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Speaker 1: Welcome into north Side Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast.

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

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Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick, before

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Speaker 1: we talk about a very newsy and you know, busy

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Speaker 1: start to the week for Cubs. Yes, I just want

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Speaker 1: to send fans to Northside Territory shop dot com. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you can get all your pullovers, your north Side Territory gear,

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Speaker 1: our north Side Territory sickos can check out whatever they want. Coffee, mugs, notebooks, bags,

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Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff. So you know, we would love

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Speaker 1: for you to check out the side, get get some

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Speaker 1: north Side Territory gear. Rep it at Wrigley, at the

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Speaker 1: bars around Wrigleyville or wherever you live. We would appreciate that.

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Speaker 1: But Patrick, you know, a lot of news this week,

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Speaker 1: and it started off with a really rough Monday in

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Speaker 1: the sense that Kyle Tucker did not you know, just

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Speaker 1: has looked like the Kyle Tucker that we've seen for

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Speaker 1: the past month. But it did I like, it did

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Speaker 1: not look right, it did not feel right. And and finally,

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Speaker 1: after what was it three groundouts and a pop up

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Speaker 1: on Monday, Craig Council decided to give Kyle Tucker some

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Speaker 1: time off and and he missed Tuesday's games, sat and

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Speaker 1: watched and we'll see how long this lasts. But I

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Speaker 1: feel like, you know, it's one of those things you

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Speaker 1: have to weigh.

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Speaker 2: You need this guy desperately to succeed.

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Speaker 1: You know, he's gonna have to beat Kyle Tucker to

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Speaker 1: succeed in October. But when do you kind of say, like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's time to pull back. And they decided that time

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Speaker 1: is now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, this is something that was would have

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Speaker 3: been unthinkable and began to feel inevitable, and just the

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Speaker 3: it just really has snowballs here of the like the

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Speaker 3: booze at Wrigley Field, just Tucker not really running to

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Speaker 3: first base.

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Speaker 4: At all on some of these groundouts.

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Speaker 3: Granted they were kind of right up the line like

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Speaker 3: automatic outs, but still throwing bats and helmets, which is

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Speaker 3: normal for most major league players but very out of

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Speaker 3: character for him. And just the numbers and also how

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Speaker 3: he was getting to those numbers. Just you know, a

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Speaker 3: ground ball rate approaching fifty percent in the second half

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Speaker 3: for a guy who was once compared to like Ted

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Speaker 3: Williams in terms of his swing.

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Speaker 2: Just kind of.

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Speaker 4: An unbelievable stretch here for him.

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Speaker 3: To just be benched for, you know, a huge series

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Speaker 3: against the division rival that had started running away in

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Speaker 3: the Nation League Central.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I actually felt like he looked pretty good for a

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Speaker 1: couple of games in Saint Louis. There were some line

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Speaker 1: drives that he hit that I was like, Okay, maybe

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Speaker 1: he's getting back to who he was, and then it cratered.

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Speaker 2: Like there was.

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Speaker 1: It was one of those things where it's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you have a couple of good games.

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Speaker 2: It's like, oh he's turning the corner. Nope, not even close.

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Speaker 2: Like it. It looked bad.

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Speaker 1: The past week Toronto was I think we saw him

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Speaker 1: hitting out on the field for the first time. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: like for what news. He's not a guy that he's

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Speaker 1: a He's a cage guy. I think even like it

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Speaker 1: was something that we kind of talked about in the

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Speaker 1: spring training. It's like, you don't see Kyle Tucker out

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Speaker 1: on the field. He gets his work done in the

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Speaker 1: cage and that's what he does, That's how he does it.

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Speaker 1: I think he's just looking to switch things up, try

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Speaker 1: anything new to kind of get out of this rut

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Speaker 1: it I you know, I ultimately think you have to

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Speaker 1: get him right. I don't think anybody would disagree with this.

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Speaker 1: You have to get him right if the Cubs are

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Speaker 1: going to even look close to the team that they

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Speaker 1: were and compete for, you know, a deep playoff run.

