WEBVTT - I'm Worried About the Chicago Cubs 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.800 Hello, and welcome to Waken Jake, myself, Jake's story, Ellie 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:08.399 at Talking Jake, Big Baby David producing his butt off. 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:14.000 June nineteenth kind of like a newer holiday in the US. 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:19.640 ME and BBD are here grinding, partially because I was 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.600 gonna come in yesterday did not. I am under the weather, 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:27.080 but I had to talk about the people, about some sports, 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:30.120 and we've got a big tournament at the warehouse this weekend. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:32.839 You can hear in my voice a little bit. If 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.600 I pass out by the end of this, it's because 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.640 I like haven't spoken in four to eight hours, which 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.319 is very rare for a guy going by the name 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:47.199 Talking Jake. Want a deep dive on some baseball topics 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:52.400 because the NL roller coaster of being boring and exciting 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:56.160 is at a fun spot right now. Partially because if 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.320 you look at the standings today, my Arizona Diamondbacks found 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.640 their way into the playoff picture. On Talking Baseball, I 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:06.679 predicted by Monday they would be in the Wildcard because 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.760 they had a kind of easier schedule getting some bodies back, 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:11.600 which I want to I want to focus on that 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.880 a little bit, and uh, well, I guess a little 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.240 shrapnel early if you go upwards in the standings, upwards 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.520 in the standings, if you look at the bottom of 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.800 the National League, Marlins and Rockies have been dueling fun 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.160 one in Colorado last night. If you didn't see that 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.120 check swing should have been called. I mean it was close, 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.880 but I think that gets called. A decent amount would 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.600 have ended the game. Two strikes, two outs, ninth inning, 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:44.640 one more pitch. Ta Oscar hits a grouchy home run, 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.960 really good Jake Jake Cave reaction, shout out to Luis Heel. 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.040 Jake Cave watches the ball go over the fence and 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:59.080 just starts screaming at the first base umpire. Why I'm 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.400 talking Marlinsies because it's Marlins and Rockies, and then the 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.320 team above them right now is the Chicago Cubs. Like 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.120 I feel like we've talked about how bad the Cubbies 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:12.640 have been. Is it a little unfair because they are 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.840 a half game back of the Pirates, Reds, and Padres. Yes, 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.720 so with one day's worth of action, they're right back 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.440 in the mix. And that's been the whole National League topic. 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:25.480 But I think I am gonna grow the Cubbies a 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.480 little bit. The New York Metropolitans are back in the mix. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.640 I did my jaky little previous year research just to 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.040 see where we are and where we're at, and a 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:41.359 couple other things from around the league, while also circling 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.440 on the Boston Celtics. My Boston Celtics that won it all. 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:50.200 Congrats to them. Cool some funny Tatum memes on the 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.440 memes on the internet. Not that I'm going to bring 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.320 those to your attention, but whatever Internet you may use, 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.959 you may have seen them. Let's dive into the world 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.480 the baseball. We also make it a live USA cricket 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.560 reaction as they're battling South Africa right now. It's looking 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:11.240 not so good as possible, but anything's possible. Let's get 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.120 a couple more sixes on the board. 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.760 And they just sit one seventy eight meters. Ooh, they 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.400 just need the need for fifteen. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:26.000 Boom, get hot swing, big lou, there's a wide I guess. 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.120 Let me do my NL thing a little bit. I 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.880 did my I want to do my Yankee standings check 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:37.160 in uh, I'll be honest, not a huge chunk of 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.839 data that can be transferred over slash. It doesn't fit 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:44.240 whatever narratives I'm pushing right now because in the al 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.480 coming from last year, at least, we were still waiting 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:52.080 for the Yankees collapse, which happened right around this time. 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.440 Aaron Judge broke his toe, he missed the chunk of 0:03:55.440 --> 0:04:00.720 the season, Rizzo hurt his head, and the Yankees didn't 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.800 realize it yet. What else we wrong for the Yankees 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.880 last year? I guess their pitching got thin, like it 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.360 was kind of a survival mode and then it fell. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:14.720 Apart, especially just like statistically it was like, oh Cole 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.040 and statistically nobody else was good. The vibe around anyone 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:22.040 individually wasn't that bad, but probably got a round of 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:23.920 injuries around here to that group. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:28.679 The other thing that jumped out, which again I don't 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:32.839 ask me what to do with this one, but the 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.640 Anaheim Angels were your fourth best team in the American 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.400 League on this day last year, at forty one and 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:45.440 thirty three. Uh my goodness, how how quickly that changed 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.120 from Otani's the best. The Angels have some juice, Let's 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:53.640 get trout a playoff game they bought then sold in 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.320 what will be a jolly olavideo in a couple of years. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.320 Maybe foolish Bailey, who we were trying to link up. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.039 He was busy, so he'll probably be on next week. 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:09.080 Sorry for the fake advertising. He's got some thoughts. What 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.960 a tease? Yeah, I guess the only other thing I'd 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:17.920 say Currently at this point, the weakest team to make 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.640 the playoffs were the Twins, who were around five hundred 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.839 and they won a week central, so that's a little 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:25.800 bit of an outlier. Otherwise, in the AL last year, 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.320 the last team in was Toronto. They were thirty nine 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:36.000 and thirty five last year in the National League. Something 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.960 wrong with the Bay Area. I'd said I wasn't gonna 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:40.640 do this, but I guess I'll tell you why I 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.760 chose not to. The San Francisco Giants were also fourth 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.840 best record in the National League at forty and thirty two. 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:53.880 They ended up missing the dance, but no no teams 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.880 with an under five hundred record, So maybe that's why 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.200 you could put in your pipe and smoke. Although I 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.440 feel like the National League is going to ruin that 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:07.240 this year seeing as current playoff team. Technically someone would 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.720 have to. They don't have enough playoff teams above five 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:16.840 hundred right now. Someone under five hundred will make the dance, 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.600 so that is fantastic news. I do want to talk 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.120 about the Cubbies a little bit in a negative light, 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.520 and I'm sorry Chicago, but you guys are probably willing 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.680 to talk about Chicago and a negative light because as 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.359 I mentioned, as of today, they are the third worst 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:38.280 team in the National League, and as I looked at 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.080 last year's standings, they were the fourth worst. They were 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.600 just covered up by Saint Louis's stink. If you remember 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:49.279 correctly from last season, the Nats, Colorado and Saint Louis 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:58.520 the only teams before Chicage Man, I think a yellow 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.000 flag has already been up in Chico Chicago, so I'm 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.040 not going to raise a red flag or I don't 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.200 think this is a new piece of news. But Chicago's 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:08.320 been thirsty for a few years now. I mean, when 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.480 have we Okay, when was the last time the Cubs 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.360 were in the playoffs? Pobe ding m. 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:20.800 I think they were in the twenty twenty expanded playoffs. 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.040 So the Cubs were in the twenty twenty expanded playoffs 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:28.840 thirty four and twenty six. Happy for them. The best 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:33.080 war on their team was you Darvish baseball moves quick. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:34.400 Good there. 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:42.440 They have not played a complete playoff series if you 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:47.880 take out twenty twenty since twenty seventeen. In twenty eighteen, 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.320 they lost the one game NL wild Card play into 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:57.240 the Colorado Rockies. So think about that. Chicago Cubs Wrigley, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.520 they beat the curse, they won a World's Series. They 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.600 had this core of guys. You know, although I guess 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.040 I shouldn't be penalizing the Cubs too much because out 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.520 of that core, Rizzo has been really struggling. And he 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.440 just went down for like eight weeks if not more. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.560 Yankees like immediately said eight, So. 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.360 Let's see what's going on with him, And he was 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.480 not killing it this year either way. Hobby Bias has 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:28.080 just gone straight into oblivion. Chris Bryant has been an 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:31.200 oblivion and seems happy there, and that seems like the problem. 