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Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Network's Cubs podcast. I'm

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Speaker 1: Adam Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your

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Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick just got

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Speaker 1: back from a long West coast trip. It was a

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Speaker 1: okay trip. I mean, you take a winning trip no

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Speaker 1: matter what, especially out West. It just felt a little no,

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Speaker 1: it didn't feel great. It was a meh trip, I

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Speaker 1: guess I'd say, but you know, I feel like we're

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Speaker 1: all waiting for the Cubs to kind of wake up

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Speaker 1: and get going again and kind of find a hot stretch.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if Monday's comeback victory, which was a

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Speaker 1: very nice comeback victory, I believe you. You and I

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Speaker 1: are on a text thread with some other writers and

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Speaker 1: at one point they were down three nothing and I

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Speaker 1: was like, it'd be nice if it didn't feel like

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Speaker 1: three nothing was an insurmountable lead for this you know,

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Speaker 1: once amazing offense, and they shut me up with with

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Speaker 1: one of their you know, similar like in early season,

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Speaker 1: like comeback is how I describe it. But the topic

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Speaker 1: for me in pregame, I didn't write about this for Monday,

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Speaker 1: but I'll write about it.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna write.

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Speaker 1: About this uh tonight, which is Tuesday. PCA is struggling. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: he's just not getting the results that he was. I

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Speaker 1: thought Jed put it well. Jed spoke yesterday and he

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Speaker 1: said he had two weeks where he struggled and then

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Speaker 1: he didn't struggle for like two and a half months,

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Speaker 1: three months, and now we're seeing this drug. August was

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Speaker 1: a was a big rough patch for him. Can he

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Speaker 1: get hot again? Can he find it? I don't know,

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Speaker 1: but they called up Kevin ALCNTRA with PCA in mind,

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Speaker 1: and that's he's gonna get rest against lefties.

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Speaker 2: There's a lefty on the mound tonight. I think we're

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Speaker 2: gonna to.

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Speaker 1: See a little You want to get him going, you

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Speaker 1: need to get him going. But he's gonna get some

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Speaker 1: days off here when they're se lefty on the mound.

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Speaker 1: Maybe he's pinch hit four in big situations. I don't

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Speaker 1: know about that one. We haven't seen it yet, but

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Speaker 1: you know, there may be a different approach with PCA coming.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the beginning of that very long road trip in Anaheim,

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Speaker 3: you know, Pete had that it was a game winning

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Speaker 3: homer and it was somewhat overshadowed by Kyle Tucker's re emergence.

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Speaker 3: But that night in Anaheim, Craig Counsel was joking about,

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Speaker 3: you know, assistant hitting coach John Malee, you know, praying

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Speaker 3: on the bench for Pete in the ninth inning. And

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Speaker 3: you know, Malee has worked closely with Pete for a

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Speaker 3: long time, including in the minors at Triple A Iowa,

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Speaker 3: and really helped him get major league ready and become

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Speaker 3: a productive Major leaguer. And you know, hit this All

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Speaker 3: Star ceiling faster than I think anyone anticipated. And you know,

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Speaker 3: Pete's numbers were so great for months that it kind

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Speaker 3: of gave him a nice cushion that no matter what

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Speaker 3: when you looked on the board, it was gonna look good.

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Speaker 3: And of course this season has gone beyond what anyone could.

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Speaker 4: Have hoped for.

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Speaker 3: There's still a month to go, and he doesn't look

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Speaker 3: like someone who's finishing strong. You see his emotions on

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Speaker 3: the field when he makes out. I realize that is

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Speaker 3: a difficult balance to strike at times for any player,

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Speaker 3: but you just wonder physically. Counsel says, everything's fine with Pete.

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Speaker 3: They're checking on that regularly.

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Speaker 5: He's young.

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Speaker 3: He's got a ton of energy, but I don't know

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Speaker 3: if he's hit a wall or something, or the league

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Speaker 3: has figured him out a bit. But bringing up a

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Speaker 3: top prospect type who's been waiting for this opportunity, who

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Speaker 3: can play center field, who has a really high ceiling

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Speaker 3: if everything clicks is interesting. It's crazy to think that

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Speaker 3: an MVP type candidate for months could become not a

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Speaker 3: platoon part time player. But they're gonna be looking for

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Speaker 3: times to sit him, right. What was your understanding h

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Speaker 3: leaving Wrigley yesterday?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, there's a couple of things. I think it's

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Speaker 1: important to note that they're called so the way they

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Speaker 1: look at Owen Casey versus Kevin o'contra, and like they

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Speaker 1: fans are going to be upset that Owen Casey didn't

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Speaker 1: play much. Look, Ian Happ got hot, Kyle Tucker got hot.

