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Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory, Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are

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Speaker 1: your Cubs be writers over we are Uh, Patrick, Uh,

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Speaker 1: this is going to be a bullpen centric episode. Uh.

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Speaker 1: Bullpens are such a fickle unit in baseball, and they

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Speaker 1: are often you know, uh, where the criticism goes. One

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Speaker 1: bad game and and it will lead to a ton

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Speaker 1: of criticism. But it's not just one bad game. There's

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Speaker 1: there's been moments and plenty of reason for consternation among

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Speaker 1: the fan base. Uh. I think it's it's starting to

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Speaker 1: look better. We could we can discuss all these different aspects.

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Speaker 1: I think the reality is the Cubs are continue continually

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Speaker 1: trying to find the right mix. They keep making moves.

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Speaker 1: The latest is the transaction wire says that Jordan Wicks

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Speaker 1: has been sent down and and we know that the

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Speaker 1: Cubs have traded for Drew Pomeranz. We'll see when he's

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Speaker 1: up with the team. But the Cubs are continuing to

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Speaker 1: cycle through bullpen arms. This isn't They're not you know,

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Speaker 1: standing still right now.

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Speaker 2: Sense of urgency was the theme of our last show,

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Speaker 2: and I think you continue to see it here from

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Speaker 2: Luke Little being a one and done out of this

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Speaker 2: bullpen Jordan Wicks, I mean not getting the job done

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Speaker 2: and getting sent back to Iowa and Pomerans. It's a

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Speaker 2: long shot, right, I mean, the guy hasn't pitched in

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Speaker 2: the Major since twenty twenty one, but he was awesome

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Speaker 2: when Craig Counsel had him for the Brewers, and that

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Speaker 2: was in you know, a trade deadline move that was

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Speaker 2: not like, you know, earth shattering. He was not pitching

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Speaker 2: well as a starter at that time, and once again

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Speaker 2: the Brewers found a way to like do more with

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Speaker 2: less and extract something out of a pitcher who you know,

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Speaker 2: sort of looked, you know, a little washed up at

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Speaker 2: that point. And I mean, he pitches so well for

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Speaker 2: the Brewers, he gets this huge contract with the Padres,

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Speaker 2: does not stay healthy for most of it, but when

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Speaker 2: he does pitch, he's awesome, And like, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: it's not crazy to think they could catch lightning in

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Speaker 2: a bottle again with with Drew Pomerantz here, just giving

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Speaker 2: their history, the way they kind of cycle through those

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Speaker 2: you know, middle inning relievers and you kind of see

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Speaker 2: what happens. I think we're expecting Pomerants to be at

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Speaker 2: really feeld at some point this week.

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Speaker 3: We'll kind of see how that goes.

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Speaker 2: But I think you see Jed Hoyer's front office, Craig

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Speaker 2: Council's coaching staff just being aggressive and showing their patience

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Speaker 2: is not unlimited.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, I think what you're talking about

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Speaker 1: with lightning in a bottle like that's that happens so

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Speaker 1: frequently with with relievers. And this is just the reality

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Speaker 1: of bullpens.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 1: We saw it last year with Tyson Miller. He was

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Speaker 1: dfade and and you Adam Yeah by the Mariners. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they the Cubs traded made a small trade for him.

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Speaker 1: It seemed like a nothing move and it really stabilized

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Speaker 1: the bullpen for a period of time. Right, Like the

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Speaker 1: bullpen was not a strength last year, it was much

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Speaker 1: better for portions of the season. Ultimately, for how long

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Speaker 1: it struggled and and the key pieces that did struggle

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Speaker 1: kind of sunk their season right along with the slumping

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Speaker 1: of the offense. But yeah, like this is you're not

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Speaker 1: going to this is at this point in time, You're

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Speaker 1: not going to get this massive upgrade unless you have

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Speaker 1: that massive upgrade, like in the minors or something, right,

