Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Matt Snyder talks MLB, Tommy Birch on the Cubs and Cade Horton's possible debut & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Matt Snyder talks MLB, Tommy Birch on the Cubs and Cade Horton's possible debut & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:01
  All right, hour number two, Miller and Condon, welcome back.
• 0:04
  Trent Condon, Ken Miller, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 0:07
  Let's get right to Matt Snyder. He's got a hard stop at quarter
• 0:10
  past the hour, so we'll talk baseball for the next 12 minutes
• 0:14
  or so with our friend Matt Snyder from CBSSports.com.
• 0:17
  Tommy Birch coming up on as well from the Des Moines Register
• 0:20
  covers amongst other things, the Iowa Cubs.
• 0:22
  He was at the building yesterday.
• 0:24
  Watch Kate Horton pitch. Is he ready?
• 0:26
  We'll talk to Birchie at the bottom of the hour a little bit
• 0:29
  before. Hello, Matt Snyder, Trenton.
• 0:30
  Ken, thanks for coming on. How are you?
• 0:33
  Great, I'll just keep one in series.
• 0:35
  The Pacers won last night feeling good.
• 0:37
  Absolutely on both counts. Now here come the Giants to
• 0:40
  Wrigley Field. So I guess let's start there.
• 0:42
  Imanaga, the latest, he was pitching very well yesterday.
• 0:46
  That was a really good game until he had to leave.
• 0:48
  Meriweather comes in, gives up a tough inning, right, the pass
• 0:52
  ball, the very first pitch. But So what does this mean now?
• 0:56
  Does do you think Kate Horton is ready?
• 0:59
  Flexing's on the roster? What do?
• 1:01
  What do you think they're going to do?
• 1:03
  It feels like it's the right spot to throw Kate Horton in
• 1:06
  there. I mean, I know that he hasn't
• 1:08
  had a ton of minor league seasoning, but some guys just
• 1:12
  don't need as much as others. And you know, coming out of
• 1:15
  college when he did, he might not need as much time and the
• 1:20
  minors. And he turns 24 this year.
• 1:22
  It's not like he's 18 or 19. I don't think this would be
• 1:25
  rushing him. That eleven career starts in
• 1:29
  AAA, Six so far this year. He looks amazing.
• 1:32
  Birch would know more than I would on this one, but it sure
• 1:35
  feels like it's a natural with them with Imanaga and Horton
• 1:40
  being lined up on the exact same day of the week.
• 1:42
  Basic wise, it's just a natural still right there and they can
• 1:45
  still keep looking to trade for somebody here here down the line
• 1:50
  for a few months down the line. But even if it's just temporary,
• 1:53
  I think seeing what you've got right now is the right time.
• 1:56
  Now, here's a proposition for you.
• 1:58
  Let's say Kate Horton comes up here and he's outstanding his
• 2:00
  lights out. But we also know with young
• 2:02
  pitching, you're not going to throw him 180 innings this year.
• 2:05
  What do we do if we fall into that one where we got a phenom
• 2:09
  and he's got that kind of talent that he hits the ground running?
• 2:12
  What kind of plan needs to be put in place that Oh, my elbow
• 2:16
  all of a sudden don't even say elbow, say on my toe.
• 2:19
  Well, we're back or something. Yeah, yeah, something like that.
• 2:22
  Toe would work. Shut him down in July for a
• 2:24
  couple weeks, something like that.
• 2:26
  Something like that around the middle of the season.
• 2:30
  And then you once you did, I'll somebody you.
• 2:33
  And you know, the easy thing is I know that you can't
• 2:36
  necessarily fake an injury, but enough stuff during the course
• 2:39
  of the season is going to bark at one time or another.
• 2:42
  And if you get just a small pain in your lower back or something,
• 2:46
  then they could say, yeah, we're going to shut you down for a
• 2:48
  month. And then when you do that, you
• 2:50
  can build them back up via minor league rehab assignment and you
• 2:53
  can spend a month on that. So yeah, there are ways to be
• 2:56
  creative. But yeah, I given 31 and a third
• 3:00
  pitched last season, yeah. They're not going to want them
• 3:03
  to go like 150 or something at the Major League level at all.
• 3:07
  And this team obviously has designed on October.
• 3:09
  So it would be one of those like, we'll cross that bridge
• 3:14
  when we get to it. But yeah, if it happens they
• 3:16
  will have to be creative for sure.
• 3:18
  Let's talk about Aaron Judge. And, you know, up until this
• 3:21
  point, kind of been reluctant. It's early, you know, you can't
• 3:24
  keep this up. Boy, oh boy.
• 3:26
  I just keep waiting for that slump for him to happen or an
• 3:29
  injury that takes him out of the line up.
• 3:31
  He's on a tear right now. What do we what do we make of
• 3:34
  this, Matt? I don't think he's going to hit
• 3:38
  423, but good grief, man, it looks like it doesn't matter
• 3:45
  what happens around him. He's just like that good.
• 3:48
  And for this to happen at age 34, where he's a big, huge guy,
• 3:54
  you would think the decline phase wouldn't be that far away.
• 3:57
  And like, just looking at his size and his age, 2022 should
• 4:02
  have been his peak year, right? When his 62 home runs and he won
• 4:05
  the MVP. But then last year, after a slow
• 4:07
  start in April, he was this ridiculous the rest of the year.
• 4:10
  So let's say the last year, the slow start in April, maybe that
• 4:14
  happens in May or June or something and bring those
• 4:17
  numbers down. But it sure is one of those
• 4:19
  things that in the moment, it doesn't look like anything's
• 4:23
  going to happen. But then again, remember last
• 4:25
  October going into game five of the World Series, all we're
• 4:28
  talking about is, hey, is Aaron Judge going to get it going or
• 4:30
  not? So I'm sure at some point a few
• 4:32
  week, a few bad weeks will happen.