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Speaker 1: They need, say, is Suzuki to get hot? He's been

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Speaker 1: looking a little bit better. Not the power isn't there yet,

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Speaker 1: But I think it makes sense to play all those guys,

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Speaker 1: and I think you're seeing results, especially with the guys

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Speaker 1: that they want bench like Tucker sat Ian Happ is good,

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Speaker 1: like he's playing really well, so it oh, in case

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Speaker 1: he got sent on because he wasn't playing much, and

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Speaker 1: and there's a there's a I thought it was interesting,

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Speaker 1: and I guess I hadn't thought about it that much.

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Speaker 1: But he plays every day and then he gets called

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Speaker 1: up and he's not playing every day, and it's intermittent

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Speaker 1: playing time. At a certain point, when you get intermittent

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Speaker 1: playing time as a kid, as a prospect, essentially, uh,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna get out of your rhythm. It's not something

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Speaker 1: you're used to. You're not a veteran. You're we'll talk

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Speaker 1: more about the veteran moves that they made, but I

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Speaker 1: understand why they they're sending him down. It makes sense

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Speaker 1: that Okay, he's he needs to be playing every day

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Speaker 1: and get back in a rhythm. A contra has been

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Speaker 1: playing every day. He call him up. He can be

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Speaker 1: in a rhythm and he'll handle the sporadic playing time

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Speaker 1: for a little bit and then they're probably gonna switch

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Speaker 1: them out in two weeks kind of what it sounds like,

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Speaker 1: or ten days. However, I think it's different for position

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Speaker 1: players or two weeks, no, whatever whatever it is, they'll

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Speaker 1: they'll send them. They're gonna uh change things up. But

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Speaker 1: Pete was a topic when they discussed calling up a Contra.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember if it was Jed or Counsel that

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Speaker 1: said that when I asked, But yes, but I think

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Speaker 1: both kind of a great. Yeah, like Pete was a topic,

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Speaker 1: it was. It was something that they were talking about

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Speaker 1: when they were discussing Elcontra, whether to bring.

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Speaker 2: Him up or not.

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Speaker 1: And I don't think, yeah, you're right, it's not like

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Speaker 1: a straight platoon. Maybe he'll play against lefties, but I

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Speaker 1: don't think, you know, I don't know how many lefties

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Speaker 1: they're going to be facing, but starting tonight, I would

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Speaker 1: be surprised if we see Pete Roarmstrong's name in the

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Speaker 1: lineup tonight, because Joey Wentz is a lefty and Franklin

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Speaker 1: that's an easy like I shouldn't say easy, a softer

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Speaker 1: landing spot for Kevin al Contra, not some stud lefty.

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Speaker 2: It's not Chris Sale, it's Joey Wentz.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't I don't think we're going to

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Speaker 1: see a dramatic drop in playing time. I don't think

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Speaker 1: we're going to see a break here. That's I didn't

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Speaker 1: get that sense. But there he's searching for something. He's

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Speaker 1: putting in a ton of work. Both Jed and Council

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Speaker 1: mentioned how they're seeing him work a lot, and even

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Speaker 1: Council said sometimes the work feels like, oh, there's something here,

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Speaker 1: and he's like sometimes he's just like, Nope, that's not working.

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Speaker 1: I'm not it's not feeling right, And so they're they're trying.

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Speaker 1: He's searching for something. He's trying to find something. One

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Speaker 1: thing I looked up just to check if he's chasing yet.

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Speaker 1: I wrote back in like mid August, maybe his struggles

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Speaker 1: which were only like ten days at that point, uh

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Speaker 1: and and he wasn't chasing. In fact, his chase was

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Speaker 1: like an all time low. It's ticked back up a little,

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Speaker 1: but it's still below league average. It's not like it's

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Speaker 1: not egregious, it's not bad. So I he even yesterday

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Speaker 1: Monday night, he missed this.

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Speaker 2: I want to say.

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Speaker 1: It was a two to zero count and he popped

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Speaker 1: this pitch up that was right down the middle that

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Speaker 1: he'd been hammering before. And it's kind of been a

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Speaker 1: month of that, just missing his pitch. He's not he

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Speaker 1: doesn't go up there and just look like completely lost.