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Speaker 1: So you have to kind of hope that you can

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Speaker 1: catch lightning in a bottle if you need, if you

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Speaker 1: need like a significant upgrade, right. And I think right

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Speaker 1: now what I'm seeing is they are starting to kind

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Speaker 1: of find pieces, right, Like guys are settling to different roles,

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Speaker 1: guys are stepping up. I think what you need that.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about Friday, right because Friday. First of all,

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Speaker 1: that was one of those Yeah, it's one of those

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Speaker 1: games that you cover and you're like, what what is

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Speaker 1: happening right now? Right? And not even like a like

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Speaker 1: there was a David Bodie game where that one like

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Speaker 1: sends your heart racing because it was just like, wow,

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Speaker 1: that was amazing. This was just more like, come on,

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Speaker 1: like is this really happening right now? This is this

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Speaker 1: is a little silly. It was absolutely fun to cover,

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Speaker 1: and it's easier to go in clubhouse when uh when

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Speaker 1: the team when when you're covering the team that won

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Speaker 1: that sort of game, Uh that you know, it's it's

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Speaker 1: a fun atmosphere and all that, but it's really an

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Speaker 1: odd game and it's hard to take away too much

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Speaker 1: from it. Here's one thing I will take away from it.

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Speaker 1: When you have a seven to one lead, I don't

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Speaker 1: care who you have warming up in the bullpen. Uh. Like,

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Speaker 1: once you get that seven to one lead, you bring

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Speaker 1: in a lesser reliever, right if that lesser When I

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Speaker 1: say lesser reliever, that's not an indictment on Jordan Wicks.

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Speaker 1: It's his where he is in the pecking order right now. Right. Uh,

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Speaker 1: he's probably the last guy in a bullpen, as indicated

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Speaker 1: by the fact that he was just sent down right

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Speaker 1: and he couldn't get the job done. Like that's that's

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Speaker 1: not that that doesn't instill a lot of confidence in

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Speaker 1: the guy. Listen, that's a really tough offense. Still, you

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Speaker 1: got to get a couple outs there. You got to

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Speaker 1: avoid using Porter Hodge, like the the idea in that

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Speaker 1: situation is you're trying to get two innings out of

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Speaker 1: Jordan Wicks, save your in theory Hodge and Pressley or

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Speaker 1: your setup guy and your closer, right and and keep

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Speaker 1: them fresh for Saturday or Sunday, right whatever it may be.

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Speaker 1: And and Wicks was completely unable to do that. Uh

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Speaker 1: it turned so quickly. Uh. I don't think like, I

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Speaker 1: don't think there's any reason to bring Hodge in that

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Speaker 1: game when it's seven to one, but once the bases

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Speaker 1: are loaded, no outs, Yeah, kind of have to your

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Speaker 1: hand is forced, right, And and I also don't think

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Speaker 1: that's not a game where I look in and say, like, oh,

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Speaker 1: the bullpen is a disaster that was set up by wicks.

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Speaker 1: Hodge is allowed to have a bad game. He picked

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Speaker 1: the absolute worst time right like to hang a meet

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Speaker 1: called I mean like it was he's But unless that

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Speaker 1: becomes a trend, which we haven't seen. We hadn't seen

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Speaker 1: it before he had a five pitch quick, one two

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Speaker 1: three outing on Sunday, I'm not concerned about Porter Hodge.

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Speaker 1: So is Friday a reason for concern for the bullpen?

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Speaker 4: Not?

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Speaker 1: In my mind, it really isn't. There are plenty of

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Speaker 1: other reasons that built up concern. But I think you need,

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Speaker 1: like when you have a big lead, if you can't, like,

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Speaker 1: you need guys that can come in and just clean

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Speaker 1: those up because those type of outings save the bullpen.

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Speaker 1: That's what keeps your bullpen healthy, that's what keeps them fresh.

