[Applause]
Welcome to the Reds. [Applause]
Oh, baby. Oh, baby. The Cubs are back. Yeah.
Steve Trout is not back. He's He's Steve Trout's old. He better not be
back. You talking about Mike Trout or you talking about old old Cubs pitcher?
You know, either way. No, Steve Trout. Mike Mike Trout hit about as well as Steve Trout this weekend.
I know. That's what I'm saying. Uh, no. Remember, did did Steve Trout I did he
get a no hitter? Did he have a no hitter? I don't think so. Or did he come really really close to a
no-h hitter? I remember it was a night game and he was pitching and I think he
actually had a no hitter going and I think he lost it like really late.
He's not as salty about it as Papus was. Milt Papis like went to his grave
complaining about the you know the umpire's call that cost him a a no no back in the day. Um which I remember
really he was he was super salty about that. Speaking of which, though, you know what's funny is like we went that's like
one of those weird situations, right? Because it's like a hole in one in golf or whatever. You got guys who like PGA
tour players like I and I don't know if I've ever cousin of mine who's really my mom's cousin, whatever, but
he played on the tour. Not you know, not enough to stick around, but like two two years I think he spent on the PGA tour.
Um never in his life had a hole in one. And then we retired from the tour like 10 years afterwards. He had like two in
a week. Um which leads me to the whole thing about the Cubs, right? They went from was like 74 or whatever was their
last and then all of a sudden it's like okay you get Zambrano gets one and then Jake Arieta throws a couple and then
freaking um who am I thinking? Friend of the show Alec Mills gets a no hitter and
then they get a combined no hitter and it's like whoa. Hey this is this is pretty cool. Like you don't get one for
40 years and then you just rattle off like six of them like Okay. You mentioned Alec Mills. My goodness.
Like he's just kind of falling off the radar. Uh kind of unbelievable that he got one. I mean I remember when he did
it that was that was like the after that was 21,
right? He Yeah. He got a he had like a stress
fracture in his back or something because you know the Cubs the Cubs parted ways with him and I know he signed somewhere I thought somewhere on
the was it like the Giants or the A's or somebody west coast. Anyway, then I you know I don't know if he's officially
retired but I'm pretty sure he's hung him up but uh good guy though. He was a good guy. Yeah, super good dude. That was a first
our first baby appearance on uh on the rant of the two. We had two two babies
on the show. So um yeah, good times. Cool. Uh yeah. No, Mike Trout honestly
uh to be serious about the situation was uh was really bad. And he's Man, what did he strike out seven times?
It was at least six in the last two games alone, right? Horton struck him out three times and then I think he
struck out three times yesterday. It was just like, you know, there used to be a time when you're like, "Okay, this is
the guy you don't pitch to." And now you're watching this like, "Dude, buddy, like you were." And his strikeout rate's over 30% or something
this season. So, it's not like it's not like it's just the Cubs, but but they they've always done well against him for
whatever reason. They've always played very well in Anaheim. They would draw very well out there,
you know. So, you talk about a game with like Cubs fans being excited. Think about Kyle Hendricks yesterday pitching
in front of a crowd that was entirely favorable to him on both sides. Mostly Cubs fans cheering for him. You know
what I mean? Like that's that's such an odd Yeah. like he's the one guy for that
team that everybody's cheering for. Like it's a Cubs. It's definitely a pro and it's always every game I've ever been to
there and I'm talking back in I think it was 2012 something like that you know. So again
the height of like they had Josh Hamilton, they had uh you know Trout was was doing really well and the Cubs were
awful as we know. Uh but it was still mostly Cubs fans in Anaheim at least
5050 and I would say even more so and then certainly in 2016 for the first two games of the season again like vast
majority of cup to the point that you could walk into a bar in Anaheim and I did this and know multiple people in
this bar from you know from Twitter and whatever but it was just like this is
just surreal. Not as not as surreal as running into people I knew in London, but still surreal. Anyway,
yeah, those those were definitely the days. Um, so let's talk about what's
happening here with the Cubs. Um, kind of giving us hope again, as the Cubs so
often do. Uh, and the Brewers. So, what was it? uh on the 14th, which was about
11 days ago, we had a our last rant, our last podcast, and uh you know, I said
that the Brewers weren't going to win 120 games. Now, I do realize I want to state that I realize that mathematically they couldn't have won 120 games. They
could have only won 118 if they went won out at that point. But I guess my point really was that they were they're
overrated. The Brewers are overrated. And when I say overrated, I guess I have
to, you know, qualify that statement because I'm not sure there's a lot of people at the beginning of the season
who were rating them very high. And definitely in the middle of the season, they weren't rating them very high. And
then they went on a 10-ame win streak and then a 14game win streak. But since
the 14th, they have been they're five and six. And they've dropped three of five to the Cubs and they dropped two of
three to the Giants uh just over the weekend. So, they're five and six and the Cubs are now five games back.