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Speaker 1: He's just missing pitches and that's that can maybe lead

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Speaker 1: to more frustration, I think, because you know, they talk

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Speaker 1: about it all the time, and this is just a

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Speaker 1: regular quote we get when you talk to hitting coaches

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Speaker 1: or even counsel or any manager. It's like, you get

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Speaker 1: like one good pitch and at bat maybe a game,

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Speaker 1: and if you miss it, that that can be frustrating

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Speaker 1: as a as a position player. You know, up to

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Speaker 1: bat there you need to put that in play. You

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Speaker 1: need to do damage on that one good pitch. You

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Speaker 1: may see.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and we I'm curious to see how this unfolds

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Speaker 3: of we went from Peter Armstrong being one of the

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Speaker 3: most dangerous hitters in baseball, one of the most dynamic

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Speaker 3: players in baseball, it's now someone who would he get

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Speaker 3: pinch hit for late in games, in key situations if

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Speaker 3: you are confident enough in Kevin's defense. I still don't

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Speaker 3: want to get too carried away with this because you know,

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Speaker 3: mid season the Cubs did not think Alcantara could like

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Speaker 3: come up and play center field every day if Pete

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Speaker 3: got injured. I think that was part of the thinking

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Speaker 3: behind acquiring Willie Castro, not that he can play at

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Speaker 3: a PCA level. Defensively. You saw what Pete did that

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Speaker 3: amazing catch on Labor Day, Like, there's still a ton

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Speaker 3: of value there. I don't think he's getting phased out

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Speaker 3: or even really reduced that much. But just the fact

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Speaker 3: that this is a topic of conversation shows how deep

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Speaker 3: we are in the year and how eventually the focus is.

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Speaker 5: Going to get extremely narrow.

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Speaker 3: In terms of lineup decisions, in game decisions, and it'll

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Speaker 3: be fascinating to see how Pete responds. I don't think

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Speaker 3: anyone'd be surprised if at some point in September he

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Speaker 3: goes off or everything resets in October, and the way

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Speaker 3: that Javey Bayas rose to the occasion in twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 3: like that wouldn't be shocking. But right now, as the

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Speaker 3: Cubs are brainstorming, like PCA is a name they had

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Speaker 3: to circle of, like how can we improve this area?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was gonna make the same point you just

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Speaker 1: made about the defense. He still brings value. His bunt

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Speaker 1: on Monday was a terrible baseball decision. It's two count,

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Speaker 1: but it worked, and it's kind of like one of

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Speaker 1: those moments it's a six to one game and it

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Speaker 1: sparked something I don't know if if that was what

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Speaker 1: sparked anything. It's easy to point to it now after

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Speaker 1: the fact, but you know, the benz Over's bunt in

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Speaker 1: the NLCS against the Dodgers sparked something. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if this sparks anything, but it was it was a

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Speaker 1: nice little uh it worked out for him. It was

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Speaker 1: it was pretty like it's just not the right baseball

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Speaker 1: thing to do, you know, but whatever, it worked and

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Speaker 1: you'll take it.

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Speaker 2: And sometimes baseball's.

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Speaker 1: Weird like that. I do want to touch on Willie

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Speaker 1: Castro and some of the like why you know the

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Speaker 1: Cubs are just searching on the bench. Let's let's talk

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Speaker 1: about that after quick break. Game on Week one starts now,

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Speaker 1: Patrick, I think some people were confused by some of

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Speaker 1: these moves that were made. Like we just explained the

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Speaker 1: Contra move all Contra for Casey I think it makes

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Speaker 1: a ton of sense. They're searching for something on the

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Speaker 1: bench right now. The Savali move. We can talk about that,

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Speaker 1: but I think you know he's already paid dividends. It's

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Speaker 1: it's like that was like prototypical Chris Flexen early year.

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Speaker 1: I think he's better than Chris Flexen, but Carlos Santana

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Speaker 1: on the bench, great veteran guy, thirty nine having a

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Speaker 1: below average offensive season. You wonder, Okay, he's a switch hitter,

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Speaker 1: but he's first base only DH essentially, right, those are

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Speaker 1: the two places you're gonna put him. How does this

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Speaker 1: work with Justin Turner who right now, I was looking

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Speaker 1: at these numbers. Man, when I say they're searching on

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Speaker 1: the bench, They're like, nothing is working. Justin Turner is

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Speaker 1: is fine against lefties and he's not playable if a

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Speaker 1: Arighty is on the mound. It's like I use way

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Speaker 1: to runs graded plus as everyone knows, and it's like

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Speaker 1: seventeen something like that, fifteen, just like abysmal Willie Pastro.