• 4:34
  But man, it's, it's enjoyable. Speaking of guys, towards the
• 4:38
  top of that list, that whole rod list in the American League,
• 4:40
  Spencer Torkelson, I think he brought him up a couple weeks
• 4:42
  ago. Matt, he had two more home runs
• 4:44
  over the weekend. He's still only 25, which seems
• 4:47
  crazy. It feels like he's, he's been
• 4:48
  with us for so long already in his young career.
• 4:52
  Is it official now? Can we say this guy's figured it
• 4:54
  out? He's going to be a middle of the
• 4:56
  bat bat going forward out for the rest of his career.
• 5:00
  Yeah, I would say so. I mean, we're talking about a
• 5:01
  guy that his power was so off the charts good at Arizona
• 5:05
  State. He was the number one overall
• 5:07
  pick in the draft. So you don't take a corner
• 5:09
  infielder number one overall unless you are very, very sure
• 5:13
  that he's going to be a big time power hitter for a long time.
• 5:16
  And remember in 2023 he hit 31 home runs.
• 5:19
  He just struck out too much. He had a low average.
• 5:21
  Now he has that low batting average right now, but he's
• 5:24
  taking more walks. So he's got the 349 on base
• 5:26
  percentage and you know, he got the those 10 home runs right
• 5:30
  now, which is exactly how many he hit last year for the entire
• 5:34
  season. So yeah, I think this is what
• 5:37
  we're looking at here is it's a 30 to 40 home run guy who's
• 5:41
  probably not going to hit for high average, but he'll go
• 5:43
  through spurts where he does hit for high average.
• 5:46
  And you know, you, you end up with a really good middle order
• 5:50
  hitter, as you said. Don't look now, but the the one
• 5:54
  division that every team in that division, the last 10 is 500 or
• 5:57
  better is your American League central.
• 6:00
  Because the White Sox are winning some game, Twins are
• 6:03
  winning games, but they're not making it up any ground.
• 6:05
  The Royals are on a run right now.
• 6:06
  Cleveland keeps playing well. And then Detroit at the top.
• 6:10
  This deficient's kind of fun. Matt Snyder.
• 6:13
  Yeah, and I tell you, the Twins got Royce Lewis back.
• 6:16
  Hopefully that sticks for a long time, but he's back now.
• 6:20
  They've been a little bit better.
• 6:22
  You know, they had that home stand where it looked like, OK,
• 6:24
  maybe they're right, but maybe they just beat up on the White
• 6:26
  Sox and the Angels three and four road trip, not terrible.
• 6:29
  They won the series in Boston. So they've got a little momentum
• 6:32
  here. And they're clearly the fourth
• 6:34
  best team. Like the Royals have been
• 6:35
  amazing since that six game losing streak.
• 6:37
  The Guardians are doing that thing again where where they
• 6:40
  just play way better than they look on paper.
• 6:42
  And the Tigers, I think have stayed tower as well.
• 6:44
  It's a really, really fun division.
• 6:46
  Hopefully it's a four team race just for the sake of it being
• 6:50
  more fun, but also for Trent's sake.
• 6:52
  But at least three. It looks really fun.
• 6:56
  And it is cool that the White Sox are winning a few more games
• 6:59
  just so they're not a total doormat.
• 7:01
  But I know I calculated it last night.
• 7:02
  They're still not even on pace to 1:50.
• 7:04
  And. As bad as they are, the Rockies
• 7:07
  are not just worse, a lot worse. So I've seen a lot lately.
• 7:12
  I I think it was maybe Buster Oldney was somebody at ESP and
• 7:15
  one of the long time people just talk about the issues.
• 7:17
  And yeah, they made that one run to the World Series.
• 7:20
  But pitching, trying to find pitching that works in that kind
• 7:23
  of environment. Will it ever be able to work?
• 7:25
  And yeah, you can mash. But what it does to the legs of
• 7:28
  outfielders. There's just so many negatives
• 7:30
  that kind of surrounded here over the last couple of decades
• 7:32
  of Rockies baseball. Anything pieces on that, Matt?
• 7:36
  And and the reasoning that why, compared to everywhere else, it
• 7:38
  is so difficult to win. I do think that there's
• 7:42
  something to the environment in terms of maybe it beats up your
• 7:46
  body a little bit, but I also think it messes up the swings
• 7:50
  because we once we started to, you know, for a long time it
• 7:53
  was, oh, you have to just dismiss the Rockies numbers
• 7:56
  because their home numbers are always so inflated.
• 7:58
  It took so long to to get Larry Walker and Todd Hilton the the
• 8:02
  merit that they deserved in the discussions for the Hall of Fame
• 8:05
  and stuff like that. And MVP wise, it was always hard
• 8:08
  to to see to get Nolan Arenado towards the top because there
• 8:12
  was always discounting the numbers.
• 8:13
  But if you went and looked every single year, they're basically
• 8:16
  last in Rd. numbers because they get used to hitting in Coors
• 8:21
  Field and then they go on the road and it's way different.
• 8:24
  There's not near as much space in the outfield.
• 8:26
  The ball doesn't travel near as far it can.
• 8:28
  I think it wrecks your swing. Even the home games, even when
• 8:31
  when you're hitting well at home, I think it hurts the
• 8:34
  players there. I don't know how to overcome
• 8:36
  that. I really don't because they've
• 8:38
  tried almost every which way. Like let's go with all speed
• 8:41
  guys here because you know, it's a spacious ballpark.
• 8:44
  We can get a bunch of gaps. We can run people to death.
• 8:47
  Maybe that's the avenue, but I don't know how much that holds
• 8:50
  up over the long haul because eventually it's going to catch
• 8:53
  up with on the road. They will have enough power to
• 8:55
  hit the ball of ballpark on the road.
• 8:58
  Maybe need to try speed power combo guys, but there aren't
• 9:01
  that many of those. Everybody wants a bunch of
• 9:03
  those. It is a very difficult
• 9:06
  situation, but I don't think it helps save a terrible front
• 9:08
  office. I opened the standings today
• 9:11
  because we're approached about quarter of the way through by
• 9:13
  the end of the week. I think everybody who played 1/4
• 9:15
  of the regular season, as we sit here right this very moment, the
• 9:20
  team with the best record percentage wise in baseball and
• 9:24
  I don't even think they've played very well, the Los
• 9:26
  Angeles Dodgers yet. There they are, Matt.
