Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / What to watch around the Cubs in September: Pete Crow-Armstrong can’t be a one-man show

Transcript

What to watch around the Cubs in September: Pete Crow-Armstrong can’t be a one-man show · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome into North side territory file territory networks, Cubs podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner, Patrick Mooney. We are
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the athletic Patrick. The
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Cubs lost two out of three to the red. So
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: it wasn't a perfect weekend, obviously. And we'll talk about their, their,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: their struggles here. And, and the idea that, you know,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and now they got to fend off the Phillies and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: not worry about catching the brewers as much. But yeah,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Peker Armstrong is doing everything he can to help this
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: team win, and he's doing everything he can to put
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: some distance between him and Shohei Otani to be the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: favorite for that MVP race. He put on a show
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Saturday in front of a lot of the living members
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: of the 150th anniversary Cubs team, and then he did
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: it again on Sunday with the Cubs Hall of Fame
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: induction happening I believe it was Lester Vince Lloyd and,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: and Jody Davis. So, and there were plenty of Cubs,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: former Cubs stars there again. So a weekend filled with
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: players that have put on shows at Wrigley Field before.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: And Pete is trying to end up being the best
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: among them. Like that's like, I don't think that's hyperbole.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: He's he's, just etching his name in Cubs history and
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: baseball history, it seems like by the day.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: We sometimes fall victim to recency bias. And I think
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: that's why it was helpful to have some of those
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Cubs legends on hand to put some context around what
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: we're actually seeing. And it's not just the highlight clips or,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: you know, I mean, credit to like, Optistats and Elias,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: like they pull out some awesome stuff and it's crazy.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: It's crazy.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: The names that you see Pete's name alongside, but I,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I saw Jake Arrieta in the Cubs clubhouse yesterday.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: And, you know, he said, we said hi.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: And then I was like, Hey, you got a minute
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: just cause I thought his 2015 season was kind of
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: for us, you know, covering the team was probably the
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: most similar just in terms of, you know, every time
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: he pitched, we were sort of on no hitter alert.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: And Jake just kind of nodded along. He's like, yeah,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: with Pete, it's like, what is he going to do today?
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: And I chatted with Anthony Rizzo and then asked Jon
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Lester and Jody Davis during their pre-game availability in the
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: interview room there. And it's just fun to hear them
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: talk about him because they're they're sort of, sort of
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: in awe too. And they pick out different things of
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: like with Lester, he pointed to Pete running first to
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: third on that, say a single up the middle. And
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: also just like the left on left improvements he's made,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: which is really hard to do in today's game. Like
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: players just aren't given those same opportunities anymore.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: And, you know, Jake was.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Talking about how the ball he hit opposite field was
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: most of the way up the bleachers and like Derek,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Derek Lee, Ryan Dempster, they're all talking about it. Like,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: you know, have you ever seen a ball hit that
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: far by a left-handed hitter? And Jake was like, maybe,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: maybe one or two. And so that was like cool time.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Obviously we're leading with the good news here. There's plenty
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: of kind of troubling signs around the Cubs. We can
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: talk about later, but I thought this weekend and you
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: wrote it well on, of just the, like, this is
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: in best season ever conversation for a franchise that's 150
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: years old.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's crazy who he's up there with.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's been, I think, position player-wise, there were
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: four other nine war seasons, according to fan graphs, and
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: now he's fifth on that list behind... Rogers Hornsby, Sammy Sosa,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Ron Sano and Ernie Banks. Like those are those are
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: all Hall of Fame caliber players. I know Sammy Sosa
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: is not in the Hall of Fame, but we know
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the reason that that happened. But these are like the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: greats that have ever graced the field for the Cubs.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: And he's putting up a season like equal to them.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Like when you get to this point, outside, I think
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Hornsby was at 11 war, but everyone else was under 10.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: So once you're like within like half a war or
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: something like that, it's like, that's like a rounding error.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: That's like, this isn't a perfect science when it comes
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to war. Like that's, that's a negligible difference. Um, so he's,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: you know, this is an argument for one of the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: best seasons ever. Uh, and it's certainly that, you know,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: an argument for one of the best seasons ever for
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: a cub that we've, that we've watched in our lifetime. Uh,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: just like, just when you think it's like, okay, ho hum,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: this isn't, you know, uh, he's doing it again. Like
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: he takes it to another level, like he did with
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the third Homer on Saturday, two more on Sunday. Uh,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: it just feels like he, he really thrives in the spotlight.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Like that, that all those stars were there that Sammy
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: apparently told him, uh, go hit three on Saturday. Who
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: knows how much of this is like for the part
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: of the show and, and like Israel, but I could
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: see Sammy actually saying that Sammy, Sammy likes to, um,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you know, uh, like he's part, he, he put on
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: a show, right. And he, he understands like what it
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: is to like play to the fans and, and tell
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: a story. And maybe he told him go hit three
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and he beat delivered. I mean, it's, it was, it's
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: pretty remarkable what he's doing. Um, and that like to
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: do it when you know that the pressure is on,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: that the spotlight is on. Um, yeah, I just like,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: it's kind of getting like, uh, I don't want to
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: say it's getting like, we're just expect it, but it is,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: it is almost like, geez, like when does it stop?
