Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic and Patrick, that
Speaker 1: was a fun three game set at Wrigley Field against
Speaker 1: the White Sox. It has been it has been a
Speaker 1: long time since it felt like that. And and I'll say,
Speaker 1: like in the first game, we have already we recorded
Speaker 1: after the first game, didn't we We already had an episode. Yes, Okay, Uh,
Speaker 1: obviously that first game was insanely fun, just back and forth.
Speaker 1: I don't think I've felt that type of tension at
Speaker 1: Wrigley in a while. As far as the White Sox series, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think sometimes we're like, should we even
Speaker 1: like write about this stuff? Like it just doesn't matter anymore.
Speaker 1: It like one of these teams always stinks whenever they play.
Speaker 1: And I was kind of taken aback. I don't think
Speaker 1: I said this last episode. I was kind of taken
Speaker 1: aback by how intense the White Sox fans were at
Speaker 1: Wrigley Field, the White Sox chance, the number of fans,
Speaker 1: how they were so into it. And there's you can
Speaker 1: argue that the Cubs are the better team right now.
Speaker 1: Sure they have the better record, they probably have the
Speaker 1: I mean they have I would assume they still have
Speaker 1: the better World Series odds. Even though the White Sox
Speaker 1: are in the AL and leading their division, everything they're
Speaker 1: they're definitely nationally considered a better team. But this, like,
Speaker 1: these are two good teams. The White Sox feel like
Speaker 1: they're obviously on the rise, and it was like the
Speaker 1: intensity of it all just hasn't been there, not since
Speaker 1: I've been covering these teams. I mean, the last like
Speaker 1: twenty twenty doesn't count obviously because there were no fans
Speaker 1: in the stands, and I really don't think that was
Speaker 1: a great Cubs team, even though they made the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And then I think you go back to two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight, was the last time they both made the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I wasn't covering the team back then, Yeah, so I
Speaker 1: don't know how it felt like. I remember being a
Speaker 1: fan in going to those games. My brother and I
Speaker 1: would go to a lot of Cubs Socks games, so
Speaker 1: I remember like the intensity of that, but I just
Speaker 1: like this felt different. It definitely did feel like there
Speaker 1: was more going on in the stands, and I'm not
Speaker 1: just talking about fights. I'm talking about like just the
Speaker 1: intensity of it all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this one definitely surpassed the hype. You're right, there
Speaker 2: are times what have you been to these crosstowns and
Speaker 2: just are like, is a game story even worth it?
Speaker 2: And these three games that really, you know, more than delivered.
Speaker 2: I think great Council as usual put it very concisely
Speaker 2: and on point of like, look, the White Sox are
Speaker 2: better team. That's why this is more fun. And you
Speaker 2: know the Cubs have you know, done their part in
Speaker 2: building a really interesting, you know, complete team that can
Speaker 2: withstand the loss of a goal gloves shortstop in Dansby
Speaker 2: Swanson and just like an onslaught of pitching injuries and.
Speaker 1: So'll be there.
Speaker 2: There's also felt later than normal. I didn't look it
Speaker 2: up to see when like the latest regular season was,
Speaker 2: but just like anecdotally, this is definitely kind of deeper
Speaker 2: in the season than I think we're we're we're used to.
Speaker 2: And I was definitely impressed with the White Socks. That
Speaker 2: don't watch them a ton. There's a lot of, gotta
Speaker 2: be honest, unfamiliar names there, but you know, they definitely
Speaker 2: have some some nice talent. We both know Will Venable
Speaker 2: a little bit, like not surprised that he was very
Speaker 2: thoughtful and respected within that clubhouse, and just the energy
Speaker 2: was just impossible, even during rain delay. Yeah, like a
Speaker 2: ninety minute rain delay. I think it started nine to
Speaker 2: forty seven on Tuesday night, and apparently, you know, breaking
Speaker 2: news tarps off is still a thing. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: surprised that like a Saint Louis thing traveled to Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2: But it was just it was hilarious because at that point,
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of my stuff was done. It
Speaker 2: was just kind of plugging in two or three details.
