Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Alex Bregman’s freak injury clouds the Cubs’ playoff picture

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Alex Bregman’s freak injury clouds the Cubs’ playoff picture · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside territory file territory networks, Cubs podcast. I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Sadev Sharma with my partner, Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the athletic Patrick. It is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a hold your breath Monday in Chicago.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: I'd say.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Obviously, you know, with the Cubs, Alex Bregman took that
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: foul ball off the face. We don't really have any
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: info as we record on Monday morning. It, You know,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it looked ugly. It doesn't look great. We don't know
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: where he is. We just don't know what the situation
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: really is. Why don't you kind of set the scene?
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: You were out in Cincy and talk to council after
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the game and give us everything that we kind of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: have at this moment.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: It was a.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: Weird getaway day in Cincinnati that began with the Cubs
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: contemplating various playoff clinching scenarios and maybe how they would
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: celebrate that given the time difference between their game and
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: the Diamondbacks game in Phoenix. Obviously they needed a combination
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: of a Cubs win and an Arizona loss.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Cubs took care of their part.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: The Diamondbacks did not, but they were not in a
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: mood to celebrate no matter what. I mean, that was
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: just a jarring, scary scene. You saw how Michael Bush reacted.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: It was his check swing that hit the dirt ball
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: ricochets into his face and Bush drops the bat and
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: kind of crouches down towards the ground.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: And, you know, he's kind of a low talker anyways,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: but he was, um, it was.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Kind of a somber subdued mood, uh, in the clubhouse
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: as he's standing at his locker, um, council, I thought
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: was mostly, um, calm and empathetic. He did not appreciate
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: a question about where Bregman was standing relative to the
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: on-deck circle. But otherwise, his point was we need to
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: get the test results first and we need to keep
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: Alex's general well-being at the forefront. Both he and Bush
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: said we're praying for him, we're hoping Like this was
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: just one of those moments where the team just kind
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: of stopped.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: They paused for a moment. Obviously they finished the game.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: They won.
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: Pico Armstrong had another huge performance. David Peterson pitched really well.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: But without knowing exactly what's going on, you know that
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: this is just a huge question mark over the rest of,
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: the cup season, they were, you know, uh, there, there
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: were these kind of from within the clubhouse, there were
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: these sort of sides of like, well, we.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Don't think it's a concussion. We think he's good.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: Like the information flow was, uh, uneven. Um, but I mean,
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: look at Alex Bregman's Instagram. Like you'll see, um, it,
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: it just looks awful. And at the moment, I think
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: you're just hoping that he avoids, uh, the worst case scenarios.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: But obviously, you know, if you want to go there
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: as a Cubs fan, you can and wonder what this
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: might mean.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: But, but right now Cubs, like I said, are just
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: kind of hoping and praying that he gets through this fine. Yeah.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Look, it looks really ugly and that's, I mean, that's obvious.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Just look at the pictures. It doesn't look pretty. It,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: it also doesn't, the pictures don't tell us anything. I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: think fans are running with things. I'm seeing a lot
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: of like speculation of what it has to be minimum.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: This is no, we just don't know. Like until the
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: results come back, like what, like the eye situation. And
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: as far as like bones, did anything break? Like those, like,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: it sounds like concussion is kind of ruled out. Like
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: even Craig's presser was like, he got checked here. They, they,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: it seemed like it didn't, That isn't full, but he's traveling. Um,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I like, I'm not sure, like, I don't want to
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: speculate too much on what it means that he's traveled,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: but like, that's, that's at least a good sign. He's
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: not like the doctors weren't like, he has to stay
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: in the hospital. Like he has to stay here.