• 9:30
  I mean, Can you imagine? Because they're not.
• 9:32
  I don't think they're playing well.
• 9:33
  They're going to get some of their guys back.
• 9:34
  They're pitching as they're pitching rotations, but
• 9:36
  decimated by injury. But they got the best record in
• 9:39
  baseball. It's crazy.
• 9:41
  Yeah, I think that's, it's just how it's going to be.
• 9:42
  Like remember they started 8 and O, so let's see combine.
• 9:46
  So they're 15 and 11 since then. So that's your that's what
• 9:49
  you're thinking is and they just won seven in a row before losing
• 9:52
  on Sunday. So those two winning streaks are
• 9:55
  15 wins. They're 8 and 11.
• 9:58
  They're 8 and 11 other than those two winning streaks, but
• 10:01
  those two winning streaks now, and if you can RIP off winning
• 10:03
  streaks that are that long, that just shows how talented they
• 10:07
  are. Yeah, they're going to get
• 10:09
  healthier pitching wise. But we knew.
• 10:10
  We knew that they were going to have to deal with injuries to
• 10:13
  the pitching staff all season. When you look at guys like Glass
• 10:15
  now and Snow and Yamamoto, what he went through last year, Tzaki
• 10:20
  coming over to a new situation, Kershaw, Otani coming off Tommy
• 10:23
  or whatever hybrid from procedure they did on his elbow,
• 10:26
  you knew they were going to be banged up in the rotation all
• 10:28
  year. They just have so many arms that
• 10:32
  they can keep throwing. Guys like Dustin May and Tony
• 10:34
  Gosselin back in the mix there as they return from their major
• 10:37
  injuries, it's going to be interesting to see how things
• 10:40
  unfold. I think this is just how it's
• 10:41
  going to be and they're going to end up with like a hundred wins
• 10:44
  or something like that. But in the playoffs, you can't
• 10:47
  go through those stretches where you lose, you know, like 8 of 12
• 10:52
  games. You just can't do that.
• 10:53
  But again, they want eight in a row, then they want seven in a
• 10:56
  row if they do that in the playoffs and they're going to
• 10:59
  have a good chance to win the World Series again.
• 11:01
  Matt, last thing from me, I saw the Rangers, who Ken and I are
• 11:04
  both invested in, in our portfolios.
• 11:07
  Looking forward, they fire darn, but not their hitting coach, a
• 11:11
  guy that was, I guess, his type. Coordinator.
• 11:14
  Yeah, What's up with that? This is where we're going now.
• 11:16
  You're not a hitting coach, you're an offensive coordinator
• 11:18
  in baseball. There's a few teams that have
• 11:21
  hired offensive coordinator and there is a separate hitting
• 11:24
  coach. I don't actually know the
• 11:27
  specifics. I mean, offensive coordinators
• 11:28
  seems like you, you game plan offensively stuff like do we
• 11:34
  want to run more on this? What kind of counts?
• 11:36
  Do we want to do certain things? Just hitting coaches just
• 11:38
  straight up, I'm going to work on your swing.
• 11:40
  That would be my guess. But man, their offense has been,
• 11:45
  look, in the last 15 games they scored last 12 games, they
• 11:48
  scored fifteen runs once, eight runs once, 2 or less, 9 times.
• 11:53
  So they have no consistency. There are three and nine in
• 11:56
  those games. You got to worry that Simeon is
• 11:59
  in his age-related decline at this point in age 34.
• 12:02
  You got to worry that Adolis Garcia, that last year's losses
• 12:06
  were real and he really has just totally regressed and it's not
• 12:09
  above average anymore. Jack Peterson just atrocious,
• 12:12
  unplayable. Jake Burger hasn't really worked
• 12:15
  out. They still have pieces, though.
• 12:17
  Steiger's back off the injured list, they've got Wyatt
• 12:19
  Langford, they've got Josh Young, they've got Josh Smith.
• 12:21
  They have pieces where it looks like if Simeon, if Garcia start
• 12:25
  to bounce back a little bit. They do have enough offensively
• 12:28
  and they've gotten good enough pitching so far that if the
• 12:30
  offense bounces back then they could get right back in this
• 12:33
  mix. Yeah, I think they sent Burger
• 12:35
  down. We'll see.
• 12:36
  Last, last thing, Mike Trusbatten, the Buck 79.
• 12:39
  He's on the IL again. He's got nine home runs.
• 12:41
  He'll be 34 in August. You just got to wonder, don't
• 12:46
  you, if we're ever going to see prime peak Mike Trout?
• 12:49
  Is this the year that the Angels should do what's right for their
• 12:53
  superstar and that's move him to a contender?
• 12:57
  It's just going to be difficult now because he's not.
• 13:00
  They might try to hold and everybody knows that.
• 13:02
  And he's do so much money, almost $40 million a year
• 13:05
  through 2030. So they'd have to eat a lot.
• 13:08
  So it's do you want to eat a lot?
• 13:10
  And if they eat a lot of that money, then they probably could
• 13:12
  get some prospects back. It's probably best to mutually
• 13:15
  beneficial to just part ways. It just hasn't worked as a team
• 13:19
  with Trout there since 2014 and a change of scenery might kind
• 13:23
  of reinvigorate him. It'd be cool if they could work
• 13:25
  it out to have him play in Philadelphia because he's the
• 13:28
  Philly guy. I think what we're going to get
• 13:33
  from him is kind of what we've seen the last couple of years is
• 13:37
  that he still is going to be able to knock the ball out of
• 13:39
  the ballpark as good as anybody in baseball.
• 13:41
  And he's just probably going to hit for low average and he
• 13:43
  probably needs to stop running for the most part.
• 13:45
  And that, hey, you can still help a lineup.
• 13:47
  You just have to hit him 6th or 7th instead of second or third.