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Like how does he slow down? Uh, I don't know
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: if he'll get 40, 40, but at 38 home runs,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: you know, like, he was probably going to get to
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: 40 homers. And then does he just like every single
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: time he's on base, like make sure he's stealing. Cause
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I think he's at 32 stolen bases. So we'll see,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: we'll see if that happens. I mean, that would be remarkable. Yeah.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, most of these seasons we were not alive
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: for much less covering and talking to Jake, like he
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: made the point of Javi did a lot of this stuff. Um,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: obviously Chris Bryant was an MVP and, you know, I
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: felt like Chris was sort of this prodigy who was anointed,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: like he was supposed to do that. And I think
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: his defense, the value came from his versatility more than
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: just like, you know, all of those crazy catches that
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Pete makes look easy out in center field. And, you know,
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I think hobby, um, I don't think Javi was ever
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: quite this refined, even during his near-MVP season. I mean,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: to have the inside track over Shohei Otani in the
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: MVP race, a once-in-a-lifetime player, is crazy enough.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: And then to see... That jumped out to me in
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: your story.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Sahad, of what Roger Hornsby's F-War was decades and decades ago.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the kind of names you're talking about.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: And I think with Pete, I think there's a similarity
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: to Jake too, in that Jake was extremely confident and self-assured,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: but he also really made a point to like credit
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: his catchers and the pitching coaches and really kind of
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: shared in his accomplishment with his teammates. And I think
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Pete's the same way too. I mean, he's kind of
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: running out of ways to say some of this stuff.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: And he's, he always is very differential to credit the
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: hitting coaches, the strength coaches, the, you know, the, the
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: teammate who beats out a double play that extends the
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: inning and someone else gets to hit. And that, you know,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: it beats like, I'm just lucky to be up there
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: in that position. You know, that's, that's kind of how
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: he's gone about it. And, uh, you know, Pete's, uh,
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: you know, crammed so much into this season, it's hard
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: to believe there's still a month to go.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they have some things to figure out this month.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Pete's not one of them. Let's take a quick break
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: and talk about Shota Imanaga because he had another rough
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: start and we've got to talk about this.
• 9:29
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• 9:31
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• 9:37
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• 9:39
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• 9:40
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• 9:42
  Speaker 5: to the shore in the fall. I love the shore
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: in September. You come in from the beach. You throw
• 9:47
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• 9:50
  Speaker 1: It's breathable.