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: So little bit of tiny bit of optimism if you
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: want to take it from that. But again, like I
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable speculating, but either way, like, I think it's
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: irresponsible because I'm seeing like a lot of like, well,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: it has to be this. He has to have something.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: And it's like, it's just extreme swelling right now. That's
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the only information we have. And it looks awful. And
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: that it's going to like the body reacts that way
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: to something like that could be, he could have dodged
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: something here and it's not significant. And it's just a
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: lot of swelling and a lot of pain. Or we,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: you know, we're going to find out something. I think
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: we'll find out in the next 24 hours what's going on. Um,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: But obviously, baseball-wise, it is a huge blow. And if
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: he misses any playoff time, it changes a lot for
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: expectations for the Cubs. Because the bottom line is Alex
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Bregman has been the second-best offensive performer in the second half,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: not just on this team, in baseball. The Cubs had
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the two best performers in the second half in baseball.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: And Bregman was number two. Uh, and that doesn't even
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: talk about his defense, which has been the best of
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: his career at third base. Uh, he brings an intangible
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: factor that matters to this team. Uh, he can still
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: provide that if he's not playing, but I mean, you
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: need them out on the field. Uh, it changes the
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: way we look at this team. They have great depth.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: We saw it with, uh, with Dansby going down, but
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Bregman's a different type of player than Dansby. Dansby is
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: like the heart and soul of the defense, uh, He's
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: not like a game-changing force on offense. Bregman has become
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: a game-changing force on offense in this second half. It
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: just kind of changes the upside of what this team
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: can do because they have to, because of so many
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: questions on offense, they have to kind of, I mean,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: so many questions on the pitching, they kind of have
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: to rely on offense and defense. And you lose someone
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: that's significant in both those areas. Okay, now you're questioning
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: the ceiling of the playoff chances for this team. Pedro
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Ramirez and Matt Shaw are really good depth pieces if
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: you lose a third baseman. They have great options. It's
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: not going to be Alex Bregman, especially the way he's
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: been playing.
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: Just go on his baseball reference page and look up
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: his playoff numbers. They're ridiculous, especially just the volume, the
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: number of games, plate appearances, postseason series. The totality of
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: it is very impressive. Obviously, the expanded play format has
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: a little bit to do with it, but also he
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: just keeps going back.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Every single year. I believe his.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Rookie year, I think they had a winning record, but
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: did not advance in Houston. So yes, the Cubs are
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: relatively well positioned relative to other teams. When you have
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: Pedro Ramirez, I would think he's probably number one on
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: that depth chart now, and then Matt Shaw as well,
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: but neither one of them is Bregman at this moment,
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: and certainly not in October. We saw this last year
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: how much they needed someone like Bregman. That was one
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: of their biggest takeaways beyond the pitching of getting– another
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: force in the lineup. And it took a while for
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: Bregman to get there, but he's certainly delivered an excellent
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: season and we'll see how much of it is left
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: for him.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: All right. Let's take a quick break and come back
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and talk about the bullpen, which gave us some positive
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: signs this weekend.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: With all these teams, Cratch, clinching postseason bursts, geez, a
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: lot of teams have already clinched.
• 8:53
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• 8:54
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• 8:54
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• 8:58
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• 9:00
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• 9:02
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• 9:06
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• 9:08
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• 9:11
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• 9:13
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• 9:15
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• 9:16
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• 9:18
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• 9:20
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• 9:22
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• 9:24
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• 9:26
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• 9:28
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• 9:31
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• 9:32
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• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Patrick, if fans were looking for positive signs for the bullpen,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: they got them this weekend. I thought, I mean, Council
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: said it, and I agree. at like while watching that
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: was Daniel Palencia's best outing since last year. And that's,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I said this after his first nice outing, like last
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: week sometime, whenever that was basically like, okay, that was nice.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Like do it a few more times. He's done it.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: you know, a few more times. And that two innings,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: three strikeouts, no walks, no hits, like perfect two innings.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Like that's dominant Daniel Valencia. Like just the bat against
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Taylor Cruz. Like it wasn't like the bottom of the
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Reds order. Like it was key players, some really good
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: offensive players. That is what they needed. They needed one,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: at least they needed one guy to step up. I
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: thought that was really important. Zephyr John has continued to, like,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: I know fans are like, it's just so funny how
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: like a new guy comes to town. It's always going
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: to be the first few, like the first month of Bregman,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: the first four outings of Zephyr John, John Lester's April
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: in 2015. Like these are the things that stick. You
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: have to bounce back hard for them to convert on
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: these guys. And, and, Slowly but surely, I think Zephyr
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: John is starting to get some believers. Savali in the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: eighth inning on Saturday was really interesting. A lot of
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: things happening with this bullpen that I think are interesting.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Palencia is probably the most important, though.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: After Sarah Knight's game, I asked Zephyr John about sort
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: of being on call. uh, being ready whenever the bullpen
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: phone rings, the October idea of all hands on deck.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: And he, he said that the coaching staff actually communicated
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: to them that these three series, you know, leaving Milwaukee,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: heading to the homestand against the pirates and Braves and
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: this road series in Cincinnati, that they would essentially be
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: running it in playoff mode, that the off days, um,
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: leading in and out of that homestand and bookending the
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: Cincinnati series would give them some more flexibility. And council
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: said it was a message to the entire staff of like,
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: you know, don't get too comfortable, whatever you're used to.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: They're going to run things a certain way. They're going
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: to treat it like the playoffs. And they responded with,
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: three consecutive series wins, not saying that automatically transfers over,
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: but I just thought it was interesting that council acknowledged
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: it and put it in those terms and rather just like, well,
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: every day it's a 27 outs puzzle, you know, like, uh,
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: they certainly recognize the moment, the urgency here and, you know,
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: really before Bregman's injury, uh, Council acknowledges the number one
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: thing they want to accomplish during the final week of
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: the season is figuring out the bullpen, building confidence in guys,
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: getting them more reps, getting them into the flow so
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: that they're ready to perform in that wild card series.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: Council indicated that nothing will change during this Marlins series.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: He said that, when the magic number was two, it's
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: now down to one. But I think he wants to
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: continue that here this week. He said the Boston series
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: is totally different. He's like, you can't pitch your top
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: relievers three days in a row and then have them
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: running on fumes. So that's, I think, a calculus of,
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: you know, will home field advantage still be up for grabs?