• 13:51
  Go do your thing. Matt Snyder, thanks for jumping
• 13:53
  on. We'll speak with you next
• 13:54
  Monday. Thank you.
• 13:55
  Sure thing, take care. Good to talk to you Matt Snyder,
• 13:57
  CBSSports.com as we check in our normal Monday segment with Matt.
• 14:03
  So what are your twins got this week?
• 14:05
  So this week, after winning a series against the Red Sox, they
• 14:09
  got the Orioles right time to play Baltimore, right?
• 14:12
  And Speaking of the Orioles, did you see yesterday the Royals
• 14:15
  always game? Or the home runs. 11 home runs
• 14:18
  in the game. The last one was the first of
• 14:21
  the 11 that wasn't a solo shot. 10 straight solo.
• 14:26
  Home runs. See that part of it?
• 14:29
  The old Rob Ryan line, right? Yeah.
• 14:30
  Never know what you're gonna get in a baseball game.
• 14:33
  Eleven home runs, yes, but ten of them to begin the ball game
• 14:37
  and a team. In the roles that don't hit the
• 14:38
  long. Ball.
• 14:39
  Absolutely not. They can against that Orioles
• 14:41
  pitching staff, though. They're getting back into it.
• 14:44
  The the roles are playing well. I think that this is gonna be a
• 14:47
  fun summer. At Kauffman they it was slow
• 14:50
  start from from Perez. He's going to be there.
• 14:54
  I believe enough in him. I do too.
• 14:56
  There's enough guys in that line up that all have already a
• 14:58
  background. India's been terrible.
• 15:00
  Which? Surprises me, Trent.
• 15:02
  He's starting to like he had a home run yesterday himself.
• 15:05
  I think he's starting to see it. The little bit that I've seen.
• 15:09
  Pasco Tino is too good to be as bad as he's been this year.
• 15:12
  At minimum he should be and above.
• 15:14
  Average, leading the team with six home runs.
• 15:16
  Right. First, he should be above
• 15:18
  average first basement, right? And he hasn't been to this
• 15:20
  point. And and sometimes a game like
• 15:22
  yesterday, that's all it is. You're crushing home runs,
• 15:25
  you're having fun. Maybe that's what it is.
• 15:28
  That finally ignites the offense because they've been pitching
• 15:30
  fine. Got a couple of guys that have
• 15:32
  been up there in terms of ERA. I'm with you.
• 15:34
  I think the Royals, they're going to be coming.
• 15:36
  But yeah, the Twins get the Orioles this weekend and this
• 15:39
  week, excuse me. And then over the weekend, they
• 15:42
  got the Giants coming to town. Giants leave Wrigley and head to
• 15:46
  Kansas City. So a home stand for the Twinkies
• 15:49
  against nobody that scares you? What?
• 15:51
  Kind of. What kind of crowds do they get?
• 15:52
  And we saw how dismal it was. Is it still bad?
• 15:55
  It's bad. It's people are checked out.
• 15:57
  Really. Because it's got have warmed up
• 15:59
  up there. I mean, he was 80° last night in
• 16:01
  Winnipeg, so I got to believe he was, you know.
• 16:03
  It's not a weather thing. It's not.
• 16:05
  It's a management thing. It's finally having success and
• 16:09
  tearing it down and on top of it.
• 16:10
  Just had enough. The Vikings always rule.
• 16:13
  And the T wolves are having a heck of a.
• 16:15
  Run Timber, Wolves now back-to-back outstanding
• 16:17
  seasons. The Wild.
• 16:18
  We're back in the playoffs again, people.
• 16:21
  No, you're not going to invest. We're not going to invest.
• 16:24
  The fan base are pissed off. It's such a nice.
• 16:27
  Ballpark. Oh, it's a beautiful ballpark.
• 16:28
  It really is. I, you know, the first time I
• 16:32
  walked in there, I was surprised because well, they had to cut a
• 16:35
  few corners here Minnesota. So the politics got involved and
• 16:39
  here's a slash here and it's like, and I'm like, is it, are
• 16:41
  they going to nickel and diamond?
• 16:43
  It's also the pole ads, right? So you're expecting there's
• 16:45
  another part of it. And then when you walk in and
• 16:47
  just going around, it is. And people that have been to a
• 16:50
  lot of ballparks say they got a jewel up there.
• 16:53
  They do. That is it a beautiful ballpark
• 16:56
  and so many reasons that I love it as a fan.
• 16:59
  But if not, you will enjoy your experience at Target Field.
• 17:02
  It's it's got a little something for everybody.
• 17:04
  I'm with you. Yeah, it's good.
• 17:05
  All right, we'll take your time out.
• 17:06
  We'll come back and talk to Tommy Birch.
• 17:08
  Is it time for Kate Horton? What did he pitch yesterday?
• 17:12
  6 I think Birchy looking at his Twitter account during the
• 17:16
  afternoon during the game, he was touching 97.
• 17:18
  Not Birchy Horton on the gun. I saw Birchy's, you can still
• 17:23
  bring it, his scouting profile. I saw he was shooting hoops with
• 17:27
  Bodhi a couple days ago. So yeah, I don't, but at Dowling
• 17:31
  Catholic, Birchy was probably not hit in the mid 90s, mid 70s.
• 17:36
  Maybe. If we put on a gun right now, we
• 17:40
  went down to the State Fair. Rich eyes in this, yes.
• 17:43
  What do you think Tommy Birch can throw today?
• 17:46
  Can he hit sixty? Yeah.
• 17:49
  Mid 60s over under 62 1/2. I'll take the old faith on my
• 17:56
  guy Birchy. He'll join us on the other side.
• 17:59
  The latest on the Cubs. Is it time for Kate Horton
• 18:02
  flexing? What did he see in him before he
• 18:04
  got the call? Because I guess that's got to be
• 18:06
  the option, right? Don't the Cubs have a pretty
• 18:09
  good favorable, I should say, schedule wise as far as off
• 18:13
  days, I think in the next couple of weeks they've got another off
• 18:16
  this Thursday. I think there's some more
• 18:19
  Monday, Thursdays off here before they hit the Memorial
• 18:22
  Day. Anyways, we'll find out from
• 18:24
  Birchy what he thinks when he joins us next.