Um, which I I still shake my head at because it it shouldn't they shouldn't even be
that far. The fact that they've gotten five games back and you know, you you
want to feel like there's some life there. Um, and I mean really kind of like I'm looking at the Brewers schedule
and I'm just thinking, hm, let's see. They have four against the Dbacks at
home and this is a trap series for the Brewers because if they don't perform
very well, meaning sweep or at least win three out of four against the Diamondbacks, they're they are facing Toronto at
Toronto and then Philadelphia for three. And so, you know, let's say they split or even lose this series to the
Diamondbacks, they've got six games against very good teams coming up and the Cubs could very
well catch them uh in in short order. So, you know, with the Cubs schedule
coming up is against uh let's see, of course, the Giants who just took two out
of three from the Brewers. Uh, the Rockies, the Braves, Washington, Atlanta.
I mean, Tampa, I their schedule, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, the Mets. I'm
loving the Cubs schedule coming down the stretch. What are you thinking here? Yeah, I mean, well, and think about it,
right? So, you talk about the what the Cubs did against the Brewers, and after that first game last Monday, you know,
the Cubs dropped it 7 nothing. Looked like crap. The Brewers had a ninegame
lead at this point. Here we sit a week later and it's only a fivegame lead, right? So that you know the Cubs the
Cubs only shaved and this what's what's really what's hilarious, right? Because you mentioned that and and at the time
when you said they're not going to win 120 games, whatever. And I was like, all right. I specifically said on there, we need to have Blake actually clip this
and and he did and that went out there as a real and and very much caught the eye of a number of Brewers fans out
there. And the best part about that, right, because here here's the thing is like I am not one to proactively talk
unless it's like all in good fun, right? Like I'm not just throwing stuff
out there. And and I and I say this for a couple different reasons is I've raised my kids not to do and and
especially and you may experience it. I don't know if it's if it hits that hard at your level of youth ball yet, but
definitely once you get up to like 14, 15, 16, you these kids chirp. So, so my
son's last game of the season. I promise I'll get back to the point, but it it it makes sense here. Uh his last game of
the season on the mound. So, he goes out there and and he's just dealing immediately. It looked like Kate Horton
like just pumping strikes. Um these guys are from the other side or like and and
like Ryan Ryan's a grunter when he throws, right? So, the other kids, they're kind of making fun of him, grunting. They're running their mouths
talking their pitchers throwing one by our guys swinging miss like by you and they're talking all this mind you
uh my kid went out and threw a seven inning it's only seven inning games right but he threw a complete game on 72
pitches allowed one hit one hit uh and they
scored one run because a kid walked and then our catcher let two pass balls go by and the kid scored on a sack fly but
anyway they're running their mouths the other team the whole time like you are getting one hit you have zero but like
nobody it's the the idea of and I think this comes from this is where I get back
around to I think it comes from the anonymity of online interaction right because these Brewers fans come about
you guys will be lucky to win two games there's no chance you win three oh you suck and there's somebody who's like you
know hey well the Cubs won the season series now and I didn't win the season series it's tied it's like my dude or
he's you know this guy called me a bozo I'm like all right brain genius seven to six in the season.
I thought it was six and six, but we're all just baseball fans. Calm down. But but it was it was just so funny to have
them latch on to this and and and attack on it and and granted their team is up, but it was all like this, you guys suck.
You're not going to win any games and then the Cubs do win games like well look at standings.
Okay, like stop moving the goalpost, you know? Don't don't be a douchebag. like
let your team do its business and then you can talk afterwards. But when you
run your mouth up front, you put yourself in a position to look like a giant dumbass if things don't come
through the way you want. And that that's why I was saying that I I like the the situation. I'm not averse
to where the Cubs were just a week ago. Yeah. before that series because the
Cubs have have melted down in September and we've experienced that before and and the Brewers have come on in
September and the fact that the Brewers were coming on kind of July August and
the Cubs were kind of, you know, fading a little, but they were still there. They're still right in good position,
right? Leading the wild card. Uh, I kind of felt like we're in a situation that could kind of flip the script here and
see Milwaukee meltdown, especially if the Cubs get some performances. Now, granted, they
sandwiched that offensive explosion in between two games where they just barely did enough to get by uh against pitchers
against the Angels who should not have given them much trouble. But it's still they they
certainly they were taking advantage. You know, we saw that in the in the middle game, the Saturday night game. Um obviously jumped all over everybody.
Seeing Kyle Tucker jump out. Uh that was huge. And and I kind of
what's but what's bothersome to me? Well, we can get to that and I wrote about it earlier with with now how what
say a Suzuki is doing. But I I think the key to it here is is it does feel like the the Cubs were playing so much worse
than they ever should have with everybody kind of just not stepping it up, you know, but the the pitching has
continued to be really really strong and that the offense just finds some
semblance, right? So instead of having five guys slumping at once, all of a sudden, hey, if Tucker's back, if Sey
Suzuki can figure things out, if Hap kind of gets back on, and Hap's actually been better in August than he was, like
a lot better in August than he was in July. Um, but you got Matt Shaw really catching it and figuring it out. Pete
Cro Armstrong's got a long way to go to get back to even close to where he was. But I I feel like,
you know, kind of when you look at it, say, well, they're nine games back. Well, that takes the pressure off them. and you look at it and say, "These guys
can't all continue to be this bad. They're they're too good to continue to hit like this." That gives me a lot of
faith in in what happens here over the next few weeks of the season. I think like five games, you'd rather have seen
them within five games a week ago or or a few days ago, but that's not nearly
like to go from nine to five. They cut four games off the lead in a week.
