywn had a lower body injury just like
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: stuff like that. Maybe there's not as much stress on
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: the arm, but for the most part, like, yeah, this
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: is the year, the time of year when you're starting pitcher,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: like you kind of earn your keep and I still
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: think what we're talking about here with playoff starters, whether
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: it's Kate Horton or Matthew Boyd, like we're talking about
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: what maybe like four and one third innings, Like I
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: don't think asking them to throw one hundred and twenty
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: pitches and face batters in the ninth.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: So I still think there are ways for Boyd.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: And maybe it's game three starter to be you know
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: a big part of this. Maybe it's in game two
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: the Cubs have their backs against the wall and he
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: has to come in after showdo like who knows. That's
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: probably more far fetched. But his council's point is that
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: an elimination game, your best pitchers pitch period, and so
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: that mapping things out of like oh this guy start
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: game three and then the next round, what about you
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: know game one started. They're like, no, that's not how
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: this works. So I still think, like counsel said, Boyd
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: has delivered. They're confident that he will again. But this
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: is this has kind of been a rough patch, the
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: same like same thing we said about Horton, like just
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: watch the games, like just it's been just hasn't been
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: as crisp, hasn't been as sharp.
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's hard.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: I think it's hard not to root for this guy
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: when you know him and you talk to him, and
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: even if you don't know him, you know his history,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: you know what he's been through, so it's very it's
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: very easy to like you want to see him succeed.
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: And he was just so.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Dominant for such a long stretch that it just seemed like, Okay,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: this guy won't slow down. But it's he's in the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: top twenty five innings pitched higher, he's eighteenth and innings pitched. Wow,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Like that's crazy. I did not expect that this season.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: You know, we're in an era where innings pitch just
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: isn't close to what it used to be. We're gonna
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: have maybe two or three guys make get to two
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: hundred innings pitched this year.
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: It's just such a rare occurrence.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: One eighty is kind of the new two hundred and
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: you know, like when we were kids, that was probably
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: two fifty. So it's just it's just a very different
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: we have to like change our mindset. So one hundred
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: and seven, it's one hundred and seventy four and a
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: third innings. That is insane amount For like I mean,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: that's a lot. I shouldn't say insane a mont. That's
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: a lot for any pitcher.
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: If you would have told me that he was throwing
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: that many and he's gonna make one more start, so he's.
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: Gonna push one eighty h I would have been shocked.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's a second.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: It's gonna end up being, in all likelihood, the second
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: most innings he pitches in a season. That's it's it's
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: really it's a lot for his body to handle. That
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: he's doing as well as he has is incredibly impressive.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Your hope is he can give you, like you said,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: four or five good innings, limited, limit the runs. You
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: don't want that disastrous first inning. Whatever he can do
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: to avoid those bad innings and just kind of keep
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: his team in the game, that could be huge.
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: Maybe, And maybe.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: It's as simple as, look, this guy's gonna find a
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: second win. Maybe maybe you want the rough pack, which
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: now August and September is better than October.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: You know like that that happens too. We've seen it before.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Guys kind of figure things out, and I'm sure we
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: know Matthew Boyd's going to put in the work. If
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: there's something off more than I'm tired. If there's actually
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: something off, he'll he'll put in the work and that
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: they have a really good, uh group of guys around
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: him to help figure those things out.
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: So we'll we'll see. But I do think it's a
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: it's it's obviously.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Not starting Game one that he's not in that discussion anymore,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: and it's like, okay, and I'm a little I'm a
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: little concerned here. You know, I'm not I'm not going
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: to freak out because it's okay if he's your third starter,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But also, like you you
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: want three really good pitchers going into the playoffs, you'd
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: love that. That's that. It just helps. And it also
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: gets back to what the first the first segment. Then
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: you don't have to be as concerned about the offense.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Has it really turned a corner, will it be hot?
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Is Kyle Talker going to be ready for the playoff?
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: All that stuff? But well, we'll see. I think in
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: the end, it's just like you can be really happy
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: with what he gave you this season, but you get
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: greedy and you want more.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: That's obviously the Cubs want more. He wants more. We'll
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: see where it takes him.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: And he was a big part of Cleveland's playoff run
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: last year. I mean, he pissed really well in the playoffs.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: That's why he landed a really nice contract for a
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: guy who had been injured and bounced around for a while.
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: It's because he delivered for the Guardians in the postseason.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if he comes up
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: big in certain moments here. But I do think it
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: has opened the door to what at the beginning of September,
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: you think, oh, his playoff experience, how well he's pitched
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: his just kind of demeanor and experience. Yeah, you know,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: he's in that mix for Game one, and now it
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: seems like he's slid back a bit.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: There's some work to do and some conversations to be had.
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: And he threw eleven and two thirds innings in the
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: playoffs last year and three starts, so it's not like
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: you don't need them to go seven innings. It's great
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: if you can, but you don't need that. It's like
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: you said, like four or five innings and see what happens.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: All right, Thanks so much for listening to everyone. This
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: is North Side Territory. Make sure to rate review, subscribe,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Thanks everyone, take