• 18:27
  But right now it's time to try and give somebody an opportunity
• 18:31
  here to win $1000 in this nationwide contest.
• 18:34
  It's sponsored by our friends at Suntan City, Suntan City
• 18:38
  locations throughout Central Iowa and plenty of sales going
• 18:41
  on right now at Suntan City. As far as different packages
• 18:45
  available, head to KX and o.com. The keyword is grand.
• 18:49
  Type the letter or the word grand in the pop up box and away
• 18:54
  you will go. Your chance to win $1000.
• 18:57
  Miller and Condon on a Monday. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
• 19:02
  Network. All right, Miller and Condon,
• 19:12
  welcome back. Approaching 130 on a Monday.
• 19:14
  Transplays of the day. Circus sports sponsor those.
• 19:18
  We'll get to those here in about 10 minutes or so.
• 19:21
  Before 2 at the top of the hour, we'll turn things over to the
• 19:24
  drive. Is Lucas back from camping?
• 19:27
  I didn't know he was. I didn't know he was either
• 19:29
  until I saw the pictures on XI. See, Obie had fun.
• 19:34
  Yeah. Any interest on your part to
• 19:35
  camp? Absolutely not.
• 19:37
  My my wife is wants to There was a time that she had a wild hair
• 19:42
  that we were going to get a camper.
• 19:44
  Oh. Boy.
• 19:45
  Kicking and screaming, not so much that, but let it be known
• 19:49
  that is not exactly my cup of tea.
• 19:51
  I'm with you. Last time I did it we were
• 19:52
  dropped off by a Bush plane at a lake.
• 19:55
  The only way in and out was by the plane that was not going to
• 19:57
  come for two days. It's thinking this is taking off
• 20:00
  the water. Was this the right idea?
• 20:03
  You know, a lot of fish. But yeah.
• 20:06
  Anyways, let's get to Tommy Birch.
• 20:08
  He joins. Us.
• 20:08
  He's a true outdoors man. At least he has a beard.
• 20:10
  He is and he joins the program. Birchie Trenton Kent, thanks for
• 20:14
  coming on. How are you?
• 20:17
  Good. I'm you know, it's funny.
• 20:18
  You're talking outdoors. I'm I'm true story, not lying,
• 20:22
  not being sarcastic or anything, but I'm I'm actually an Eagle
• 20:27
  Scout. And I did not know that about
• 20:30
  you. I knew you could bring it on the
• 20:32
  on the bump. We had an over under.
• 20:34
  Could you hit 61 miles an hour? What'd you say, 60?
• 20:37
  2 1/2, yeah, that's the current one.
• 20:38
  No warmups, just go up there. What are you firing, Bertie?
• 20:42
  Right now. Oh man, yeah, I have no idea.
• 20:45
  It's probably a little terrifying.
• 20:46
  We'll get out there at the State Fair.
• 20:48
  The speed gun, we'll get it on you, Yeah.
• 20:50
  And then get the ice pack on him right after that some.
• 20:53
  Time to warm up then. Tommy Kate, Kate Horton,
• 20:58
  obviously timing wise with Imanaga going down yesterday as
• 21:01
  he ran to cover first base as the Cubs.
• 21:04
  It was a hell of a ball game at the time, but Imanaga was
• 21:07
  pitching well but got hurt. Sounds as though there's going
• 21:11
  to be some some time missed in his future.
• 21:14
  Kate Horton's name keeps coming up.
• 21:16
  They keep thinking, trying to find the right time.
• 21:20
  I think in a perfect world, this wouldn't have been the right
• 21:23
  time. He would have got there at some
• 21:24
  point this year. But now there seems to be a
• 21:27
  need. What are you hearing?
• 21:28
  What do you think? Is Kate Horton ready?
• 21:30
  Should he get the call? I don't know if he's ready based
• 21:34
  super close. He is definitely making a
• 21:38
  compelling case right now. His last couple of outings have
• 21:41
  just been absolutely fantastic, going 6th innings and and just
• 21:46
  being pretty much dominant out there.
• 21:49
  During his last start, I think he there was a two or three
• 21:53
  inning stretch where I was kind of walking around.
• 21:55
  I was like, Oh my God, like he he looks about as sharp as I've
• 21:59
  seen him. If if there's a need for him,
• 22:02
  then he is pretty darn close. So, I mean, what I think will
• 22:06
  happen, I'm no insight on this, but what I think will likely
• 22:10
  happen that the Cubs will lean on Chris, but then have him go
• 22:14
  out at least one time, get the ball that gives that gives Cage
• 22:20
  Warren at least one more, one more start with Iowa.
• 22:23
  And if he does well and, you know, depending on how things go
• 22:26
  with Chris Waxman, then it could be time for Cage Warren.
• 22:31
  So I don't know if he's exactly ready.
• 22:33
  It's like I'd agree with you in the aspect that like that ideal
• 22:38
  moment has not popped up, but it is rapidly approaching in terms
• 22:42
  of the compelling case they make it.
• 22:46
  So one thing that I brought up just a moment ago with Matt
• 22:49
  Snyder is have they said anything about at least a rough
• 22:53
  estimate in terms of an innings limit, what we're looking for
• 22:56
  this season? Obviously we know the upside
• 22:58
  that's there. What this guy's going to be
• 23:00
  still just 23 years old. Any idea roughly what they're
• 23:03
  looking at in terms of inning innings for the season?
• 23:06
  Yeah, I didn't heard an exact number right now.
• 23:09
  And I think they're kind of disappointed by ear too, to just
• 23:12
  kind of see how he goes about things, how he feels, what the
• 23:15
  need is, you know, take an ideal world, you know, at some point
• 23:19
  they they could skip a turn or two in the rotation with him and
• 23:23
  kind of ease him back in. And you know, when it comes to
• 23:26
  how they've operated with him so far this season, they have kind
• 23:30
  of used him back into things, you know, with, you know, 345
• 23:34
  now 6 innings starts. So, you know, it's like, yeah,
• 23:39
  he and you know, look in the green scheme of things too.
