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

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

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

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Speaker 1: Cubs offense continues to roll nine runs scored against the

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Speaker 1: Pirates in Pittsburgh on Tuesday Night. It's like it they're

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Speaker 1: just not slowing down right now. They have you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a game here or there where they may be limited,

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Speaker 1: but it's not extended slumps, not yet at least where

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Speaker 1: we're not yet to May. But Carson Kelly's mashing Peeka,

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Speaker 1: Armstrong's mashing Sa Suzuki's on a on a little heater

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Speaker 1: as well. Uh, these guys that they hit four home runs,

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Speaker 1: even even Dansby Swanson came through with a home run.

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Speaker 1: A little shakeup of the lineup from Craig Council with

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Speaker 1: Carson Kelly bed and cleanup and and Dansby Swanson moving

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Speaker 1: down Michael Bush in there against the lefty. I mean

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Speaker 1: a lot of positives right now going for the Cubs,

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Speaker 1: especially offensively.

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Speaker 2: No doubt you had a good piece up in the

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Speaker 2: Athletic on Carson Kelly just kind of the changes he

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Speaker 2: has made over the years, and I think this is

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Speaker 2: a guy that they're getting at kind of the right

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Speaker 2: time in his career. You know, he had been kind

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Speaker 2: of a you know, potentially an air apparent to YadA,

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Speaker 2: Air Molina and Saint Louis, part of the Paul Goldschmidt

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Speaker 2: trade going to Arizona. Seemed to have found something with

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Speaker 2: the Tigers. Was a trade deadline edition last year for

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Speaker 2: the Rangers. And you know, he's not gonna be very

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Speaker 2: bonds the entire season, but like just being competent, above average,

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Speaker 2: a very good defensive edition as well, someone who pairs,

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Speaker 2: you know, almost perfectly with Miguel Amaya, like you can

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Speaker 2: see one through now. I guess he's now more like

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Speaker 2: the cleanup hitter. But one through nine. Things starting to

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Speaker 2: gel in a way that I think is sustainable. Maybe

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Speaker 2: they won't be number one in every category for the

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Speaker 2: entire year, but if they stay healthy, it seems like

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Speaker 2: they have a pretty good thing going, which is why

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Speaker 2: we wanted to have a certain guest on today.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Dustin Kelly will be joining us soon, the hitting

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Speaker 1: coach for the Cubs. You know, hitting coaches get a

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Speaker 1: lot of heat which things aren't going well.

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Speaker 3: We don't hear from them much.

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Speaker 1: But things are going well, or at least we don't

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Speaker 1: hear the complaints or I should say, the praise from

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Speaker 1: mans saying like how about that hitting coach? Look at

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Speaker 1: the offense? Nobody says that. And I'm not saying like

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Speaker 1: the credit goes to Dustin Kelly, right, Like he doesn't

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Speaker 1: get all the credit, Like this is the players get

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Speaker 1: the credit. That's why I say the players should get

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Speaker 1: the blame when when things are struggling, like that should

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Speaker 1: be the number one thing you look at. But and

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Speaker 1: Kelly comes from a background of you know, he was

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Speaker 1: he was in the Dodgers system. It was he was

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Speaker 1: brought in to be a minor league hitting coordinator. He was,

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Speaker 1: you know, he was like he was there for what

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Speaker 1: a year before he took over as heading coach, two

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Speaker 1: years before he took over my sitting coach. He wasn't

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Speaker 1: in the order that long. But just an easy guy

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Speaker 1: to talk to, very soft spoken, I guess. But you

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Speaker 1: can tell the passions there for for what he's doing. Uh,

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Speaker 1: it seems to be clicking well. And it's not just him, right,

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Speaker 1: John Mayley's there. They have a good hitting infrastructure. It's

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Speaker 1: a it's a good group of guys that seemed to

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Speaker 1: be doing a strong job communicating and kind of handling

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Speaker 1: all those duties.