Speaker 2: I was able to kind of enjoy it. And it
Speaker 2: was pretty hot Monday, and uh, you know, Tuesday night
Speaker 2: it kind of cooled things off a bit. And towards
Speaker 2: the beginning the rain day, I saw like four or
Speaker 2: five like young shirtless dudes like run towards the kind
Speaker 2: of where the cubs on deck circle is and they
Speaker 2: got shoot away immediately by two or three security staffers ushers,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, it was just like dozens,
Speaker 2: if not hundreds of people down there, and the rain
Speaker 2: delay mix was on point. I feel like ABBA's dancing
Speaker 2: Queen was the one that really jumped out to me.
Speaker 2: But it was just like, you know, place was absolutely packed,
Speaker 2: and then a lot of people scattered towards the concourses
Speaker 2: and you know there's fans just there. They were enjoying themselves,
Speaker 2: and I thought that was just Obviously the fight in
Speaker 2: the bleachers went viral, but it also just seemed like
Speaker 2: a ton of people just enjoying two really good baseball teams.
Speaker 2: And you know, the idea of them eating in the
Speaker 2: World Series is not a total eye roll anymore. I
Speaker 2: still don't think it's going to happen, but it was
Speaker 2: at least like fun to think about the possibility.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the tarps off stuff, that's not for you and me, Patrick,
Speaker 1: that is for the.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got old, I might get it same that
Speaker 2: is still going. Like I feel like a fan like
Speaker 2: that would have passed by now.
Speaker 1: But yeah, no, my son went to a game in
Speaker 1: Colorado a week or two ago and was very excited
Speaker 1: to go and run enjoying the tarps off. You know,
Speaker 1: so I think this is like teenager to twenties. Those
Speaker 1: are the people that will enjoy it the most, So
Speaker 1: you know, let them have their fun. It is not.
Speaker 1: It is certainly not for me. I'm just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's no thanks, this seems ridiculous, but have fun, enjoy yourselves. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I comes White Sox World Series. I'm not buying
Speaker 1: in on that, but it's not You're right, it's not
Speaker 1: like something completely ridiculous. I don't think the White Sox
Speaker 1: have the pitching to get there. I do think, you know, hey,
Speaker 1: good job by Eric Fetty, good job by Jose Orkidi
Speaker 1: shutting down the Cubs offense for quite a bit. Both
Speaker 1: of them did a good job doing that. But also
Speaker 1: like it, like it's not panic time for the Cubs
Speaker 1: offense or anything like that, Like these moments happened. The
Speaker 1: Cubs should have hit those guys. They didn't. You have
Speaker 1: games like that. Over the course of one sixty two
Speaker 1: they won two of three, So you know, as far
Speaker 1: as Cubs fans are concerned, they can take solace in that.
Speaker 1: But just overall, like so much more fun to cover
Speaker 1: that when the fans are into it, So much more
Speaker 1: fun when the teams are good. I did not expect
Speaker 1: the White Sox to get this good this quickly after
Speaker 1: how bad they were just two years ago. Records second
Speaker 1: record settingly bad. Murakami's signing just like a very obvious
Speaker 1: signing for them, Like he's gonna play every day for
Speaker 1: this guy, it's a deal right now, Like once it
Speaker 1: got to that price, it like very obvious signed for Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he's that's a miss by all the other teams.
Speaker 1: I mean, he would fit on the Cubs right now,
Speaker 1: Like why why couldn't he be there? DH, Like he'd
Speaker 1: be he'd be a great DH for them, you know,
Speaker 1: so like he would fit on any team. He'd be
Speaker 1: good for any team right now. Any team would would
Speaker 1: like to have basically a Kyle schwarberresque player. That that
Speaker 1: home run he hit Tuesday Tuesday, just like flicked it
Speaker 1: four hundred and forty feet off the oppo field scoreboard.
Speaker 1: I have not seen that before, Like I'm seeing guys
Speaker 1: hit the scoreboard but opposite field. That That was crazy,
Speaker 1: just just insane. All right, Let's take a break and
Speaker 1: talk about a player on the Cubs that, you know,
Speaker 1: may not be getting as many headlines as PCAU. It
Speaker 1: is certainly a huge part of everything that works for
Speaker 1: this offense.