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:31.880 Uh. 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:33.600 I mean, the only guy that you can say is 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.480 like killing it, killing it Schwarves, which I think, who 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.160 is the one the Cubs like, right, the one the 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.440 Cubs fully gave up on. If you were if you 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:48.200 were a betting person, Schwarves' lack of position, body type 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:53.800 would have seemed to run out first love baseball, that's 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:59.640 baseball a little bit. Uh. That the Cubbies. Man, they're 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.400 in a tight spot, and we were so quick when 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.079 they got out of the gates playing well, let me 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.280 see what's their best butterknife seventeen to nine. Again, that's 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.880 very early that they were twenty three and sixteen. That 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.920 starts to get a little uglier. They're finishing a series 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.760 with the Giants right now, which again, like I don't 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.680 want to depict like the Giants are this god sent franchise. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:24.800 With a win today, they'd be a half game back 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:34.200 of the Giants. The Cubbies, man, they hmm showed him. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.719 An Auga signing has looked like one of the best 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.560 signings of free agency. They looked like they had a 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.440 plan to rebuild till right now. They still have a 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.560 top juicy pharm system that they haven't really tapped into. 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.280 So let's see the next steps. And as I talk 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.800 about how wide opened this National League, genuinely, if the 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.600 Cubs went on a six game win streak, they'd be 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.480 in the playoffs. So I do want to be careful 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:03.720 with how much I drive the stake into them right now. 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.520 But it's been a while in Wrigley, Like I've been 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:13.160 tough on the Red Sox because Heim some time they've 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.640 got a similar thing, except with a fantastic run in 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:20.800 twenty twenty one to the CS. Outside of that, there's 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.360 some parallels, but that's a pretty big notch to have 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.760 in the belt. The Cubs have nothing close to that that. 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.280 I don't know. I guess what I did want to 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:34.480 compare it to. He's talking about the Yankees again. Last 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:38.960 year when things fell apart with the Yankees, we do 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:44.319 talking Yanks. It's kind of what started this company. And 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:46.320 there's been a couple of things that haven't passed our 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:52.800 sniff test, and the Yankees have more or less adjusted. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.080 I mean, even the fact they called up a rookie 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.040 to play first base yesterday who hadn't had a lot 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.040 of minor league experience, he wasn't a top prospect. He's 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.200 a guy that's been killing it at every level that 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:06.680 on a lot of other teams, you'd look at it 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:08.640 and you'd be like, well, it's kind of a no brainer, 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:11.800 Like this kid's been killing it quick. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.960 The team's just like depth at that position isn't in 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.240 some like crazy deep spot. The other options aren't there. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.120 This kid seems like he's next. He's checking a lot 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.960 he's checked every box at the minor league level that 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.000 he would be the guy that be called up. Yanks 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.000 don't do a lot of that. Like someone was texting 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.040 me who went to the game last night, and I 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.040 was like, yeah, I mean Yankees Orioles first and second, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.760 that's kind of cool, but you don't. Not a lot 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.880 of Yankee position players make debuts. It's kind of it's 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:44.360 a little bit of an obnoxious thing, or at least 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.320 when they do. I don't know it's a bigger thing 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.679 because it's the Yankees. I think other teams get a 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.000 lot more opportunities because other teams don't do most of 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:57.040 their bidding in free agency or shopping, Like Trent Grisham 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.200 isn't a bench player on a lot of teams. Trent 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:00.800 Grisham would have been a player that a lot of 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.760 teams would have probably got as a dump in a trade. 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:05.959 But they said, well, Trent Grishiam's gonna play for us 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:09.760 this year, Like that's the Yankees bench outfielder. We want Soto. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:17.439 Yeah, the Yankees typically, like you're saying, not a lot 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:22.000 of position player debuts like like that, unless their hand 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.480 is like absolutely forced. They there were other moves they 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.720 could have done to replace Rizer on the active roster 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.360 Oswald Perraz at least, you know, has a bench there's 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:36.760 some bench utility in his tool chest and and has 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:38.800 been in the big league locker room before. Like they 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.760 could have called him up and done some shuffling and 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:45.360 sure he'll get some days versus lefties at third and 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.839 DJ can just be your first baseman and all that. 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.440 They could have made a waiver claim or an actual 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.600 trade for JD. Davis who was dfade. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:55.360 Still might and. 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.840 There's an argument he'd be an upgrade on the roster spot, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.640 but uh, it felt different to call the kid who's 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.120 been very exciting at the minor league level and has 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:09.240 checked every box so far and really came on last 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.959 couple of years without that super highly regarded pedigree. 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.600 Our whole talking yank scroup chat was surprised. We didn't 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.680 think they would do that. And so that's one of 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.920 the things, I mean, the thing that has been a 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.000 joke and we still get hot about was the Yankees 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.080 didn't have lefties for a few years. A franchise literally 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:33.160 built on lefties. You know, I think one of the 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.720 things that we think they've stumbled into now is that 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:41.760 their whole bullpend bullpen bullpend has gone sink or slider, 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.720 which is nice, and they get a lot of effective innings, 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.000 but they don't have the strikeout guys when they need it. 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.040 That that's probably going to be next evolution for the 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:53.760 Yankees lineup balance. Not only did they not have lefties, 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.600 but then when they only had a couple guys, they 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.439 try to slide them up the lineup, which kind of 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.680 major whole teamers. I don't know. We've had a couple 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.600 of these Yankee moments that from the fans zoomed out 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.200 lens seemed off and then they had to make that correction. 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.080 I'm interested to see. And if there's Cubs fans listening, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.320 I guess, let me know what I'm missing from the outside. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.440 This may be obnoxious, this may be nothing. This could 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.440 be something that again with a six game winner, can 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.160 be ruled out. And like the Minnesota Twins just reeled 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.000 off another six games. Although that left side of the 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.720 infield that's not only has that gone from meh to 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:39.080 like special? Well, Korean Royce Lewis are doing yo. The 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:45.320 Yankees were very hmm. And we see this all over baseball. 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:50.520 When the front office has too much power. The Yankees 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:52.680 had a little bit of that. Like end of the day, 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.120 the game is played with ballplayers and a chunk of 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.520 the reason the Yankees are better they have one Sodo. 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.480 It was one of the best ball players ever. They 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:09.239 traded for Alex Verdugo, really solid, plus player Luis Heals breakout. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:15.160 A lot of the pitchers are performing better Cubs thing 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.640 that just irked me a little bit this morning, especially 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.920 when I was looking at the standings. Do you guys 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.200 remember they did Cubs Day or the Cubs fan Fest, 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:27.960 Cubs Winterfest. The graphic came out and they tried to 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:32.560 copy Lallapalooza, the big music festival in Chicago. Know who 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:38.920 their headliners were? It was Jed Hoyer, the GM or 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:43.720 president or whatever he runs the team, and Craig Council, 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:48.160 the manager. They plundered from the Brewers Division rivals. How 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:53.240 could Craig do it? Probably all the money team Craig 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.280 on that part, but I don't know. I think it's 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:01.520 one of those things. In hindsight, it rubbed me the 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.040 wrong way. In the offseason. It always felt like they 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:07.280 should have kept one of those guys from those Cubs 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.880 teams like you had the Cubs team that broke the curse, 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:16.080 and you didn't bank on any of them. And I 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.360 don't know, hopefully for Cubs fans, I'm misreading it, and 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.480 the Cubbies are about to get hot, hot, hot after 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.120 they've been cold cold, cold. But I don't know. It 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.600 feels like a team that's leaned a little too much 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:33.320 into we can out coach baseball when at the end 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.400 of the day, you need guys on the field. That's 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.920 the difference. Go look at the Phillies roster. Go look 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.560 at the Yankees roster. Go look at the Orioles roster. 