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Speaker 1: I think this team has looked better in the past

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Speaker 1: five games. Not dominant by any means, but winning the

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Speaker 1: game is the point of it, right, scoring out scoring

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Speaker 1: the opponent as a point, and have done that more

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Speaker 1: often than not the past few games. But to really

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Speaker 1: be the powerhouse that they seemed like they were, they

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Speaker 1: need maybe not maybe not that top tier elite Kyle Tucker,

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Speaker 1: but they need it pretty close to great Kyle Tucker.

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Speaker 2: I mean, obviously you want. The whole point of acquiring.

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Speaker 1: Him was this is a superstar that makes stabilizes the

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Speaker 1: offense and leads to a little bit more consistency with everything.

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Speaker 1: And and that that the same slump has happened is

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Speaker 1: what was so perplexing for everyone and so frustrating. I

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Speaker 1: think to watch, Uh, this was not supposed to happen,

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Speaker 1: and why it's happened, whether it's the finger, whether it's

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Speaker 1: the finger leading to mechanical changes, whether it's just a

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Speaker 1: mental thing, whatever it is, it's it's gotten to a

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Speaker 1: point where I think, great, council. I think we could

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Speaker 1: debate the timing of it, and I and I understand

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Speaker 1: fans want sometimes want things a little bit sooner. But

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Speaker 1: I think for me, my whole thing was like you

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Speaker 1: you It's what I'm just saying, like, you need him

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Speaker 1: so you have to you have to try and get

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Speaker 1: him right. And I and I understand the desire to

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Speaker 1: do things quicker, but you just never know when things

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Speaker 1: are going to turn. Like I said, he looked like

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Speaker 1: he was about to turn in Saint Louis and it

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Speaker 1: didn't happen, and they gave it another week. And it

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Speaker 1: sounds like you were there, Patrick. I had left by

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Speaker 1: this point, but I think council said that this was

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Speaker 1: something they talked about over the weekend with Tucker.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, a council said he spoke with Tucker on Sunday

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Speaker 3: night and they quote, you know, put a lot on

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Speaker 3: the table, and you know, I thought Jed Hoyer made.

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Speaker 4: A good point. I guess it was Monday.

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Speaker 3: I'm just saying, like, if you're dealing with major league

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Speaker 3: players like you can't just like panic like they see

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Speaker 3: through that if you're kind of like reacting to every

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Speaker 3: at bat or every game or even every series like

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Speaker 3: that just seeps into the clubhouse. And I think particularly

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Speaker 3: with a player like Kyle Tucker, who obviously they need

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Speaker 3: and also who just like logically is their best hitter

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Speaker 3: and should be getting out of this at some point, right, this, yeah,

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Speaker 3: can't go on forever. I mean, maybe it will.

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Speaker 4: Until we reach I don't know, but.

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Speaker 3: I think this idea of sort of like anyone else

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Speaker 3: works or that you know, there aren't potential consequences to

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Speaker 3: you know, either embarrassing Tucker or kind of pushing that

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Speaker 3: button too soon. It's just been really puzzling because Tucker's

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Speaker 3: whole thing was one how confident and calm he's been.

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Speaker 4: I mean, this guy who's always just kind of not fostered.

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Speaker 2: Also, he.

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Speaker 3: Has been a guy because of his all around skills

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Speaker 3: who could just like even on a quiet night, it

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Speaker 3: would you know, maybe draws a walk and you know,

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Speaker 3: lines of single into right field and you know, maybe

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Speaker 3: steals a base, makes a nice plan and all of

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Speaker 3: a sudden, it's like, oh, wow, like he did a

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Speaker 3: lot today, even if he didn't hit a home run,

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Speaker 3: and like everything had just sort of started to erode

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Speaker 3: and his offense was carrying over into other parts of

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Speaker 3: his game. You know, there's he says he's fine, counsel

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Speaker 3: says he's healthy and available. Jed Hoyer, you'll kind of

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Speaker 3: dismiss the idea of like, you know, stashing him on

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Speaker 3: the ale or something like that. And then you have

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Speaker 3: Brewers manager Pat Murphy on Since or the cub flagship

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Speaker 3: radio station, is asked kind of a general state of

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Speaker 3: the Cubs question about their.

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Speaker 4: You know, recent slump and offensive slide. I believe it

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Speaker 4: was on the Mully and Haws show.