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Speaker 1: And not and not getting that, not getting a seven

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Speaker 1: to one victory or whatever it may have been in

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Speaker 1: the end, a blow not getting a blowout victory and

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Speaker 1: having to use your best arms again, that's that hurts,

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Speaker 1: and that I think that's how you look at that game.

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Speaker 1: It's an awesome win, fun win, fun game to cover.

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Speaker 1: We'll probably be looking back at that as like, you

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Speaker 1: know what, you could be looking back at that if

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Speaker 1: they had lost it as one of those games where

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Speaker 1: it's like September you look back, remember that game. They

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Speaker 1: should have won that game, and they knew it right

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Speaker 1: and now they're a game out or they lost the

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Speaker 1: tiebreaker with Arizona or whatever it may be. Right now

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Speaker 1: they have the tiebreaker with Arizona. Now they look like

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Speaker 1: one of the better teams in the National League, and

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Speaker 1: the kind of the narrative around them has shifted because

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Speaker 1: of that game.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's either look at this explosive offense and the

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Speaker 2: team's resiliency to come back, or is it going to

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Speaker 2: be kind of this red flag about a bullpen that

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Speaker 2: you know right now is near the bottom of the

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Speaker 2: majors and the Cubs have covered up some of those issues.

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Speaker 2: And I believe you spoke with Craig Counsel about this.

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Speaker 2: If Presley Hodge and Julie and Merriwether are doing well

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Speaker 2: and if Ethan Roberts looks, you know, somewhat trustworthy, like,

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Speaker 2: where's this bullpen right now?

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Speaker 3: What is you know?

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Speaker 2: Craig Counsel is never one to show many emotions or

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Speaker 2: any emotions, But how does I know you spoke with

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Speaker 2: him at Wrigley Field of the weekend. How is he

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Speaker 2: kind of looking at the group as a whole right now?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, let's talk about that in a moment. Let's take

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Speaker 1: a quick break and then we can come back and

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Speaker 1: talk about the overall health of the bullpen.

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Speaker 1: Well, Patrick, I mean, like, think about last year, right,

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Speaker 1: think about who was struggling. Al Zalai was a mess

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Speaker 1: and then was hurt. Hector Narris just never really settled in,

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Speaker 1: never found his best self pretty much. That looks like

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Speaker 1: it may have been the end of his run in

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Speaker 1: the majors as a truly effective reliever. Julie Merriweather was

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Speaker 1: never healthy, never looked like himself. Mark Leider Junior was

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Speaker 1: really up and down. I felt like maybe he probably

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Speaker 1: was the one of that group that had some bad luck,

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Speaker 1: but the numbers were not there. On a consistent basis

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Speaker 1: for him. Uh So, I mean those coming into the season,

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Speaker 1: those were like expected to be your best relievers, and

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Speaker 1: for the vast majority of the season they were either

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Speaker 1: hurt or ineffective. Uh, that's not the case right now.

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Speaker 1: Borter Hodge outside of Friday, has been awesome, right, Julian

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Speaker 1: Meriwether looks like he's actually getting better with each outing,

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Speaker 1: I feel like, and then obviously Ryan Presley a mess

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Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year. Never really I don't

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Speaker 1: think he cost them a game if I'm remembering, there

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Speaker 1: was one game that he was out there right with

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Speaker 1: the error. There was the error. Yeah, that was the

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Speaker 1: only one where he where he blew the game right,

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Speaker 1: quote unquote. But so it's almost like he settled into it,

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Speaker 1: and now he looks so much better. He looks like

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Speaker 1: a pretty effective reliever, veteran closer. And and whether he's

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Speaker 1: the closer the rest of the season or not, that

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Speaker 1: I think he's showing that he can be pretty effective. Right.