• 9:51
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• 9:51
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• 9:53
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• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Patrick uh shoda managa gave up three home runs i
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: think it was the sixth time this season he's given
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: up three or more home runs uh i want to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: say that's 33 home runs allowed this season do i
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: have the number right uh that sounds right. Yeah. 33.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: So he's, you know, that's a, that's a career high. Um,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: just too much to like, it's happening too often. It's
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: happening with men on base. There was a three run
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Homer last night and a two run Homer. Um, and
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: it costs the Cubs a game. They, they scored five runs.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: They lost, they scored 30 runs in the series and
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: lost the series. Um, Yes, there was a 17 run outburst,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: but you score eight and five. You should you should
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: win that series at minimum, if not sweep. There's different
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: issues across the bullpen and rotation. Like I'd say the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: issue in the rotation right now is Imanaga. The rest
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: of the concerns probably lay in the bullpen. But Imanaga
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: is yes, he had a he had a great start.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: A really good start against the White Sox a couple
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: starts ago. That's a tough team to go up against.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I think the three runs that he gave up in
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: that game was a three-run homer. This is the issue.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: It's the home runs. And, you know, counsel was asked
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: about him. You were there. Why don't you kind of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: tell us how counsel reacted to the question about Imanaga's
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: spot in the rotation and if that is in question.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Well, counsel didn't react the way he responded to similar
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: questions about Jamison Tyone, who was swiftly DFA'd off of that.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: Outing in Pittsburgh.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: And it wasn't the way he framed Edward Cabrera's return
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: from the IL, which was very much a....
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: We'll have to take a look at that. And obviously....
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: There's all back and forth about his blister when it developed, yada, yada, yada.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: With Shota, it was Council stressing, quote, we need Shota.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: And I think the upside, his track record, still gives
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: him a little bit of runway here.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Not a ton.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: And I think it's very realistic now to think like,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: he's probably not going to start a playoff game for them.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: And I think some of.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: The dominoes from that could be, you know, maybe not
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: having David Peterson out of the bullpen. We're obviously getting
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: ahead of ourselves here. We're kind of talking about, you know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: a fourth starter if they advance out of the wild
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: card round, assuming the Brewers hold on here. But Shota
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: just doesn't have, like, any margin for error it seems
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: right now. And, you know, a week ago it was,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: we were talking about it. It's go time that council
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: just wasn't seeing it. He didn't have it. Uh, this
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: wasn't quite as bad as that, but just the results
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: are the results, right? Like you can't just home runs
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: win in the post season. You can't have a guy
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: out there who's just giving them up left and right.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So, uh, Imanaga misses bats and that's something the
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Cubs rotation doesn't really have. Just looking at, you know,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: look at like zero inning minimum starters who have the
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: best strikeout rate for the Cubs this season. It's I mean,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Riley Martin must have made a, he must've been an opener.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: He doesn't count there, but like it's Kevin Gossman, Ben Brown,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: both are at 25%. and then showed us at 24%.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: And like, when you just look at strikeouts and walks,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: you can see like, okay, he, he has a chance
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: to do well. Like the, like the peripherals are there.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: There's not anything that stands out that says like, Oh no,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: the hard contact has gone way too high or, or
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: anything like that. I mean, his ground ball rate is
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: actually higher than last season. But it's just the home
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: run rate is really high. The fly balls tend to
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: be leaving more often than they have in previous seasons
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: for the team. I mean, it's his highest home run
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: to fly ball rate of his Cubs career. It's his
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: third season, and it's gone up each year. This is
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: kind of what we expected, that he would be a
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: home run. He's a fly ball pitcher, so he's going
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: to give up home runs. The problem is the sequencing
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: of it, as some would say. It is crushing the
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: team right now. You cannot give up three-run homers. It
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: cannot happen. The Cubs take an early 2-0 lead, and