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Speaker 3: Uh with with the with the lineup.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the history you alluded to is certainly

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Speaker 2: something that hovered over the position when when Dustin Kelly

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Speaker 2: was promoted and fairly rapid fashion, the theo Epstein jed

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Speaker 2: Hoyer administration did not have a ton of patients with

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Speaker 2: hitting coaches. Now that is sort of the nature of

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Speaker 2: the job. I think the hitting coach position has become

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Speaker 2: this really thankless job just with how technology really seems

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Speaker 2: to favor pitching and defense. So the Cubs have made

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Speaker 2: some strides in that area. And then you know, at

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Speaker 2: any given time, if you're dealing with, you know, whatever,

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Speaker 2: twelve thirteen hitters, you know a significant group of you know,

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Speaker 2: percentage of that group is going to be struggling at

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Speaker 2: any giving time. And then with the way the modern

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Speaker 2: game has evolved, there a lot of players have their

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Speaker 2: own sort of like private swing coaches, and you know,

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Speaker 2: if it feels great in the winter, right when there's

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Speaker 2: no defense, there's no pitcher, and the swing feels great,

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Speaker 2: there's no results, and then when you kind of get

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Speaker 2: that thrown back at you, it's a little different, and

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Speaker 2: you hit on this shada of last year. What Dustin

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Speaker 2: Kelly and his group did with Pete Crow Armstrong and

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Speaker 2: Miguel Emile last year extremely impressive. I mean, just ask

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Speaker 2: Craig Council and like, why this group was brought back

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Speaker 2: and why they've kind of continued along this path is

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Speaker 2: because when you can take two young, eager to learn

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Speaker 2: hitters who have some aptitude and athleticism and make real

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Speaker 2: time changes on the fly to kind of unlock that talent,

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Speaker 2: like in June, July, August, like that is what great

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Speaker 2: organizations do. And I think that you alluded to. I mean,

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Speaker 2: our listeners will hear it just to his voice, his

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Speaker 2: kind of demeanor, a very good listener, very patient, very

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Speaker 2: player centric. Not that he has some sort of he

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Speaker 2: obviously has beliefs and philosophy, but it's not really about

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Speaker 2: his personality his experience.

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Speaker 3: In the game.

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Speaker 2: It's more of really kind of being there for the players.

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Speaker 2: And you saw it with Pete, you saw it with Amaya,

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Speaker 2: and I think this is kind of the next phase

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Speaker 2: of that. Kyle Tucker obviously helps, but there was kind

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Speaker 2: of a foundation in place before that trade with the astros.

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Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's take a quick break and we'll

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Speaker 1: be joined by DK soon enough.

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Speaker 1: All right, right on time, Let's let's bring in Cubs

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Speaker 1: hitting coach Dustin Kelly, Dustin, thanks so much for joining us.

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Speaker 1: It looks like you're in your hotel room out in Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 1: A fun night yet again in Pittsburgh offenses rolling. We're

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Speaker 1: having you at the perfect time, right like the offense

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Speaker 1: is going, Let's let's get Dustin Kelly on. He can

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Speaker 1: you can boast about all the amazing things this group

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Speaker 1: is doing.

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Speaker 7: It's always good to talk to media when the offense

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Speaker 7: is rolling. I will say that much. But enjoy talking

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Speaker 7: to you guys. Thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 3: Well with us.

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Speaker 2: I know you're in Pittsburgh now, but after a couple

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Speaker 2: of home stands at Wrigley one of the things that's

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Speaker 2: kind of jumped out to us is it seems like

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Speaker 2: as a staff and the players in the clubhouse have

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Speaker 2: tried to sort of embrace Wrigley Field. And you know,

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Speaker 2: I think for generations, players and front offices have tried

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Speaker 2: to figure out how to sort of tame it and

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Speaker 2: kind of make it a home field advantage. What can

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Speaker 2: you kind of just walk us through as a staff,

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Speaker 2: you know, going back to maybe say like the end

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Speaker 2: of last season into spring training, how did as a

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Speaker 2: group you approach that challenge of Wrigley Field.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I think I mean we've always known that Rigley's

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Speaker 7: a special place and that we have an advantage there.

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Speaker 7: The fans, the commitment to the fan like everything that

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Speaker 7: when you walk through the doors there, you know that

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Speaker 7: like you're in Cubs Land. The weather, that's a different factor.

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Speaker 7: And I think that's kind of what you're alluding to,

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Speaker 7: is you know, last year was such a weird weather

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Speaker 7: pattern with just the way the wind blew in and

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Speaker 7: it was so it just wasn't advantageous for the hitters.