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Speaker 1: I had to like triple check this, and now I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna chick triple like quadruple check it. I think I

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Speaker 1: wrote that he's a seven weighted runs graded plus with

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Speaker 1: the Cubs, like just overall, yeah, seven weight.

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Speaker 5: And one hundred would be average.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred is average.

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Speaker 1: So it just like once you get like, you know,

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Speaker 1: below eighty, you're hurting your team. And I mean, and

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Speaker 1: we can even remember like a big hit from him

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Speaker 1: and that like basically that's been it.

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Speaker 2: It's like that and probably like three other singles he just.

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Speaker 3: Throw from reel to yeah, one day, one day, two games, right,

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Speaker 3: it was both in the doubleheader right moment.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, But I mean he's the reason why al Contra

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Speaker 1: has to be called up to his struggles, is why

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Speaker 1: Contra has to be called up, because you can't put

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Speaker 1: him in center field regularly because he's not hitting. And

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Speaker 1: now it's such a drop off. But the Carlos Santana,

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Speaker 1: where's Justin Turner? That that move that's interesting. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if it'll work, but they're searching for something. They're

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Speaker 1: desperate to get a viable bench here. And and you know,

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Speaker 1: I think Jed Jed would say this, You just don't

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Speaker 1: know what a guy's gonna do in four weeks, three weeks,

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Speaker 1: and maybe it's worth betting on a veteran.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean This all goes back to Alex Bregman. Right,

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Speaker 3: you sign Alex Bregman, this would look a lot different.

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Speaker 3: You would not have signed Justin Turner. I think there

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Speaker 3: are reasons to go to him as a fallback, and

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Speaker 3: you know, his value behind the scenes in the dugout,

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Speaker 3: in the clubhouse, on the team plane at Team Dinners

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Speaker 3: is such that they're keeping him around.

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Speaker 5: I I guess I wasn't.

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Speaker 3: Surprised because of his resume and how his intangibles fit here.

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Speaker 3: But this is not an organization that's big on intangibles

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Speaker 3: right now, like it is all about the value you bring,

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Speaker 3: and as counsel says, crossing that bar of like okay,

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Speaker 3: one case, he has not yet to be an everyday player.

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Speaker 3: I don't really see where Turner is doing that on

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Speaker 3: the field. But I don't know if is he that

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Speaker 3: valuable to Pikrow Armstrong.

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Speaker 2: He might be.

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Speaker 3: I'm not being sarcastic, like for him to sort of

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Speaker 3: not not babysit mentor or be a sounding board for Pete,

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Speaker 3: or to bring different energy into the clubhouse every day

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Speaker 3: the way you David Ross did as a player in Chicago.

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Speaker 3: Though his on field contributions were pretty obvious at that

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Speaker 3: stage of his career. Like, this is where they're at,

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Speaker 3: and I like how you went from you know, searching

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Speaker 3: to nothing is working off the bench, and the Cubs

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Speaker 3: are bringing a guy who's almost as old as Justin

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Speaker 3: Turner to do what they thought Justin Turner was going

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Speaker 3: to do when he signed him in spring training.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so okay, there's an extra roster spot. We

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Speaker 1: should mention that. Yeah, people don't know. So it's not

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Speaker 1: as bad as it would be carrying Santana and Turner

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Speaker 1: pre September. That's so you know, you can get away

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Speaker 1: with this because of that. You would not be able

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Speaker 1: to do this in August. It just wouldn't work. You

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Speaker 1: can't do that. You can't have two first base dh

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Speaker 1: only guys that are struggling to like aren't even producing yet.

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Speaker 1: I think what it allows you to do. So look,

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Speaker 1: here's what I want to touch on this. It's what

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Speaker 1: I talked about early on with Owen Casey, Like, these

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Speaker 1: guys are everyday players. You can't not and not at

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Speaker 1: this stage in their career. Can you trust them to

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Speaker 1: be the pinchhait guy. It's just really hard for them.

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Speaker 1: I thought Jed made a really good point, and now

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Speaker 1: I'm blending it together. So someone made a good point.