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: he gives up a three-run homer after giving up, I think,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: a walk and a single to the bottom of the order,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: if I'm remembering correctly.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that sounds right.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Maybe I'm off on that, whatever exactly happened, but Still,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: like he's not– these aren't like– they aren't like completely
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: imposing players that should be– that you're like, okay, I
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: get that. They're good players. I mean Tyler Stevenson tends
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: to kill the Cubs. I should look up his stats.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: He's one of those guys that I feel like pops
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: up in my mind whenever I see him. I'm like, oh, he–
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: I feel like he crushes the Cubs. I'm sure if
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: I look at his numbers, it would back that up. But–
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: there is an uneasy feeling about him when he's on
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: the mound right now. I also feel like you look
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: at the peripherals. I can't write him off. Uh, so
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I get why Craig would, would stick with him. Javier
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Assad is available. Triple a. I don't think that's the
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: next option right now. I, but if this continues, next
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: start would be this weekend in Miami. Um, if he
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: struggles against the Marlins now, you have to, I mean,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: that's a different, situation, right? Like not that the Reds
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: are some powerhouse offense. I don't actually know how the
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Reds are doing offensively this year. Uh, but the Marlins
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: certainly aren't. So you, they need to, he needs to
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: have a good outing and like kind of quell some
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: fears there. And just, it is less about is show
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: to him and Aga starting in the playoffs for me
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: right now. And, and more about like they need a
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: fifth starter to get through September. Um, And if it's
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: not Imanaga, they're going to have to call upon Assad.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Like if Imanaga doesn't right the ship, they can't afford
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: to keep losing games to teams they should be beating
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: like the Reds. No doubt.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: I think those conversations will continue. And I think for me,
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: it's you don't write them off because you never know
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: if you're going to have to win four playoff rounds
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: to win a World Series. You're going to be playing
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Up to or around Halloween, you just never know. We've
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: seen so many pitching injuries this year that the guy
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: that seems expendable all of a sudden might be one
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: of your most valuable guys. I know it doesn't really
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: matter in September. It's all about what's ahead, but showed
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: has been very good for most of his time here.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: And I feel like sometimes, uh, we overreact in the moment.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Obviously this is a concern. He is, uh, kind of
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: on the bubble now, you know, he's whatever phrase you,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: you want to use. Um, he is pitching for his job.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: I get that.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Um, but it does seem like one of council strengths
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: is sort of like taking deep breath, looking at the
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: big picture and, Upon further review, maybe they do make
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: some changes, but right now he still has a hold
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: on that job, even though that grip is loosening.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Let's take a quick break and talk about why
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: wins are so important right now for this team that's
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: in a little bit of a slump.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: Do you remember growing up and seeing that something was
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: sold out and it was literally sold out and you
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: couldn't get a ticket?
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: Yes, I do remember that.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: That's not a thing anymore.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: Cried many times over that, Scott. But now we have SeatGeek.
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: Even if it says sold out, you can find that
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: perfect seat for you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: The official ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball is SeatGeek
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: to find that seat for you, whether it's down the stretch,
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: a team that you're following that's going to play postseason
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: ball or whatever you're going to game for. You want
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: to see a particular pitcher. Eventually, playoff tickets, same thing, right?
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Playoff tickets generally sold out. Don't worry. SeatGeek.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Has the spot.
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• 19:59
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• 20:03
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• 20:08
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• 20:19
  Speaker 1: The Cubs are 3-7 in their last 10. I honestly
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: don't think they played terrible baseball during this stretch.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Agreed, agreed.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Sometimes you just watch a team and you're like, I
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: don't know how they're going to win. How is this
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: team going to win right now? There are moments in
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: a season when a good team plays like that where
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: you're just like, ooh, it is really hard to come
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: by a win because I just don't know what they're
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: going to do. They've had a number of gut punch