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Speaker 7: And I think a lot of times you think that

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Speaker 7: that's going to change, and you're thinking, Okay, like all right,

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Speaker 7: next week, it's going to be better.

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Speaker 4: When you get back, it's gonna better.

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Speaker 7: That just didn't happen last year, and I think like

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Speaker 7: as a staff, we kind of started talking about, Okay,

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Speaker 7: how do we how do we make this an advantage

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Speaker 7: for us? We play here every day. We know that,

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Speaker 7: you know, it's not going to be a great place

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Speaker 7: to hit today. So when we're talking in hitters meetings,

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Speaker 7: when we're talking to our players, what can we do

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Speaker 7: to make our players feel confident that this is still

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Speaker 7: an advantage for us. So throughout the off season we

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Speaker 7: kind of came up with the thing embraced Wrigley. You've

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Speaker 7: probably heard that from a couple of people, and that's

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Speaker 7: exactly what it is. It's like, this is our home turf.

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Speaker 7: We know what it's going to be like today. We

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Speaker 7: know that it's not going to be a great time

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Speaker 7: to hit. So what can we do offensively to make

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Speaker 7: sure that we're giving ourselves as the best chance, whether

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Speaker 7: that's hit and run, whether that's butt, whether that's having

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Speaker 7: an approach of like a low line drive. We got

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Speaker 7: to pull this guy. We've got to stay OPO with

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Speaker 7: this guy. So it's just more conversations and awareness. You

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Speaker 7: still have to go out and execute, which is the

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Speaker 7: hard part, but we're just bringing more awareness to what

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Speaker 7: the situation is and how we think is a staff

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Speaker 7: we can attack that particular.

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Speaker 1: Day justin I mean, it's obvious the impact Peter Armstrong's head.

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Speaker 1: So far this season, he's frankly playing at an MVP

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Speaker 1: level with the all around game that he has right now.

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Speaker 3: But this was obviously a process.

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Speaker 1: It took a little while to get to this point

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Speaker 1: to see this, PCA. Can you tell us a little

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Speaker 1: bit about what happened last summer, how you guys work

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Speaker 1: together to kind of get it to there, and then

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Speaker 1: there are more changes. He's not the same hit or

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Speaker 1: that he was in August and September, at least mechanically,

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Speaker 1: and obviously he's impacting the baseball impressively. Get what happened

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Speaker 1: over the offseason and and how how is he to

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Speaker 1: work with and then as a as kind of a

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Speaker 1: student of the game.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, it even goes back further than that when we

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Speaker 7: first when we first made that trade for him, Obviously

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Speaker 7: he was still hurt at the time, but I was

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Speaker 7: the coordinator at that time, so spending a lot of

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Speaker 7: time with Pete, you know, in Arizona as he was

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Speaker 7: getting healthy and then kind of through the minor league ranks,

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Speaker 7: and you know, everybody always knew that he was going

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Speaker 7: to play great defense and he was going to really run,

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Speaker 7: and you know, there's questions about the bad. I don't

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Speaker 7: think internally we had the questions about the bad as

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Speaker 7: many people externally. But we knew that we're going to

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Speaker 7: have to find something with Pete that was going to stick.

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Speaker 7: He's so athletic and he's so twitchy that the way

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Speaker 7: that he moves is just like in this constant state

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Speaker 7: of like flow almost, and that's a challenge for guys

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Speaker 7: when they're hitting, because they just want to feel relaxed

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Speaker 7: and they want to just kind of feel like feel

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Speaker 7: the flow in the batter's box. But what that would

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Speaker 7: lead to sometimes was just like, you know, not laziness,

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Speaker 7: but just inconsistency.

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Speaker 4: And you know, going.

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Speaker 7: Through that process with him last year of you know,

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Speaker 7: you've started a little narrow and then it was like, okay,

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Speaker 7: let's widen up and let's do a little lake kick.

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Speaker 7: And it's just been we're trying to find the best

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Speaker 7: version of Pete but still allowing him to have like

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Speaker 7: that flow and that rhythm and the athletic ability to

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Speaker 7: go in there and just.

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Speaker 4: Like be athletic and play. And I think that's.