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Speaker 1: Patrick will Venable probably took a decent amount of heat
Speaker 1: on That was Monday night. Uh when he pitched to
Speaker 1: PCA to start the tenth inning three and I get
Speaker 1: it like that, that's a good debate. I don't think
Speaker 1: it was as obvious as some people were making it
Speaker 1: out to be. Look, Uh, he had a lefty on
Speaker 1: the mound. I think he was short in the bullpen.
Speaker 1: Uh he did what he did, and uh, PCA is
Speaker 1: just so good against lefties. Now that that you know,
Speaker 1: it's like a no win decision. And the reason it's
Speaker 1: a no win decision is because the guy on deck, uh,
Speaker 1: Saya Suzuki is very dangerous. He'd homered earlier in that game.
Speaker 1: He's going to crush lefties as well. You can't just like,
Speaker 1: I get it. I'm not saying I disagree with people
Speaker 1: saying that you walk PCA. Maybe you do. Like this
Speaker 1: is right now the MVP leader, I think, and one
Speaker 1: of the most dangerous hitters in the game. So maybe
Speaker 1: just it's like a little from column A, a little from
Speaker 1: columb because that run doesn't matter. So I get I
Speaker 1: get the argument. But man, Saya Suzuki is having one
Speaker 1: hell of a season, really upgraded the defense and right field.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he's a better defender than Kyle Tucker was.
Speaker 1: He's probably like I, you know, I wonder how much
Speaker 1: he was watching Kyle Tucker last year and saying I
Speaker 1: can do that, I'm better than that, and then went
Speaker 1: and showed it, you know, and like went and you know,
Speaker 1: put in the work. Whatever he's done, like all those
Speaker 1: dropped fly balls that you know may have dinged his
Speaker 1: confidence and certainly ding to our confidence in his ability
Speaker 1: to play right field, He's put that in the past.
Speaker 1: And and you know that's not even talking about how
Speaker 1: dangerous he is at the plate, no doubt.
Speaker 2: I think the second guessing eventable, which continued into Tuesday's
Speaker 2: pregame meeting session, was certainly a sign of how far
Speaker 2: this rivalry has come, or I guess, maybe the state
Speaker 2: of it at this particular moment. And it says a
Speaker 2: lot about Saya. Who's who's going to be the number
Speaker 2: one hitter on the free agent market this winter or
Speaker 2: this November, I should say, or whatever. The window is
Speaker 2: a pre lockout, but uh, you know, something of you
Speaker 2: been working on be writing in at some point, but
Speaker 2: the idea has just been kind of in the back
Speaker 2: of my head. It's like, all right, we're approaching the
Speaker 2: end of August and Saya has really become the player
Speaker 2: the Cubs hoped, and he's he's been good, you know,
Speaker 2: throughout his time in Chicago, but just like this, it
Speaker 2: just feels like he's been building towards this when you
Speaker 2: look at his performance in last year's playoffs, which I
Speaker 2: think is something that other hitters recognize. You know, his
Speaker 2: teammates watch him in batting practice, the way he works,
Speaker 2: and they're kind of in awe of his abilities. Like
Speaker 2: even the guys at the highest level of the sport
Speaker 2: kind of take a step back, like whoa like this,
Speaker 2: this dude, you know has it and you know, how
Speaker 2: are the Cubs going to replace him?
Speaker 1: We don't know.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't immediately write him off that he's gone. I
Speaker 2: think that's how good he's performed. I think that's how
Speaker 2: hard it is to replace that kind of right handed power,
Speaker 2: which is a rare commodity in today's game. And also
Speaker 2: both sides have put a lot of work into this
Speaker 2: relationship and say it's very comfortable here. He enjoys Chicago.