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:45.440 Go look at the Dodgers roster. Those teams all did 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.440 it in very different ways, but they accumulated a lot 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.360 of talent that I don't know. I think the Cubs 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.200 on paper this year my whole thing, that part of 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.600 it I've been wrong on. It was replacing Stroman, who 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.400 was so good for them, and they did that with 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.840 im and Aga, who's been better, and then Cody Bellinger. 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.000 It was getting the lineup back to neutral and they 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.320 did that, but it hasn't been enough in an NL 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:20.080 Central That probably what it is. There are a couple 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.160 teams that can tip their hat and say that as 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.439 a franchise, we operate a little better. It isn't was 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.400 the Rays, although they're pretty dearth of talent right now 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:34.320 and they're heading the wrong direction. The Milwaukee Brewers as 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:38.560 a franchise, they're kind of running laps around the Cubbies 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.840 right now. Sure, take our manager. We've got all these 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.439 kids who are going to start performing because everyone we 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:51.760 have plays defense, so when they hit, that's a plus, 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.440 and they've been hitting a lot. And then the other 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:56.520 turned out to be one of our favorite signings of 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.680 the offseason, Rhys Hoskins. Haven't the Cubs had a coal 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:04.439 at first base for a while? Could that have not 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:08.960 been a great landing spot for Reye Hoskins. I don't 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.880 know if that's the difference between the Cubbies in Milwaukee 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:17.119 right now, but looking at those standings, because I don't know, 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.520 if you look at the bottom of the American League 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:25.320 right now, White Sox A's Angels, I think everyone would 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.520 have been pretty close on that. Maybe the Royals, who 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:30.960 still in the playoff picture, and I want to do 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:36.280 some playoff percentages in a second, but those bottom three 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:43.840 seem to add up Marlin's Rockies. Cubbies tough can flip 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.480 in a moment of hours because the Pirates and Reds 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:50.560 are right there. But I don't know which flavor of 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.880 ice cream do you like more between the Cubbies, Pirates, 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.000 and Reds right now. I mean that's before you get 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.680 to the Cardinals, who are five hundred the second team 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.520 in the NL wild Card. Right now, National League is 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.479 still a mess. You could overanalyze it for hours. The 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.239 hottest team in the National League is a team that 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:14.000 has linked themselves to Grimace. That's right, the Purple Blob 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:20.200 character from McDonald's a W seven for the New York Mets, 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.080 a team that I was riding often was willing to 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.920 sell because I think they want to sell. Thirty five 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:30.119 and thirty seven has them a half game out of 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.720 the wildcard, eight and two in their last ten, winners 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.240 of seven in a row. They faced Texas again today. 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:40.000 Who you know, everyone's had a lot of eyes on Houston. 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.119 Go check in on your Texas Rangers. They have the 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:48.000 same record as of today, thirty three and forty for 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:52.439 Houston and the Rangers defending the World Series champs. The 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.440 team that's been to the ALCS pretty much every year. 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:02.320 Houston playing the White Sox lost last night. It's pretty insane, 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:07.720 pretty insane. I guess the other thing just looking around baseball, 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.760 not a ton of commentary on the good teams. I 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:15.320 guess this. I can segue into playoff percentages a little bit. 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:22.359 Our friends over at Baseball Reference they have a playoff 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.399 odds page which you can click and say. There's a 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.640 button that says, learn more about our methodology. The main 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:34.440 thing that I take away from it is they basically 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:38.359 sim the seasons a thousand times over and that's how 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.440 they get their results. So are their variables involved? Sure? 