What if they shave another two off this week and now you're a three? You like that can change in a hurry. So, I do
feel I don't feel great about the Cubs being able to come all the way back and actually win the division. But they in
addition to getting close to the Brewers, they have also significantly distanced themselves from the Reds who
were hanging outside in that top, you know, out just outside the wild card. I think it's what it's a seven game, seven
or eight games the Cubs are up now on the Reds. So, that gives me a really good feeling. And I think I think with
that comes that security like you start getting a little tight if you're way out of first and and that was the issue with
the Cubs. They were losing ground rapidly. You know they lost a series of the Reds lost out there. Now if you
balloon that and say hey we feel great we're going to make the playoffs. You know now hey maybe we can make some
noise and and clamber back up into first. So I think they're they're playing a little looser getting away
from Wrigley for a while. I think this will do them really well on a on what should be an advantageous road trip. So,
uh, so yeah, I mean, entering September looking like they're playing good baseball is, uh, is is huge.
Yeah, exactly. And it just felt like to your point about the Brewers fans and,
uh, Facebook and how they love to interact with us and and it was funny because that that clip that we posted,
uh, if you look at the comments, it's almost all Brewers fans and it's like, wow, you guys pay a lot of attention to
a couple blogs for being Brewers fans. Um, and it's just it feels like they were celebrating
before the the race is over, right? I mean, like you're threequarters of the way through, buddy. You still got a long
way to go. And as Cubs fans, we know because we've seen some September meltdowns against the Brewers.
They're spiking the ball on the one yard line. You know what I mean? It's like they are they're the guy who's like going he's celebrating before he gets
and he drops the ball like the goal line. It's like not not the like this.
This is not a an organization that's got a great history of playoff success either, right? So, it's like there's the
idea of just get in. Well, they've just gotten in many times of late. They've they have been again admittedly like
we've written and that's what's funny, right? Is is we've been I feel very very clear about this mostly because it's
factual and there's no reason to sugarcoat it. Over the last five years or so, the Brewers have significantly
outperformed the Cubs in the regular season and the postseason two since I've actually been there, I guess. But but
that's if you don't do anything once you make it to October, then what could you
like, you know, hey, the Braves got their one World Series back in the day, but like when you win the division, you win the pennant like 13 years in a row,
not the pennant, but but in their case, the division, and you only get one World Series, I I understand that that's still
a big deal. Not all teams can do that all the time and certainly the Brewers can't because the Brewers never won the World Series. But that that's the the
funny thing to me is like act like you've been there. Well, Brewers fans have never been there, so they don't
know how to act. So, I understand it. But I do appreciate the fact that they're obnoxious. They've found our
content. They're in our comments because guess what? Our Facebook is monetized. And you Brewers fans coming and yelling
at us, hey, you get nothing for it. We win, right? That's how we're paying for the
private jets, right? We were up able to upgrade. I think what we went from a G5 to a G6 just based on Brewers fans
bitching at us about how dumb we were. So, jokes on you, buddy. The continent, you know, you just gave me a we're a few
comments away from a free helicopter. So, speaking of the vast success of the Milwaukee Brewers in the postseason, um
any concerns about uh Craig Council as uh kind of the leader of the Cubs as
they look like they're heading to the postseason. Yes.
Okay. Well, and so yeah, I mean like what do you do about it? Right. I mean, I wrote about this
earlier like and part of it was sort of a thought exercise like is this dude on the hot seat and this was at the time
and and again I think I qualified it and this is a tough part about med media literacy right is that people will see a
headline and then assume a bunch of things and not get into it. I'm not saying he is on the hot seat, but when
you look at some of what's happened, what's transpired and and not to say like, oh, the Brewers are good and
they're better than the Cubs and that's because he's not there, whatever. But, you know, Pat Murphy was his bench coach
his whole time in Milwaukee except for, you know, so council was like a front office adviser uh during before then he
got hired on like in miday or whatever of his first year there in Milwaukee and and so he currently is the Brewers
all-time uh winningest manager, but I think other than like the 61 wins he got
credit for in his first season there again as as kind of the interim or or filling guy. It wasn't for him because
they signed him to a multi-year contract, but that following year, he brought on Pat Murphy, who was his coach in college at Notre Dame, and Murphy was
right there as his right-hand man that whole time. And so, there's to me there's a lot of reason to sit there and
think like, well, who was mostly responsible? And outside that first year, they had a losing record. Again,
you don't put that too much on counsel. He didn't have his own thing in place. And then 2020, they were a little bit below 500. Outside of that, they were
well over 500. I think 86 was their fewest win uh fewest number of wins in
in all but those two seasons that he was there and now you look at it you say well certain things the Brewers are
doing out of their minds but I'm looking at stuff like and again the echo chamber it's easy to
kind of criticize but like the handling of Kyle Tucker the fact that Owen Casey came up and then was benched for a few
games and as soon as Tucker has come back Casey's been benched again for multiple games in a row meanwhile you've
got Sees Suzuki, who has had his worst month of the season in August. He Suzuki
is actually, and I wrote about this earlier, you can go to Cubsinsider.com, check this out. Suzuki's gotten worse
every month of the year. Lower batting average every month. Lower W wrc plus every month. He is he's typically hit
righties just about as well as lefties, but he's doing really badly against righties right now.
