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Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm

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

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

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Speaker 2: The Cubs offense is rolling.

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Speaker 1: It is as exciting and as potent as any in baseball.

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Speaker 3: Uh.

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Speaker 1: And I don't think there's just one reason why, like

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Speaker 1: this is, let's let's get right to it, because I

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Speaker 1: I think there's a it's it's not really like I

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Speaker 1: think they're pretty good. Like they you know, like the

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Speaker 1: stats are there, they're all there to tell us six

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Speaker 1: point two seven runs per game.

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Speaker 2: That's that's over.

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Speaker 1: That's zero point six more than the second team the Yankees.

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Speaker 1: Like that's insane.

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Speaker 2: Right now.

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Speaker 1: They they're doing everything well. I remember in one episode

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Speaker 1: I talked about swinging like not chasing and and attacking

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Speaker 1: in the zone. Those numbers are getting better, Like they're

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Speaker 1: they're swinging more in the zone now than they were

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Speaker 1: when when I first brought it up whatever two weeks ago.

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Speaker 1: It's like they're they're awesome at that. They take walk,

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Speaker 1: they hit for power, Uh, they they hit for average,

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Speaker 1: they leave baseball in batting average and it's not like

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Speaker 1: a crazy Babbitt. You know, it's a it's a it's

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Speaker 1: above it's above three hundred, but it's it's not insane.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: It's like there's there's just so many things as a

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Speaker 1: team that you look at and you're like, Okay, uh,

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Speaker 1: that's that's aggressive. Not everything is sustainable. Not everything is

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Speaker 1: going to be the best in baseball. They're not going

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Speaker 1: to average nearly six point three runs a game this season. Uh,

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Speaker 1: I think that would probably be a record. But it

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Speaker 1: looks like a pretty damn good offense, and there are

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Speaker 1: a lot of reasons to believe that it can continue

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Speaker 1: to be a really good.

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Speaker 3: It is just staggering watching some of these games, just

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Speaker 3: going back to last September, how the season ended, this

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Speaker 3: idea of like Wrigley sort of playing like Seattle's ballpark,

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Speaker 3: how tough it was on left handed hitters, particularly Cody Bellinger.

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Speaker 4: Going back to.

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Speaker 3: That series, the Yankees came to town and Juan Soto

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Speaker 3: and gen Carlos Stanton hit some just like rockets that

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Speaker 3: just sort of like died in the outfield. You anticipate

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Speaker 3: what the weather will be like in April in Chicago.

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Speaker 3: That's been pretty nice recently, but the prior homestand just brutal.

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Speaker 3: Cubs still putting up huge numbers. You look at the schedule,

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Speaker 3: some of the best pitchers pitching staffs in baseball doing

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Speaker 3: against doing it against that level of competition. It's it's

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Speaker 3: kind of mind boggling. And you were always kind of

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Speaker 3: the optimist on this offense. It's exceeded everyone's expectations. You

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Speaker 3: wrote a great piece on this for the Athletic What

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Speaker 3: are your kind of two or three bullet points right now?

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Speaker 4: What is happening?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the obvious one, and I don't think

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Speaker 1: you should like gloss over it or bury the lead.

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Speaker 1: It's Kyle Tucker, right, I mean, we knew he was

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Speaker 1: going to be impactful. We knew this, Like, this was

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Speaker 1: not a surprise to us the second they added him.

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Speaker 1: This was a monumental addition. The rumors when they came

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Speaker 1: and were like, if this happens, this changes a lot, right,

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Speaker 1: it changes everything toward the team. It is not he's listen,

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Speaker 1: Cody Bellinger is a really good ballplayer. This is not comparable.

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Speaker 1: This is Cody Bellinger when he was at his best.

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Speaker 1: Is what this player is. And Tucker is a game

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Speaker 1: changing force. You know, you can debate how much he

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Speaker 1: impacts the entire lineup. I think you know that there

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Speaker 1: are I think he clearly helps guys like say Azuki.

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Speaker 1: I think he clearly helps the people like right around him.

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Speaker 1: But and he himself is just this this truly impactful player.

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Speaker 1: He had the game winning homer on Friday, right, that

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Speaker 1: was the go ahead homer on Friday, and then he

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Speaker 1: had a huge homer on Tuesday.