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Speaker 1: It was either Jed or Council. That look Santana and

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Speaker 1: Turner haven't been bench guys, you know, their everyday players

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Speaker 1: as well. This is Turner's first time, this is Santana

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Speaker 1: and now he's been used to playing every day for

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Speaker 1: much of his career. I think the way they look

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Speaker 1: at it is, these are veterans. Okay, they know the

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Speaker 1: opposition well, they have. They been asked to pinch hit

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Speaker 1: a ton in the past in previous seasons to know.

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Speaker 1: But they know how to prepare their bodies, they know

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Speaker 1: how to get their mind right. They know, okay this

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Speaker 1: is They're more willing to accept a role like this

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Speaker 1: at this point their career. Carlos Santana just wants a ring.

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Speaker 1: The Cubs took his ring away from him. He had

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Speaker 1: a chance and the Cubs got it instead in twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 1: He wants a ring. He hopes he can get one here.

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Speaker 1: Turner wants another one. You know, like these guys will

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Speaker 1: do whatever it is they're asked to do so, whether

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Speaker 1: it is like putting an arm around Pca or Matt

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Speaker 1: Shaw or pinch hit.

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Speaker 2: Here's the other thing. Here's the other thing.

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Speaker 1: I think that it gives flexibility in a little more

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Speaker 1: time and allows you to really leverage what Turner can

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Speaker 1: do well. All he can do right now is hit lefties.

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Speaker 1: That's all he can do. He's not crushing them, but

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Speaker 1: he's better than what they have. They struggle against lefties

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Speaker 1: and it worked out exactly. The results didn't work out,

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Speaker 1: but it happened exactly like how I think they need

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Speaker 1: to do it going forward. Yes, on Monday, they pinch

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Speaker 1: it for Bush against the lefty late in the game.

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Speaker 1: Turner didn't come through, but that's that's what he's there

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Speaker 1: to do. He played first base for an inning or two.

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Speaker 1: They brought in variety. Eventually the second Turner's lineup spot

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Speaker 1: in the lineup came up. Carlos Santana hit for him.

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Speaker 1: You can't have him facing righty's. Those numbers are abysmal.

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Speaker 1: He's just not producing. He's at that point in his career.

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Speaker 1: So whether he goes off against lefties in September, I

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Speaker 1: don't know whether Carlos Santana is any good in September.

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Speaker 1: I'm not going I would not bet on these things

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Speaker 1: happening I also just won't say, like not the type

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Speaker 1: to say like it can't happen, because this game makes

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Speaker 1: no sense sometimes and like things happen and you're just like, oh,

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Speaker 1: this guy is great for three weeks. Yeah whatever that

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Speaker 1: that you know, I can I don't don't know how

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Speaker 1: that happened, but it did. You never know when someone's

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Speaker 1: gonna get hot. And these guys are veteran hitters. They

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Speaker 1: and they're like I think we touched on it. They're

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Speaker 1: facing weaker competition right now, so maybe this is a

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Speaker 1: perfect time to have these veteran guys that just know,

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Speaker 1: like I know how to hit this guy, and then

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Speaker 1: they go up there and they perform. But I think

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Speaker 1: it gets back to my original point. They're just searching.

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Speaker 1: They're they're trying to make bets here, and they're trying

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Speaker 1: to find the right mix. Uh, they just want a

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Speaker 1: little more depth here and production from the bench. I

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Speaker 1: don't think it's like season shifting in any way, like

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Speaker 1: having a good bench or bad bench. Clearly they've had

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Speaker 1: a solid season up to this point without much production

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Speaker 1: from the bench. But you know, you don't like having

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Speaker 1: such little production from the bench. It's kind of remarkable

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Speaker 1: how everywhere they've turned it's just been like Nope, not working.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it makes sense to keep throwing stuff against the

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Speaker 3: wall to see what sticks. And I guess ultimately, if

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Speaker 3: Santana delivers in one big at bat in the wild.

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Speaker 7: Card round and they advance and it's worth it, and

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Speaker 7: if they get swept in two games in the wild

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Speaker 7: card round, like no one's going to really be up

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00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 7: in arms about the bench because it will have meant

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Speaker 7: that their best players did not deliver.

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Speaker 3: And so we will have a whole month to kind

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Speaker 3: of get into all of those scenarios and maybe we'll

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Speaker 3: even start the next segment here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, let's get into some of these ideas about

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Speaker 1: October right after this.