• 23:43
  When you watch him pitch, you know, there is some work back
• 23:46
  that is kind of needed when it comes to Cade Horn because I
• 23:50
  think you were you watched his first couple of starts.
• 23:53
  He wasn't pounding the strike zone the the way they wanted.
• 23:56
  You would see the first couple innings he would be throwing
• 23:59
  959697 and then after ending two or three it would kind of dip
• 24:05
  off to maybe you know, 909293. So there was kind of that build
• 24:10
  up that was needed to that we're we're getting back to where he
• 24:15
  is looking pretty, pretty sharp all the way around in terms of
• 24:19
  what he can go in terms of length and the ball games and
• 24:23
  was be what I was looking like. Tommy Birch joining us from The
• 24:29
  Register. Birchy with Horton.
• 24:33
  So what else at the AAA level? Anybody else?
• 24:36
  Even if it's a bullpen arm, who else are we looking at past
• 24:39
  Horton that can help out this year's Cubs team?
• 24:42
  Yeah, I mean, there are some, there are plenty of guys too in
• 24:45
  that aspect taking the help out. Tyson Miller's been on rehab
• 24:49
  assignment with Iowa cabs, his pitch lights out.
• 24:52
  You know, I wouldn't be surprised to to see him get the
• 24:55
  call up right now or pop possibly Ethan Roberts, who
• 24:59
  who's pitched really well on the bullpen at times too.
• 25:03
  I think those are pride, the two key guys that you're going to
• 25:06
  keep an eye on. And you know, it's like I said,
• 25:09
  in the short term, what I wouldn't be surprised to to
• 25:12
  possibly see happened, like I'd said, with Chris Watson possibly
• 25:17
  getting a start. If that happens, I think in the
• 25:21
  meantime, you're going to need a bolt in arm to get you by.
• 25:23
  So one of those two guys might be the the options that they go
• 25:27
  to into into possibly grabbing an arm out of Iowa.
• 25:32
  Get the match on a second, a couple more guys.
• 25:35
  Pitching wise, I know Keegan Thompson's not on the on the 40
• 25:39
  man. I thought he had a huge future
• 25:41
  with the Cubs. I did back last year.
• 25:42
  Looks like I might be wrong there.
• 25:44
  And then Nate Pearson, who was I?
• 25:46
  I followed early in his career because he was the number one
• 25:50
  prospect in the Jays organization.
• 25:52
  That didn't pan out. He's now a Cub.
• 25:55
  He's started with the big club. He's down here now.
• 25:57
  How's Nate Pearson look and and will the Keegan Thompson force
• 26:02
  the Cubs into a decision perhaps.
• 26:04
  Is he pitching that well? Sorry about that.
• 26:09
  I'm kind of battling a cold. But yeah, you know, I think
• 26:12
  Keegan Thompson certainly could just because he is pitching so
• 26:15
  well. And I think kind of promising
• 26:17
  thing for a guy like Keegan Thompson says Devo is an ideal.
• 26:21
  It isn't back to what it normally was when he was kind of
• 26:25
  on that dominant stretch a couple years ago, but it's
• 26:27
  getting back to it. It's not that far off.
• 26:29
  So he's got a long ways to go in terms of kind of not only
• 26:35
  opening up eyes, but then convincing them like, OK, put me
• 26:38
  back on the 40 man. Yeah, make a move on the 40 man
• 26:42
  and then call him back up. And you know, honestly, he's
• 26:44
  kind of in this weird spot where he's kind of, you know, he's
• 26:48
  starting, he's going to the bullpen, he's starting, he's
• 26:51
  kind of going back and forth between the the two spots,
• 26:58
  which, you know, honestly, when they're kind of bouncing you
• 27:01
  back and forth like that between the rotation, the bullpens,
• 27:05
  really not a good sign for for what they think about you in
• 27:08
  terms of development. But he has been great.
• 27:11
  He has been sharp and he could be somebody that they end up
• 27:14
  falling out. But then the other guy, Nate
• 27:17
  Pearson, he he had a good outing over the weekend, but for the
• 27:20
  most part, he has really struggled.
• 27:23
  You know, obviously up there in Chicago and then coming back
• 27:26
  down Iowa hasn't been as sharp too.
• 27:28
  So, you know, look, there's there's definitely some musical
• 27:32
  chairs when it comes to the Bullfin right now.
• 27:34
  But you know, when it comes to getting back up there and
• 27:38
  possibly helping like you guys show, you're going to be pretty
• 27:41
  dominant here in Iowa before you get that that next shot because
• 27:45
  there is so much on the line right now in Chicago.
• 27:48
  That's for sure. Birchy, you know, plenty of
• 27:50
  people obviously in the Cubs organization got a lot of
• 27:53
  contacts there. What are you hearing as a no,
• 27:55
  no, no, not yet. Well, we'll do that one off
• 27:58
  there. No, what?
• 28:00
  What is it, Birchy? What are you hearing as it
• 28:02
  pertains to the half a billion price tag that very well could
• 28:05
  be there from Kyle Tucker? What are you hearing on that?
• 28:08
  It's just he's tremendous, and watching him day in and day out
• 28:11
  now, he's even better than I anticipated.
• 28:13
  That guy's an absolute stud. But what are you hearing inside
• 28:16
  the organization? Yeah, I mean, it's going to be
• 28:18
  hard for them to to let him walk.
• 28:20
  And I think the expectation has always been like, go get the
• 28:24
  Cubs gave up a lot, then to go out and get him, they gave up
• 28:28
  some really talented players. And the idea that thought has
• 28:32
  always kind of been from people within the organization that
• 28:35
  they are going to do that without the idea of at least
• 28:38
  having a good chance or putting together a compelling case to,
• 28:42
  to get Kyle Tucker to, to possibly stay in Chicago long
• 28:47
  term. But the idea has never been that
• 28:49
  this is going to be a rental project and a one year thing,
• 28:52
  but the hope that they could keep him around for a while now.