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Speaker 3: And recause I think Tucker's hurt and what he was

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Speaker 3: I think he was also trying to say was, you know,

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Speaker 3: this kid's a class act. You know, he doesn't want

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Speaker 3: to complain. He feels a responsibility, but he thinks something

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Speaker 3: wrong physically with him. And obviously him and Counsel their

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Speaker 3: relationship there's a certain distance now even though they were.

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Speaker 4: Co workers and Murphy coached Counsel at Notre Dame.

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Speaker 3: But the reason I put it in my story was

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Speaker 3: like what Murphy said is like a perception that's out

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Speaker 3: there of you know. I spoke to someone from another

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Speaker 3: team was just like he just doesn't look comfortable in

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Speaker 3: the box and that he can be pitched to differently

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Speaker 3: now and like no one really knows why.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think you like what you said

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Speaker 1: there at the end, especially is is what's most obvious

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Speaker 1: for everyone.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if he's heard.

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Speaker 1: There's been so many denials about it that I have

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Speaker 1: to just that we have to assume that he's not hurt,

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Speaker 1: because I like, if you know, if he is, I

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Speaker 1: think it's been a huge mistake. This is something you

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Speaker 1: needed to address after, you know, like earlier, maybe a

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Speaker 1: week or two ago at least, Like if you want to, like,

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Speaker 1: he did so well in June, I get like, okay,

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Speaker 1: it's a it's an annoyance, but he can play through

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Speaker 1: it and players do this all the time. But then

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Speaker 1: after July you kind of have to say, like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: maybe we take a step back, especially when things are

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Speaker 1: starting to get out of hand with the division. It's like,

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Speaker 1: let's make sure that he's healthy and ready to help

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Speaker 1: us win the wild card. I have to assume he's

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Speaker 1: okay as far as health goes. And if that's the case,

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Speaker 1: If that's the case, the Cubs have had some recent

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Speaker 1: success with giving guys two, three, four games off and

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Speaker 1: then then coming back and things clicking. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if that's gonna happen with Kyle Tucker. It feels kind

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Speaker 1: of random. It happened with say Suzuki, and he went

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Speaker 1: on one of the best like it basically turned his fella,

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Speaker 1: Like had turned his career around, because since then he's

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Speaker 1: been a pretty consistent power, you know, I mean, offensive player.

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Speaker 2: They did it with Miguel, That was with Ross I

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Speaker 2: believe it.

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Speaker 1: Then a twenty two maybe it was twenty three, and

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Speaker 1: then I think it was twenty two.

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Speaker 2: And then and then Amaya and council.

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Speaker 1: Had that he set counsel or he said a Maaya

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Speaker 1: for three or four games and that turned him around.

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Speaker 1: Matt Shaw sat for three games, I think he played

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Speaker 1: one of them, came in as a dependive place three

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Speaker 1: games before the break, had the mental reset of the break,

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Speaker 1: and now look at Matt Shaw. So I don't know.

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Speaker 1: We'll see if it works, We'll see if it clicks.

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Speaker 1: This is a veteran, like you said, steady guy. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if this is what he needs or what's

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Speaker 1: going on. Like I felt not that long ago, very

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Speaker 1: confident that he was just gonna be fine, it would.

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Speaker 2: All work out.

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Speaker 1: I just don't know, Like I don't want to make

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Speaker 1: any guarantees because this game's so weird and we'll see.

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Speaker 2: But all right, Patrick, let's take a quick break.

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Speaker 1: In the and I want to talk about the guy

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Speaker 1: that you know has stepped in and kind of sparked

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Speaker 1: this little mini resurgence for the Cubs. The dog days

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Speaker 1: of summer means it's time for the boys of Summer

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Speaker 2: Patrick Owen Casey. The fans were calling for him, Uh

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Speaker 2: wanted him to play.

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Speaker 3: Fans right, yeah, yeah, they definitely do.

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Speaker 1: He He looked really good in Game one, had that

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Speaker 1: blue pit in Game two, drove in multiple runs, a

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Speaker 1: home run. I think the first hit that he had

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Speaker 1: in in game one of the double header on Tuesday

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Speaker 1: was the big one.