Wow. You've got a DH, right-handed hitter, struggling in general, struggling in particular against
right-handed pitching. Looks like he's making bad decisions. Also a guy who we know had similar issues back in 2023.
David Ross gave him a few games off like he sat for four games. He pinched hit in the middle of that against the Braves and Mets. Then came back and after that
little reset had a 188 WRC plus the rest of the season. Was the Cubs best hitter by far. Hit like 356.
Why not a sit a guy who looks like he's stuck in his head. B, swap in your top
prospect who has hit really well, who in his one of his head has three at bats in the last four games, I think, pinch hit
appearance in which he doubled 114 miles an hour, which is a Cub's second hardest
hit ball of the year. Like, why why are we doing this? And and
it I also I promise I'll get around to even more of a point here. And part of what I tried to make in there was we
heard, you know, there were some issues last year with Suzuki being moved to DH and Craig Council admitted during spring
training this year that there had been communication issues between the two of them that he got a little bit lazy,
whether that was, you know, part of that's a translation thing. And I I
don't know if this is another situation where like council is kind of being standoffish if he's just afraid or or
unwilling to kind of have those hard decisions because he's had difficulty with it in the past. But it feels to me
like, hey, here's a guy who's clearly struggling who has been through this issue before and understands what it can be and you've got this rookie who's just
sitting there on the bench doing nothing. That strikes me as a situation where Council who came into this who
admittedly is not a tactician as much as he's a relationship guy. He he touted
himself as such. That was how he introduced himself to Cubs fans that I'm going to get to know all these players. I'm going to understand how they think,
how they feel, how they're doing, and and kind of base some decisions around that. Well, if that's the case, why the
hell was Kyle Tucker, who for all the world looked like the most frustrated human being I've ever seen in my life,
why are we not giving him a break instead of hanging him out to dry and get booed by his own fans at home? That's a different story. Fans shouldn't
be doing that. But it it was like you're setting him up as a target. I feel that's the same thing going on with
Suzuki that something from a communication standpoint, from a personality standpoint is not meshing.
That worries me because these are not the most important games. What worries me is is is council going to be able to
pull those strings and understand those people when it gets to the games that really really matter. So I rambled a lot
there. I hope I kind of made sense. Yeah. No, no. I mean I I think that
remains to be seen, right? So, it's it's we've got to get hopefully the Cubs will
get into the postseason and we'll get a better feel for how council manages once he gets there because that's really the
most important time of the year obviously is when you get to the postseason and and the moves that you
make and and how you go about, you know, playing your guys and hopefully they're all ready, you know, and locked in. And
that's that's really we still have a month like a full month of games and so
a lot's going to happen over this month and I hopefully we'll have some of those questions answered before we get to the
playoffs. Um, one player I wanted to talk about that I'm not like overly
concerned but Dan Daniel Pencia, right? like he makes things really interesting
way more than a closer should and and boy when he makes a mistake with that
fast ball he's just right in the middle of the plate and it gets pounded and even though he's throwing it at 100
miles an hour um man but there are times where he's so good
you know where he's nibbling the top of the zone or the bottom of the zone or you know and and just not in the middle
of the plate Um, and he really just looks really good. And then there there are other
times where it's just and that's a closer, right? That's just you see that from closers a lot. But
like I really worry about him being in a high pressure situation. Again, if we start talking about the postseason and
how he's going to handle that and if he if he's not able to handle the pressure, who does council turn to?
Yeah. And that's thing, right? Yeah, cuz who who do you have left at this point? Like Porter Hodgej isn't back yet and hasn't looked good when
he's been even when he was healthy. You know, you've had to cycle through we talked about this on our last show like
how many highle leverage guys, you know, because Palencia is the number four
choice, right? Going into the season, it should have been either Ryan Presley or Porter Hodgej or some combination.
Julian Merryweather would have been there as kind of a the third option really. and uh and and now you're on
your fourth and he's done really well. I don't I don't want to take that away. It's just it's more like if the the Cubs
clearly didn't see him really rising into this role as quickly as he has to
me where I get concerned and part of this goes to the catcher as well and kind of the communication there because
you he gave up a hit on a he he hung a splitter and there were a few time which I thought was a curious call in that
situation where it's like my dude you've blown your fastball by this guy why are we going to slow it up and you know
granted he wanted to bury the the splitter and it ended up middle middle. There are a few sliders that he cut
loose at at to me I thought were questionable times from and there is something to be said for
for kind of using some of this time in a in a game that's not entirely consequential. I mean they they all
matter, right? But some more than others to kind of go in there and and feel this
stuff out because you don't know it works until you go out there and throw it. But yeah, if you're out there going 101 102, just blow it by them. And if
they beat you with that, great. But what I don't want to see is a is a closer. And this is what was tough, right? When
when Chapman just got when they rode that dude hard and put him up wet during that World Series run, it was like he
had no gas left and just had to go slider, slider, slider, slider. And it's like, you do that enough, eventually
you're going to get tagged. was like Dylan Maples um who had the nastiest stuff maybe that we've ever seen
realistically couldn't command his fast ball at all and there be times just like yeah I don't care how good your slider
is if you thrown it three times and they know it's coming they might guess on so that's the thing with Palencia is like
if you're going to get beat with your best stuff like don't give me this
secondary or or tertiary pitch tertiary means third for for uh those folks out
there who who missed that Um, turduary, something like that. Yeah, sure. Turd
sanctuary. Um, that's the part that bugs me is then when those things aren't uh aren't
right. You know what I mean? It's like you you lead with the fast ball, let that dominate. And and we did see him
like the that last batter then it was like, "All right, you put it past. Let's do it a couple times." Like, "Let's go."