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Speaker 1: So, Patrick, you got Craig Council to engage on something.

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Speaker 1: I was surprised. I think everyone was surprised he engaged

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Speaker 1: on And that's the idea of an October rotation. This

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Speaker 1: is a guy that's very much day to day and

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Speaker 1: let's talk about what's right in front of us. But

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Speaker 1: you know, obviously he's he does have to think about

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Speaker 1: the future, and it kind of explain how that worked

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Speaker 1: out and what Craig Council's thoughts were there.

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Speaker 3: So Friday Night and Denver, a couple of our colleagues

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Speaker 3: and good friends were just having a post game drink

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Speaker 3: at the lobby bar there, and we're just going around

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Speaker 3: kind of giving our thoughts on how you could line

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Speaker 3: up playoff rotation. So our good buddy Jesse Rodgers was

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Speaker 3: there and we were kind of reminiscing how with Joe

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Speaker 3: Madden would love that stuff, like, hey, you know, we're

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Speaker 3: talking about this at the hotel bar the other night

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Speaker 3: as a way to kind of ease in the conversation.

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Speaker 3: So I, you know, kind of did that with Craig,

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Speaker 3: and he kind of gave me one of his sort

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Speaker 3: of counsel looks and sort of paused, but then actually

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Speaker 3: didn't shut it down. He said, to my job is

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Speaker 3: to look ahead, so of course you're going to look ahead.

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Speaker 3: And it wasn't just that, it was also how they

432
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,920
Speaker 3: explained the Justin ty One.

433
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,399
Speaker 5: Sorry, the Jamison ty.

434
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 3: Il decision, Tyne saying the way it was presented to

435
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 3: me was you'd be a bad teammate if you'd tried

436
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 3: to push through this. We're thinking about October. Tyon sort

437
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 3: of reluctantly agreeing and saying I want to be a

438
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 3: big part of this and pitching deep into October so

439
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 3: you have that tie on move and then counsel's reaction

440
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:53,560
Speaker 3: to what was, you know, a legitimate line of questioning.

441
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 3: But when I wasn't sure he would engage on, he

442
00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 3: could have just said we're trying to win today's game

443
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,920
Speaker 3: in Denver, yeah, and then just let the awkward silence

444
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 3: play out, and he did not. I took a couple

445
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 3: different questions from us. We're kind of throwing some things

446
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,639
Speaker 3: out there, and I thought it was interesting that he acknowledged,

447
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 3: like maybe in two weeks you would start to lock

448
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 3: that in. That they're making pitching plans a month in advance,

449
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 3: you're guaranteed to look silly like stuff is going to happen,

450
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 3: but like they're not totally oblivious to when the wildcard

451
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,680
Speaker 3: round would be. And I think you could start charting

452
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 3: certain pictures days out, you know, every sixth.

453
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,639
Speaker 5: Day or whatever, what that would look like.

454
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:49,399
Speaker 3: We'll see how Matthew Boyd finishes. We're just assuming showed

455
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,280
Speaker 3: in Monaga will be healthy and maybe a little fresher

456
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 3: after missing some time with a lower body injury. Kate

457
00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,600
Speaker 3: Horton's innings have been managed since before or the start

458
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:04,120
Speaker 3: of spring training, or at least his workload has been

459
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 3: a really important topic within the organization. And then from

460
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 3: there it was kind of like council saying, if you

461
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 3: want to think about this, remember that everything is predicated

462
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 3: upon the result of game one. So like you can

463
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 3: have your game three starter lined up, but if you

464
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,920
Speaker 3: lose game one, everyone is available game two.

465
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 5: That the best.

466
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 3: Pitchers pitch in game two, which, like, none of this

467
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 3: is groundbreaking, but I thought it was revealing in terms

468
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,639
Speaker 3: of the team's state of mind right now that they

469
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,960
Speaker 3: don't have a playoff spot clinched, but things are trending

470
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,280
Speaker 3: in a direction where they can engage on some of

471
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:49,880
Speaker 3: this stuff.

472
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, entering play on Tuesday, they have a nine game

473
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: lead on the Reds, who are four games back in

474
00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 1: the Mets.

475
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,560
Speaker 2: For the final wildcard spot.

476
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: So I mean they're they're sitting in a really good

477
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 1: position as far as the playoffs go. Uh, it's it's

478
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 1: hard to it would be it would this would be

479
00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 1: a historical collapse.