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Speaker 7: Kind of what this year has like morphed into from

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Speaker 7: what it was last year with the lake kick, the

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Speaker 7: non lake kick, and then back to the lake kick,

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Speaker 7: and then this year it's kind of like a hybrid

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Speaker 7: of like it's a little bit wider, there's a little

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Speaker 7: bit of a knee tuck, and Pete's put a ton

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Speaker 7: of work into that, and I think, like this offseason,

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Speaker 7: it was, Okay, how do we simplify this, how do

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Speaker 7: we make sure that, like what I'm doing is going

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Speaker 7: to be the same every day? And that's a hard

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Speaker 7: task to put your head around, like it's going to

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Speaker 7: be the same every day.

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Speaker 4: It's not.

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Speaker 7: But at least he has a really good foundation of, Okay,

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Speaker 7: this is what I wanted to be, this is how

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Speaker 7: I'm going to attack baseballs. And you know, we have

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Speaker 7: an unbelievable staff. John Maylee works incredible with him. He

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Speaker 7: had him in the minor leagues as well. So there's

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Speaker 7: a lot of people that have seen Pete for a

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Speaker 7: couple of years now and really support him. And you know,

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Speaker 7: just you're seeing what support staff and then a really

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Speaker 7: good player can go out and do.

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Speaker 2: Dustin in spring training, Craig Council, in his very dry

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Speaker 2: way that you know so well, joked about Kyle Tucker

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Speaker 2: that I told the hitting coaches you're gonna love him.

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Speaker 2: He doesn't hit a lot and he's really really good,

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Speaker 2: meaning you sort of a minimalist. He kind of does

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Speaker 2: his own thing. But at the same time, you know,

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Speaker 2: I was talking to Eagle Horner the other day and

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Speaker 2: he said, you know, Tucker has been great in terms

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Speaker 2: of bringing energy enthusiasm into the club house. Else like,

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Speaker 2: as well as you guys have been playing, there have

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Speaker 2: been some tough losses and.

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Speaker 3: That you guys have bounced back.

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Speaker 2: Can you just kind of explain that dynamic, which from

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Speaker 2: the outside is a little hard to square of, Like,

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Speaker 2: this guy's kind of on his own program. He doesn't

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Speaker 2: need a ton but he's also it sounds like, completely

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Speaker 2: ameshed in the group and a big part and a

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Speaker 2: driver of that energy we're seeing on the field.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I think with Tuck it's kind of what you

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Speaker 7: see is, you know, just this very like locked in,

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Speaker 7: kind of like low key playing the game at a

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Speaker 7: certain pace, and that is him to a certain extent.

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Speaker 7: He's got a low heartbeat. He's obviously played in some

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Speaker 7: massive games, and he hasn't, you know, an incredible amount

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Speaker 7: of confidence. He just knows that he's really good and

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Speaker 7: there's nothing that a pitcher has that can beat him.

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Speaker 7: There's nobody that's going to be able to get him

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Speaker 7: out in those certain situations.

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Speaker 4: But you know he does.

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Speaker 7: He has a personality in the background and the cracks

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Speaker 7: jokes and you know, I think, like as it's hard

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Speaker 7: to come into a new team, right.

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Speaker 4: Especially when you you can't up with the.

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Speaker 7: Astros and you know, it's been in a World Series

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Speaker 7: and you've been with a group and a staff for

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Speaker 7: a long time to then get traded and come in

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Speaker 7: and you know, have to fit in. And I don't

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Speaker 7: think that we ever thought there was going to be,

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Speaker 7: you know, a process for him fitting in, but it

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Speaker 7: takes some time. And our guys have, you know, fallen

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Speaker 7: in love with him, and I think he's falling in

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Speaker 7: love with our guys because you know, he's able to

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Speaker 7: crack jokes and have fun. But man, when he gets

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Speaker 7: into the game, he is locked in and he knows

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Speaker 7: exactly what kind of plan he's going.

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Speaker 4: To try and execute.

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Speaker 7: He has a great recall with pitchers and how guys

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Speaker 7: are going to attack him, and he knows that he's

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Speaker 7: not going to get pitched the way that the report

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Speaker 7: says he's going to get pitched. It's not going to

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Speaker 7: be forty two percent fastball. You know, he's going to

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Speaker 7: see the three percent slider or the three percent curve ball.

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Speaker 7: He just it's just they attack him different, and he

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Speaker 7: understands that and he embraces it.

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Speaker 4: Really.