• 28:57
  Are they able to do that? I, I don't know.
• 28:59
  We'll certainly find out, but that has always been the thought
• 29:04
  amongst people. Yeah, they got to pay Pete Crow
• 29:07
  Armstrong to try to lowball him a little bit and the numbers
• 29:10
  he's putting up or unbelievable. All right, let's get to third
• 29:13
  base and John Birdie and and Bruhan, they're not the answer
• 29:19
  at third base for for the big club had a chance to sign
• 29:22
  Bregman. He wanted to be a Cub.
• 29:23
  They didn't want to give him term.
• 29:26
  And obviously we see what he's doing as a Red Sox now and he's
• 29:29
  going to be there for the next handful of years.
• 29:31
  So Matt Shaw down here to, you know, work on his swing to
• 29:35
  figure things out before he gets his chance.
• 29:37
  Do you think he's on on the cusp of his second chance this year
• 29:42
  with the Chicago Cubs? Where's Shaw at?
• 29:45
  Yeah, I don't know if he's on the cast.
• 29:47
  I always kind of put the over under at maybe a month of being
• 29:51
  in the minor leagues for shot where, you know, I think the
• 29:54
  ideal scenario is like, OK, you send him back down.
• 29:57
  He works on some things. He gets back into a rhythm, he
• 30:00
  builds his confidence back up. And and then when you call him
• 30:04
  up like you, you call him up hopefully for good.
• 30:07
  You know, there, there are so many cases like this when it
• 30:11
  comes to guys who go up to the big leagues that struggle, they
• 30:14
  get sent back. But kind of though the one
• 30:17
  common denominator for a lot of those guys become some of the
• 30:22
  the biggest success stories is you go back down that one time
• 30:25
  and you figure it out and you regroup and then you go back up,
• 30:28
  you know, yeah, you you definitely hear the stories of
• 30:31
  the guys have gone down a couple of times and, and eventually
• 30:35
  figured it out. But the hope is that that the
• 30:38
  the plan has always been the match.
• 30:40
  I was going to be the third baseman of the future for the
• 30:44
  Cubs and that he will be back at some point this season and, and
• 30:49
  be a steady force for them on that corner.
• 30:51
  And I think, you know, look at the the first real good sign of
• 30:57
  consistent hitting out of Matt. And that would be he obviously
• 31:01
  swung the bat really well this week.
• 31:03
  But I, I think they want more time, they want more a DS.
• 31:07
  They, they want to see a higher contact rate and kind of a
• 31:11
  higher exit be low numbers out of some of his a DS because some
• 31:15
  of the numbers are a little deceiving where, you know, he's
• 31:19
  gotten some lucky bounces too with some of the hits.
• 31:21
  But I think once they see some higher exit be low numbers, I
• 31:25
  wouldn't be surprised. And Matt Shaw is back up in a
• 31:28
  week or two. We were talking about your
• 31:31
  exploits on the bump for Dowling Catholic back some 30 years ago.
• 31:34
  But high school baseball practice starts today
• 31:37
  officially. The guys can get back out there.
• 31:40
  We're a couple of weeks away from the opener.
• 31:42
  Couple of outstanding prospects get just down the road over at
• 31:45
  Dallas Center, Grimes, Tate and Gray.
• 31:47
  I've seen him a couple of different times.
• 31:49
  He's committed to Oregon. We don't get many prospects
• 31:51
  heading out to Oregon to play for the Ducks program.
• 31:54
  You got any names that you're keeping an eye on around here?
• 31:57
  It's it's not some of the prospects that maybe we've had
• 31:59
  in the past with Joey Okey and and Brody Breck, but any names
• 32:02
  that we should be keeping an eye on this summer out of the high
• 32:05
  school level? Yeah, I mean, she's definitely
• 32:07
  the big one. He's a big, powerful bat who who
• 32:11
  really, really hit. And you know, I believe, you
• 32:14
  know, you look at a lot of top MLB draft, you know, prospects
• 32:19
  when it comes to top 50, top 200, he's going to be in a lot
• 32:22
  of those. But I would say him and then,
• 32:25
  you know, a non, you know, high school guy by college guy, Kate
• 32:29
  Obermueller, Iowa high school kid as well, But pitching for
• 32:34
  Iowa, who ended up getting drafted last year and came back
• 32:37
  to Iowa and really improved his draft stock.
• 32:40
  You know, kind of a big bugaboo with him was like, OK, we we
• 32:44
  want to see Obermueller throw strikes a little bit more often,
• 32:47
  be much more consists in the strike zone.
• 32:50
  I think that's something he's improved on drastically.
• 32:53
  So it's going to be interesting to see where where he goes then
• 32:58
  kind of the the other name that isn't like a really Iowa kid
• 33:02
  based born and raised in the morning.
• 33:04
  He would have gone to Dowling and all that Sean Gamble.
• 33:08
  He he goes to IMG Academy. His brother played football and
• 33:13
  baseball at Dowling, but he ended up moving there.
• 33:16
  I think when he was a freshman, he's committed to play baseball
• 33:21
  at Vanderbilt, but he is a guy you you definitely could hear
• 33:25
  his name called early in the draft is a is a short slop
• 33:29
  possible outfielder, great hitter, left-handed hitter with
• 33:34
  some pop too. So yeah, those are kind of the
• 33:36
  big names to keep an eye on when it comes to the draft.
• 33:39
  It's a long list of guys, but still a pretty good list.
• 33:43
  Love it Bertie one minute left Moises Bastaros, the Chicago
• 33:48
  Cubs media starting to ask questions of Craig counsel about
• 33:52
  by esteros down here in Iowa. What does he have left to to
• 33:56
  work on before he gets his opportunity?
• 33:58
  Tommy. You're kind of coming out there,
• 34:01
  Bally. No Moises Bastaros.
• 34:04
  What does he have to do? Yeah, I think right now he just
• 34:08
  needs a spot, you know? I mean, right now that's.
• 34:10
  What they said? Yep.