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Speaker 2: That's a two out basis loaded. These are the.

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Speaker 1: Opportunities that Cubs have been squandering for weeks now. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they were getting every big hit for the first couple

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Speaker 1: of months of the season. They haven't gotten any in

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Speaker 1: the last past month and a half two months. You

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Speaker 1: know that's hyperbole. They've gotten some, but not enough, and

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Speaker 1: they finally got a few. Owen case he came through. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I don't think there's any doubt that for

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Speaker 1: two games there he's impacted this team seat you know,

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Speaker 1: in a significant way and given them kind of what

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Speaker 1: they need.

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Speaker 2: No doubt.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I think, uh, the timing is just sort

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Speaker 3: of hilarious, just how this unfolded, because there was this

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Speaker 3: clamoring for for Owen Casey and you saw it against them.

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Speaker 3: Some good pictures, some big moments, different hitting the different

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Speaker 3: parts of the field, Like you see why you even

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Speaker 3: I think people we've talked to who are not always

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Speaker 3: high on Cups prospects, who were not in the organization

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Speaker 3: can just say, like that dude can flat out hit.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 3: Maybe defensive like defensively he made some nice plays. He's

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Speaker 3: still kind of a work in progress there and there's

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Speaker 3: going to be you know, dips and valleys, but uh,

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Speaker 3: he certainly came through. I think, circling back to what

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Speaker 3: we were talking about earlier, I think with Tucker. There

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Speaker 3: is an unknown of like what makes this guy tick,

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Speaker 3: Like he has really good relationships in the clubhouse, teammates

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Speaker 3: like love being around him, but there isn't a whole

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Speaker 3: lot of history there. I think kind of getting out

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Speaker 3: of this, you know, could be difficult, like to your

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Speaker 3: point earlier, and so to have a guy who was

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Speaker 3: a top whatever, fifty seventy five prospect, a guy who

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Speaker 3: got a lot of time at Triple A Iowa to

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Speaker 3: kind of work through things, it just feels like.

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Speaker 2: He had checked.

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Speaker 4: All the boxes to come up.

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Speaker 2: He was not rushed.

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Speaker 3: I think there's been the appropriate amount of hype on

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Speaker 3: him until recently. Like this was not he was not

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Speaker 3: the number two overall pick, he was not. The trade

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Speaker 3: he came over in was you know, less than enthusiastically received.

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Speaker 3: And so I don't know, what have you heard about

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Speaker 3: sort of like Casey the hitter, Casey the student of

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Speaker 3: the game, and how he got to this point.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think everyone knew his flaws right

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Speaker 1: his his he I mean tremendous power. He needed to

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Speaker 1: tap into it a little bit more, and they were

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Speaker 1: always confident he would. That probably started around midway last

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Speaker 1: year and I think at the beginning of this season,

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Speaker 1: they just really wanted him to work on the end

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Speaker 1: zone swing and miss. He wasn't crazy with chasing, although

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Speaker 1: he could. The chase would happen every once in a while.

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Speaker 1: But I think the biggest the biggest issue they saw

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Speaker 1: was this guy needs to make more contact in the zone.

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Speaker 1: That's too often he's swinging through pitches.

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Speaker 2: He should be.

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Speaker 1: Driving very subtly changes I think with like hand placement

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Speaker 1: and things like that. But but they rarely honed in

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Speaker 1: on that. And that was something like kind of like

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Speaker 1: a player development directive.

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Speaker 2: Uh. He took to it.

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Speaker 1: The coaches took to it, like, you know, the hitting

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Speaker 1: coaches at Triple A, Steve Polakoff, Rachel Folden, the hitting coordinators,

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Speaker 1: our guy Andy Haynes has been at Wrigley this week.

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Speaker 2: He helped with this. You know.

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Speaker 1: It's it's a kind of like a whole staff type

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Speaker 1: situation where I think people knew, like, this is a

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Speaker 1: really important player for the organization. He has this flaw

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Speaker 1: that will be exposed in the big league unless we

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Speaker 1: work on it. And and he got to work and

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Speaker 1: it seems like he's really done. I mean, the the

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Speaker 1: zone miss, the end zone miss has dropped every month,

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Speaker 1: and you look at that with that, the strike out

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Speaker 1: rate has dropped every month. I think he's still going

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Speaker 1: to strike out a lot in the big leagues. I

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Speaker 1: think that's inevitable. It's going to be really hard to

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Speaker 1: completely fix that issue against the highest level of pitching.