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Speaker 2: But the two comebacks, he was a key part.

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Speaker 1: Of it, right, you Like, it's just I don't know

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Speaker 1: what else to say other than he is a superstar.

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Speaker 1: He's playing like a superstar, and when you add one

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Speaker 1: of those to your lineup, there's just something that happens

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Speaker 1: that makes it all that. I think there are a

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Speaker 1: lot of good players in this lineup. I think without

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Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker, this would be a slightly above average offense.

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Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker takes it to another level. And I think

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Speaker 1: that's we just cannot gloss over that. And I think

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Speaker 1: it's foolish to try and dig much deeper than that

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Speaker 1: when when talking about this like that is the first

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Speaker 1: thing you have to mention.

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Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is a superstar. The Cubs added a superstar

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Speaker 2: end of sentence, no doubt.

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Speaker 3: And that is why I think our buddy John Greenberg,

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Speaker 3: you know, said this, like, thank you Jed Hoyer for

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Speaker 3: giving us an ongoing story all season.

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Speaker 2: You know, will they that?

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Speaker 4: Won't they? You know, what's the offer going to be?

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Speaker 4: Like where's this going to go?

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Speaker 3: I mean, Kyle Tucker putting enormous pressure on the Cubs,

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Speaker 3: making himself a lot of money for the for the

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Speaker 3: future just by being the man I mean, being the

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Speaker 3: type of player that the Cubs have not had for

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Speaker 3: a long time, the missing piece that we had all

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Speaker 3: talked about for years of what's going to take this

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Speaker 3: to the next level. It is Kyle Tucker period. And

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Speaker 3: at the same time, though you know he he's only

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Speaker 3: one guy in the lineup, and right you're seeing this

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Speaker 3: bottom of the order come together and you've written about

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Speaker 3: this even kind of working ahead on this as well.

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Speaker 4: Just the catching situation.

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Speaker 3: What are what are we seeing there? And is that

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Speaker 3: I least part of that sustainable?

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So, like I I this was the one that

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Speaker 1: I didn't feel super confident in entering the season. It

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Speaker 1: was kind of like that wild card of like, well

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Speaker 1: it can't be as bad as the last year, and

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Speaker 1: I think that's what you have to avoid. I think

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Speaker 1: my thought process was, well, they're not going to be awesome,

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Speaker 1: but if they're not twenty ninth or thirtieth, that's how

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Speaker 1: you avoid, you know, these huge lulls, like just be

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Speaker 1: middle of the pack. I think this is an area

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Speaker 1: that we may see some drop off, but not I don't.

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Speaker 1: I think there's some Like I think there's reasons for

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Speaker 1: legit optimism. Miguel Amaya looks like he's he's taken some

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Speaker 1: real strides. Like what happened at the end of last year,

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Speaker 1: what was it, the final three ish months, two and

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Speaker 1: a half is ish months. He made a change with

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Speaker 1: his stride, right, you have to wait and see that's

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Speaker 1: that's one of those things that I, you know, I

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Speaker 1: need to see it before I believe it. It's it's great,

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Speaker 1: make the changes, good, put in the work, especially in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the season. If you're able to pull

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Speaker 1: that off, I'm impressed, But uh, do it again, right,

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Speaker 1: It's really hard to do it again. He looks like

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Speaker 1: a really good ballplayer right now all around, gets a

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Speaker 1: lot of compliments from the pitching staff and and you

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Speaker 1: saw what happened on Tuesday. He had the big home run.

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Speaker 1: He's It's nice to see him, you know, continue to

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Speaker 1: develop and look like similar to that player that we

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Speaker 1: saw at the end of last season. He's a he's

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Speaker 1: a quality offensive talent. Carson Kelly. Look, he's not going

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Speaker 1: to hit like Barry Bonds. You and I both know that.

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Speaker 1: I think fans understand that for the most part. I

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Speaker 1: do think it's interesting that this is a former top

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Speaker 1: one hundred prospect that was highly thought of. His issue

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Speaker 1: has never been like this guy is a mess at

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Speaker 1: the plate. He chases and he makes terrible swing decisions.

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Speaker 1: That has never been the problem. Go back and look

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Speaker 1: at his numbers. He's had some really big walk years.

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Speaker 1: He's patient, he doesn't he doesn't swing and miss too much.