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Speaker 1: You have Brad Keller stepping up, you have Ethan Roberts

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Speaker 1: stepping up. I think Daniel Palencia, like, I don't want

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Speaker 1: to take too much away from it just yet, he's

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Speaker 1: got to keep doing it because we've seen flashes. But

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what we haven't seen. We haven't seen

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Speaker 1: him go like back to back games like he did

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Speaker 1: and hold the stuff. We haven't seen him go two

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Speaker 1: innings and hold the stuff. He looks like a different

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Speaker 1: pitcher right now. Let's see how long that lasts. But

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Speaker 1: that him with Roberts like that, that creates some depth,

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Speaker 1: right brag Keyler looks like, I don't know, man, I'm

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Speaker 1: watching him and I'm just every single time I see him,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, this guy's kind of awesome. Like the stuff

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Speaker 1: is nasty. He's hitting one hundred miles per hour. He

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Speaker 1: looks like a damn good reliever. That's a lot of

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Speaker 1: relievers that are are good to great right now, including

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Speaker 1: who you came into the season with expecting to be

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Speaker 1: your best relievers, and they are, Like that's huge right now.

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Speaker 1: What we're talking about is the last or the final

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Speaker 1: couple spots in the bullpen. Right if Palancia is legit

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Speaker 1: or even close to okay, Right if he can handle

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Speaker 1: coming into a game when it's five to one Cubs

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Speaker 1: and keep it to you know, keep it to a

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Speaker 1: foe and lead or keep it or only allow a

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Speaker 1: run over two innings, even that would be acceptable.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 1: You need these, You need guys that can just keep

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Speaker 1: games in check. Or if you're down three to two

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Speaker 1: and Polancy comes in and keeps it that way, right exactly,

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Speaker 1: that's those are the things you're looking for from your

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Speaker 1: fifth sixth reliever. Right, So we'll see who kind of

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Speaker 1: steps up, you know, if it's Drew Promerance, if it's

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Speaker 1: cost Grove, the lefty that they picked up. Field Bar

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Speaker 1: is starting to look a little bit better too, right

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Speaker 1: Like if I don't know, like I don't fully I'm

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Speaker 1: not there yet, just because the command seems to just

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Speaker 1: disappear at times for him. So I feel like this

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Speaker 1: bullpen is coming together. Listen. I'm not going to like

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Speaker 1: criticize fans who are on edge about it. I think

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Speaker 1: fans have been burned too much by bullpens. All fans, listen,

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Speaker 1: Fans are just always uneasy about bullpens. Very rarely do

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Speaker 1: you feel great about a bullpen. Maybe if you're a

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Speaker 1: Padres fan right now, you feel great about your bullpen.

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Speaker 1: But it's just I think as like, fans see this

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Speaker 1: a lot and they hold on to the negative it's

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Speaker 1: so easy to do that right pitching, like relief pictures.

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Speaker 1: It's like one inning, one bad inning can really sink,

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Speaker 1: like that stays with you. I think as a as

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Speaker 1: a fan, as an observers, as media, I think media

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Speaker 1: can can do it too. It's not just fans. So

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Speaker 1: it's it's really easy to to just like it's hard,

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Speaker 1: I should say, to shake that negative feeling of a bullpen.

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Speaker 1: So they have to continue to prove themselves. But I

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Speaker 1: think they're I think they're headed in the right direction.

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying all as well and all is perfect,

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Speaker 1: but like there's a lot of names that you should

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Speaker 1: feel encouraged about, right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's kind of a pass fail job

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Speaker 2: if if you're Presley or some of those other guys.

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Speaker 2: And the Cubs enter Tuesday fourteen and ten in first place,

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Speaker 2: while playing the most difficult opening schedule in baseball, like

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Speaker 2: they must be doing something right. I think whatever the

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Speaker 2: bullpen looks like now, it's gonna look different maybe by

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Speaker 2: the you know, by Wednesday, by the.

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Speaker 3: Weekend series against the Phillies.

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Speaker 2: Certainly there's gonna be a lot of turnover in May

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Speaker 2: and June and the gold Jed Hoyer said, is to

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Speaker 2: get all eight relievers pitching well at the same time.