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Speaker 2: It's just a different we hear. We've been talking.

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Speaker 1: We've probably said this on this show a lot, but

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Speaker 1: I heard it again this week. The jump from Triple

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Speaker 1: A to the majors is bigger than it's ever been.

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Speaker 1: It's just a there's a huge gap, the lack of

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Speaker 1: the losing of the minor league systems of you know,

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Speaker 1: the lower lower levels. It's just a bigger The talent

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Speaker 1: is a little diluted in the sense that I guess

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Speaker 1: people that shouldn't be moving up are moving up. Quicker,

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Speaker 1: promotions are more aggressive, not as much and not as

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Speaker 1: many levels to kind of work on your craft. So

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Speaker 1: the jump from Triple A to majors, that's that's just

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Speaker 1: one of the reasons. There's so many reasons. But the

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Speaker 1: breaking balls, the fastballs, everything's better in the big leagues,

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Speaker 1: and ow in case he's going to be challenged. But

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Speaker 1: look for two games. Two games that these past two games,

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Speaker 1: and just like in general, while he's played, I don't

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Speaker 1: think there's any denial of what he's provided.

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Speaker 2: I'll say this, I understand where.

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Speaker 1: Crek Council was coming from when he wasn't playing him.

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Speaker 1: I think he probably should have gotten a start against

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Speaker 1: the Pirates. It's a those are like three pitchers. I

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Speaker 1: think they were all Righty's not the toughest staff. When

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Speaker 1: Paul Skeens isn't out there, I think it would have

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Speaker 1: been nice to give him a start.

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Speaker 2: I understand.

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Speaker 1: Look there's when I people were like texting me fans

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Speaker 1: that I know, friends that I have, why is anty starting?

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Speaker 2: Why is any starting?

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Speaker 1: And I kind of played Devil's advocate and explained, and

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Speaker 1: I said, first of all, we don't know how he's

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Speaker 1: gonna look.

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Speaker 2: Like Matt Shaw, Pete ro Armstrong.

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Speaker 1: All these kids struggled big time when they first came up,

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Speaker 1: So who knows how good he is out there? A

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Speaker 1: lot of people wanted Ian Hap to sit. Ian Happ

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Speaker 1: has been crushing righties since all start break. Like I

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Speaker 1: understand he's he's gonna be a pariah among the fan base.

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Speaker 2: I get it.

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00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:08,920
Speaker 1: Like the fans love to hate Onny and half that's fine.

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Speaker 1: He's he's been really good against right handed pitching since

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Speaker 1: Alister Break. You can't sit him when your offense is

358
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,800
Speaker 1: struggling that much against righty's. I think the only answer

359
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,159
Speaker 1: really was are you sitting Saya again or are you

360
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Speaker 1: sitting Kyle Tucker?

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Speaker 2: I get, I get.

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Speaker 1: My thing was like, if you're gonna do it, you

363
00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,000
Speaker 1: gotta sit Kyle Tucker for multiple games and get the

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Speaker 1: reset in. And they're finally doing that, and that's what happened.

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Speaker 1: But I also understood, like we got to get this

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Speaker 1: guy going, like we said in the previous segment as

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Speaker 1: far as Kyle Tucker goes.

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Speaker 2: So it was a tough decision.

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Speaker 1: I think that I think I don't know if this

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Speaker 1: would have happened if like I wonder what would have

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Speaker 1: happened if miguel A Maya didn't get hurt, Like would

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Speaker 1: be like where would be what we would be talking

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Speaker 1: about right now as far as Kyle Tucker sitting.

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Speaker 2: But I do think it kind.

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Speaker 1: Of was like the perfect setup where it's like, Okay,

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00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,320
Speaker 1: we have this roster spot and we have this potential

377
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:06,680
Speaker 1: looming like issue with Kyle Tucker. Let's give him a

378
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,119
Speaker 1: little bit more time, and if it doesn't work, here's

379
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,280
Speaker 1: the guy, and we'll play him and we'll see what.

