1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,360
Speaker 1: You gotta build a team that's expected or projected to

2
00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,280
Speaker 1: win ninety games, right, and so what does that look

3
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:06,160
Speaker 1: like by the time.

4
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:07,840
Speaker 2: They get to Mason next year in regards to the

5
00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:08,760
Speaker 2: catching situation.

6
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,919
Speaker 3: Welcome into North Side Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.

7
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,239
Speaker 3: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We're your

8
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,680
Speaker 3: Cubs beat writers for the Athletic. We are talking Cubs baseball.

9
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:32,120
Speaker 3: Patrick Pete crow Armstrong is on fire. He the Cubs.

10
00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:37,440
Speaker 3: One Monday night in Pittsburgh eighteen to eight, they stole

11
00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,640
Speaker 3: how many bases? Nine? Ten?

12
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:40,440
Speaker 4: Uh?

13
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,919
Speaker 3: It was? It was, it was. It was a lot

14
00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:44,839
Speaker 3: of stolen bases.

15
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:47,160
Speaker 2: I wasn't there.

16
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,360
Speaker 3: They talked about it so much that I lost track

17
00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,880
Speaker 3: three six, Yeah, nine, that's a lot. That's a lot

18
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,480
Speaker 3: of stolen bases. Uh, it was we need on the line,

19
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:05,959
Speaker 3: Yeah from these Yeah, and their pa had three of them.

20
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,840
Speaker 3: What stood up to me, Patrick was the moment he

21
00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,880
Speaker 3: got on first base. It was like the picture immediately

22
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:19,160
Speaker 3: knew it's I can't just focus on the hitter. It

23
00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,520
Speaker 3: was immediately in the pitcher's head. The coaches had the

24
00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:29,319
Speaker 3: catchers head like it. He disrupts the game the moment

25
00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,880
Speaker 3: he gets on base. It's impressive to watch.

26
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,040
Speaker 1: Without a doubt, And this is what the Cubs need

27
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:41,840
Speaker 1: to see, right, I mean, because essentially over this last month,

28
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,720
Speaker 1: I think they've gained like one game in the wild

29
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:51,760
Speaker 1: card race, like this infatuation with oh getting a five hundred,

30
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,040
Speaker 1: and then they lose or like you know, winning two

31
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: games of the series and not getting the sweet Like

32
00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:57,920
Speaker 1: it's it's.

33
00:01:57,720 --> 00:01:58,960
Speaker 2: Been a frustrating season.

34
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,320
Speaker 1: And I think you see why the Cubs were so

35
00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 1: high on PCA and thought it was interesting to have

36
00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,240
Speaker 1: hovey Baia's roll through Wrigley Field last week and then

37
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,440
Speaker 1: get shut down for hip surgery. And it's, you know,

38
00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,720
Speaker 1: Jed Hoeer said it, baseball is a young man's game.

39
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,040
Speaker 1: And we don't know exactly what happened with Hobvey and Detroit.

40
00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 5: I'm sure there's a lot of different factors.

41
00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:26,080
Speaker 1: But it's hard once you reach a certain stage in

42
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,240
Speaker 1: the game to just kind of you either slow down

43
00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,040
Speaker 1: a little bit, or you know, maybe you get a

44
00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,520
Speaker 1: little too predictable, or maybe you take certain things for

45
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,320
Speaker 1: granted or whatever it is. But PA is in that

46
00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:49,320
Speaker 1: a really interesting place right now, and you see how

47
00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,960
Speaker 1: easier it is now to steal bases.

48
00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:52,799
Speaker 2: That helps him.

49
00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,080
Speaker 1: He plays a position that is really really hard to find.

50
00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,320
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be one of those guys who

51
00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,040
Speaker 1: just racks up big war seasons.

52
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:03,720
Speaker 2: I don't know how.

53
00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,680
Speaker 1: I think those can be misleading, just because you go

54
00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,400
Speaker 1: catch a bunch of balls, like like, I think there

55
00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,239
Speaker 1: are ways to sort of like juice your war and

56
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:15,920
Speaker 1: there are certain players who are aware of that. But

57
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,680
Speaker 1: like we can tell, he's a lot faster than Albert Almora,

58
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,720
Speaker 1: and that was the guy that people wondered if he'd

59
00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,160
Speaker 1: be like that at the Cub's former first round pick.

60
00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,640
Speaker 2: And just I don't know. He's one of those rare

61
00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:31,040
Speaker 2: guys that I feel like.

62
00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,640
Speaker 1: Will cross over, like you're gonna turn on if you're

63
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:38,600
Speaker 1: just a baseball fan in general and you go on

64
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,440
Speaker 1: to Twitter, like you're gonna see PCA Like he has

65
00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,560
Speaker 1: that highlight reel capability and a little bit of flash

66
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,320
Speaker 1: that comes don't have a lot of and but he

67
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 1: also has substance. And you address this in our takeaways

68
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,560
Speaker 1: piece the other day of the idea of his kind

69
00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,000
Speaker 1: of prep and routine, like what what have you observed?

70
00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,080
Speaker 2: What have you heard saded.

71
00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,560
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean it stands out to me that, yes,

72
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,680
Speaker 3: is he a confident guy? Yes? Does he is? There

73
00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,600
Speaker 3: some flair there? Absolutely? But he you know, the struggles

74
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,320
Speaker 3: really wore on him in a sense that he didn't like.