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Speaker 1: Dustin and Matchhaw obviously struggled in a short stand of

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Speaker 1: the big leagues. Had I believe thirty five games at

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Speaker 1: Triple A before this season. I think there were a

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Speaker 1: couple of games at Triple A he was hit. Listen,

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Speaker 1: Now he's crushing the ball. Uh, not a surprise that

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Speaker 1: he's doing well at Triple A. But what was the

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Speaker 1: message that was sent to him that that was shared

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Speaker 1: with them when he was sent down? And kind of

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Speaker 1: is this more a mental reset? Are there mechanical tweaks,

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Speaker 1: approach tweaks, What what is the focus for him while

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Speaker 1: he's down there?

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Speaker 4: Probably a little bit of everything.

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Speaker 7: I think like the first message was, hey, this is

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Speaker 7: an opportunity, and you know, like you got an opportunity,

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Speaker 7: and then this is now an opportunity to go make

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Speaker 7: some adjustments and like mentally reset kind of get back

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Speaker 7: to what Matt Shaw is And I think, like what

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Speaker 7: we've seen and I hadn't seen him play live a lot, right,

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Speaker 7: He just hadn't been in the organ and playing in

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Speaker 7: the minor leagues, and then obviously the shortened spring training,

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Speaker 7: and so it's like, what can we do, how can

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Speaker 7: we help you when you go to Triple A to

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Speaker 7: get back to like what Matt Shaw is, And what

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Speaker 7: Matt Shaw is is like a peer hitter. And I

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Speaker 7: think we've all kind of seen that through college and

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Speaker 7: through the draft process and the minor leagues, and that

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Speaker 7: that part of it just didn't show up in his

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Speaker 7: early stint in the big leagues. And there's a lot

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Speaker 7: of guys that really struggle, you know, in their first

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Speaker 7: you know cup of coffee with the big leagues and

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Speaker 7: they do have to go down and Jets talked about

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Speaker 7: it with you know, some of the guys that have

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Speaker 7: done it here, and I think the message was, hey, like, yeah,

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Speaker 7: we are going to make some you know, approach changes

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Speaker 7: and make sure that like we're attacking the pitches the

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Speaker 7: way that we've talked about attacking pitches and being on

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Speaker 7: fastballs and driving fastballs, and then some of the mechanical

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Speaker 7: stuff of like we saw with him just kind of

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Speaker 7: moving around in the box quite a bit and not

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Speaker 7: having a consistent setup, and those things start to happen

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Speaker 7: when the game speeds up on you, and I think

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Speaker 7: like this is a chance for him to go back

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Speaker 7: down there and slow the game back down and really

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Speaker 7: kind of lock in of like, Okay, this is what

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Speaker 7: I'm trying to accomplish, and I am Matt Shaw, and.

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Speaker 4: When the time is right, come right back up here

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Speaker 4: and help a team win a game.

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Speaker 2: Jet Hoyer has over the years kind of said, how

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Speaker 2: hard you know, any hitting coach's job is, just because

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Speaker 2: at any given time you're gonna have maybe four guys

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Speaker 2: who are just like miserable and trying to get out

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Speaker 2: of something, or could be half the group. You know,

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Speaker 2: Danby Swanson the end of the first homestand it was all,

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Speaker 2: isn't it great?

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Speaker 3: You got that?

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Speaker 2: You know, surgery done?

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Speaker 3: Don't you feel so much better? You look great?

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Speaker 2: And then it was that tough road trip he gets

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Speaker 2: dropped in the lineup. But response, what are you seeing

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Speaker 2: from Dansby at this particular moment, Knowing that it's a

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Speaker 2: long season. He does have a very long track record,

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Speaker 2: but there are things that every hitter sort of has

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Speaker 2: to work through at different points exactly.

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Speaker 7: I think like every hitter goes through these kind of

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Speaker 7: spells of like you know, it's a thirty day or

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Speaker 7: a twenty day, and the best ones maybe it's twelve

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Speaker 7: to fifteen. But you see all of these guys kind

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Speaker 7: of go through these these ebbs and flows of like

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Speaker 7: whether they don't feel good mentally or physically, or their

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Speaker 7: swing just doesn't feel right, or they're getting pitched really tough,

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Speaker 7: and everybody kind of goes through one thing with Dan Sby,

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Speaker 7: and I think like fans recognize this, and you guys

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Speaker 7: definitely do as well as like he wants to win

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Speaker 7: and he's doing everything he possibly can to win, and

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Speaker 7: like even if offensively it's not there during this stretch

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Speaker 7: right now, like he's playing great defense, he's running the bases,

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Speaker 7: he's beating out you know, double play balls, he's going

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Speaker 7: first to third, and like I think, like when you're winning,

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Speaker 7: it's easier to continue to do that.