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Speaker 3: Very hard to do.

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Speaker 2: But you need those guys, even our head guys as

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Speaker 2: Joe mattuscol to just put it away when you have

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Speaker 2: the lead and just bank those wins.

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Speaker 3: And you need the.

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Speaker 2: Kind of guys lower on the pegging order who can

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Speaker 2: give what looks like a very good offense a chance

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Speaker 2: to come back. And so they're going to constantly be

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Speaker 2: cycling these guys out, Like, yes, Luke Little was the disappointment,

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Speaker 2: but it's not just him. And yes, Jordan Wicks has

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Speaker 2: a nice pedigree as a first round guy and who

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Speaker 2: actually really impressed in twenty twenty three. I gotta say,

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Speaker 2: like coming up towards the end of that season, he

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Speaker 2: looked really good as a rookie thrown in there. Hasn't

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Speaker 2: gotten back to that place yet. But it's not just them.

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Speaker 2: It's just the organization's mindset right now. It is they

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Speaker 2: have to make the playoffs this year. That is their

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Speaker 2: absolute goal, and they're not going to defer as much

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Speaker 2: to development.

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Speaker 3: They're not going to be quite as patient. And you know.

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Speaker 2: Colin Ray has been starting recently, but he's a nice

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Speaker 2: piece to kind of connect the pitching staff the way

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Speaker 2: you just describe sid of that, if they keep getting

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Speaker 2: good starting pitching, if Tommy Hottevey and the coaching staff

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Speaker 2: can keep kind of game planning, and Craig Counsel can

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Speaker 2: keep the big picture in mind.

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Speaker 3: You know, I think that's something that players really are.

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Speaker 2: Relievers in particular, appreciate about Counsel that he either knows

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Speaker 2: how to lose or he knows how to play the

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Speaker 2: odds and the percentages to kind of keep guys healthy

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Speaker 2: over the long term. And look, we already every contending

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Speaker 2: team of our looks for bullpen help, but the trade deadline, right,

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Speaker 2: So that's that's got to be the Cub's focus here.

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Speaker 2: And you know, there are some interesting names at Iowa.

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Speaker 2: There is at least, you know, a certain amount of

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Speaker 2: depth that you know, I don't think there's like a

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Speaker 2: huge drop off from say the eighth guy in the

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Speaker 2: bullpen to you know, maybe your nine tenth and ten, ninth,

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Speaker 2: tenth and eleventh guys on the Eyewashers are obviously forty

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Speaker 2: man considerations and contractual issues to work through as well.

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Speaker 2: But you know, if the Cubs were maybe ten and

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Speaker 2: fourteen at the moment, I think you could be screaming

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Speaker 2: about the bullpen. I think it's just hard at the

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Speaker 2: start of the season. There's a lot of kind of

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Speaker 2: trial and error going on right here, and the Cubs

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Speaker 2: are more than kind of passing the eye test right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think I think what you're saying there, like, listen,

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Speaker 1: you don't want what happened last year where it'sly costing

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Speaker 1: you games and then you look back and say, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we fix this or we stabilized it, or we got

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Speaker 1: it to a good place. But look at the these

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Speaker 1: eight games that cost us or whatever half dozen games

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Speaker 1: that it cost us. That you don't want the Cubs

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Speaker 1: to be saying that at the end of the season,

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Speaker 1: and and so far they really have its call. Has

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Speaker 1: the bullpen cost them a couple of games? Sure, you

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Speaker 1: could say that their offenses has stolen them a couple

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Speaker 1: of games, right, and beat up on other teams bullpens

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Speaker 1: and whatever it may be, right and and taken some games.