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: losses during this 3-7 stretch. If you're concerned about anything,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: it's the bullpen and what we just talked about with Imanaga.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I am not concerned about the offense, even though during
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: this stretch they have been shut out. Twice, I believe.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Three times. Three times they've been shut out. No, twice.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: It's only twice. But it feels like more, I guess.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Maybe if you take away Pete, maybe you could run
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: the numbers that way.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Sure. Yeah, I don't know. If you
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: want to take Pete away. But that's why Pete's so important.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: That's why you have an MVP on your team. it
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: helps things. Bregman's been great. I wrote about their ability
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: to match up against teams. I really like the lineup
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: right now. I like the depth. You want Damesby Swanson
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: to get healthy, and then you're talking about 13 guys.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Every single guy is really good and can really help
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: you in different ways. But they're now... they're now tied
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: with the Phillies for the top spot, the top wildcard spot,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the Phillies. I think I saw their eight and two
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: in their last 10. I think it's even better than that.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: If you go back, they, they had a, was an
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: eight game winning streak. Some, they had a longer winning
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: streak mixed in, in there at one point. So they've,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: they've been red hot. For me, like that's, that's a
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: team that, you know, obviously their pitching is scary. I
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: don't think the Phillies can hit. all that much. Uh,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: just looking at their offense, it's a bottom, bottom 10,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: bottom five offense in, in baseball. They have a stud
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: home run hitter that we all know about in college Warburg.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: After that, it's a really inconsistent offense right now. It's
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: just not, it's not a deep offense. So that's not
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: to say that they can't win the wild card, that
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: they can't have a better record. Like right now they
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: have the same record. So going forward, who has the
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: better record? is likely the top two teams for the
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: wild card. It's going to be like, it's going to
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: be a back and forth in all likelihood. The Cubs
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: need to need to step up and have a good
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: final month. They have a really tough test with four
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: against Milwaukee right here. And we're not talking about that.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: We're not talking about the division anymore. I believe it's
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: eight back. Is that, do I have that right? Eight back. Yeah,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: if they sweep Milwaukee, we can maybe talk about that again.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: But right now, fight off the Phillies. Don't let the
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Phillies pass you up. Win more games than the Phillies
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: going the rest of the way. That's got to be
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the focus for this team.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: We've had some funny exchanges with Kyle Schwarber over the years.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: I'm picturing his reaction of you telling him that they
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: have one of the worst offenses in baseball while he's
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: standing there in his cutoff. Sleeves cut off shirt and
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: has stars and stripes, basketball shorts, waving a bat in
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: his hand. But if I were the Cubs, I would
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: much rather face the Diamondbacks or Padres at home rather
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: than traveling to Philadelphia for a best of three series,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: especially if they can line up their pitching skills couple
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: guys get hot I mean they're closer to taking over
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: the Braves than the Cubs are to the Brewers I
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: still think the Braves are in pretty good shape with
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: a five-game lead and you know the Cubs really face
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: the Phillies at the right time winning that season series
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: in essence gives them a one-game advantage over the Phillies
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: in the wild card race and you're right it how
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: little we've talked about the Brewers kind of says it all, uh,
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: because it's, it's not realistic to like pump up this
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: Brewer series, like, Oh, here's their chance. It's like, no,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: they had cut it to, I think three games, uh,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: during that Cardinals weekend at Wrigley. Uh, you had, Joshua
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Baez hit three home runs in his first three at-bats.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: You had David Ross show up to call a game
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: from the ESPN booth. And it was just that road
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: trip through Seattle and Phoenix.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: I'm with you. They did not play.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Horrible, but they just did not win enough during that
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: stretch to make this division race interesting. I mean, you're
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: looking at, you know, like a split here doesn't do
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: you much good. That's just another, you know, four games
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: lopped off the calendar, which I think would put them,
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: you know, right around 20 games left, maybe 21. You'd
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: still have three more in Milwaukee, but it's not realistic
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: to think they're just going to roll in there and
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: sweep them. And so, yeah, I think this, you know, we...