75
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,839
Speaker 3: He didn't like the failure. He didn't I'm not sure

76
00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,080
Speaker 3: if he expected it, you know what I mean, Like,

77
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,600
Speaker 3: this is a guy that when it got to sure,

78
00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,279
Speaker 3: I'm sure he expected it as far as like I'm

79
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,359
Speaker 3: coming to the big leagues. It's not going to be easy.

80
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 3: He wasn't unrealistic, but I don't think he expected it

81
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,000
Speaker 3: to last as long as it did. And I think

82
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,120
Speaker 3: that that war on him to a degree to like,

83
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 3: what am I What do I need to do to

84
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,480
Speaker 3: succeed at this level? Can I like didn't. I wouldn't

85
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,080
Speaker 3: say dinged his confidence as much as it It was

86
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,960
Speaker 3: just he was just like, I'm putting in the work.

87
00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,599
Speaker 3: What's going on? You know? And I he was surrounded

88
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,640
Speaker 3: by veterans, he was surrounded like Craig Council was really good.

89
00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,480
Speaker 3: I think where Greig Counsel is a really frank guy, right,

90
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,880
Speaker 3: he doesn't like get beat around the bush, and I

91
00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,599
Speaker 3: think he was pretty straight forward with him about like

92
00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,360
Speaker 3: what he's doing at the plate and what he needs

93
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,160
Speaker 3: to work on. And I thought it was interesting how

94
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:17,000
Speaker 3: Counsel immediately said that the work ethic, the prep is

95
00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,200
Speaker 3: what is what has stood out about him. You know.

96
00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,920
Speaker 3: It was one of those moments that where my where

97
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,960
Speaker 3: you're in pregame and you're just kind of like, okay,

98
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,440
Speaker 3: we're going through pregame. You know you almost are like

99
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,360
Speaker 3: half paying attention or like thinking of your next question

100
00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,200
Speaker 3: or whatever it is. And then and he said, like

101
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,400
Speaker 3: he didn't expect him to get to this point when

102
00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,600
Speaker 3: it came to preparation. He didn't think he'd get there

103
00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,159
Speaker 3: this quickly. And we've I said, I don't think I

104
00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,880
Speaker 3: said this on the podcast, but like preparation routine is

105
00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,240
Speaker 3: this thing that I learned about early on in my

106
00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,240
Speaker 3: career talking to players where I was talking to Paul

107
00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,080
Speaker 3: Kanerko and he said that's what turned his career around.

108
00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,080
Speaker 3: He went from this guy that would had have a

109
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,839
Speaker 3: great like first half or a great second half, Like

110
00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,680
Speaker 3: how do I develop a full one hundred and sixty

111
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,919
Speaker 3: two game season and it was it was, according to

112
00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,359
Speaker 3: if I'm remembering this right, he he watched Jim Tomey

113
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,800
Speaker 3: and saw, Oh, this guy's gonna be a Hall of Famer.

114
00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,920
Speaker 3: And he has this routine that he goes through every day.

115
00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,080
Speaker 3: This is what he does every day, and that gets

116
00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,040
Speaker 3: him ready for the game. And the greats do that.

117
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,960
Speaker 3: They they just stick to their routine. I mean, Danzy

118
00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,360
Speaker 3: Swanson talks about this. We see it, right, we see

119
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,320
Speaker 3: it with it. Apparently PCA has developed that routine and

120
00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 3: you know, I'm sure it'll evolve as the years go on.

121
00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,240
Speaker 3: He'll get better at it, He'll you know, whatever it

122
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,520
Speaker 3: may be. But he's he's sticking to a routine. He's

123
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,720
Speaker 3: figuring out how he needs to prepare for the day.

124
00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,600
Speaker 3: I think that's that that's impressive. That helps, And obviously

125
00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,440
Speaker 3: there were some things that he figured out. In Casey

126
00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,280
Speaker 3: with his swing, that feels good. You know, his mechanics,

127
00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,719
Speaker 3: he's hitting right now, he's seeing the ball well. I

128
00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,880
Speaker 3: just like it just when he's on the basis it like,

129
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,160
Speaker 3: it really stood out to me last night how how

130
00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,800
Speaker 3: much he disrupts the game. And I think he's he's

131
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,480
Speaker 3: at like one point six war, one point seven war,

132
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,960
Speaker 3: whatever that is, and that's with like pretty bad offensive numbers.

133
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,840
Speaker 3: Still he's like eighteen percent below league average, right, and

134
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,880
Speaker 3: it's just like if he plays a full season and

135
00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,240
Speaker 3: if he's even slightly above average offensively, you get him

136
00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,640
Speaker 3: on base. This guy's a difference maker. Just it's the Cubs.

137
00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,440
Speaker 3: You talked about it with Hobby felt like two ships

138
00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,400
Speaker 3: passing in the night type of thing, right, Yep, it's

139
00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,120
Speaker 3: it's pretty remarkable how how much this has turned around

140
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:53,800
Speaker 3: for PCA.