480
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this would be just yeah. Yeah. So

481
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 2: I don't want to put that jinx on them.

482
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna guarantee anything, but uh, you know, the

483
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 1: playoffs are something we should be thinking about and talking

484
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: about Uh yeah, I do think what you said at

485
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,160
Speaker 1: the end there was really interesting to me. I guess

486
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 1: I just hadn't really thought much about, Oh, if you

487
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,399
Speaker 1: lose Game one, it's all hands on deck in the

488
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: wild Card. It's been it's been so while since we've

489
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 1: talked about playoffs for the Cubs and actually thought about

490
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,199
Speaker 1: this stuff. Uh so they just haven't been on my

491
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,919
Speaker 1: mind in this new Wildcard round, and now it's looking

492
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 1: like that'll happen.

493
00:27:58,880 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 2: I think it.

494
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: You know, the pitching, I think Kate Hohrton went from

495
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: like interesting arm interesting young pitcher too, Is this guy

496
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: like your best starter? And and and is he going

497
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,439
Speaker 1: is he like this huge X factor or just this

498
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,159
Speaker 1: not even X factor because he, like I said, he

499
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,640
Speaker 1: may be their best pitcher, Like he's so good right now,

500
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 1: and he's so effective and consistent that his workload and

501
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,920
Speaker 1: and like really being on top of that managing that

502
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 1: I think is you know, I don't wanna because it's

503
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,479
Speaker 1: so hard to fully understand and know where it will go.

504
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 1: It's it's hard to like monitor it, I guess on

505
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,240
Speaker 1: our end and like make it a storyline outside of

506
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 1: like we just have to see where this goes right,

507
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 1: it matters, but I don't know what, like what is

508
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 1: the wall? What is the limit? Because we're not seeing

509
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: any us like any any wear and tear there, right,

510
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 1: we're not seeing him break down. It looks like he's

511
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,840
Speaker 1: getting better. But they're being incredibly good about I will

512
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: say that, unless I'm misremembering, I don't think it's cost

513
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: them yet the like pulling him. I maybe I'm probably

514
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 1: miss missing something, but they've been They've been aggressive with

515
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: how they've pulled him and when they kind of cut

516
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 1: him off, and so far, so good, Like it looks

517
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: like it's working in a sense. I have no idea

518
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 1: if that's why, or maybe he could just go seven

519
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: innings and and keep doing that.

520
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:35,520
Speaker 2: The rest of the season. But you got to be

521
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 2: proactive here.

522
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 5: I think, yeah, it'd be hard to.

523
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 3: Improve some of his numbers since the All Star break,

524
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 3: but certainly that volume you're talking about and maybe pushing it,

525
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 3: like we don't. I think that's the exciting part about

526
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 3: Kate Horton, Like we just don't know. They don't know

527
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 3: like where this could go, And to be honest, I

528
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 3: could go in two different directions. Right, this is a

529
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 3: guy who had very limited professional experience going into this year.

530
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:05,640
Speaker 5: He did not.

531
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 3: Put up a lot of innings at Oklahoma, but the

532
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 3: Sooners made it to the College World Series largely on

533
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:18,880
Speaker 3: the strength of his like rapid in season development. And

534
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,800
Speaker 3: I think everyone who has come in contact with Cade,

535
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 3: whether it's teammates observing his mound presence or reporters kind

536
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 3: of tracking how he's doing and handling different situations, the

537
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 3: decision makers who love his competitiveness. I mean, Counsel has

538
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,720
Speaker 3: said it numerous times at this point of how he's

539
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 3: a whatever, clearheaded competitor, clear eyed competitor, whatever the phrasing is,

540
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 3: you know what when you see it, and that has

541
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 3: been Cad Horton thus.

542
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 1: Far beyond the pitching. We can We'll get into this

543
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 1: over the course of the month. I just wanted to

544
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: touch on real quickly, just because I don't know if

545
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 1: Monday is a turning point. It felt similar to what

546
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:13,200
Speaker 1: we've seen in the past, where when I say seen

547
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: in the past, sorry, what we saw earlier this season,

548
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 1: it just felt like that offense in the sense that

549
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: they were down, they had a reliever come in that

550
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,239
Speaker 1: ate a bunch of innings and kept them close, and

551
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,960
Speaker 1: they chipped away and ended up winning the game. They

552
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: got the big hits when needed. That has not happened

553
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 1: at all, and it didn't happen in the first like

554
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 1: four innings of that game. They kept getting opportunities and

555
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 1: not delivering. They couldn't get a big hit with men

556
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,720
Speaker 1: on base, and then they started getting them, and then

557
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 1: and it was enough and they won the game. I

558
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,880
Speaker 1: want to see that type of pressure where they're they

559
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 1: don't always have to get the big hit, but continue

560
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 1: putting pressure. I thought they did that over the weekend

561
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: in some sense. They couldn't get the big hit on Sunday.