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Speaker 1: He's actually improved in that area as his career has

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Speaker 1: gone on. I think what's happened over the past two

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Speaker 1: years is he slowly made more changes with his swing.

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Speaker 1: He was not happy with how he was impacting the ball.

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Speaker 1: I think he's had it. I talked to him about this.

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Speaker 1: He had some wrist issues, hand issues. I think maybe

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Speaker 1: multiple times he's had that happen and that's kind of

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Speaker 1: screwed things up about two years ago. Now he gets

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Speaker 1: a year and a half now, he decided to make

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Speaker 1: some pretty major mechanical changes. The goal was to get

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Speaker 1: the ball in the air more often. His swing was

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Speaker 1: not how he wanted it to be. He was not

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Speaker 1: in the zone with his bat. You know, you want

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Speaker 1: to be long in the zone, quick through the zone,

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Speaker 1: is what I think they say. And he was just

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Speaker 1: not long in the zone. His bat path was a mess,

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Speaker 1: and it was really he was like way too much

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Speaker 1: on the ground.

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Speaker 2: Made some tweaks.

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Speaker 1: I likely write about this soon to get the details,

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Speaker 1: but made some tweaks, and he's elevating the ball more

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Speaker 1: and impacting the ball more so. He I think the

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Speaker 1: reason I think there's reason for optimism. Again, he's not

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Speaker 1: going to whatever it is, Like this insane number that

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Speaker 1: he's putting up, this fifteen hundred ops or whatever it is,

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Speaker 1: that's not going to happen, right. I don't think it's

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Speaker 1: even going to be like close to one thousand or

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Speaker 1: nine hundred. But if it's like seven point fifty, you

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Speaker 1: will take that best, right. Yeah, it's a really good player,

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Speaker 1: and I think there's reason to believe that it can

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Speaker 1: kind of like he can be that type of player

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Speaker 1: because the swing decisions are there if you make the

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Speaker 1: mechanical changes and you stay healthy and you buy into

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Speaker 1: them and you trust them.

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Speaker 2: That's another thing he said. He's like it can be hard, right,

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Speaker 2: He's like, I just had.

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Speaker 1: To find something that I was convicted in, Like this

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Speaker 1: is what I believe this. He continued to fine tune

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Speaker 1: things this offseason and he feels even better about it.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think when you're confident in where your

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Speaker 1: swing is, if you're in a good place mentally, you're

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Speaker 1: in a good place physically, and you have the mechanics

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Speaker 1: down you made the right changes, good things can happen. Right.

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Speaker 1: I think that's that's a big deal. The catcher was

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Speaker 1: catcher position was a black hole last year, John Gomes.

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Speaker 1: You know, you catch it happens with catchers. They turn,

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Speaker 1: they get into their thirties, deeper into their thirties, things

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Speaker 1: just fall apart quickly offensively.

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Speaker 2: It's it's hard. It's a hard position, and it's a

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Speaker 2: it's an unforgiving position.

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Speaker 1: And and and Miguel Amayah was learning on the fly,

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Speaker 1: so I it's you know, they they didn't they didn't

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Speaker 1: address it probably how they should have, but now they have. Right,

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Speaker 1: it was a priority. We talked to so many people

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Speaker 1: in the front office. It's like, we don't come away

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Speaker 1: from this offseason with someone to help Miguel Amaya carry

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Speaker 1: that load. That's the other thing I think we should

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Speaker 1: give Craig Counsel credit for just like he's not like

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Speaker 1: someone was as and and I think our buddy Jesse

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Speaker 1: Rogers asked him, you know, like not that he needs

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Speaker 1: to play more, not that you know, you want to

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Speaker 1: expose him, but do you need to find ways to

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Speaker 1: play Carson Kelly more?

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Speaker 2: And and you.

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Speaker 1: Know, I appreciate the question that Jesse wasn't like trying

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Speaker 1: to say like you have to play him all the time.

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Speaker 1: He was just saying, like, is this when someone does this,

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Speaker 1: do you need to look at ways like maybe get

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Speaker 1: him at first base or or DH a little bit

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Speaker 1: more or something like that. And and Council's like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it opens your eyes. But also like and Jesse, Jesse's

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Speaker 1: point was like, part of why he's probably succeeding is

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Speaker 1: the way you're playing him, right, And I think that's true.