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Speaker 1: So like those those things tend to even out. You

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Speaker 1: just don't want it to happen like every other day,

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Speaker 1: or you don't want you don't want, So what happened

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Speaker 1: on Friday right. You don't want that to continually happen,

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Speaker 1: because what happens then is you're using your guys over

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Speaker 1: and over again, and then come August and September, Porter

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Speaker 1: Hodge isn't as good as he is now because he's

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Speaker 1: exhausted because he's at whatever, you know, seventy innings at

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Speaker 1: the beginning of September instead of at the end of September, Right,

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Speaker 1: or whatever it may be. You just don't want these

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Speaker 1: guys completely gas. You don't want Ryan Presley overused, You

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Speaker 1: don't want you just don't want any of that, right.

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Speaker 1: You need to find ways to get these guys breaks.

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Speaker 1: And that's that's why, like Friday just cannot be like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was a fun thirteen to eleven. Cubs offense is

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Speaker 1: awesome and looks like it can win them a lot

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Speaker 1: of games. Great, rest your bullpen arms, make sure they're

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Speaker 1: healthy for the stretch run. I think that's really important. Patrick.

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Speaker 1: What something I kind of want to touch on that

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Speaker 1: I think is, you know, I don't want to rehash

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Speaker 1: everything that happened in the winter, right, but the Cubs

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Speaker 1: are playing the Dodgers for the final time this week, right,

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Speaker 1: incredibly tough schedule They've done really well. I'm impressed. I'm

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Speaker 1: coming away, you know, impressed. So far. They have five

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Speaker 1: more games before the brutal stretch engine ends. I think

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Speaker 1: there's a couple more actually, after they play Pittsburgh and

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Speaker 1: then they have a couple more tough games. It's like

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee and San Francisco, which is turning out to be

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Speaker 1: will be tough ish. So but still like this was

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Speaker 1: what we kind of circled is get through this and

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Speaker 1: we'll see where they are. So far, so good. But

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Speaker 1: with the Dodgers coming into town, you know, Tanner Scott, Kirby, Yates,

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Speaker 1: guys that the Cubs would have liked to have on

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Speaker 1: their roster, and the Dodgers just out muscle them financially,

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Speaker 1: you know, the Cubs. I don't think Jed loves to

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Speaker 1: spend big. I mean we know that, I don't. I

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Speaker 1: don't say I don't. I don't think we know Jed

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Speaker 1: doesn't love to spend big on the pen, right, But

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Speaker 1: that he was willing to be aggressive for Tanner Scott

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Speaker 1: and get out of what we believed was his comfort

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Speaker 1: zone with the reliever is certainly interesting. And they never

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Speaker 1: they couldn't close that deal. But It's interesting to see

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Speaker 1: them like try and be aggressive and not still not

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Speaker 1: be able to get the guy. That's I think that's

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Speaker 1: telling in two different ways. It's telling that Jed, you know,

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Speaker 1: they loved, they loved Tanner Scott, they love what he

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Speaker 1: can do. Jed also sees, you know, it's what we

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Speaker 1: talked about last episode, that this is going to be

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Speaker 1: an aggressive season, that they're under fire, that they need

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Speaker 1: to get the job done, and they see that they

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Speaker 1: saw Tanner Scott as a guy that kind of could

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Speaker 1: have been a huge piece. Imagine. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: they signed Tanner Scott, if they still get Ryan Presley right, No.

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Speaker 3: They wouldn't.

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Speaker 6: I think they would not have gone after right same

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Speaker 6: same So so I think maybe it doesn't completely change.

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Speaker 1: The the way the bullpen looks, right because in theory

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Speaker 1: adding Presley just you still have that bottom of the

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Speaker 1: bullpen issue. But also maybe you don't have the hiccups

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Speaker 1: early in the year. I don't know, you don't have

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Speaker 1: questions about having a lefty. All these things right different

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Speaker 1: you have different issues steel bars the second lefty instead

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Speaker 1: of the primary lefty. I don't know if Tanner Scott's

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Speaker 1: closing maybe Porter Hodge is closing. I don't know what

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Speaker 1: they do. I don't know what the Cubs would do