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: You know, at that point, I guess we'll see. You know,
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: I don't think they would go all out and like
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: throw their a relievers, you know, three straight nights, three
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: straight games against the Red Sox. So that's kind of
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: where they're at. They're not, I think in a, in
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: a better place, still not an ideal place. And, you know, council's,
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: other main idea was like you never have the bullpen
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: figured out like they still have to go out there
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: and perform and their performances are like inherently volatile and
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: unpredictable and just you know um influenced by these small
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: samples in high pressure situations.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: It's interesting um you know, if Savali is going to
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: be this high leverage guy. Now, if Palencia is back,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Zephyr John feels a little more stable. And then you
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: have Rolison is the number one lefty. I mean, you
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: kind of, that's, it's not dominant yet. It's not all fixed,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: but that's, you need about four guys to feel like, okay,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I can get through a playoff series. I can get
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: through the playoffs with four relievers. It's really, it's not ideal.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: You want more depth. If Webb is your fifth guy now, or,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: fourth righty suddenly he feels a little bit more you
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: know that that's kind of like the situation you wanted
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: coming into the season like him being the third righty
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the fourth righty uh and and like can he put
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: the home run issues behind him can he put all
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: those things behind him build a little bit confidence over
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: this last week i think what you want is the
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: guys that we just talked about the main guys to
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: continue on the path that they are this week and
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: then web to gain a little bit of confidence and
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: then Yeah, maybe he can be used in a 4-1
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: game in the sixth inning, right? Do you want him
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: in there if you're leading 3-2 in the eighth? I
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: don't think so right now.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Can he build that type of confidence back? Can Council
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: get that type of confidence back in Webb? I don't
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: know about that. But those other four feel really important.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Just keep pitching well. Don't have blow-up outings. Don't walk
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: four guys.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Whatever.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: And get through this week healthy and looking good, suddenly
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: you feel a little bit better. I don't think we're
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: going to get to a point where you're just super
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: confident in the bullpen. I don't know how that happens
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: in a week. But maybe it's a situation where bullpens
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: are so volatile, you just don't know what's going on
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: day to day, that it clicks right at the very
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: last minute and at the perfect time. That's the rosiest scenario.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: But I do have to say, I was... Incredibly encouraged
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: by Palencia. Seeing that, it's just like, okay, you've been
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: saying this all along. We know what he can do.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: We have proof of concept here. This is not like a, well,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: maybe this isn't Savali. As good as Savali's been and
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: as long as he's pitched and he's a veteran, he
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: deserves a ton of props. But we just haven't seen
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Savali perform in the high leverage moments of a big
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: postseason series. We've seen that with Palencia. We've seen that
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: during the regular season and in the postseason. So I
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: just think you don't want to go too far with it.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: You don't want to assume everything's fixed.
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: A little bit of.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Optimism with the bullpen right now, and you just have
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: to carry that through. I don't know what's going to
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: happen this weekend. This weekend looks like a mess in Boston,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: but we can deal with that when we get there.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Why don't we take a break and kind of talk
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: about where they're standing and what the playoff scenario looks like.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: So Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: you know is going to ruin your sleep?
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, definitely. I found myself on the golf course
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: a lot lately. And sometimes, you know, it can be
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: long days out there. So I reach in my golf bag.