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Speaker 4: But I think with Dansby, like he's just out there

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Speaker 4: to win.

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Speaker 7: He's doing whatever he can, and not that he's not

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Speaker 7: putting in the works but in a ton of work

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Speaker 7: behind the scenes, but like there's a winning attitude that

395
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Speaker 7: comes with him, and it's like you wouldn't know that

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Speaker 7: he's oh for twelve or twelve for twelve if at

397
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Speaker 7: the end of that night that Go Cubs Go is playing.

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Speaker 7: I mean the look on the face is a smile

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Speaker 7: and he could be over twelve or over fifteen, you know,

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Speaker 7: going to that stretch.

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Speaker 4: But if we win that night.

402
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Speaker 7: Like it's it's all smiles and ready to get back

403
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Speaker 7: to work again tomorrow. And that's a trait that we've

404
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,520
Speaker 7: always known he's had. Obviously, we want him to, you know,

405
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Speaker 7: succeed and have a great offensive year. He just hasn't

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Speaker 7: really hit that stride yet this year. Last night was

407
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Speaker 7: a step in the right direction. Obviously, got that hanging

408
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Speaker 7: slider that he pulled down the line, that he stayed

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Speaker 7: square and stayed behind it.

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Speaker 4: So that was a good sign last night that he.

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Speaker 7: Was able to stay on that slider and elevate it

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Speaker 7: to the pull side.

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Speaker 3: Dustin.

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Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I want to talk about

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Speaker 1: Carson Kelly a little bit. I know a lot of

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Speaker 1: the work that he's put in happened before he arrived

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Speaker 1: with the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: It's been like a two year process for him.

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Speaker 1: I think something he told me was like, part of

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Speaker 1: this is right now just keeping the guard rails up,

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Speaker 1: which is I feel like something you've probably told me

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Speaker 1: along the way too. Like some of it it's like

423
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Speaker 1: when someone's locked in, just like kind of you're building

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Speaker 1: guard rails so they don't fall out of their mechanics.

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Speaker 1: What did you notice when he showed up in camp

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Speaker 1: where I know he's not going to hit like Barry Bonds.

427
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Speaker 1: I think we all understand that, But did you see something?

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Speaker 1: Could you see real changes and did it pique your

429
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Speaker 1: interest and kind of can you explain how he's doing this,

430
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Speaker 1: how this is so different than what he's looked like

431
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Speaker 1: in the past offensively at least, how he's impacting the baseball.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, the first thing that stood out to me was

433
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Speaker 7: he was so convicted and just had a really good

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Speaker 7: answer for why he's doing it and kind of the

435
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Speaker 7: process that he's gone through. And I think like that's

436
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Speaker 7: where even if you talk to like Justin Turner, guys

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Speaker 7: that have gone through swing changes, they really stick when

438
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 7: those guys can verbilize it and they they're committed to

439
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 7: it and they understand why it didn't work before what's

440
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,120
Speaker 7: working for them now, and they can talk you through

441
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 7: almost like step by step of like where they've been

442
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,000
Speaker 7: and where they're at Nowty. That's what I noticed with

443
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,720
Speaker 7: Carson is like, Okay, like this is real, right, He's

444
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 7: gone through this. He understands why he's doing it, how

445
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,159
Speaker 7: he does it, and he knows right away, which is

446
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 7: a hitting coach's dream when it feels a little bit

447
00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,480
Speaker 7: off and he can pinpoint what it is and the

448
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 7: less things that those are, whether it's like staying in

449
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,440
Speaker 7: the back hip or I feel jumpy on my front

450
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 7: side when that's just like one or two things for

451
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,000
Speaker 7: a hitter, like what it is with Carson, like we

452
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,880
Speaker 7: can recognize it, like after one swing he can make

453
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,119
Speaker 7: the adjustment, or he can say, hey, go check this

454
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,399
Speaker 7: out on the iPad after this, see what you think,

455
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,240
Speaker 7: and like right away he knows. And I think that's

456
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,359
Speaker 7: where you know that a hitter, the changes that he's

457
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 7: made are going to stick.