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Speaker 1: I think the way you're playing Carson Kelly the way

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Speaker 1: you're playing Miguel Amaya, and that's what they wanted. They

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Speaker 1: didn't want to expose these guys, and like catching is,

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Speaker 1: unless you have like the cal rally, you just don't

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Speaker 1: want a guy out there too much.

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Speaker 2: Like it can really drain them.

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Speaker 1: It can and buy August all this offense that we're

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Speaker 1: talking about is gone. So if this is a good

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Speaker 1: fifty to fifty mix, whor these guys are both in

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Speaker 1: the seven hundred to eight hundred ops range, I think

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Speaker 1: that's a huge win. And I think that's a that's

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Speaker 1: a way that keeps this offense sustainable.

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Speaker 3: Maaya's adjustments and emergence are important because it ties into

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Speaker 3: p Crow Armstrong and it shows you just the benefit

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Speaker 3: of time. As Counsel said, this is the best pitching

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Speaker 3: in the world. There's nothing else like it anywhere else.

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Speaker 3: You have to go through a season, and you have

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Speaker 3: to have good coaches to help.

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Speaker 4: You get through there.

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Speaker 3: And I think the Cubs hitting group, which has often

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Speaker 3: been maligned and at times scapegoaded over the years, they

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Speaker 3: found a way to help Miguelamaya get better in real time.

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Speaker 4: In the second half of last year. They also did

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Speaker 4: it with pe Crow Armstrong.

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Speaker 3: Now they're different, maybe ideas or messages or tech techniques,

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Speaker 3: but you know, overall they needed to see growth from

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Speaker 3: certain young players. And pie Crow Armstrong right now is

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Speaker 3: just looking like a star. Like if he can hit

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Speaker 3: just a little bit, he becomes that much more valuable.

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Speaker 3: If he hits a decent amount out, you know, he's

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Speaker 3: a star. And if what we've seen recently, if there

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Speaker 3: are more and more flashes like that you're talking about

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Speaker 3: like an annual Envy Peak contender, Now that's we're a

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Speaker 3: long way away from. Yeah, yeah, but but you've seen

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Speaker 3: the flash of like, wow, like this guy is different.

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Speaker 3: The way he runs the bases, the way he makes

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Speaker 3: difficult plays in centerfield look easy, and then just the

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Speaker 3: power from really like a small dude who looked overmatched

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Speaker 3: when he first came to the big leagues. It's kind

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Speaker 3: of astonishing. And I think you've seen, and we're going

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Speaker 3: to be writing about this on the Athletic of this

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Speaker 3: group of veteran players. Peek Armstrong really trusts them. I

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Speaker 3: think they've there's been a lot of encouragement from the

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Speaker 3: coaching staff as well as his peers. You have a

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Speaker 3: manager and counsel who you know, had told him just

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Speaker 3: focus on defense and stealing bases when he got up here.

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Speaker 3: But it's also like challenged him, you know, like if

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Speaker 3: you put your glove on the ball, catch it, and

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Speaker 3: you know, like and to not sort of resign yourself

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Speaker 3: to be, you know, a one or two dimensional player.

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Speaker 3: It's to you know, have your talents come out in

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Speaker 3: full force. And I think we're already seeing that, like

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Speaker 3: the national attention on Pete crow Armstrong, like if the

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Speaker 3: Cubs make a run this year, he is kind of

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Speaker 3: the cub most likely to become a star. Like you

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Speaker 3: can already see it, like people gravitate towards him. Fans

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Speaker 3: like watching him. I think fans also, like I'm sure

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Speaker 3: Dodger fans will like booing him like he's just like

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Speaker 3: you know, he he's in interacting with the fans in

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Speaker 3: the really bleachers, making highlight reels like this is you know,

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Speaker 3: it happened super quick, right, I mean in middle of April,

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Speaker 3: this guy was struggling and then all all of a

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Speaker 3: sudden it clicked, and you know there's going to be

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Speaker 3: more ups and downs. But I think you're seeing a

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Speaker 3: guy who's very young, but when you talk to him

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Speaker 3: and as you talk to him regularly, he's very mature,

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Speaker 3: very insightful, very self aware in ways that may not

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Speaker 3: be obvious if you're just watching you know, three or

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Speaker 3: four second highlight clips.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he is currently third in war in baseball,

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Speaker 1: Aaron Judge has a big lead Corbyn Carrol's at one.