Like, um, so yeah. Is it a little concerning? Sure. But I do also
appreciate that when he's right, you know? I mean, Haj has been really good in the past, whatever, but give me the
closer that can blow it by, dudes. And then we just, other than Chapman, we haven't seen a guy like that on the
north side in a long, long time. They've had a number of guys who are just like,
"Yeah, get you out via contact, you know, and that's kind of how how Hodge has been." So, um, so yeah, we'll see.
But I But if it's not Valencia, I mean, it's it's got to be Brad Keller at this point. like he's the only other guy in
that bullpen and you don't want him in that role because you need him coming into the game in the seventh or eighth inning,
right? He's and and that's what's been so great about him is he's that floating high leverage guy where it's like, hey,
it's the seventh. We got this tough, you know, we got two, three, four hitters coming up. We're going to put Keller in there. You know, Andrew Kitridge has
been good at but he's kind of hit or miss to me. Although I do I love watching that dude pitch because he
looks for all the world like some beer league softball guy, right? He's like mid to late 30s. He's got the big beard
going. He's got that slow wind up that looks like a position player pitching
until he reaches that full stretch and then it's just bam and then you see like 96 97 with a wicked breaking ball. It's
it's kind of it's just funny to watch him. Um and when he's on he's on. So, I mean, I I like I like where the bullpen
construction is at. It's just a matter of can they but here's the problem, right? So, we
talked about this. They just swept the Angels, but games one and three, they had to do it clinging to a one-run lead
or keeping a tie game in there, which means using more high leverage guys more frequently to get those. I want to see
the offense pick up so we can get some of these four, five, six run games late to where you can just
you can let Jordan Wix pitch three innings. You can let Ben Brown like he did the other day in the in the blowout
pitch three innings late there in garbage time to to kind of get their own confidence back and save
the bullpen. That's what we need to see from them. And that I'll feel way way better about the back end if they can
rest them up for a while. So, I'm looking at the Cubs schedule
right now. They have 23 games. Their next 23 games are against sub 500 teams.
I mean, you couldn't draw it up better than that. No, that's that's like getting to the
end of the marathon and having it all be downhill, presumably. Now, the question is, are your legs so tired? Because as
you've you've done a lot more distance running than I have. My my distance running consists of making it around 60
foot bases on a softball field from first to third. I did triple last Monday by the way. I almost died um coming
around second, but I but I made it. But so you know a little bit more about than I would, but as anybody knows, you know,
when you are a little tired and you are kind of chugging toward the end and or even if you're just walking downhill and
you happen to stumble, things can get pretty ugly in a hurry if you're going downhill. And so, uh, so I
don't want to take that for granted and say, well, hey, they're playing all these bad teams. But it, but it does it
should set up for them to to do some of the things at the risk of getting too cute with being able to save some
bullpen arms a little bit, conserve those with being very careful um, about Kate Horton's usage. Just right before
we jumped on, I just put something out about Kate Horton, who is now uh as far as betting odds, he is the odds on
favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year right now. Um, so he is he's taken over
from Isaac Collins of the Brewers. Matt Shaw is actually in fourth. Um, but I want to talk about that a little bit. I
wrote about that uh because I I don't know if you recall when I made fun of the Pirates for waiting until May 11th
last year to call up Paul Skh rookie of the year and earn himself a
full year of service time despite them calling up almost mid May. They didn't get the draft pick. They didn't get the draft picks. But
guess what? The Cubs called up Kate Horton on May 10th. He's still not eligible for PPI. and if he finishes top
two in the rookie of the year, he gets a year of service time as well. So, the Cubs will be in the same position. Now,
doesn't hurt them as bad as the Pirates because as we all know, like the Pirates aren't paying for anybody like they they need those those cheap years more than
anybody. Well, yeah. Gains was different, right? Like the He should have been up injuries, right?
I mean, like Yeah. Yeah. With the gonna prove it still. Yeah. Not the odds on favorite guy. It
was it was a different deal this circumstantially. And I and I noted that in there, but it would be funny. The
only thing is if he does get his year of service time right, that removes that extra cheap rookie year. Uh which means
if they're going to extend him, they're going to I mean, they're going to have to be more than more likely to need to
extend him if they want to, right? Because you lose a cheap year in there. Like you're going to have to make So I'm
interested to see how that all plays out. But it is he has been and and here's what's crazy. as good as
he's been, and we're talking a 1.11 erra since the start of July, right?