458
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 4: That's where Carson's at right now.

459
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,200
Speaker 7: And I think like he talked me through the whole

460
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,000
Speaker 7: thing the first twenty five minutes that I had met him,

461
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:37,120
Speaker 7: and we've really stuck with the same exact plan the

462
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 7: entire time, and what you alluded to, like I like

463
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 7: to talk about. It is on the guardrails at the

464
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,640
Speaker 7: bowling alley right right when you take your kids.

465
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,879
Speaker 4: Bowling and they do those little inflatable things. That's what like,

466
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 4: I just don't want you to go into the gutter,

467
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,320
Speaker 4: So I'm just going to inflate myself. I'm goin to

468
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 4: push you right back towards the middle.

469
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,919
Speaker 7: It may not be a strike pin every time, but

470
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,120
Speaker 7: I'm going to just keep you moving forward. And that's

471
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 7: like what I joke about with our hitting coaches, like

472
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 7: that's kind of what our job is, like, don't let

473
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:06,720
Speaker 7: anybody go into the gutter.

474
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 4: Just keep them moving.

475
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 7: Forward and they can ping pong back and forth, but

476
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,400
Speaker 7: as long as they're making their way towards the end goal,

477
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 7: we're going to be all right.

478
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,159
Speaker 2: That's the That's a perfect analogy. Before we let you go,

479
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,120
Speaker 2: I just had one more. Just get a very broad one.

480
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,440
Speaker 2: You have, you know, a strong background and player development.

481
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,800
Speaker 2: This process has been kind of a multi year thing

482
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,439
Speaker 2: for the Cubs. You got the superstar in Kyle Tucker,

483
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,159
Speaker 2: Craig Council's second year, there's it seems to be a

484
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 2: lot kind of going into this start here. How would

485
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 2: you describe just kind of going to work every day. Like,

486
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,159
Speaker 2: what are kind of the vibes around the cages and

487
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 2: the dugouts on the planes. What's kind of your snapshot

488
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,119
Speaker 2: of this first month of the twenty twenty five Cubs.

489
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,000
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think like coming into spring training, it was

490
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,440
Speaker 7: like business and I think we understood that we we

491
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 7: have what it takes, like that the roster is built

492
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 7: to win right now, and I think like that instantly

493
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,400
Speaker 7: brings like a sense of like camaraderie and like, hey,

494
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 7: we let's go do this. And that started early in

495
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,159
Speaker 7: spring training. Obviously that Japan trip was really cool for

496
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 7: us to go out and like put that to the test,

497
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,400
Speaker 7: and then we've been rolling with that ever since, and

498
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 7: I think like that's what the vibe is, is like

499
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 7: we're confident, we know we have what it takes, and

500
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,320
Speaker 7: it's like we can't wait to show up and play

501
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 7: in Pittsburgh tonight, because like you have that mentality of

502
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 7: like we are going to win tonight or we're going

503
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 7: to go take it to the starter tonight, and like

504
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:37,920
Speaker 7: that's what the kind of the mentality of, at least

505
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,880
Speaker 7: for the hitters that we're around and how we talk

506
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 7: to him is like let's go like we can't. We

507
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 7: don't want off days right now, like we want to

508
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 7: go out there and go play.

509
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: That's Dustin, thanks so much for joining us. It's it's

510
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,119
Speaker 1: been fun to cover this team when when offenses are rolling.

511
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,879
Speaker 1: I think it's the most like it's it's really the

512
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 1: most fun thing to watch. Like offenses, you know, it

513
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 1: comes and goes it times, but right now it's it's

514
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,359
Speaker 1: been fun to cover the team and fun to watch

515
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 1: the offense go. It seems kind of relentless, so I'm sure.

516
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're having fun, uh watching it all and

517
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: coaching these guys because the fans are loving it and

518
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 1: it makes our jobs easy to write about this, so.

519
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 3: Keep it up.

520
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us. We'll talk to you

521
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,360
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee and back of Wrigley.