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Speaker 1: This is according to Fangres. Corbyn Carroll's at one point eight.

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Speaker 1: Peaker Armstrongs, I mean, Corbyn Carroll's at one point nine,

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Speaker 1: Peaker Armstrongs at one point eight. You know, if you

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Speaker 1: would have told me, he's right there with Corbyn Carroll, Like,

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Speaker 1: I did not expect that, you know, I thought flashes

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Speaker 1: like if this lasts, I mean, yes, superstar, MVP candidate,

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Speaker 1: one of the best players in the game.

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Speaker 2: Just an electric talent.

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Speaker 1: The offense is obvious, like when you watch it like that,

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Speaker 1: the impact that he's having right now when when he

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Speaker 1: hit that three run shot into the basket, I kind

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Speaker 1: of just like looked at the reporters next to me

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Speaker 1: and I was like, really, this kid's doing it again tonight.

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Speaker 1: Like he's just he's so good right now, and he's

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Speaker 1: locked in, he's confident, and I agree with you on

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Speaker 1: how he was. The numbers weren't there in April, right

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Speaker 1: in the middle of April, just whatever, ten days ago.

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Speaker 2: They weren't there.

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Speaker 1: And I appreciate that he has that support system and

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Speaker 1: that he didn't allow himself to get in a negative

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Speaker 1: space because I never thought that the process wasn't wrong.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't seeing him chase like we did a year ago.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't seeing him look like a mess at the plate.

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Speaker 1: So it's nice that he's stuck with it and just

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Speaker 1: you know, as frustrating as this game gets, stick with

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Speaker 1: that process, you're doing the right things. He has a

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Speaker 1: hitting coach that will make sure that. We'll tell him that.

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Speaker 1: He has veterans that will make that I'll tell him that,

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Speaker 1: like you hit the crap out of that ball man,

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Speaker 1: they will start to fall or they will start to

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Speaker 1: go over the fence, and they have I think that's

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Speaker 1: important to hear that message. Listen, Look, I know we're

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Speaker 1: talking about offense right now, Patrick, but his defense, I

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Speaker 1: have not seen that. I've not watched the center fielder

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Speaker 1: like that. I just haven't, like, not on a daily basis.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure there are many like that. First of all,

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Speaker 1: but like the Cubs haven't had one, that's for sure,

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Speaker 1: probably since Kenny Lofton as far as just like being

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Speaker 1: able to do this, but he's faster, right, Like, this

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Speaker 1: is just like the plays he makes every single time

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Speaker 1: I look up and I'm like, he's there, or you

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Speaker 1: watch him from the start crack of the bat. He's

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Speaker 1: moving and he's covering so much ground and he makes

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Speaker 1: these plays look easy. And I swear, if you're watching

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Speaker 1: on TV, you're not fully appreciating how difficult these plays are.

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Speaker 1: There are plays where they should be multiple more runs

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Speaker 1: on the board, but he is making it look easy.

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Speaker 1: And he is saving this team and saving the pitchers

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Speaker 1: so many pitches, so many runs, and it's just like

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Speaker 1: it is really impressive. He makes it look easy. I hope,

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Speaker 1: Like my assumption is because of advanced metrics now and

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Speaker 1: everything like, it won't go overlooked. It's not possible to

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Speaker 1: go overlook That's part of the reason why that war

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Speaker 1: number I.

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Speaker 2: I shared it is so high.

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Speaker 1: He's he's an all around force and he stole two

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Speaker 1: bases on Wednesday, like, and he's gonna continue to do

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Speaker 1: that and you're and you're right, like he is obnoxious

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Speaker 1: to opposing fans and probably the opposition.

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Speaker 2: Dave Roberts. I think they have a long history.

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Speaker 1: Dave Roberts was joking about how like he owes me

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Speaker 1: some golf balls and a bottle of wine or something

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Speaker 1: like that. He's he's kicking my butt all this season

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Speaker 1: like it, you know, Uh, he's a It's really fun

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Speaker 1: to see this happen. Like I think we're watching we're

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Speaker 1: potentially why I don't want to get ahead of myself

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Speaker 1: because there's a long season and then and he will

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Speaker 1: hit a slump at some point. But is like we

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Speaker 1: potentially are watching the emergence of a superstar. Because if

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Speaker 1: it's close to this, like you're right, national attention. He's

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Speaker 1: got the personalities, he's gonna make headlines on the field,

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Speaker 1: off the field, all of it. He's got it all,

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Speaker 1: and it's really fun to watch him when he's at

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Speaker 1: his best.