• 17:49
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• 17:52
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• 17:55
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• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:58
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• 18:02
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• 18:32
  Speaker 1: All right, Patrick magic number is down to one. Uh,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: they need a win or a diamondbacks loss. They are
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: currently tied with the Padres for the top spot and
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the Phillies are a game back. I'm going off memory.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that's what I saw last time I looked. Um,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Which is just a weird scenario, but that's where we're sitting,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: where the Cubs are all but headed to the playoffs.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: We just don't know where we're going to be as
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: far as Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, maybe even Atlanta. So
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: let's get those hotels booked and see what next week
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: holds for us.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I thought, I think.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: you kind of rewind that September schedule. They did not
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: look good at all coming out of Milwaukee. Uh, I
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: think they've shown an impressive bounce back here. Uh, you
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: saw the formula of Matthew Boyd pitching like five innings,
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: 70 pitches, maybe 19 batters faced.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Um, And then you need those tack-on runs too.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: This offense, again, we'll see with Bregman. You need Pete
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: to perform like an MVP almost every night. He obviously
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: changes the entire dynamics of this offense, but You know,
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: I think you go back and forth of peaking at
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: the right time, and it also doesn't matter once the
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: playoffs start and everything resets at zero. I think we'll
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: dig into, you know, which matchup is, you know, most
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: suited for the Cubs later in the week. But leaving Cincinnati,
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: you know, a couple players, you know, when I asked
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: about it, they– they want home games at Wrigley field.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Like that is their goal. They are still chasing that.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: I know there's, there can be a let up the
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: day after a clinch, but this group is pretty focused
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: and they feel like it's still unfinished business. Obviously they
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: did not accomplish their primary goal of winning the national
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: league central.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Um, but they want those games at the friendly confines.
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: We've seen how electric the atmosphere is. Um, I think
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: it's also different now if you go back to 2016, 2015.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: I think there was this anxiety around Wrigley Field with 1908.
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: You've alluded to this earlier where almost it might have
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: been better to go on the road for some of
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: those series.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: That's gone.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: And the Padres with that bullpen and how electric Petco
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: Park gets, it's not going to be an easy place
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: to play.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: It's a group.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: That's really challenged the Dodgers admirably over the years. They
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: can really shorten the games with their, their relievers and
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: you'll Philly, another veteran group, you know, I don't know,
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: maybe they, I don't know if they would benefit from
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: getting out of Philly. It seems like they're one of
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: those teams that's going to have a lot of pressure
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: on them as, you know, kind of aging core, big
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: payroll team. Massive expectations, a front office and ownership group
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: that is kind of running out of patience, working with
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: an interim manager. I personally like Philly's Cubs for the storylines.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I think Schwarber and Harper.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: We saw the Padres last year, so I'd go with
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: something different.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: I guess there's still that Atlanta thing. Right.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I don't really need to go to Atlanta personally. That
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: would be my vote.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: But I like the, nothing against Atlanta. It's more of
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: the suburban location of the ballpark. Not, not the, not my.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Favorite road venue.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: But yeah, it's as you've seen us too, like all,
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: all these scouts are, covering the Cubs now from these
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: various teams that it's kind of fun to see in
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: the press box or the media dining rooms that these
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: are teams. Teams across baseball now are really loading up
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: and locking in, just tracking the Cubs. The Cubs are
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: doing the same thing in other spots of trying to
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: pick up tendencies or little pieces of information that aren't
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: apparent on video. Yeah.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: We got six games left. It seems like the playoffs
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: are all but locked up. I don't know where, like,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I agree with you basically on what you said. I
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: think I'd like something a little different just from a
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: storyline standpoint. I prefer that not to be Atlanta. So
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: if they like Phillies, it'd be nice to just stay
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: at Wrigley. So we have a little less travel, but, but,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: you know, we're going to have to do whatever we
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: have to do. And Philly is, you know, a fun
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: city and, and, that will be a crazy atmosphere too.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: If that's where they end up. Um, it will get
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: to this in a later episode, but the options between
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: those two, just two completely different teams at two completely
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: different areas. I'm not sure which one is better for
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: the Cubs. And I think that's worth discussing, like trying
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: to figure that out. Um, and I'm not sure if that, like,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: it's a discussion that I don't think I have an
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: answer to in the sense, like, I don't feel strongly
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: either way. Uh, we'll have more information on Bregman hopefully
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: by the time we record another episode, and I think
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: that could swing the way you feel about so many things,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: but certainly that first-round matchup, what you'd prefer there. All right,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: that's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: to Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe. Subscribe
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: to the YouTube channel and subscribe to The Athletic, where
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and watching, everyone. Take care.