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Speaker 1: in that situation, but ultimately the Cubs are you know,

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Speaker 1: you can look at how the Dodgers built their bullpen

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Speaker 1: and how the Cubs built built their bull pen, and

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Speaker 1: it's you know it. I think Cubs fans just look

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Speaker 1: at that with envy and say, man, that that team

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Speaker 1: doesn't have to stress out about every every close game,

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Speaker 1: right uh. And again, I think eventually Cubs fans will

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Speaker 1: come to believe in this bullpen. But right now there's

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Speaker 1: you know, they're still they're still on edge, and and

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Speaker 1: the fact that they don't outspend the competition to get

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Speaker 1: the job done is going to remain a frustration I

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Speaker 1: think with a certain with certain fans. And I think

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Speaker 1: that's fair understandably.

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Speaker 3: So like, has Jed learned his lesson with a bullpen? I?

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Speaker 3: I think so. I think he definitely.

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Speaker 2: I mean offering Tanner Scott four years and sixty six

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Speaker 2: million dollars, Uh, I would think he'd be the closer

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Speaker 2: in that scenario over a second year reliever and Porter

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Speaker 2: Hot But you're right, like, I don't think that would

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Speaker 2: have led like three more big bullpen moves or you know,

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Speaker 2: And I think the frustration is, you know, look, Presley's

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Speaker 2: a good, good pitcher, like hard to top his resume

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Speaker 2: in the postseason.

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Speaker 3: It's the.

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Speaker 2: Why not David Robertson Now the baseball industry as a whole,

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Speaker 2: and David Robertson do not see ey eye on value clearly,

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Speaker 2: Otherwise I'd assume he'd be pitching somewhere. But it was

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Speaker 2: just kind of the you know, why not add a

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Speaker 2: little more? Why so far below the CBT threshold? And look,

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Speaker 2: these got these relievers are so little. I believe Blake

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00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 2: Trinon just went down with an injury and he was

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00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 2: part of that Dodger.

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00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:54,360
Speaker 3: You know, rush to just totally rebuildable. But like Ryan

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00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 3: Brazier was a good picture.

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00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 2: Now, maybe he obviously hasn't done much for the Cubs

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00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 2: and he's not very close to coming back from his injury,

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00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,080
Speaker 2: but like I do think we've seen a little bit

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00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:10,159
Speaker 2: of an evolution of how people look at bullpens. Like

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00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,960
Speaker 2: I know, the Dodgers have more money seemingly than anyone.

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00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 2: Maybe the Mets have more, but if they're willing to

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00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 2: spend that much money on their bullpen. It's probably a

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00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 2: good way to go about it, right, Like, the Dodgers

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00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 2: don't make dumb decisions by and large, so if they're

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00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 2: willing to pour that much money into their bullpen and

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00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:37,679
Speaker 2: spend on older relievers, it probably tells you something about,

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00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 2: you know, the efficiency and the usefulness of how to

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00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,440
Speaker 2: kind of go about it. And obviously they leaned hard

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00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,760
Speaker 2: on their bullpen last October, and you know, I think

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00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 2: this is something we'll probably get into later this summer

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00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 2: of like it's nice to have, you know, pieces you

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00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,199
Speaker 2: kind of trust in May against the pirates, But do

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00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:11,159
Speaker 2: the Cubs have like the put away dominant relievers to

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00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 2: win in October? And that for the Cubs would be

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00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,680
Speaker 2: a nice conversation to have, knowing that they made the playoffs.

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00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,120
Speaker 3: But I think that's the time.

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00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 2: When you kind of get greedy and you know start

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00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 2: you know, you're do your A relievers match up against

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00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 2: the Dodgers A relievers or the Padres A relievers?

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00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,400
Speaker 3: Like can they put away some of the.

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00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:39,719
Speaker 2: Best lineups in the game, and thus far, I think

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00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 2: they've done a pretty good job. Like I think it's

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00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 2: you have to kind of credit them for getting those results,

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00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 2: and you know, we'll see whether they can sustain it.