141
00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,360
Speaker 6: We're busy. You're busy, and figuring out food all the

142
00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 6: time is a hassle, especially when you're trying to eat

143
00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,160
Speaker 6: fuel up with factors, no prep, no mess, meals meet

144
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,920
Speaker 6: your wellness goals thanks to the menu of chef created

145
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,120
Speaker 6: meals with options like Calorie Smart, Protein Plus, and Keto Factor.

146
00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,880
Speaker 6: Features fresh, never frozen meals, dietition approved and ready to

147
00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,720
Speaker 6: eat in just two minutes, so no matter how busy

148
00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,760
Speaker 6: you are, you'll always have time to enjoy nutritious, great

149
00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:22,600
Speaker 6: tasting meals.

150
00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 7: Treat yourself to restaurant quality meals that feature premium ingredients

151
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,679
Speaker 7: like filet mignon, shrimp and salmon. With thirty five different

152
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:31,840
Speaker 7: meals and more than sixty add ons to choose from

153
00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,480
Speaker 7: every week, you'll always have new flavors to explore.

154
00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,120
Speaker 6: Head to Factor meals dot com slash foul five zero

155
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,160
Speaker 6: and use code foul five zero to get fifty percent

156
00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,800
Speaker 6: off your first box plus twenty percent off your next month.

157
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,280
Speaker 6: That's code foul five zero at factor meals dot com

158
00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,360
Speaker 6: Slash foul five zero to get fifty percent off your

159
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,360
Speaker 6: first box plus twenty percent off your next month while

160
00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:54,640
Speaker 6: your subscription is active.

161
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 1: And the thing with Hobby that was probably surprising is

162
00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:04,520
Speaker 1: how like quiet and introverted he actually is like. And

163
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:06,480
Speaker 1: it got to a point where he was rarely in

164
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 1: the clubhouse like ever, including spring training, like just all

165
00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,920
Speaker 1: throughout the year, he was just kind of invisible, but

166
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,040
Speaker 1: he became I think when he first came in, I

167
00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,400
Speaker 1: think there was a little more of that showiness. I

168
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,720
Speaker 1: think it was I think someone put the rookie on

169
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,600
Speaker 1: board bumper sticker on his like white Mercedes or something

170
00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:30,920
Speaker 1: in an early spring training.

171
00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,040
Speaker 2: And why I bring that up is that PCA I

172
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,480
Speaker 2: thought he is kind of.

173
00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,640
Speaker 1: More calm and quiet than you would expect if you

174
00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,640
Speaker 1: only watched him on the field. He's around, at least

175
00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,160
Speaker 1: now at this stage's career, he's at his locker all

176
00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,400
Speaker 1: the time, and like, you know, but he's not like

177
00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:56,319
Speaker 1: a loud, look at me presence, which I think is important.

178
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,400
Speaker 1: I will say last year, you know, he didn't look

179
00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:06,640
Speaker 1: like uh, you know, he was sort of taking it

180
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:07,880
Speaker 1: for granted or like.

181
00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,880
Speaker 5: Having that look at me vibe. Last September, I just

182
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,600
Speaker 5: was surprised on the field at how like hyperactive and

183
00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,080
Speaker 5: almost out of control he was that I thought those

184
00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,800
Speaker 5: instincts would be a little more refined because he was

185
00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,760
Speaker 5: so baseball famous growing up in southern California, because he

186
00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,480
Speaker 5: played for Team USA things like.

187
00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,040
Speaker 2: That, and and he wasn't.

188
00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,480
Speaker 1: But and I've said this to the PCA, but I

189
00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,520
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's impressive how he's kind of

190
00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,880
Speaker 1: harnessed a lot of that and how he took that

191
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,920
Speaker 1: failure to heart and worked on it, worked on the

192
00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:46,880
Speaker 1: stuff you need to work needed to work on.

193
00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,640
Speaker 2: And I think like when you take the stuff you're

194
00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:50,640
Speaker 2: talking about.

195
00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,640
Speaker 5: And what we've observed of like who the dude is.

196
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,080
Speaker 1: Misic be an enormous win for the Cubs in what

197
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 1: is sort of turning into the developmental year. And you

198
00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,360
Speaker 1: can almost hear some of the talking points that like

199
00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 1: Jed will be using at his end of season conference.

200
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,440
Speaker 1: Then I think another one of those guys is Miguel Amaya, Like,

201
00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:17,080
Speaker 1: what what do the Cubs have here?

202
00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's I mean, I think that's fascinating. We've we've

203
00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,520
Speaker 3: talked a lot about how catcher is going to be,

204
00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,439
Speaker 3: you know, the their primary focus, one of their primary

205
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:35,160
Speaker 3: objectives is to upgrade that position. Uh. But it's hard

206
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,920
Speaker 3: to ignore what Miguel Amaia is doing. Right. He he

207
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,560
Speaker 3: took that time off to to kind of adjust his mechanics. Uh,

208
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,000
Speaker 3: it was about three or four games and since then.

209
00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,000
Speaker 3: Let me let me take a look. Here, it's a

210
00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,640
Speaker 3: he has. I mean, it's it's good. Let's say that

211
00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,200
Speaker 3: it's like a nine hundred OPS. Right, he was hitting

212
00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,040
Speaker 3: one eighty six at the time and had a five

213
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,120
Speaker 3: h four OPS. Now he had Now he's hitting two

214
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,040
Speaker 3: forty three with a six seventy two OPS. To do

215
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,880
Speaker 3: that late later in the season, to jump your to

216
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,040
Speaker 3: have your batting average jump sixty points, your OPS jump

217
00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,560
Speaker 3: one hundred and seventy points, that's tough to do. You

218
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,760
Speaker 3: have to be red hot to do that. Uh. And yeah,

219
00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,520
Speaker 3: I'm I'm impressed by it. I'm I'm surprised by it.