He's got, I think, six he's got six scoreless starts in that time. Um, and
he's given up like one run in two other starts, one of which was truncated because of the blister thing, but to see
him come back from that, that was very good for the old confidence. But to think that he can still get a lot lot
better because we're still not seeing the swing and miss the and the overall strikeout numbers that that we saw from
him in, you know, in college and the miners. And I understand it's a different level, but but those things are coming along. But what I I at this
point, like I love watching this dude pitch to go out there and he just pumps
strikes. He's like, "I'm not afraid of you. I'm going to throw. You're a future Hall of Famer. Don't
care. gonna blow it by you, gonna throw everything at you, gonna try different pitches. I'll work the sinker in later,
even though I didn't start throwing it till last year. Whatever. Um, and and to go what, 21 of his first 22 pitches were
were strikes and then through four innings he was at 31 strikes and 34 pitches. This just insane. Like, you
don't you don't see that at almost any level. So, I I love it. I I just the
fact that then the the Cubs have him as a rookie leading the way on the pitching staff at this point. He's been their
best pitcher over the last two months. Um and he's right behind Boyd to me, I mean him, Boyd, and Nimanaga at this
point. To me, that's actually a pretty good playoff rotation. Um to have Matt Shaw coming into his own and doing big
things, you know, to have Michael Bush who's a little bit older but still a young guy experience-wise, to have PCA
doing the things he's doing and can do. you're starting to see this as a much
better balance between veterans and young guys contributing on both sides of the ball and uh you know and then and
again Valencia being a young guy there in the closer role right so to take some of these ostensibly your best starter
your best reliever or at least second best reliever and right now with Shaw your best hitter in the second half are
all young guys rookies or or thereabouts and so uh that gives me a lot of faith and hopefully those are the kind of guys
who we'll see. Playoff time it's one of two things. Either they get a little bit flustered because they've never been
there or they don't know what they don't know and they're the ones who are actually better for it because they can
just go in there and kind of play loose. Yeah, I mean I I'm looking definitely
looking forward to seeing PCA uh you know in the in the bright lights of the playoffs. There's no doubt about that on
network TV hopefully. Um when you going back to Horton though is you know I I'm
trying to think back to um a Cubs prospect that came up through their
system and and and just was as dominant as as Horton. It's hard to come up with
one for me. I'm thinking back to Prior and Wood. Yep. Yep. Those are the
um to where I mean Prior was a guy who like I think there was a lot of hype around him before he even made it to the the
big leagues. Not to say there wasn't hype around Horton, but I just don't think it was at the same level as prior.
Um but just getting to the stage like seeing that domination like if you
think back to a prospect it it's been a long time. Yeah. I mean that and that's really like
and I they showed some of the stats I think on Marquee maybe a couple starts ago to where Horton stacked up very
closely with Prior and I think you know Prior and Wood those guys both put up much bigger strikeout numbers as I
recall right out of the gate but it it was also kind of a different it was a different time right despite what
there's some some dude on Twitter some pitching guru guy trying to claim that radar guns now are nine miles an hour
faster than they were in like the early 90s and that if If you threw 85 back
then, it's like throwing 94 now. Like my dude, that's that is using outdated radar technology from like the early
70s. And he's trying to say, you know, Nolan Ryan threw harder than Chapman. Anyway, that that that part's so I don't
want to I don't want to create that, but I'm saying like the game, you know, when we're talking about the late 90s, early
2000s. I mean, we're talking nearly 30 years ago, right? 20 25
20 plus definitely years ago. And if you were to look at where the average velocities and and just stuff and the
way pitching works, it is very different now. Um, but the but like you said though to that point, you know, the Cubs
have had very little success in general with homegrown pitchers, you know, I
mean Justin Steel stands out as as a really nice example obviously, you know, um, but even that, right, that still
took a long time and he's been riddled with injuries the entire time as well.
And so, you know, it takes a lot to go back there, but to have a guy who could be the ace, which you know, Steel has
has had those flashes of it if if he could be there the whole time and then hopefully he comes back and is able to
do it. But Horton's on a different level from that, though. I mean, it's just he is completely different. Like,
Steel's a surprise, I think, more than anything. And the way he he's pitched and and to your point with the injuries,
it just doesn't feel like he's a number one guy. I mean, unfortunately for the Cubs, he was their number one guy. And
that's I just think that goes to talk to speaks to like the the lack of depth in the Cubs organization more than it does
with Steel being a true number one, right? And if he's a two or three and that's and and I want I think and I
don't want to speak for you, but I think it's I've shared a similar sentiment this like he's very very good, but you
want him to be your two or maybe even your three. Like if he was a three then it'd be you know then you're really
he probably would be. I think Imanaga is that I mean if you if you start to sort through things and kind of look through
the next year or two you're thinking Harden Imanaga steel.
Yeah especially knowing that he probably won't be back until at least midway through next year even if things all go
well. And then how long does it take to really then get back under you? And I mean if Boyd continues to do well then
you're sitting there like holy crap. I mean, Steel could be in the bottom half, you know what I mean? The bottom 40%.