Speaker 2: Through some trial and error, the Cubs and Suzuki's camp
Speaker 2: have found, you know, a good kind of working group
Speaker 2: for him, and so you know, and it's not just
Speaker 2: say it either. I mean Bregman sort of made this
Speaker 2: point Tuesday Night of Music. I feel like this is
Speaker 2: how this offense was constructed. This is how it's supposed
Speaker 2: to work. That it's long, it's deep. You got different
Speaker 2: ways to win. You can play situationally, you have slug,
Speaker 2: you have nice balance. I mean that was Sayak sort
Speaker 2: of breaking up Pete and Michael bush uh and then
Speaker 2: having Bregman perform more like the clutch performer. You know
Speaker 2: he's been I know Creik Counsel doesn't like the idea
Speaker 2: of clutch, but you know, Bregman has been a really
Speaker 2: good postseason performer. You're kind of starting, uh to see it. Ah,
Speaker 2: but yees say is really you know, if not for Pete,
Speaker 2: I think we'd be talking a lot more about as
Speaker 2: the one who's carried this offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean this offense is I mean, it's really
Speaker 1: balanced very nicely. I mean I'm looking at some numbers
Speaker 1: here and there, top five in ISO, their top their
Speaker 1: seventh in home runs, but they're like, you know, shouting
Speaker 1: distance from fourth because the White Sox have three more
Speaker 1: home runs than them and their fourth they they also
Speaker 1: hit for average, their top but ten in batting average,
Speaker 1: so they like you have guys like Nico Horner who
Speaker 1: just who's been great in the second half and is
Speaker 1: hitting for average. Bragman is one of the best players
Speaker 1: in baseball right now as far as the second half goes.
Speaker 1: And say Suzuki has been great all season long. It's
Speaker 1: he's twenty, He's tied for twentieth. Then way to runs
Speaker 1: create a plus, so tied with Freddie Freeman, Alec Burlson,
Speaker 1: Miguel or Miguel Vargas is just behind him. But you know,
Speaker 1: Burlson is probably like one of the someone that you
Speaker 1: look at as like super underrated player, similar to Sayah
Speaker 1: in that sense. And then Freddie Freeman, obviously we know
Speaker 1: how important he is to the Dodgers, So I mean
Speaker 1: just really he's consistently been one of the best better
Speaker 1: hitters in baseball. You touched on it about like the
Speaker 1: free agency, Uh it is, We've we've heard this for
Speaker 1: about a year now, like how hard it is to
Speaker 1: get right handed hitting. There's just not a lot available.
Speaker 1: You look at the free agent list, you know, teams
Speaker 1: are are spending on their own players. A lot, I
Speaker 1: think is what we're seeing right now, and free agency
Speaker 1: is is hard to it's hard to win free agency
Speaker 1: because there just aren't that many good players anymore in
Speaker 1: free agency. Maybe that's why the Cubs pounced on Bregman,
Speaker 1: because you look at this class and and it's you know,
Speaker 1: as far as position players, it's like it's Saya, it's
Speaker 1: Randy or Rosarina, and then maybe like Ian Hap And
Speaker 1: I know Cubs fans probably are like, what, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's probably a top ten free agent this this winter.
Speaker 1: So there's just like, do I think the Cubs are
Speaker 1: going to bring back Saya? I think it all depends
Speaker 1: on what the market holds. Like, if he's being offered
Speaker 1: like a five year, huge money, that's going to be hard.
Speaker 1: You mentioned comforter, like being comfortable in Chicago. That took
Speaker 1: a little while, but they figured out how to get
Speaker 1: him comfortable in Chicago. And I think the first year
Speaker 1: wasn't perfect, but it wasn't like they expected it to be.
Speaker 1: I think both sides kind of new, like, hey, this
Speaker 1: is going to take some time for everyone to adapt
Speaker 1: and get comfortable. He did, and I think the Cubs
Speaker 1: worked really hard to figure out how to do that
Speaker 1: and they learned a lot. And he's comfortable in Chicago.
Speaker 1: I think that's really important. Does that How much does
Speaker 1: that factor? Right? I think it matters, and I think
Speaker 1: it matters to say it. So what type of deal
Speaker 1: would make sense? What type of deal could they come to?