220
00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:36,080
Speaker 3: When you're that bad, when you're that bad offensively, and

221
00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,440
Speaker 3: and to turn that around with a mechanical change, like

222
00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,440
Speaker 3: a pretty decent mechanical change in the middle of the

223
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,280
Speaker 3: season is hard to do. Uh. It takes takes confidence

224
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,520
Speaker 3: in the coaching staff and and just like a little

225
00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,400
Speaker 3: bit of guts to do that, because it could you

226
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,160
Speaker 3: could go in a tailspin even further right and then

227
00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,719
Speaker 3: and then what what is it? You know, what does

228
00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,120
Speaker 3: it mean? You're you're thinking about your career and what

229
00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,959
Speaker 3: direction it's going. Right, But he's hitting the ball hard,

230
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,960
Speaker 3: he's coming. I mean, I don't want to take away

231
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,640
Speaker 3: credit from him, but it was kind of someone kind

232
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,440
Speaker 3: of I think Taylor asked Counsel about like what does

233
00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,560
Speaker 3: PCA being on base for Amaya do for him as well?

234
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,760
Speaker 3: You know, like the pitcher has to pay attention to PCA,

235
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,040
Speaker 3: and Counsel even said He's like, I don't want to

236
00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,839
Speaker 3: take away from Amaya, like what he's doing is impressive,

237
00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,720
Speaker 3: but he did kind of admit, yeah, that it's constantly

238
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:29,880
Speaker 3: in the pitcher's head. So there's just like that added

239
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,080
Speaker 3: bonus of of of that kind of helping Miguel amayaut.

240
00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,760
Speaker 3: But but Counsel was right, And I don't want to

241
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,720
Speaker 3: take anything away from him because watching him, it's it's

242
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,800
Speaker 3: completely changed the way the lineup and the Cubs feel

243
00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,240
Speaker 3: because they were getting nothing from that part of the lineup,

244
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,960
Speaker 3: and suddenly, you know, danceby Swanson is starting to look

245
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 3: more like the Dance by Swanson he was last year.

246
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,559
Speaker 3: Not a superstar on offense, but productive. Maya just looks

247
00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,320
Speaker 3: really good. And it has to bring about quot sessions

248
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,800
Speaker 3: about how do you handle the off season. You don't

249
00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:10,520
Speaker 3: want to overreact to what's been basically a month and

250
00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:14,640
Speaker 3: a half two months now of offensive production, but you

251
00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,240
Speaker 3: also can't ignore it, right. This is all part of

252
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,600
Speaker 3: what do they say what a Carter and Jed say,

253
00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,200
Speaker 3: like it's these are more data points to add, right

254
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:24,920
Speaker 3: or whatever however you want to phrase it.

255
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,520
Speaker 2: And progress is linear.

256
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, that one as well. So yeah, it's it's

257
00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,400
Speaker 3: it's something you have to pay attention to. And and

258
00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,440
Speaker 3: you know, I'm not saying like Miguel Amaya deserves eighty

259
00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,400
Speaker 3: percent of the starts next year. We'll see what the

260
00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:45,440
Speaker 3: final month of baseball gives us as far as his production,

261
00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,320
Speaker 3: but it has to be at least putting something in

262
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,360
Speaker 3: Jed and Carter's head about how they attack the off season.

263
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's a lot to unpack with a

264
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,680
Speaker 1: maya of you know, he's only twenty five, and I

265
00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,600
Speaker 1: think we both agree like catching generally comes a little later.

266
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:11,320
Speaker 1: I mean, he was a good offensive prospect coming up

267
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,280
Speaker 1: through the Miners. At the same time, the knock on

268
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,800
Speaker 1: him in the miners right was that he couldn't stay healthy.

269
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,640
Speaker 1: And I'm kind of surprised, you know, at how durable

270
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 1: he's been thus far, and I think that would be

271
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,640
Speaker 1: a concern moving forward. I think ideally when they moved

272
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,920
Speaker 1: on from Wilson, didn't they basically say like we kind

273
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,840
Speaker 1: of want like a timeshare cod catcher type deal moving forward.

274
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,960
Speaker 2: So I still think you address it.

275
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:47,000
Speaker 1: I wouldn't cross my fingers and hope Amaya and Baalisteros

276
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,400
Speaker 1: are like it. I mean, maybe they could be, and

277
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:56,400
Speaker 1: maybe Amaya and Baalisteros get DH at bats at some

278
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,680
Speaker 1: point moving forward, but.

279
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:03,320
Speaker 2: I don't know.