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00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 2: He can do.

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00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 1: And you know, I don't know if that was the

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00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,960
Speaker 1: exact plan, but it's kind of played out that way,

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00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:22,879
Speaker 1: and I think it's they were as patient as you

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00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,160
Speaker 1: could be with Kyle Tucker and now they have the.

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00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,120
Speaker 2: Spark and he's provided it. He's an exciting kid.

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00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 1: Got to give credit to Willie Castro for yesterday's performance

387
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,119
Speaker 1: as well. I think those are the two stars of Tuesday.

388
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,440
Speaker 1: Castro's homer, Castros throw home game one, homer game two,

389
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,199
Speaker 1: throw home. Those were huge swings in the game. But

390
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,680
Speaker 1: those two guys you got to give give a ton

391
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,720
Speaker 1: of credit. And it comes at one, four or five now,

392
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 1: and that's you know, it didn't feel like they were

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Speaker 1: about to do that. When I left the ballpark on Monday,

394
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Speaker 1: I said, it has been a while since it's felt

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Speaker 1: like that.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Maybe the weather contributed to the doom and gloom of

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Speaker 1: it all, but it did not feel good at Wrigley

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00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,640
Speaker 1: on Monday. Just it was And I guess it goes

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Speaker 1: to show like things can shift quickly in this game.

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Speaker 4: One last quick note on Casey.

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Speaker 3: I know we're talking about a small sample here and

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna talk about an even briefer snapshot, but just

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Speaker 3: the handful of times we've talked to him, I feel

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Speaker 3: like there's been that natural maturation process has occurred.

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Speaker 4: I'm thinking of a couple of years ago, he's playing

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Speaker 4: for Team.

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Speaker 3: Canada and the WBC and when not that you judge

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Speaker 3: everything off of how someone talks to the media, but

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00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 3: you could tell how young he was, what a raw

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Speaker 3: kind of prospect he was. I mean, someone who's turned

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Speaker 3: twenty three, who has several years under his belt, you know,

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Speaker 3: multiple seasons, the high levels of the miners, who's produced

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Speaker 3: bost who's played in WBC. I think he's been a

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Speaker 3: futures game guy. Just all that you can tell that

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Speaker 3: he is just a little more prepared for this moment.

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Speaker 3: Not that any he was supposed to be prepared for

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Speaker 3: it two years ago, but that you can see when

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Speaker 3: you hear about the stuff he's done behind the scenes,

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Speaker 3: the kind of caliber of people he's working with, the

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Speaker 3: numbers he's put up, just you know, a guy who

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Speaker 3: kind of looks like he belongs and I think I

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Speaker 3: think that matters in kind of smaller subtle ways.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I totally agree with that.

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Speaker 1: Haven't had a ton of time to talk with him

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Speaker 1: since his call up, but but there has been a

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Speaker 1: maturation here and you know you always want to see

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Speaker 1: that with young players. All right, Well we'll come back

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Speaker 1: after this break and touch on maybe the unheralded part

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Speaker 1: of this team that's led to some wins.

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Speaker 6: FT fans, do you want to have confidence when you

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Speaker 6: go out in public.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely.

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Speaker 6: We can't all wear a backwards hat like me, but

435
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 6: you can get some true Classic fit shirts. It almost

436
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,879
Speaker 6: looks like, oh wow, this shirt was tailored for me. Nope,

437
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,360
Speaker 6: it's every true Classic. This john is soft, it is smooth,

438
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 6: and it makes you look a little jacked.

439
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Speaker 1: Patrick on June twenty fourth, I want to say, June

452
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: twenty fourth, Jameson Tyn had a really bad start against

453
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:21,400
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Since then, the Cubs rotation has a three

454
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,440
Speaker 1: to h three earned run average that's best in baseball

455
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 1: during that span. So June twenty fifth on, it's nearly

456
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:32,399
Speaker 1: two months now of the starting rotation being ridiculously good.