Speaker 1: I won't. I won't rule it out. Like you said,
Speaker 1: I think there's it's a I think it's a it's
Speaker 1: just gonna be hard for them to come together because
Speaker 1: there's going to be teams just really pounding down now
Speaker 1: that door because it's so hard to get that type
Speaker 1: of talent. But if it, you know, it'd be it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting, just because how much of a factor is
Speaker 1: the fact that he knows he loves Chicago. He's really
Speaker 1: comfortable here. They have gone out of their way to
Speaker 1: make him comfortable and they like him. It's a it's
Speaker 1: a fit, it's a you know, it's a it's arguably
Speaker 1: the best one two punch in baseball. Like they they
Speaker 1: work together really well. Pete and him worked together really
Speaker 1: well at the top of that lineup, and you're what
Speaker 1: you were talking about with the depth of the lineup,
Speaker 1: like he he kind of completes it. Like you don't
Speaker 1: want to like it's a step back next year if
Speaker 1: you don't have him out there. In theory, it's a
Speaker 1: step back. They have a lot of talent and depth
Speaker 1: on offense if if guys are healthy, but you just
Speaker 1: like you'd like some certainty. You don't want to lose
Speaker 1: that power. He's their best power hitter, Like I shouldn't
Speaker 1: say that Pete's their best power hitter, but he's he's
Speaker 1: he's a big part of this offense and losing him
Speaker 1: would be tough. They don't need to think about that
Speaker 1: right now. They got twoish months left. We'll see how
Speaker 1: deep they go in the playoffs. And you know, we
Speaker 1: saw what he did last year in October. If he
Speaker 1: repeats that, then like then you got this both sides
Speaker 1: argument again. It's like, well, he's gonna get paid big time,
Speaker 1: but clearly he's really important to the Cubs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was just gonna make that point in in kind
Speaker 2: of another direction of not to his value on the
Speaker 2: open market, but you know, big October, if the Cubs
Speaker 2: win multiple playoff rounds have a bunch of games at
Speaker 2: Wrigley Field in October. If they fall just short of
Speaker 2: winning the World Series, like that is another sort of
Speaker 2: factor that we just don't know at this point of
Speaker 2: like how they would respond to that. Sometimes that leads
Speaker 2: to a little more urgency, a little more stretching of
Speaker 2: the budget. But you know, the lockout is another unknown
Speaker 2: as well, how that all plays out. But I think
Speaker 2: it just you know, in kind of looking into this,
Speaker 2: I think we can say safely that you know, maybe
Speaker 2: you shouldn't expect him back, You certainly shouldn't rule it out,
Speaker 2: and that both sides have a pretty thorough understanding of
Speaker 2: like what has worked here and how that you know,
Speaker 2: could be difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Speaker 1: At least immediately. Yeah, absolutely, all right, let's take a
Speaker 1: quick break and talk about give the listeners some updates
Speaker 1: on pictures, help and who could be coming back from
Speaker 1: the il.
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Speaker 1: Patrick Daniel Palencio will be back when you're in Seattle.
Speaker 1: They'll make a move. I'm curious to see what that
Speaker 1: move is. Do they send a sad down again or
Speaker 1: did they dfa one of those veterans. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's an easy decision. I'm sure fans think it's easy,
Speaker 1: but they rarely value depth. Well, we don't need to
Speaker 1: get into that and speculate too much there. But Plentcy
Speaker 1: is back. He was a mess about a week ago.
Speaker 1: I think he walked three guys, hit a guy in
Speaker 1: a double a rehab stint. They saw that, like they
Speaker 1: all knew, like mechanics. It's mechanics with him. It always
Speaker 1: is when he's not right, when the command isn't there,
Speaker 1: it's mechanics. His front side was off and they had
Speaker 1: people out there watching him, and they quickly addressed it.
Speaker 1: It's about locking it in and having some consistency. Something
Speaker 1: I was told was it's been a while since he
Speaker 1: hasn't pitched this long, since he hasn't pitched in games
Speaker 1: for like two months. That isn't something that he does
Speaker 1: very often, Like he hasn't had that happen in the
Speaker 1: middle of the season, like he has dealt with injuries
Speaker 1: in the past, but this was it had been a
Speaker 1: while and like he needed to He really needs to
Speaker 1: lock in the mechanics. I'm not saying he's it's locked
Speaker 1: in imperfect, but it looked much better the next two outings.