522
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 4: That's good. Thanks, Bella appreciate Take it.

523
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 1: Easy, all right, Patrick, Let's take a quick break and

524
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:33,680
Speaker 1: then wrap this up.

525
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,000
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528
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Speaker 4: Krats, what are you rocking for us today?

529
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530
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531
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:49,199
Speaker 6: barely even feel like it's on.

532
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536
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:02,320
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537
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538
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, two more in Pittsburgh, then they head

539
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: to Milwaukee. Is it their first This is the first

540
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:21,360
Speaker 1: NL Central, right, yeah, first NL Central games. Uh, there

541
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,760
Speaker 1: was a little mini scare last night. We should just

542
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 1: touch on that, like showed him Naga. Everything that I've

543
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 1: read from our fellow Beat writers Matty Lee and Megan

544
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: Montemorrow Jordan out there, they seem to be it seems

545
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: to be suggesting that everything's fine.

546
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 3: That it's just cramps. You know.

547
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,640
Speaker 1: We I'm not going to jump to any negative conclusions

548
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 1: just yet, especially if it's both both legs. It sounds

549
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 1: like a cramping issue. It sounds like it's nothing to

550
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 1: be concerned about. He sounded like he's going to make

551
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 1: his next start. I think we'll we'll wait and make

552
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 1: sure that that happens. But it sounds like all is

553
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,760
Speaker 1: well there, so you just kind of assume that that's

554
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: nothing to you know, freak out about just yet for fans.

555
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,199
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's funny. Shota came in with a

556
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 2: lot of understandable questions about his game and now it's

557
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 2: just sort of a given that he's an All Star

558
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 2: level performer and a cy Young Award contender and the

559
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 2: Cups can just keep rolling him out and hopefully that's

560
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,399
Speaker 2: the case because he's a just a fantastic pitcher to watch,

561
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 2: great entertainment value. I'm with you in terms of the

562
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 2: early takeaways seem to be like a relatively minimal issue,

563
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 2: but yeah, the Cubs are at that point where it's

564
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 2: going to be harder to sort of absorb more and

565
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 2: more significant injuries to their starting group.

566
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you don't. You don't want any more knocks to

567
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: the rotation. Kate Horton had another awesome outing at tripa A,

568
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 1: by the way, so we'll keep an eye on that

569
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: because I think it is relevant. I'm not saying he's

570
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 1: coming up next week, but I don't think we're going

571
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 1: to be This is not an August September thing. Assuming

572
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,560
Speaker 1: he continues to pitch like this and and stays healthy

573
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 1: because they're you know, this is a team that's competing

574
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: very clearly. They're a good team right now, and you

575
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 1: want to keep that rolling. And sometimes what we saw

576
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,199
Speaker 1: in fifteen and sixteen right like was like like you

577
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,359
Speaker 1: sometimes you need that injection, you know, like that little boost,

578
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: and like a star talent prospect like Kate Horton is

579
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,640
Speaker 1: exactly what they'd like to inject. And it may sometimes

580
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,920
Speaker 1: the front office likes to time that right, you know, like, oh,

581
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 1: we've hit a little three game losing. Yeah, yeah, here's

582
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 1: Kate Horton, right, So I feel like they do like

583
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: to do that. You don't also want to wait too long.

584
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,480
Speaker 1: So we'll see when when that happens. But I think

585
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: it's going to happen at some point this summer. Craig

586
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 1: Council didn't even deny it, he admitted it was. It'll

587
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: happen at some point this summer. So we'll see what

588
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 1: happens with Kate Horton. Looks like showed is fine, and

589
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 1: you're right what you said about like I'm almost taking

590
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: for granted how good show it is, Like he's a sigh,

591
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 1: young contender again, he just I did not expect him

592
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 1: to repeat last year. He's putting up similar he's doing

593
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 1: it a little differently, but he's so far the results

594
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 1: are there, so we'll see if he can keep it

595
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,080
Speaker 1: rolling and if the Cubs can keep it rolling. Thanks

596
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 1: again to Dustin Kelly. This is north Side Territory, Foul

597
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 1: Territory Networks Cubs podcast. Make sure to rate, review and subscribe.

598
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,480
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the YouTube channel. Subscribe to The Athletic where

599
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.

600
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening, and everyone take it.

601
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 2: They lost