457
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 1: Ridiculously you know, just the leaders of the team, and

458
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,880
Speaker 1: it's gone overlooked because the offense has struggled and they

459
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 1: haven't won enough games. The Brewers got white hot took

460
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 1: over the division. So we just haven't given enough credit

461
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: to this starting rotation. Jameson Tyn returned yesterday, pitched really

462
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,439
Speaker 1: well after what look like he was about to have

463
00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 1: an awful night. You know, got to give props to them.

464
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: I have no clue how long this will last, just

465
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 1: like I have no clue how long Kyle Tucker's struggles

466
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:11,199
Speaker 1: will last. I don't They're probably playing a little bit

467
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 1: above their heads, and that's fine.

468
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:14,479
Speaker 2: Who cares.

469
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,160
Speaker 1: Get the results and try and they've kind of stabilized

470
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 1: and saved this team from probably a potential tailspin. But

471
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 1: obviously a concerning part of it all is what happened

472
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 1: with Kate Horton on Monday. This isn't an elbow or

473
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:37,760
Speaker 1: a shoulder, This isn't something like that, but a blister.

474
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: You know, these are the types of things that ken Linger,

475
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 1: he has dealt with it in the past. It sounds

476
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:49,400
Speaker 1: like it is an occurrence, yearly occurrence according to him.

477
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 1: But you know, maybe it's nothing. It sounds like he's

478
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,680
Speaker 1: down playing it. They're going to play it day to day.

479
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,199
Speaker 1: He was, he's been a stud. He's been you know,

480
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 1: for a little while now. He has been one of

481
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,760
Speaker 1: the best rookies in baseball. You know, we've talked a

482
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: lot about him. But you don't want this to be

483
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 1: something that lingers, because right now the Cubs finally, after

484
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 1: those awful vibes on Monday, it feels like you sweep

485
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 1: the doubleheader, you've won four or five. Just keep it going,

486
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: keep it rolling, especially now the pitching, like this is

487
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 1: a tough stretch. They're in the middle of it get

488
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 1: through this stretch play well and then have that whenever

489
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: that day off comes, you can take a breather, but

490
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 1: you need Kate Horton.

491
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think there is a feeling in the organization.

492
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 3: You know, we've talked about this before, Sahata of like

493
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 3: there the offense is going to come back around, like

494
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 3: that's just hitting comes and goes. I think the bigger

495
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,280
Speaker 3: concern is, like what if three, four or five pitchers

496
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,840
Speaker 3: get injured and or hit a wall and because they've

497
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,040
Speaker 3: had the staff has overachieved, you know, I think it

498
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 3: just kind of hits you when counsel and an athletic

499
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,639
Speaker 3: trainer walks out to the mound.

500
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:16,240
Speaker 4: You don't know what's going on.

501
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 3: Obviously, a blister is not a major injury, but it

502
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 3: could be a big time annoyance. But so that's why

503
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 3: seeing Ty one got back out there is big. Shota

504
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 3: should be a little fresher for the stretch run because

505
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:42,880
Speaker 3: he was sidelined earlier. And you know, Matthew Boyd's been great,

506
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 3: but he has, you know, a track record of injuries,

507
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 3: did not throw a ton of innings last year. I

508
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 3: think a lot of these guys in the bullpen, you know,

509
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 3: there's been some surprises that you just don't know. Like

510
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,560
Speaker 3: I guess even the best bullpens are always kind of volatile,

511
00:28:58,600 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 3: you know.

512
00:28:58,800 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 4: What I mean.

513
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 3: So you're just like looking at all this together. Tyn's

514
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:06,840
Speaker 3: return it was important.

515
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know they've they've optioned a sad.

516
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: He'll be back. I think council said that straight up. Actually,

517
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: like he's.

518
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 2: Going to be back. They have to leverage like this

519
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 2: is what is his fifteen games in fourteen days? Is that?

520
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 2: What the math is?

521
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 1: Uh, it's a lot. It's a lot of baseball in

522
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: like a two week span. H And you know they

523
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 1: need to somehow find a way to get through it

524
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: with a pitching But yeah, I think, you know, I

525
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: don't know if this will last. I don't think it will.