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00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:53,719
Speaker 2: And that's where aside of I think your point is

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00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,719
Speaker 2: very well taken of. You know, how counsel manages this

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00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 2: group with the long term in mind, with a big

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00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 2: picture mind, is really important and I think should show up.

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00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,199
Speaker 2: We saw it with the Brewers, how they finished and

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00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,080
Speaker 2: closed so well in those septembers year after year.

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00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, ultimately for me, and I think if I think

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00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 1: I'm remembering how I was reacting early on in the season,

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00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,440
Speaker 1: my concern was always Presley, Yeah, if he like I

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00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: just like I needed to see more from him. And

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00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,880
Speaker 1: I'm starting to see that now and I believe now

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00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,640
Speaker 1: that that is is now that I feel a little

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00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 1: bit more confident with him, it really settles the bullpen

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00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: and it makes me more confident that the bullpen can

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00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: be good going forward. It was my point earlier in

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00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,720
Speaker 1: the show that you have your best relievers pitching, well,

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00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,200
Speaker 1: you can figure out that bottom half. You can figure

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00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,520
Speaker 1: it out. It's not that it's not impossible. Right. It

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00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: should also mention that Tyson Miller, I believe, is supposed

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00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 1: to pitch in back to back games either Tuesday Wednesday

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00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 1: or Wednesday Thursday. I can't remember. Console said, in fact

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00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:03,919
Speaker 1: from a remembering council, wasn't even one hundred percent sure.

486
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: But he's pitching him back to back soon, and that

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00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 1: that tells me. You know, I don't want to speak

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00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 1: out of turn, but I think he may be close

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00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: to coming back then if it's got me to pitch, yeah, Jack, right, Yeah,

490
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,199
Speaker 1: so I mean that helps things too, right, that that

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00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,199
Speaker 1: should help you figure out some things. If he's healthy

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00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 1: and effective, now you have one more trusted arm. That's

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00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,840
Speaker 1: pretty big, right. He doesn't need to become the seventh

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00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 1: inning guy. If he's just a guy that pitches when

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00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 1: the team is down a couple of rounds or whatever,

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00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: trying to hold a big lead or keep a deficit close,

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00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 1: one of those things. You'll take that, right. If that's

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00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,080
Speaker 1: what Tyson Miller is, I think that's a big deal.

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00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 1: And then we'll see Asad is supposed to pitch Tuesday,

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00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 1: we'll see when he when he comes back. So you

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00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: know they're getting healthy too. You mentioned Brazier. I don't

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00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,960
Speaker 1: think he's close so yeah.

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00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:58,960
Speaker 3: So ways off.

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00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they're starting to get a little healthier there,

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00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 1: even though they've lost some guys like Eli Morgan, but yeah,

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00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 1: I think it's headed in a better direction and they're

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00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,920
Speaker 1: trying to create depth by making moves like true promerence.

508
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,240
Speaker 1: So we'll see where this ends up. I think it's

509
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,719
Speaker 1: always it's going to continue to evolve. We'll see what

510
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 1: guys emerge from the miners, whatever it may be. Bullpen's

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00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,959
Speaker 1: just going to be a topic of conversation. It always is,

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00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: and I think that's with a good reason. All right, everyone,

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00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 1: thanks so much for listening. This is Northside Territory Foul

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00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 1: Territory Networks Cubs podcast. Make sure to rate, review and subscribe.

515
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the YouTube channel where you can see us.

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00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: You can see us in our in our habitats speaking

517
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Speaker 1: directly to you. Make sure to subscribe to The Athletic,

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00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 1: where Patrick and I will be on top of all

519
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: things Cubs for the rest of the season and into

520
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 1: the winter. Thanks so much for listening to everyone. Take

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00:29:52,680 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 1: care you don't name anything the name

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00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 6: Do they