280
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,120
Speaker 1: I think this is really gets to a lot of

281
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,000
Speaker 1: what we're seeing out of the Cubs. Like, you know,

282
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,280
Speaker 1: Christopher Morell had this great reset last year in Anaheim,

283
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,520
Speaker 1: right where they put him in time out for three

284
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,920
Speaker 1: games and all of a sudden, you know, you look

285
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,320
Speaker 1: up and wow, he had a really great year, Like

286
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,600
Speaker 1: this is like, let's see what we got and it

287
00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,920
Speaker 1: absolutely cratered and they traded him for parade days. So

288
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,840
Speaker 1: I think there is a kind of a danger in

289
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:33,920
Speaker 1: overreacting to some of the stuff. I think that I

290
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:34,960
Speaker 1: think they have to get it catured.

291
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:35,440
Speaker 2: No matter what.

292
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,320
Speaker 1: They've been pretty lucky, like I said, healthwives. Obviously needle

293
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,480
Speaker 1: went down, but and they were able to get some

294
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,480
Speaker 1: of those extra depth guys to come in and boost

295
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,760
Speaker 1: it a little bit. But this to me goes back

296
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 1: to what you say, sid of like, you got to

297
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,760
Speaker 1: build a team that's expected or projected to win ninety games, right,

298
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,800
Speaker 1: and so what what does that look like by the

299
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 1: time they get to Mason next year?

300
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,480
Speaker 2: In regards to the catching.

301
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 3: Situation, Yeah, so a couple of things. First of all,

302
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:12,919
Speaker 3: fact check eight stolen bases last night and PAS twenty

303
00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,200
Speaker 3: six at twenty seven. Man, that's insane. And the one

304
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,480
Speaker 3: that he was caught stealing was that failed a bunt

305
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,159
Speaker 3: attempt where he strayed too far off third. So but

306
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,480
Speaker 3: with Maya nine to ninety one ops in his last

307
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,879
Speaker 3: one hundred and one plate appearances, So that's like what

308
00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,600
Speaker 3: like a quarter a fifth of us full season if

309
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,840
Speaker 3: you're the full time, full time catcher. I don't want

310
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,919
Speaker 3: to get too crazy with this, right, but when you

311
00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:47,320
Speaker 3: have a moment where where you change something specific, like, right,

312
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,000
Speaker 3: this isn't just a hot streak that came out of nowhere,

313
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,919
Speaker 3: something specific was changed, you have to you know, you

314
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,879
Speaker 3: have to at least pay attention a little bit more.

315
00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:04,240
Speaker 3: But I think what we're what we're seeing here, probably

316
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,640
Speaker 3: even if it's a hot final month two, you want

317
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:10,840
Speaker 3: to get like, like you said, you want to up

318
00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,680
Speaker 3: those projections. I still think you need like you want

319
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,320
Speaker 3: to go into the season feeling like we have a

320
00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:22,280
Speaker 3: fifty to fifty time share at minimum, right, if not,

321
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,800
Speaker 3: if not sixty forty with the new the new guy

322
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,600
Speaker 3: taking more like uh starts behind the plate. Well, however

323
00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,480
Speaker 3: they end up seeing it, I just Catcher won't be ignored, right,

324
00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,920
Speaker 3: they're not. I'd be very surprised if they're going into

325
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,919
Speaker 3: next season expecting Biostais to be the the backup or

326
00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:44,920
Speaker 3: they don't know.

327
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,800
Speaker 5: If he can catch at all, to be right right

328
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,360
Speaker 5: level on a consistent basis.

329
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:53,600
Speaker 3: Exactly and he's it's not like he's destroying Triple A offensively,

330
00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:55,600
Speaker 3: Like he's hit a little bit of a bump in

331
00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,560
Speaker 3: the road and that's that's not to rip him in

332
00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:59,560
Speaker 3: any way. He's a twenty year old kid at Triple A.

333
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,000
Speaker 3: This is how it works. He should hit a bump

334
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,480
Speaker 3: in the road. It's normal and it'll probably help his

335
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,040
Speaker 3: development in the long run. But so that the discussion

336
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,679
Speaker 3: then becomes in my mind, do we see the Cubs

337
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,639
Speaker 3: pursue someone like Danny Jansen or Carson Kelly that type

338
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,320
Speaker 3: and go with a veteran that they know can catch,

339
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,720
Speaker 3: that they know will it, like you know, gives them

340
00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:30,760
Speaker 3: a floor, so to say, and someone they can rely

341
00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,879
Speaker 3: on to like like carry the load with Amaya or

342
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,800
Speaker 3: do they go hard after a hobby again or a

343
00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,119
Speaker 3: different catcher that that may be available and have someone

344
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,760
Speaker 3: that's catching seventy percent of the time. And I don't

345
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,560
Speaker 3: think either route is terrible with the way Amaya is

346
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,400
Speaker 3: playing right now. But when you bring up Morele, you're right,

347
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:58,200
Speaker 3: we don't know. A couple months of success doesn't mean

348
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,679
Speaker 3: that you change your strateg completely. It just can't eat

349
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,400
Speaker 3: like it would be really risky if so when Jed

350
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 3: said at the deadline he wanted to see some things

351
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,320
Speaker 3: from the offense, I think what he was saying is,

352
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,560
Speaker 3: like guys that have performed, he wanted to make sure

353
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 3: like something wasn't completely off with them, or he wanted

354
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,680
Speaker 3: to see some progress with these guys. I don't think

355
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,159
Speaker 3: it was gonna sit like it was more about like,

356
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:28,120
Speaker 3: oh no, oh, we're fine now. I'm not adding offense

357
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 3: right that. I don't think that's what he was saying.