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: have talked about the Cubs, you know, just sort of
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: like being in the playoffs, like it's a foregone conclusion
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: and the odds are still overwhelmingly in their favor, but, um,
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: there's enough things here that are kind of nagging that,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: you know, I think put you on alert of, you know, they,
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: they have to get some things.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: In order.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: I think that's something you're big writing about on the
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: athletic that this week of like what has to happen
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: in September.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think there's a few things that like quickly
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: that come to mind. It's like, I think tonight what
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: we'll see, like, I, I feel really confident. Like I
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: talked about strikeout rate before and like Clay Holmes doesn't
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: strike guys out for the, he's not doing that for
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: the Cubs, but he's been brilliant for the Cubs. He's
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: just like fit so well for this team because he,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: he gets soft contact and puts it on the ground.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: And that's what this team thrives off of. Uh, but
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: such a good defense, even with Danesby Swanson out, um,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: I think you kind of like, he probably cements himself
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: this month as the guy that's going to open a
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: playoff series. And then, and then you kind of have
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: to figure out how it fits in after that. Um,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I still feel good about Kevin Gossman. I know it
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: like there's been some, um, uh, some iffy outings mixed
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: in there. I feel good about him. I think he's,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to step up for this team
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: when it matters most. Uh, after that, you know, like I,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: you know, Matthew Boyd, David Peterson showed him and now
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: I go, we'll see how it all, uh, uh, comes together.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Dansby Swanson has to get healthy. It sounds like he's
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: on a good, uh, you know, trajectory right now, but the,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: the swinging is what matters. Uh, can he, can he
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: twist that torso, uh, like he needs to, um, and
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: really test that oblique, uh, the bullpen has to come together.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: We've both written about this. And I think like, I
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: think we both felt the need to write about it.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: We wrote about it on back-to-back days, but it just
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: felt like the right thing to talk about at that time.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: They need to figure out those guys. I think it's
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: less about, for me now, the focus can't be on
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: who's coming back, who's going to help, whether it's Shelby
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Miller or Edward Cabrera or Justin Steele. It's like, get Palencia, Webb,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: and Zephyr John right. get those guys figured out. Caleb
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Thielbar has started to look better. Make sure Ryan Rolison
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: is ready to go for the playoffs. Like get those
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: guys looking good and comfortable and, and locked in hope
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: that Jacob Webb is an overused and gassed by October.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: And like whoever comes and helps outside of that, like
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: may just have to like, that needs to be a
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: bonus right now because the guys that you have, you
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: have to get right. That's how I'm kind of looking
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: at this bullpen right now. We've written so much about
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: who could be coming, and then there's always setbacks or
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: little issues that happen. It's like, they're not here. Make
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: sure the guys that you have are good.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: And you're 100% right.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: They're running out of time as well to get those
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: guys in peak form.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: For the playoffs.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: So we're talking about guys who've, you know, I've had
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: extremely long layoffs. So to think that you can just
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: plug them in and play is, is just not really
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: how it works.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: And so, yeah, I'm with you. I think they got
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: to keep.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: Trial and error, trying to figure out who they can trust.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: I think those things, as we know, do evolve over
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: time and can quickly change.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, clearly, Theobar.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Crossed the threshold of being better than Holby Milner in
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: their view. That was another, um, guy on the rehab
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: path after unfortunate appendectomy in Milwaukee, uh, a couple of
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: months ago.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: Um, and we'll see, I will see too.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: Like if, like when I mentioned Peterson earlier, like he
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: seemed to be a guy that they liked in that
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: swing man role. If they, if the rotation narrowed for
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: the playoffs and now you might need him in that
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: sort of, uh, as reliever in the first round and then,
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: you know, maybe as a game four starter in the
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: second round, uh, assuming they get there.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh, yeah, exactly. We will see how far this
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: team can get. I, I mean, I, yeah, they need
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: to answer some questions here. You, you never feel good when,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: and it's a three and seven start. Like I said,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: it just didn't, I mean, three and seven, uh, stretch, uh, uh,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: like I said, I just don't think they're playing terribly,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: but like a loss is a loss. And now they've
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: bagged some of these bad losses, quote unquote. And they
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: have felt like, you know, bad losses in the sense like,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: oh man, they have that game wrapped up or that
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: looked like an obvious win. And there's like two or
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: three of those in this three and seven stretch. You're
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: feeling very different about this game if you just pick
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: up two of those. And suddenly it just feels a
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: little different. And it's not like, uh-oh, what is this
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: month hold for them. Uh, I guess we'll see, we'll
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: see how, where it goes and, and if they can
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: write the ship, uh, not easy against Milwaukee, obviously has
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: stacked rotation or really good pitchers that the Cubs will
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: have to face. Uh, Kyle Harrison, Monday night, I believe tonight,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: and then his Roski's Wednesday night. So, uh, not going
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: to be easy. We'll see if they can, uh, uh,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: get some wins in and then kind of put hold
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: off the Phillies. Cause that's, that's probably their main concern.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: All right, thanks so much for listening, everyone. This is
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe. Subscribe to
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: the YouTube channel and subscribe to The Athletic. We're Patrick
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and I on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: listening and watching, everyone. Take care.