• 34:11
  Yep. The Chicago Cubs is there's just
• 34:13
  not a place for him. You know, obviously he's
• 34:16
  catching. He's played some first base,
• 34:18
  he's DH. But you know, a lot of
• 34:20
  evaluators I talked to just flat out say he is not going to be a
• 34:24
  big league catcher. I think the hope within the the
• 34:27
  Chicago Cubs organization is he's only 21 that he can
• 34:32
  eventually develop that, you know, his glove can catch up
• 34:35
  with the bats. But there there are some major
• 34:40
  question marks when it comes to what he can do behind the plate.
• 34:43
  And I would say even more question marks of what he can do
• 34:45
  at first base. You know, one, there's one
• 34:47
  scout, they even told me recently that Moises is going to
• 34:51
  be the youngest DH in all baseball.
• 34:54
  Now the the overwhelming consensus from everybody I talk
• 34:59
  to is the dude can hit and he will hit and whenever he gets up
• 35:03
  to the big leagues, he's going to hit.
• 35:05
  Now the problem for the Cubs, like I said, they don't need the
• 35:08
  catcher. They don't need a first baseman.
• 35:10
  They certainly don't need a DH with Thea in that spot right
• 35:14
  now. So she's just going to have to
• 35:17
  stay in the point and rake. And he's doing a hell of a job
• 35:21
  with it right now. I mean, the tear he is on right
• 35:23
  now, it reminds me a lot of what Chris Bryant was doing at the
• 35:27
  end of his tenure where you just know, like, he is no longer
• 35:31
  tested. This is no longer a problem.
• 35:34
  The bad's ready. He can go.
• 35:37
  But what are you going to do? Yeah.
• 35:39
  Good stuff Tommy, thanks for jumping in.
• 35:41
  Appreciate it as always the update, really good info Tommy.
• 35:45
  We'll talk to you down the road. Thank you.
• 35:48
  Anything for you guys? Next time I won't be as sick.
• 35:51
  Thanks for playing hurt buddy. Thanks.
• 35:53
  See you Tommy. Good to talk to you.
• 35:55
  Tommy Birch and the icons are off this week, so we get to stay
• 35:58
  home and lick his wounds a little bit and get better as
• 36:01
  they will. They've left town.
• 36:02
  Thank you again to Tommy Birch. Kate Horton.
• 36:05
  So it sounds like maybe not quite yet, not the.
• 36:08
  Slam dunk that. I think a lot of a.
• 36:10
  Lot of Cubs fans, I think are hoping and expecting to see.
• 36:13
  And they're off the next three Thursdays you mentioned.
• 36:16
  That's what it is the next three Thursdays that they're off.
• 36:18
  All right, take time out, come back and finish up the program.
• 36:21
  Trent's got some plays of the day.
• 36:22
  Circus sports sponsor those. It's the Iowa State.
• 36:25
  It's Iowa State. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
• 36:28
  Network. I'm Miller Condon.
• 36:30
  Final couple of minutes is here on a Monday.
• 36:34
  Iowa Sports Radio Network. Couple of NBA games tonight, one
• 36:39
  NHL game, pretty good slate of MLB, so plenty of options for
• 36:43
  you to put your hard earned money on.
• 36:46
  Circus Sports sponsors. Trent's Plays of the day each
• 36:50
  and every day. Have you found something you
• 36:53
  like more than the others? Yeah, got 5 plays overall, 2
• 36:56
  basketball, 1 hockey and a couple of baseball.
• 36:59
  So, a potpourri here on a Monday to kick off the week.
• 37:02
  Let's start with which one should be a free square.
• 37:06
  The Dodgers go into Miami. Alcantara has been awful.
• 37:10
  He has, hasn't. He ERA approaching 9.
• 37:15
  Caspari's on the other side, ERA under 3.
• 37:18
  Now it's big price -200 but let's try to get a win and I
• 37:21
  will leave the big price in that one.
• 37:23
  Also in baseball, I'm going to play the Padres tonight with
• 37:26
  Pavetta against Ron Doan. Padres.
• 37:29
  Rain in the forecast, just an FYI.
• 37:32
  Could cross it off, but for the year now it's locked in Padres
• 37:36
  8th and all baseball OPS against lefties.
• 37:38
  They're really good. They're they're hot playing well
• 37:42
  going into Yankee Stadium. Plus 132.
• 37:45
  Best price you're gonna find it's at circus sports.
• 37:48
  We'll grab that plus 132 with the Padres to the hoops I'm
• 37:52
  grabbing. Both dogs, you are getting a lot
• 37:55
  of points. And I don't think either of
• 37:57
  these teams have a shot in hell in the series.
• 38:00
  But it's just that game one malaise with both Boston and
• 38:03
  OKC. Could it be a slow start,
• 38:05
  something like that? It just feels like too many now.
• 38:08
  It's also the NBA. Both these games, these, it
• 38:10
  could be a 30 point plot. It says we know, but I'll grab
• 38:12
  the 9:00 with the next. Really quick turn around too for
• 38:15
  Denver. Yes, and the 10 with the Denver
• 38:18
  and his Joker. I just love watching him play so
• 38:19
  much. I was surprised by this one.
• 38:23
  I'm not surprised that Florida's favoured in the series.
• 38:27
  Florida's, but still. Plus 110.
• 38:29
  I thought that was a fair price on the Leaf sitting.
• 38:31
  Yeah. I do too, and they're and look,
• 38:33
  they're at home. Home ice advantage.
• 38:36
  Great building. No phenomenal building.
• 38:38
  Phenomenal building. It should be a good one that
• 38:40
  that's gonna be a good game. I think it's gonna be a good
• 38:43
  series. I believe Florida will prevail,
• 38:45
  but we shall see. Alright, that's gonna do it for
• 38:47
  us. Appreciate you being with us.
• 38:50
  I had fun today, had fun most days.
• 38:52
  I will do it again tomorrow. Trent Night talk sports with you
• 38:54
  every Monday through Friday from noon to two on the IO Sports
• 38:57
  Radio Network.