526
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,719
Speaker 1: They think they're not. I think the pitching is is

527
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: if you look at it, you know, with the advanced

528
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 1: numbers or the underlying metrics that they don't strike enough

529
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: guys out. But this is this is a pitching staff

530
00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: that has pitched over its head in general, over the

531
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 1: pat like what over its head in the sense that

532
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: the numbers would suggest the strikeout numbers would suggest that

533
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 1: they shouldn't be pitching this well. I think it goes

534
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: to show like how good the defense is, how good

535
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 1: the game planning is. That they have a they do

536
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: a pretty good job of that. I think showeda is

537
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: huge down the stretch here. He seems like his best

538
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 1: version of himself, and I think his his performance.

539
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 2: I think you got to give some love to Colin Ray.

540
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 2: I know I was.

541
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 1: Calling for him at a certain point like, Okay, maybe

542
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 1: this is run its course. Really like you got to

543
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: give him some love of what I mean. He could

544
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 1: go out there and have a stinker today, and on

545
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 1: occasion he does, but he gives them innings. He's really

546
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: helped them, you know, survive in a in a tough

547
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 1: in a tough stretch here, and I mean throughout the season.

548
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: He's been there, you know, since for a while now,

549
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,760
Speaker 1: and and he's you got to give him credit.

550
00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see, we'll see what happens with.

551
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: Kate Horton, but I think he's huge and changes a

552
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 1: lot of what this team could do, whether he's out

553
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: there or not.

554
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think to wrap up, you're right to point

555
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,240
Speaker 3: out like there was sort of a subtle vibe shift,

556
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 3: or at least it felt really bad on Monday, and

557
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 3: then Tuesday Wrigley had some good energy. You had lots

558
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 3: of different players contributing and also some unexpected guys or

559
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 3: you know, not just kind of the marquee names coming through.

560
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 2: And Council.

561
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 3: Very forcefully made that point, at least for him, his

562
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 3: voice kind of went up a notch and he was

563
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 3: a little more animated by his standards of Like he

564
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 3: insists that nothing terrible has happened to this team that

565
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 3: has been one team in the division on a historic,

566
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 3: unbelievable run, while the Cubs have sort of, you know,

567
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 3: I guess not been absolutely atrocious in every aspect of that. Like,

568
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,120
Speaker 3: this is a long season, this is the most challenging

569
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 3: season in sports, and that the Cubs have earned the

570
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:17,680
Speaker 3: position that they're in and that position should very likely

571
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:19,360
Speaker 3: put them in the playoffs. But they're gonna have to

572
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 3: go out and earn it.

573
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, they have a Currently on Wednesday morning, they have

574
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,400
Speaker 1: a two game lead on the Padres, a four and

575
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 1: a half game lead on the Mets, and a five

576
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,280
Speaker 1: and a half game lead on the Reds. They they're

577
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: they're leading the wild card. They're one of the best

578
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 1: teams in baseball. I do think that matters. I think

579
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: you like you can have two separate conversations. The offense

580
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 1: has been awful and needs to turn it around, and

581
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 1: they're not in some dire straits as a team.

582
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 2: You just don't want it to go. You don't want

583
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,160
Speaker 2: to ignore the problem and say all as well.

584
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 1: And say like they can continue to play like this,

585
00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:59,600
Speaker 1: They couldn't continue to play like this. These last few

586
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,239
Speaker 1: games have really helped shift things in the mindset, and

587
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 1: now you can breathe a little and say, like, okay,

588
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,560
Speaker 1: what more can they do? You know, get on a

589
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 1: hot stretch, show everyone how good you can be again.

590
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 1: And I think it's I think they're capable of that.

591
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 2: We've seen it.

592
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 1: So let's see what type of run they can get on.

593
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,880
Speaker 1: What happens in these next two games against Milwaukee, and.

594
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 2: Of course a big road trip in the West Coast.

595
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: And the next time we talk to you, guys, Patrick

596
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: will be out there and we'll be getting ridy, like

597
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 1: wrapping up the Brewers and talking about what on paper

598
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 1: looks like some easy games, but you know, it's a

599
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:37,600
Speaker 1: long West coast trip.

600
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 2: We'll see how they do. All right, Thanks for listening everyone.

601
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 1: This is north Side Territory, Foul Territory Networks, Cubs podcast.

602
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,

603
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are

604
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 1: on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for listening to everyone.

605
00:33:52,040 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 2: To anything about a wing