And that's not that's not even a bad thing, right? Like that that's just saying there are other guys who are
better or based on how the matchups go, whatever. But that's like watching hor because there's there's certain
it's he's maybe not quite at this maybe I'll take it too far but when we I was
listening to the rewatchables podcast um which is excellent by the way um especially when you can like layer it in
with other uh pods listen to them talk about poltergeist it's really cool and I listen to two different podcast and then
I watched poltergeist last night it was fun but um they were talking also about sinners and you talk about uh Michael B
Jordan or you talk about Tom Cruz um or you know Brad Pitt whatever there's
certain there's certain people who like you just see him and you're like yeah he's got that thing about like I don't
know what it is they have it right to where people just want to watch him in
whatever role it is. And to me, Horton's kind of one of those guys where set the numbers aside, but you just watch,
there's something about the way he carries himself on the mound, the way he attacks the zone, just how he does that
bulldog mentality. Like there's an it factor about him that I think just
carries through. um that that's different from what you see with like Jacob Miserowski or whatever where
you're watching some starter throw 102 103 big lanky dude and he just there's a funky look to it and it's like wow
that's that's pretty cool I I like watching this Horton to me is a different kind of guy where I'm just like yeah you know what I could just
watch this dude pitch and I really enjoy it and then then I look up and it's like holy crap he threw what he did 31 for 34
strikes he he had he had how many scoreless outings like the the numbers almost just wash away and it's just like
wow No, you're just really, really good. And that's fun to see. Yeah, he he's fun to watch because he
does those things that you just wouldn't expect a pitcher to do. And let's just hope that council doesn't
screw it up. We'll see. The only the only thing I'm concerned
about is because he did hit I think he's on the nose now. He went six innings on Saturday.
So I believe that's 122.2 2 combined between Chicago and Iowa, which is the
exact same total as his first two professional seasons. And he has now
pitched more innings this year at the major league level than he has ever
pitched at any level of his life, assuming he didn't throw like a 100
innings in a high school season. Um, which I certainly hope he didn't because that would be pretty rough. But he only pitched like 50 some innings in at
Oklahoma combined total in one year because he was hurt the rest of the time and you know he said so that's where I
get concerned because we know the Cubs we know other teams in general are concerned about workload like
h how he's very efficient that's the thing that's nice to see it's not like he's going out there and grinding through 110 pitches but like
how how do they get him to October
without you know and and I'm I'm similarly concerned about Matt Boyd who has thrown more innings this year than he has since 2019. Like there
Yeah, there's some musical chairs that are going to have to be kind of shuffled around here over the last few weeks.
Yeah, exactly. Because you definitely I mean as Listen, are the Cubs going to win the World Series this year? Probably
not. I mean, you get to the playoffs and anything's possible, but uh at the end of the day, what you you really need
Horton is for the future uh much more than like this year. Um but you never
know. And so I I I assume they're just going to monitor him and, you know, have a lot of conversations with him and make
sure he's feeling good. Um and and if he doesn't, then maybe give him some extra rest or Yeah, we'll see how it works
out. It should be interesting down the stretch. Um, so the Cubs play three against San
Francisco. I know. Always your favorite when the Cubs are on the West Coast because the game
starts at what time does it start at 9:45 your time? If that's what it Yeah. I mean, they started at 9:38 Friday and Saturday in
in Anaheim and it's like all I can do to make it 10 years ago might not have been a big deal, but now I find myself I'm
like good for a while and then like the seventh inning starts rolling around like huh?
what happened, you know? So, I missed I I saw them go ahead in the ninth on Friday and then was just out, just done
like, oh, had to check my phone like, did they hold on? Um, so yeah, so whatever those late night starts are,
man, I I these these tomorrow night and yeah,
Wednesday night, 9:45 Eastern. Great. And then and then at 3:45 on on
Thursday, I went I I ran the numbers again. All right, 21 straight games, seven series, straight series coming up
against sub 500 teams. Honestly, if the Cubs aren't within a game or two of the
Brewers by the end of that, which would be after the Pittsburgh series on
September 17th, I mean, there's something wrong.
I mean, the Brewers maybe the Brewers go on another hot streak, but it feels like real well.
Yeah. I mean, and that's that's what you just wonder like how like this and and I think this these
next few weeks tell us a lot about the Cubs. It'll tell us a lot about the Brewers as well because they did have just that
that incredible that that lasted, you know, you mentioned they had two double- digit win
streaks. There was a period there where it's just like, you know, they went from six games down in the division to nine
games up, right? Like a 15 game swing in five or six weeks or whatever it was where they were just playing incredible
baseball. They they weren't even when they weren't going on long streaks, they weren't losing multiple games in a row ever. It's like they lose one and then
win three and then lose and win two. And you know, and that that's really what you have to do. And if you if you keep doing that, keep winning two out of
three, three out of four, you're going to wake up in in first place. So if the Cubs can do that and conversely the
Brewers come back down to earth a little bit, you know, and Andrew Vaughn stops being an MVP caliber performer and
Christian Yelich stops finding his form from five or six years ago or more.
Gosh, it was even longer than that. It was like 10 years ago. That dude's been there forever. I feel like that's crazy.
Um, five games right now, right? That's not a lot. That's not a huge hill to
overcome. It's tough and and again I'll repeat it. I'll be particularly given how the schedule's
lining up. Yeah. Well, and that's the thing. I I'll still be surprised if the Cubs are able to actually catch him just because it it
does take so much to do that. But I won't I won't conversely I won't be surprised if they catch him. Well, I
don't expect them to catch the Brewers. I guess I won't be surprised either way really because that five games doesn't
feel like a lot given what we've seen from the Cubs in the past. And then if the Brewers kind of have a balancing act
here um through the rest of of August and part of September to where they sort of find their level,
five games could could go away in a hurry. Well, and the the Cubs are are due. And
when I say they're due, I mean they're due for a streak. They haven't won. They
won five games in a row back at the very beginning of the season uh against the
uh the A's and who did who else did they play after that? The Padres's. They they swept the A's and then they
won two of three from the Padres's, but it was five games in a row and since then they haven't put really any streak
together at all, you know, and so it it really feels like I mean they've just won three in a row and I mean they've
won six of their last seven, let's see, six of seven.