Speaker 1: I think it was a one two three inning the
Speaker 1: next outing. Then I think he phased four batters and
Speaker 1: struck out three of them in his final tune up,
Speaker 1: and he was like ninety eight to one hundred. I
Speaker 1: think he was still like a little ticked down. I
Speaker 1: think he averages like ninety nine and he was ninety
Speaker 1: or something like that. You know, like that's that's I
Speaker 1: guess we'll see, Like watching the VLO when he's out
Speaker 1: there is going to be important. What type of situation
Speaker 1: is counsel putting him in. That'll be important. But he's
Speaker 1: we we saw what he meant. We just talked about
Speaker 1: sayah in October. We saw what Poalencia meant in October
Speaker 1: and how quickly he returned to form after I believe
Speaker 1: it was shoulder that got him on the IL last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so this is a little different, longer time off, but
Speaker 1: he has a little bit longer runway than he did
Speaker 1: last year to get ready for the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited to see him just because, like councils
Speaker 2: said repeatedly, like Daniel just hasn't pitched.
Speaker 1: A lot this year.
Speaker 2: And I remember vividly him walking into that the Cubs
Speaker 2: clubhouse in Mesa with his World Baseball Classic metal around
Speaker 2: his neck while Pete was talking about Team Usay's loss
Speaker 2: and the championship game, and you just saw how happy
Speaker 2: Poalencia was and how proud he was of just that
Speaker 2: moment for Venezuela, and you felt it was like someone
Speaker 2: really coming into his own and you know, really poised
Speaker 2: for a huge season and this hasn't been that. But
Speaker 2: everything is obviously building towards October here and he still
Speaker 2: has a chance to make a huge impact. I doubt
Speaker 2: they're gonna displace Jacob Webb, although I think they would
Speaker 2: probably like to maybe be a little more judicious and
Speaker 2: how they're using him, just it seems like he's really
Speaker 2: carried such a huge load, maybe more than like a
Speaker 2: traditional closer. I remember in Saint Louis a couple of
Speaker 2: weeks ago, Craig saying, I get this guy's been getting
Speaker 2: biggest out every night for the last two months. And
Speaker 2: ye that was before the trade deadline, so we're talking
Speaker 2: about it, you know, almost a month ago at this point,
Speaker 2: and he just keeps doing I think is a twenty
Speaker 2: three consecutive Squirrels apperiances for web So but when you
Speaker 2: put in Palencia, it still is like nowhere close to
Speaker 2: finished product. When I mean yesterday or Wednesday's pregame meeting
Speaker 2: briefing with Craig, there's probably like ten ish names and
Speaker 2: you had a good wrap up there in the athletic Yeah.
Speaker 1: Before we get to that, I have to mention this.
Speaker 1: It's you talk about the twenty three straight Our buddy
Speaker 1: Vinnie Duber, new guy on the beat, asked during the
Speaker 1: road trip, started his question about Jacob Webb, saying it's
Speaker 1: like it's twenty one straight appearances without giving up a run,
Speaker 1: and Craig's like, don't say that, Like what do you
Speaker 1: And he looks at all of It's like you are
Speaker 1: you listening to this guy? He just like totally like
Speaker 1: calling about He's like, don't it was so funny. It
Speaker 1: was it was very enjoyable. Uh yeah, there's I mean,
Speaker 1: we kind of just ran the gamut with Council there yesterday.
Speaker 1: Going over all the pitching injuries, I'd say the best
Speaker 1: news beyond Palencia coming back, is how they're feeling about
Speaker 1: Ben Brown. Council is a little you know, is always
Speaker 1: cautious about this stuff, but he's been adamant he's pitching
Speaker 1: again for us. He is coming back this year. This
Speaker 1: guy is going to be pitching in a Cubs uniform
Speaker 1: for the big league team. What's the role? What you know,
Speaker 1: all that stuff. He's not ready to say that, but
Speaker 1: I believe Friday is what he did deemed a big step.
Speaker 1: That's live BP in Arizona. I was told Tuesday he'll
Speaker 1: pitch in an Arizona Bridge League game. These Bridge I
Speaker 1: didn't know what the Bridge League was until like, uh,
Speaker 1: until like a month ago I saw someone talking about it.
Speaker 1: I think this is like I should confirm this. But
Speaker 1: it's essentially a league that bridges the gap between the
Speaker 1: acl uh and and the a f L. So the
Speaker 1: Arizona Complex League, which is just like a like So
Speaker 1: it's not like official games, but it's games because other
Speaker 1: teams have Bridge League teams don't. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know.
Speaker 2: We're talking about practice, yeah, practice, they're games.