358
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:32,600
Speaker 2: I know, not at all.

359
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,159
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I never took it that way at all.

360
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:39,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, it was it was I want to see progress.

361
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,440
Speaker 3: I want to feel better about this group, and then

362
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,280
Speaker 3: we can supplement and add here and there and know

363
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 3: specifically where and what we need to add and maybe

364
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,440
Speaker 3: feel a little bit better. It's like what we're talking

365
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 3: about right now with Amaya. Do they go hard after

366
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,639
Speaker 3: a star bat that can catch or do they say,

367
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,000
Speaker 3: you know what, he can handle fifty to fifty and

368
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,000
Speaker 3: we can win games with a veteran paired with him.

369
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,160
Speaker 3: And I think that's that That's what they're probably debating

370
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:12,720
Speaker 3: right now, and it's certainly an interesting conversation and it's

371
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 3: got to be hard, like how do you how do

372
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 3: you know what's real? How do you know? How do

373
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,480
Speaker 3: you trust that this this can carry over? And how

374
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,119
Speaker 3: do you what if you make the mistake that, shoot,

375
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,879
Speaker 3: he should have been the guy who we should have

376
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:27,960
Speaker 3: given him seventy percent of the start. So what if

377
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,760
Speaker 3: what if it takes what if to get that catcher

378
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 3: takes giving up Miguel Amayah? You know what if they

379
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,160
Speaker 3: decide to go after a star catcher and it takes

380
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 3: giving up Miguel Amaya, Do you make that move? I

381
00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:43,960
Speaker 3: don't know, Like he's putting, he's putting these thoughts in

382
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 3: my mind that I did not think I would have

383
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 3: a month ago.

384
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,439
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's important to remember he kind of

385
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,680
Speaker 1: triggered my mary. This guy had fifteen games at.

386
00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:01,240
Speaker 5: The Triple A level for his entire.

387
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: Part, just with the roster crunch as and the options

388
00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:05,640
Speaker 1: running out as.

389
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:10,480
Speaker 4: A international free agent who had signed and dealt with

390
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 4: a lot of injuries that had just been kind of

391
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,480
Speaker 4: stashed on the forty man roster for a long time

392
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,160
Speaker 4: before he made any sort of.

393
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,359
Speaker 2: Impact. I thought it was interesting, I thought of you.

394
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:26,879
Speaker 1: When the Angels announced a short extension for their GM

395
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 1: that to me, my gut feel would be they would

396
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 1: probably hold on to Hoppy in that scenario. I do

397
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 1: think this rules out the I don't know, I'm pronouncing

398
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:37,560
Speaker 1: his name right.

399
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:43,400
Speaker 2: Shae Langeliers from Oakland. I think if Amaya.

400
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: Is like pretty good, like a backup. Plus, I don't

401
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 1: know if you go all out for a guy who

402
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: may not be like a huge difference maker coming out

403
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,240
Speaker 1: of Oakland, But I could certainly see the wisdom of

404
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,359
Speaker 1: a nice two year deal for a guy like Carson Kelly,

405
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: if you think. And the unspoken thing that's always really

406
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,520
Speaker 1: hard to get a good handle on is the soft

407
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,359
Speaker 1: factors behind the plate, because at times it feels like

408
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: they're overblown.

409
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:17,720
Speaker 2: It feels like.

410
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: Sometimes you know, uh, I'll just use Kyle Hendricks as

411
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,159
Speaker 1: an example. Kyle Hendricks is the greatest teammate ever, right,

412
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 1: so if you ask him about a catcher at any times, oh,

413
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: he's the best back there, right and.

414
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 2: He probably means it, like in his heart he means it.

415
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,160
Speaker 2: But like, is that the most like incisive.

416
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: Look at what the Cubs catching situation is at any

417
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 1: given time? Like sometimes it's it's hard to tell, and

418
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,119
Speaker 1: you know, I felt like there were times they were

419
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,119
Speaker 1: a little hard on Wilson. There were certainly times where

420
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:52,359
Speaker 1: you kind of looked at Wilson and be like, dude,

421
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 1: are you serious, Like you know what, like you kind

422
00:23:55,160 --> 00:24:00,480
Speaker 1: of get why maybe they'd have some some reservations there.

423
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 2: So like, if.

424
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 1: Maya has shown enough defensive progress, I think that's another factor,

425
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 1: and that is ultimately that they'll just show us that.

426
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,240
Speaker 2: Like it's really hard to get someone to tell you.

427
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 1: You can get certain people to talk about it, but

428
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 1: to get like to the heart of the matter is

429
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,399
Speaker 1: really hard because you're dealing with, over the course of

430
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,399
Speaker 1: a season, so many pitchers. There are so many coaches

431
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:34,320
Speaker 1: and analysts involved in this, and then there's the offensive

432
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 1: factor too. So if but I do think that Amaya,

433
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 1: as I've known him over the years, you know, seems

434
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: like a pretty genuine guy who's humble and quiet and

435
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 1: wants to work. And you know, whatever happens, credit to him,

436
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,880
Speaker 1: because even just like doing some of this bare minimum

437
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 1: stuff means he could have like a ten year career

438
00:24:59,480 --> 00:24:59,639
Speaker 1: in the.