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.600 And I think what I want to point to, especially 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.840 in the National League Wildcard, where literally anything can happen. 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.479 Those cubs that I just ripped into could be the 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:57.639 second wildcard team in a matter of a week. Health 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:02.719 you obviously can't prepare for that. Uh And and they 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:05.480 were saying in their simulations, you know, they take into 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:07.680 factor this season a lot, and they kind of can't 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.280 take into factor previous injuries a little bit. I don't know, 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:13.560 if you want to go click on it, it's their 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:17.520 playoff odds page and there's a learn more about their methodology. 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:21.560 But I think there's there's some good that we can 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:25.240 take on it. And these a thousand simulate simulizations. He 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:31.240 says he died. He died at the desk that day. Teams. 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.920 There are four teams with ninety nine point nine percent 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:37.680 postseason odds. What are those teams? Staven? 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.359 I would guess I would start with Dodgers and Phillies. Yes, 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:51.120 the Braves, not the Braves. Not the Breves. Well, I'll 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.760 say Yankees. Yankees, I'm believing in funny business. But they're 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:56.320 in Okay. 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:57.760 And this is the only team that I would consider 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:02.359 funny business. But it's not funny business. Brewers, it is not. 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:04.639 The Brewers are at ninety nine point six, so you 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:05.840 get partial. 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:07.840 Credit upside down. It's a nine. 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:11.280 Now it's true, it's the Baltimore Orioles. Oh yes, hey, 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:15.840 you know wild Cardwithstanding, the Yankees and Orioles are ninety 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.199 nine point nine percent of the time, they're going to 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:22.359 make the playoffs in these thousand simulations. So you know, 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:29.720 if I was sucks that this show's popular, now, thanks everyone, 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:32.720 I was gonna say something like over the top if 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:37.119 blank happened to this team, that's the one simulation I 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.040 won't even make that joke. It has the worst case records. 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:42.520 I don't know if I believe it. This for the 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:45.840 Orioles and the Yankees. Ninety five wins for the Yankees, 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:51.480 ninety three for the Orioles. Their best case at one, ten, one, eight, respectively. 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:53.680 So that's just a tight window. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.800 They've the simulations have both those teams doing very well. 0:22:56.840 --> 0:22:59.000 I don't know about the bottoms there. I think a 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:03.879 ninety one could still happen anyways, Yankees, Orioles, Phillies, Dodgers 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:07.720 ninety nine point nine, Brewers ninety nine point six to 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:11.560 make the postseason again. They're sitting at forty three and 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:14.920 thirty when I just told you five hundred currently gets 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:18.880 you in the playoffs in the NL. No real arguments there. 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:23.080 You could put a baby asterisk that if things really 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:25.119 fell apart for the Brewers and they get caught up 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:27.800 in the slog I'm not gonna do that. They deserve 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:36.400 compliments as a franchise. Three teams in the eighties Seattle Mariners. 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:39.639 Sure they are forty four and thirty one. They have 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:44.359 no competition in the division right now? That yeah, there, 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:50.640 that sounds right. They're cruising the Cleveland Guardians. Again, they've 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:52.920 got a lot of wins in the bank forty four 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:55.879 and twenty six that the wheels would just have to 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:59.560 completely fall off, and in that division, I don't see 0:23:59.560 --> 0:24:04.160 a way that happens. Then, the Atlanta Braves eighty three 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.439 point three percent. I think the best thing they have 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:11.280 going for them is the National League at forty and 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:15.880 thirty one. They're not positioned two differently than the Yankees 0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:21.920 from last year. Huh gosp The National League is on 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:25.800 the struggle bus. The Braves haven't clicked, and like Austin, 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:27.800 Riley matt Ols and those guys are still there and 0:24:27.840 --> 0:24:31.159 they're gonna click. Eighty three point three is still a 0:24:31.200 --> 0:24:37.080 high number. There's only two other teams above fifty percent 0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:41.600 chance to make the playoffs, so everything else is lower 0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:44.840 than a coin flip. And they play in the same division, 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.879 the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins. So this 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:52.199