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Speaker 4: One more thing, kind of taking the long view here.

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Speaker 4: Of obviously, we reported on.

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Speaker 3: The contract extension talks that both sides tabled that Pete

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Speaker 3: said he wants to focus on baseball.

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Speaker 4: There's no like rush here.

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Speaker 3: But I think the way to think about it is

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Speaker 3: all those things you just mentioned side of give him

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Speaker 3: a very high floor, like his worst case scenario. If

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Speaker 3: he stays healthy, it's like being a ten year big leaguer.

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Speaker 4: And if.

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Speaker 3: He taps into that offensive potential, like he doesn't have

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Speaker 3: to show it like every year through twenty thirty. It's

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Speaker 3: like if he just has a couple of those, the

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Speaker 3: payoff would be enormous. Like, you know, this free agency,

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Speaker 3: a lot of it is about kind of timing, and

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Speaker 3: in that regard, timing is absolutely on his side that

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Speaker 3: you know, you.

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Speaker 4: Put a good numbers here.

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Speaker 3: I mean, look at how the Cups signed, you know,

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Speaker 3: Dansby Swanson or Jason Hayward. It's like you put together

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Speaker 3: that one year where it all comes together and it's

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Speaker 3: just and it pays enormous dividends. And I think this

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Speaker 3: is happening faster than probably everyone expected to, where he

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Speaker 3: is looking like a guy who might be able to

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Speaker 3: carry an offense even though he doesn't have to on

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Speaker 3: this particular team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's the thing, right, Like it's you look

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Speaker 1: up and down the lineup and it's just so deep.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have, say as Azuki, who's dealing with a

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Speaker 1: little risk thing day to day.

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Speaker 2: They didn't. He was scratched.

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Speaker 1: On on Wednesday, and they still go out there and

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Speaker 1: score seven runs. Like Pete's emerging into his star. One

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Speaker 1: guy we haven't mentioned is Michael Bush, and I think

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Speaker 1: he's you know, like you're talking about a middle of

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Speaker 1: the order now of Kyle Tucker sayas Azuki Michael Bush.

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Speaker 1: You know, I really felt like he had a chance

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Speaker 1: to step forward and become a little bit more impactful.

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Speaker 1: He had a great rookie season. But this is what

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Speaker 1: you want to see, right, Like Council says it all

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Speaker 1: the time, like you learn from the league and then

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Speaker 1: you make, you know, tiny little steps forward. He right now,

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Speaker 1: he's great, right, He's truly, like, very impactful. I don't

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Speaker 1: you know, We'll see where he is at the end

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Speaker 1: of the year. But I had he was one of

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Speaker 1: those guys like I had no clue what catcher was

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Speaker 1: going to do. I did not did not feel strongly

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Speaker 1: about that. I, like Pete Kromstrong, thought he was going

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Speaker 1: to have a good season. He is exceeding expectations. Michael

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Speaker 1: Bush was my guy in spring training. He was my

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Speaker 1: pick to break out. I said, I think this guy's

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Speaker 1: going to have a really good season. So far, Like

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Speaker 1: that's that's looking accurate. Well, you know, like I said,

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Speaker 1: long season, but you know, I thought Wrigley kind of

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Speaker 1: held him back last year. He's playing much more normal

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Speaker 1: this year, you know, not always blowing out, not always

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Speaker 1: blowing in.

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Speaker 2: It's normal Wrigley. So far. We'll see, we'll see how

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Speaker 2: he keeps it up.

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Speaker 1: But that's really scary two three, four, as long as say,

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Speaker 1: as long as his wrist doesn't linger, if he can

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Speaker 1: get fully healthy, even if he like, if he can

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Speaker 1: just play through it, I guess, and not, it doesn't

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Speaker 1: keep him from impacting the baseball.

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Speaker 2: It should be fine, right, he hit a.

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Speaker 1: I think he's he's he's done well for the most

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Speaker 1: part since then at least he's impacted the baseball pretty well.