Yeah. Uh eight of nine of 10, I mean. And so,
yeah, eight-2 in their last 10, right? So, I mean, this is the streak and
they've got three in a row here going at San Francisco. I mean, if they can go into San Francisco and get a sweep, I
know, you know, you it's a lot asking for a team to go into, you know, into
San Francisco and and sweep them. But it just really feels like this could be a
big turnaround. So, we'll see. We'll see. Don't get ahead. Well, I mean, even even if they go four and two over the next
six games and and I mean the Brewers could go three and three. They played
tonight though, right? They have seven They have seven games in the time the Cubs play six. So, I mean,
let's say they go Yeah, they go the Diamondbacks. If they lose tonight, things are going to get interesting.
Yeah, because I mean they could still go four and three. The Cubs go four and two. Cubs only gain half a game on them. But if that flips, if the Brewers go
three and four and the Cubs go five and one, now your lead's at 2 and a half,
like that's that's a series, right? That that could change now. So again, right,
we'll see. But it it's this next week could make things I I would say I'll say
this. If the Cub if it's only a half game swing over these next over this the
remainder of this week for the Cubs there's six games Brewers seven. If it's only a swing of a half game then I think
we see status quo pretty much the rest of the season and the Brewers will do enough to hold them off. If we see
anything Yep. I agree. of if it's one and a half in in the Cubs favor, then I feel really
really because now we're talking three and a half games with what four four five weeks left, right? Conversely, if
if the Cubs fall a little bit flat and now it's now we're looking at saying six and a half games back to that, then then
the Brewers have it easy, right? So, anything anything more than a half game in the Cubs favor, uh I'm going to start
really feeling optimistic again. But for now, I feel like status quo feels about where it's at.
I'm gonna say that over the next 10 games, the I'm just making a prediction for the heck of it. Uh the Brewers are
going to be three and seven. Bruise Brewers go three and seven
against the Dbacks. Uh Toronto and Philly.
Okay. A combined three and seven. And I think nine games.
Eight and one. Oh, so you're saying by the at the end of 10 games, the Cubs are going to be a
half game up in the division is what you're saying. 10 10 games from now. That's where I'm at.
Okay. Okay. It's aggressive. I know it's aggressive. That is aggressive. That is That is
quite aggressive. I am not willing to match your aggressiveness in that in that regard. I think I think the the
Cubs I I think definitely I could see him at six and three uh over the next nine, but I think the Brewers will be
like four and five at at uh or four and six, I guess, at
worst. I can see the Brewers being like five and five. So, I I can see the Cubs picking up a game and a half, maybe two
and a half. Um but game game and well, can't be one game. Game and a half.
We'll see. But it's it's interesting. It's fun. I like where they're at right now. I'm feeling good after a sweep. I
think we all are. There are still some underlying things. And I think this would again I really really really I
need to see say a Suzuki given some time off. Not just because he certainly looks
like it, but it is very frustrating. I remain incredibly frustrated by like
Casey starts a game then sits for three then starts three games and then sits
for three. Yeah. He's outside of you know he he pinch hit in the one game in the
blowout. Right. And got got two I think uh two played appearances in that one. Two at bats and he got one pinch head at bat
the the next game. Um right. But you've given him you start him. Well, the whole
point, dude, Craig was to rotate him among several of your struggling dudes
and and give him even if it's not giving them a break, like a mental break, which it definitely looks like Suzuki needs,
why do you have him up there to sit? It doesn't make sense. Like, he didn't start the last game against the Brewers.
He didn't start at all against the Angels. I I don't there's I don't understand either him being on the bench
just in and of itself and I don't understand not giving Suzuki more an extended break and then H just
maybe a game off every once in a while as well to rotate the dude in. But um I'm not getting paid $8 million a year
to make those decisions. So I'll just shut up about it for now.
Fair enough. All right. Well, cool. Thanks for uh joining us everyone. It's been uh it's been a good show. And uh
we'll circle back here. Uh when do the Cubs when's the Cubs next off day? Uh they play Tuesday, Wednesday. Let me
look the more traditional box version of the schedule. A little easier to see off days there. Um their next off day. Wow.
Not for a while. Oh, the 4th. Yeah. September 4th. So what's that?
Next week. It feels farther away than what it really is. It does feel further away. It's after uh
Labor Day coming on up here this coming weekend. And that'll be after uh so
you've got three against correctly. I I misspoke. It's not farther. Farther is actual distance, further theoretical distance. I stand
corrected. Continue. You got three against the Giants, three
against the Rockies, three against the Braves, and then a day off. And I think let's definitely plan on on having a
show then because I think it'll be a good time for us to check in and see where we are because that'll that'll let
us know after the nine games whether uh I with my eight and one prediction.
Yeah, that means the Cubs are going to have to have a couple sweeps obviously.
We'll see. Fingers crossed. That's math. All right, thanks for joining us everyone.
Have a good one.
[Applause] Heat up [Applause]
Heat. [Applause]
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