Speaker 1: He's getting out the mound. And then the hope is
Speaker 1: after that Tuesday thing, Tuesday Bridge League game, he'll he'll
Speaker 1: go out to an affiliate. You do that, you build
Speaker 1: up We're talking an inning or two berths. If they
Speaker 1: want to expand like kind of you know, make it
Speaker 1: three innings or four innings. They can do that because
Speaker 1: they can build them up over the course of the season,
Speaker 1: over the course of September. But I think his role
Speaker 1: is going to look a lot like what we saw
Speaker 1: early in the season, one to two inning burst. Maybe
Speaker 1: at three inning burst. That's so valuable in September, that's
Speaker 1: so valuable in October. We'll see, We'll see where that goes.
Speaker 1: I think I didn't think there was a lot of
Speaker 1: other great news from that, Like Hobie Milner is just
Speaker 1: kind of like rehabbing still, and I think they just
Speaker 1: want to keep them going.
Speaker 2: That seems like they're slow playing that one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, trying to see when they can use them. They
Speaker 1: have a lot of things. Justin Steel is total up
Speaker 1: in the air. I think it was on the road
Speaker 1: where Council told us, like, we just want to get
Speaker 1: him in games. That's a win for Justin Steel this year.
Speaker 1: When he says that, he means minor league games, like
Speaker 1: if that leads to the majors, I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say I don't think so. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that means he's gonna get in
Speaker 1: games in the big leagues. Hunter Harvey does not sound great,
Speaker 1: and I think you can just kind of like until
Speaker 1: you see him in a rehab game, probably don't even
Speaker 1: think much about that. But it sounds like he's not
Speaker 1: responding well. The one good news, the one other bit
Speaker 1: of good news, huge wildcard Shelby Miller's if he's healthy,
Speaker 1: if he's back, he's pitching in games. I heard this
Speaker 1: week he's gonna get in three games this week. He's
Speaker 1: already been in one where the eighteenth. So if he
Speaker 1: gets in today and then Saturday or today and Sunday
Speaker 1: something like that, like that's a lot of games for him.
Speaker 1: And then you start to think, like, Okay, now he
Speaker 1: won't hurt a major league bullpen because he can only
Speaker 1: go once every three four games, which is just not
Speaker 1: ideal for a bullpen because if fans don't understand that,
Speaker 1: it impacts the other relievers in the bullpen, because it's
Speaker 1: like when you have someone it was like the Kegan
Speaker 1: top In conundrum. He he had to pitch well, he
Speaker 1: had to pitch four or five innings. Otherwise it just
Speaker 1: wasn't valuable to them because he didn't recover quickly, and
Speaker 1: it couldn't be that like every other day guy, which
Speaker 1: you need guys to be like being in the bullpen
Speaker 1: is it's not easy. You got to recover quickly, you
Speaker 1: got to be available. Availability is such a big thing
Speaker 1: in the bullpen.
Speaker 2: It's one other name. I think a couple of people
Speaker 2: I've been curious it sounds like Riley Martin. You know,
Speaker 2: we're not going to see him pitching again this year.
Speaker 2: It's been kind of up and down in his recovery
Speaker 2: and so it was a nice quick story early in
Speaker 2: the year, but just has not bounced back. So the
Speaker 2: Cups still have, you know, a ton of options here.
Speaker 2: We're going to get into this in a future episode.
Speaker 2: But yeah, Polentci and Brown were kind of the two
Speaker 2: big names coming out of the Socks series of like
Speaker 2: they're they're on the horizon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, bummer for Riley Martin because I forgot. I mean,
Speaker 1: I knew he was really good and really important to
Speaker 1: the team, but then I looked at the numbers again
Speaker 1: and I forgot how good that strikeout rate was. He
Speaker 1: wasn't walking dudes. Just a was a really good story.
Speaker 1: The small chance, I shouldn't say small chance surgery isn't
Speaker 1: out of out of the question with him They're kind
Speaker 1: of gonna see how he recovers going forward, and then
Speaker 1: if he's not recovering, well then it's like back to
Speaker 1: the drawing board. Let's see what happens. All right. That's
Speaker 1: it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening to everyone.
Speaker 1: This is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,
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Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and watching. Everyone. Take care,