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Speaker 1: Uh So, I mean, just like there's up and down

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Speaker 1: the lineup, there are success stories right now and we

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Speaker 1: and I think and Council made this point, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's important to make Dansby Swanson needs to get going.

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Speaker 1: He needs to start hitting. He needs to look like himself.

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Speaker 1: But this is like, this is why you have like

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Speaker 1: this is how good teams do it. And it made

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Speaker 1: me think of the Brewers last year go look at

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Speaker 1: the numbers for the Brewers last year. They're all okay,

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Speaker 1: Like the offense is all okay numbers, but they were

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Speaker 1: like month long stretches. It's like, is William Contreras an MVP?

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Speaker 1: Is Christian Yelich an MVP? Is Jackson Curio an MVP?

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Speaker 1: Because they all like had took their turns and the

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Speaker 1: other like Christian Yelich got hurt.

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Speaker 2: Okay, Jackson Curio is turning into a superstar.

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Speaker 1: Like you have these moments right where where guys step

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Speaker 1: up and become these types of players where it looks

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Speaker 1: like they're superstars. So month long, two month long, whatever

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Speaker 1: it is, you hope it's six months. And that's probably

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Speaker 1: what Kyle Tucker does. Right, He's probably gonna be pretty

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Speaker 1: steady and have a full season of it. But guys

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Speaker 1: are going to step up, guys are going to take

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Speaker 1: a step back, and you just need others, just you

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Speaker 1: need Dancy eventually to be the guy that you know

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Speaker 1: he can be and carry the load for you know

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Speaker 1: whatever it is, three weeks, a month, whatever, and the

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Speaker 1: hope he kind of gets to his career numbers.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, no doubt, he's a streaky hitter.

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Speaker 3: Justin Turner maybe showing his age a little bit, you say,

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Speaker 3: his wrist or some of the nagging injuries.

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Speaker 4: I think that's something definitely to monitor. Third base is

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Speaker 4: I think what did Jed call it, like a bit

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Speaker 4: of a revolving door. I think that was probably a

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Speaker 4: kind way to put it.

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Speaker 3: So, you know, it's not perfect, but I think you

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Speaker 3: you would certainly take it. You know, if you're rewinding

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Speaker 3: back to Mesa, I mean, you still have some top

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Speaker 3: one hundred prospects in the upper levels of your farm system,

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Speaker 3: Like that's kind of a card. Those are cards you

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Speaker 3: can play in different ways throughout the summer. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: all in all, just kind of a unbelievable start to

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Speaker 3: the season for this offense.

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Speaker 1: YEP three against the Phillies another solid offense. I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure how the Phillies are playing offensively, to be honest,

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Speaker 1: I think that's actually where where some struggles have hit

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Speaker 1: for them. They're the middle of the pack overall as

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Speaker 1: far as offense goes, probably not good enough for what

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Speaker 1: their fans expect. Still some scary bats in that lineup,

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Speaker 1: and you never know when a team like that with

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Speaker 1: that type of talent goes off. Kyle Schwarber is a

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Speaker 1: stud right now. I think Cassianos is actually having a

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Speaker 1: pretty good season start to the season. So we'll see

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Speaker 1: some former fan favorites. They're still fan favorites, you know. Hopefully,

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Speaker 1: hopefully you and I get a chance to chat with

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00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 1: chat with some of those guys because they always have

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Speaker 1: fun things to say. All right, Patrick, we'll be back

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Speaker 1: next week. We'll see what the Cubs do with the Phillies.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be another fun weekend at Wrigley. Thanks so

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00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: much for listening everyone. This is Northside Territory Foul Territory

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Speaker 1: Networks Cubs podcast.

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00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 2: Make sure to rate, review and subscribe.

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00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the YouTube channel where Patrick and I are

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00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,120
Speaker 1: on video now, make sure you check that out and.

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00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 2: See our beautiful faces.

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00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,920
Speaker 1: I'm sure you want to do that while eating breakfast

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00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 1: or hanging out with your family. Just put us on

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00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 1: in the background. We'll keep you company. And make sure

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00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 1: to subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are

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00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: on top of all things Cubs. Thanks so much for

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00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 1: listening everyone. Take care.

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Speaker 3: They do love.

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Speaker 1: They relished