562
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 1: Not enough of them they got, but they did get

563
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,520
Speaker 1: a big hit for me in half. Ian happ is

564
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: someone I'm watching. Can he stay this hot like he's

565
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 1: It looks like he's going on one of his patented

566
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: hot streaks. Tucker at a bad game on on Friday

567
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,840
Speaker 1: on Monday, but what a great road trip for him,

568
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,120
Speaker 1: you know, just watching the stars, seeing if they can

569
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 1: turn it around, seeing if this offense can find that rhythm.

570
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 2: Can they?

571
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 1: I don't you don't need like April and May, I

572
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 1: don't think that's you know, you can expect that. I

573
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,480
Speaker 1: should say but can they just be much better than

574
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 1: what they were in August and part of July there

575
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: that they need to be a top five offense. And

576
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,760
Speaker 1: then you're talking about this team in a different light again,

577
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 1: and talking about them is like I was discussing this

578
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 1: with my son, just who has a chance to win

579
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 1: the World Series, And we went through like every playoff

580
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 1: team and it's like, I, is there a favorite? I

581
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 1: don't think so, So the Cubs have a chance. It's

582
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,400
Speaker 1: just who's getting hot at the right time. It's it's

583
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 1: purely one of those It really feels like one of

584
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 1: those seasons where I have no clue who the favorite is,

585
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,960
Speaker 1: so why can't the Cubs do it? But I'll be

586
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,760
Speaker 1: watching these offense, this offense and these these bigger names

587
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:14,640
Speaker 1: to see how they're doing and where their confidence level is,

588
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 1: the health, all that stuff going into October. But that's

589
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 1: as much as the pitching matters, as important as that is.

590
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 1: I really feel like, get this offense close to what

591
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: it was and they can do some damage and they

592
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: can make some noise, especially in the power department.

593
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 2: It's a good power hitting team when they're right, no doubt.

594
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:39,480
Speaker 3: I think Carson Kelly had an extremely quiet August, like

595
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 3: you see it, and it's it's all about hitting home runs.

596
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 5: Wrigley Field.

597
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 3: I believe it is the third worst hitters park over

598
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:54,000
Speaker 3: the last three years. So we'll see how that plays

599
00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 3: if they get a home series in the wild card round,

600
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 3: and then you know, Carson Kelly's contributions are nice. I

601
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 3: still think this comes down to getting Kyle Tucker right

602
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 3: or keeping him in the zone, Saya Suzuki getting his

603
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:18,440
Speaker 3: kind of powerstroke back, and how they handle this PCA situation.

604
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 3: I mean, he's been great this year. Teammates, you know,

605
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,800
Speaker 3: really appreciate his energy. We see a lot of the maturity,

606
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,680
Speaker 3: but this is still kind of uncharted territory for him.

607
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,800
Speaker 3: I think of just like super meaningful games in September. Obviously,

608
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,399
Speaker 3: he hasn't played in the playoffs yet. Like, even if

609
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 3: we're kind of assuming the Brewers are going to win

610
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:48,759
Speaker 3: the Division, that the Cubs will make the wild card round,

611
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,880
Speaker 3: there's a lot of kind of loose storylines here that

612
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 3: will be really fun to watch to see how they're

613
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 3: tied up.

614
00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,399
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, We'll be hitting all of those over

615
00:34:59,440 --> 00:34:59,919
Speaker 1: this month.

616
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a fun month. And as counsels said,

617
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:03,799
Speaker 2: hopefully too.

618
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,840
Speaker 1: You know, maybe we'll have plenty to talk about in

619
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,480
Speaker 1: October with this team. We'll see, all right, Thanks so

620
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,240
Speaker 1: much for listening to everyone. We'll have more episodes this week.

621
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,640
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. This is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,

622
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,120
Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic,

623
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,840
Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.

624
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:23,879
Speaker 2: Thanks everyone, take