439
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:04,120
Speaker 3: Big leagu right right backup catchers have long careers as well,

440
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 3: and obviously he's got potential for more. So the Cubs

441
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 3: have to be you know, that that that has to

442
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,159
Speaker 3: that's a bright spot so far in the second half

443
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 3: among a few of them, that that gives them some

444
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 3: hope for twenty twenty five, while still you know, giving

445
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 3: them the slightest bit of hope for this season, which

446
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 3: Atlanta just keeps winning. Patrick So so we can't. So

447
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 3: we can't. You know, the Cubs can't celebrate too much

448
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 3: with their better performance of late.

449
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:35,159
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I wanted to.

450
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: These things are important because I think it gives context

451
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,159
Speaker 1: to like, the rest of the organization. You have a

452
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: good piece up on the athletic on Cam Smith, the

453
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 1: Cub's most recent first round pick, and I think, like

454
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 1: I personally have some prospect fatigue and that like when

455
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 1: things aren't working at the major league level or as

456
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,679
Speaker 1: certain prospects fall off. I do think there's like a

457
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,720
Speaker 1: shiny new object element to all of this.

458
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 2: But I thought you did a good job of putting

459
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 2: it in.

460
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 1: Perspective of like how this guy popped as a prospect,

461
00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:15,240
Speaker 1: you know why they targeted him, and like what he's

462
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,199
Speaker 1: done so far in the minors is pretty remarkable.

463
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, he ended his Myrtle Beach career with

464
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 3: six homers in six games, six, six st eight games

465
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,359
Speaker 3: with homers. I believe that was a myrtle beat. I

466
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 3: believe five was the record, and you just kept going.

467
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 3: I could be wrong. I'm going off my memory based

468
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 3: on tweets, But but he he's a he's a pretty

469
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:50,359
Speaker 3: interesting prospect. So defensively, it's it's a great arm, it'll

470
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 3: stick it third, right, he'll stick it third with the arm,

471
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 3: it's that the hands like are about average, and then

472
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 3: the footwork needs work, and it sounds like from what

473
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,879
Speaker 3: I've gathered, that will be a big focus in the

474
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,360
Speaker 3: off season as far as his defensive work. Scouts outside

475
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,880
Speaker 3: the ORG, most of them really liked this pick. They

476
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 3: that want. One scout was was kind of like it

477
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,439
Speaker 3: was like I love how aggressive they were with not overthinking, uh,

478
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,640
Speaker 3: not overthinking this pick, because this is someone that kind

479
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 3: of popped suddenly right his his freshman year, too much

480
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,360
Speaker 3: swing and miss. Didn't really seem like a first round pick,

481
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 3: Like you wouldn't have selected him in the first round

482
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 3: if you're looking at his freshman numbers, you kind of

483
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,439
Speaker 3: rework some things. He has an unorthodox setup where like

484
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 3: the bat is like almost in front of him and

485
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 3: there's not a lot of movement, which makes you think, okay, this,

486
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 3: how does this guy generate power because he's really strong,

487
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 3: and they like he's a big dude who's strong. It's

488
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 3: not so oh in case he has like elite exit velocities, right,

489
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 3: it's not there. But Owen Casey also has elite exit

490
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 3: velocities for like for big leaguers. He's like in Geene

491
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:14,120
Speaker 3: Carlos Stanton range. But cam smith is is like elite

492
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 3: for a draft prospect. Like in the draft it was

493
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 3: among the best for for exit velocity and bat speed

494
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 3: and they have these The Cubs have these swing properties

495
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,359
Speaker 3: that they look at, like the swing plane and things

496
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 3: like that, and he like batspeed like I mentioned, and

497
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 3: he's he has all of that. He hits for power,

498
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 3: he makes contact, he doesn't the in zone swing and

499
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 3: miss reduced greatly this season. I think that was the

500
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 3: big thing that scouts took notice of, Like this guy's

501
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 3: not missing at pitches in the zone anymore. He does

502
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 3: damage on those pitches, which freshman year he wasn't doing that,

503
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,200
Speaker 3: and and they they saw the swing change. It's kind

504
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 3: of like what I was saying about with Amaya. Right,

505
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 3: It's one thing if you suddenly change and there's no explanation.

506
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 3: This guy's just hot, okay, but why the why is

507
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 3: he made changes right now? There are some things they

508
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 3: want him to be, like a little looser and freer

509
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,240
Speaker 3: in the box. One thing I was told is the

510
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,479
Speaker 3: philosophy of the front office right now is as far

511
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 3: as player development goes, is we're not changing anyone's swing

512
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 3: unless they fail. Uh. So you know, this guy there,

513
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 3: there is a chance that they'll make some changes with

514
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 3: with whether it's his setup or his mechanics, but it's

515
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 3: not going to happen right now. He's because yeah, right,

516
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,960
Speaker 3: but but this guy right now is crushing the ball.

517
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 3: He's been promoted to South Bend. Uh, there's like he's

518
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,959
Speaker 3: kind of on the Matt Shaw track right now. And

519
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 3: to be uh, if he crushes South Bend, Tennessee is

520
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 3: going to be in the playoffs. Uh he could he

521
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 3: could be called up and play a few games for

522
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 3: Tennessee as well, kind of like kind of like what

523
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 3: happened with Shaw last year. So we'll see if we'll

524
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,360
Speaker 3: see where is it's an it's a they've they've done

525
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,160
Speaker 3: a good job. They seem to, like I was told,

526
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 3: like they targeted. A lot of the said that I

527
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 3: had someone outside the org raving about their second round

528
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 3: pick too. But uh, but camp Smith definitely an interesting

529
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,480
Speaker 3: prospect and someone yet again they what was it fourteenth

530
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 3: they selected this year? Is that right?

531
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 2: It sounds about right?

532
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 3: And and uh and they're getting a guy that's gonna,

533
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 3: you know, probably be mentioned in top one hundred lists.

534
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 3: Uh yet again that that's that's pretty good. You have

535
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 3: to you have to give them some credit there where

536
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 3: they're not just drafting in the top ten. They're not

537
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,880
Speaker 3: drafting top five every time, and they're getting quality prospects,

538
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 3: possibly impactful prospects, which.

539
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 1: Means they said, start trading some of them this offseason. Yeah,

540
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,040
Speaker 1: that'll be a separate podcast. But that would be my

541
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 1: if not that no one's asking me, but if I

542
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 1: was a special assistant in there getting rid of some

543
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: of these guys that you know, the prospect writers love

544
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,400
Speaker 1: that if their top one hundred, like, I would start

545
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: moving some of those those guys because.

546
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:14,560
Speaker 2: It's it's time to win. It's been a been a

547
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 2: tough watch this year and that I think if you.

548
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 1: Can get some some major league imping talent in there,

549
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: I would I would that would be the route I

550
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:24,040
Speaker 1: would choose.

551
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I don't want to hear spin of

552
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 3: You know, this is a second place team. This team

553
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 3: is barely outside the playoff race. You know that that'd

554
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,200
Speaker 3: be the second year in a row we could make

555
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 3: some of those excuses. I agree. I'd be a little

556
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 3: surprised if there isn't at least one big trade. What

557
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 3: they what role they fell like, what spot they feel

558
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 3: We'll we'll find out. Yeah, and we'll continue to dig

559
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 3: into and and talk about this off when once offseason

560
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 3: gets here. But uh yeah, trading prospects is going to

561
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 3: have to be something that they consider and and and

562
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 3: look into and probably be pretty aggressive with. They can't

563
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,360
Speaker 3: play all these guys. And and it's not like I

564
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 3: know people complain about Happen and Suzuki at times. They're

565
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,840
Speaker 3: both really productive players. Yeah, it's not the issue. Yeah,

566
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 3: So so you you need to start thinking about who

567
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 3: to move. And in the bottom line is you have

568
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 3: to be right. We say this all the time. They

569
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 3: got to pick the right ones. They can't move the

570
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 3: ones that turn into stars. So they're the ones that

571
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 3: know that they're the ones that are on top of

572
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 3: these guys. So use the information that you have, and

573
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 3: and and go target the right players. Uh, Patrick, they

574
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 3: have two more against Pittsburgh, three against the Nationals, and

575
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 3: then I believe three more against Pittsburgh at home. Right. Uh,

576
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 3: it's not gonna be easier. Yeah, it's not gonna be

577
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 3: easy because Pittsburgh has Paul Skeins, Jared Jones goes Tuesday night. Uh,

578
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 3: these aren't These aren't easy pitchers to face. We'll see

579
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 3: how the Cubs. They did a great job against Keller,

580
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,680
Speaker 3: We'll see if they can do that against Jones. They

581
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 3: need to start sweeping some series here. They need to

582
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,080
Speaker 3: start gaining some ground on Atlanta. Otherwise we're gonna have

583
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 3: to squarely focus on on twenty twenty five and beyond

584
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 3: because they're barely hanging on to hope here. So we'll

585
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,719
Speaker 3: see if they can finish off a series, if they

586
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 3: can even get a chance to sweep, because Jared Jones

587
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 3: is no pushover. So we'll see. We'll see how they do.

588
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 3: If this offense can put together back to back strong

589
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 3: offensive nights, you know.

590
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: Scoring eighteen runs, you know they're gonna get like get

591
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 1: shut out one of these, right, I mean, it just

592
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,240
Speaker 1: happened just happened in Miami, right They score fourteen and

593
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,959
Speaker 1: then scored two against Adam Ahller.

594
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:49,720
Speaker 3: So Skens and Jones are a little tougher competition too,

595
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 3: So we'll see what they can do in Pittsburgh the

596
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 3: rest of this series, and then out in DC where

597
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 3: Dylan Cruz was just called up, so you know that

598
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 3: there maybe there'll be some prospect hype in Washington as well.

599
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,760
Speaker 3: All right, thanks for listening everyone. Make sure to subscribe, rate,

600
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 3: and review to Northside Territory, Subscribe to the YouTube channel,

601
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,960
Speaker 3: Subscribe to The Athletic where you can read Patrick in

602
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,839
Speaker 3: my work on the Cubs. We always appreciate that. We

603
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 3: appreciate you engaging with us and helping the podcast go.

604
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 3: And thanks to everyone behind the scenes for doing all

605
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 3: the work to make sure that this podcast sounds great

606
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 3: and is ready for your ears on a day on

607
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,839
Speaker 3: a weekly basis. Appreciate it everyone. Thanks for listening. Take care,