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Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory File 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, the Cubs

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Speaker 1: have taken the first two against the Cleveland Guardians there.

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Speaker 1: They played pretty well in this series so far, and

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Speaker 1: they may maybe they've caught a little break here as well.

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Speaker 1: As Cleveland's starter for Thursday night has been scratched. He

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Speaker 1: is taking a leave of absence and under investigation. We

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Speaker 1: don't really have at the moment where when we're recording,

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Speaker 1: we don't have any details right now. It's a little

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Speaker 1: mysterious as to what's going on. We won't bother to speculate,

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Speaker 1: but I'm sure my assumption is something will come out,

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Speaker 1: as it usually does. Doesn't seem like Cleveland is going

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Speaker 1: to say anything about those details.

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Speaker 2: But this is so far, so good. It's a start

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Speaker 2: of a you know, i'd say, an important homestand in

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Speaker 2: the sense that the Cubs have just kind of been.

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Speaker 1: Playing fine baseball, nothing terrible, nothing great of late, and

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Speaker 1: you want to see them get on a little bit

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Speaker 1: of run maybe here before the All Star break and

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Speaker 1: last night was a nice game in the sense that

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Speaker 1: showed him Anaga. May not have been at his best,

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Speaker 1: but he did enough. He kept his team in I

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Speaker 1: thought Counsel made a good point in that, you know,

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Speaker 1: he struggled with the fastball early and made an adjustment

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Speaker 1: mid game and shut down Cleveland the rest of the

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Speaker 1: way and set it up for the bullpen and the offense,

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Speaker 1: and that offense showed up yet again. Like I said,

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Speaker 1: make a run before the All Star Game. The Cubs

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Speaker 1: have two starters in that All Star Game, one of

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Speaker 1: whom is Pete Crow Armstrong.

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Speaker 2: We talk about showed him Anaga.

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Speaker 1: He was the star that emerged last season pca Very,

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Speaker 1: you know, one of the biggest stars in the game.

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Speaker 1: I think maybe people around Chicago had hopes that it

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Speaker 1: could happen. I don't know if any of us really

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Speaker 1: expected it to happen this quickly, and some of the

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Speaker 1: stuff that we've seen over the past couple of years

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Speaker 1: from him just kind of coalesced this quickly. It's just

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Speaker 1: been a remarkable rise for a kid that you know,

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Speaker 1: so I mean, Counsel said it. He's really humble, but

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Speaker 1: it's just listening to him talk sometimes I'm just like,

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Speaker 1: this guy wants to credit everyone in the world and

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Speaker 1: has so many people that he wants to thank that

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Speaker 1: he's gotten to this point.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I do you think there are a lot of

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Speaker 3: people who had a hand in this, And obviously the

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Speaker 3: credit always goes to the player first. And it's not

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Speaker 3: like Pekrow Armstrong was some out of nowhere underrated player.

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Speaker 3: I mean he was on Team USA is under twelve

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Speaker 3: national team, a first round pick out of high school,

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Speaker 3: after a senior season that was cut short due to

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Speaker 3: COVID right at the onset of that. In twenty twenty,

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Speaker 3: undergo shoulder surgery while in New York Mets prospect and

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Speaker 3: that leaves him a little bit out of sight, out

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Speaker 3: of mind to where the Cubs can trade for him.

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Speaker 3: And I think we've heard along the way that it's

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Speaker 3: pretty genuine when Pete credits some of these people, though, Like,

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Speaker 3: even though he had all the talent in the world,

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Speaker 3: you know, he was open to instruction and changes. I

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Speaker 3: think there was some natural maturity that happens between the

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Speaker 3: ages of whatever, you know, from being a high school

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Speaker 3: senior to now being twenty three years old, Like that

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Speaker 3: certainly happened and I think it's also just the adjustments

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Speaker 3: he's made at the major league level. I mean, this

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Speaker 3: is some of the Cubs talked about kind of as

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Speaker 3: Joe Madden left and they cycled through David Ross and

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Speaker 3: Craig Council coming from Milwaukee. Player development never stops, like

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Speaker 3: it has to keep happening in the major leagues, and

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Speaker 3: I mean you've seen it here. I mean, I guess

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Speaker 3: everyone's always working on stuff, but with Pete, it's like

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Speaker 3: this light bulb went off in April out on the

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Speaker 3: West Coast, and you know, I think we'll see I

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Speaker 3: don't think he's going to wind up like with a

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Speaker 3: forty forty season, Like there's going to be some like

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Speaker 3: peaks and valleys here, but like kind of everything you

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Speaker 3: want in a franchise type player. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean he.

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Speaker 1: Said it last night when we were talking to him.

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Speaker 2: He kind of he feeds off the energy he you know,

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Speaker 2: he I.

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Speaker 1: Believe what he said was he he appreciates how people

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Speaker 1: kind of embrace how he plays.

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Speaker 2: And and Council was the one who said he kind of.

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Speaker 1: He played with like desplayer and he kind of needs

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Speaker 1: it to succeed. While Tucker is, you know, the opposite

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Speaker 1: in the sense that Tucker is just like a metronome.

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Speaker 1: He's going out very day to day workmanlike, and it

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Speaker 1: is it's this it's like there's a gravity about it,

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Speaker 1: right there's people are drawn to the way he plays.

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Speaker 2: It's so easy to enjoy it.

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Speaker 1: Him running around the bases yesterday for that triple and

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Speaker 1: over running third. You know, it was I was watching

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Speaker 1: him take that wide turn and I was like, what

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Speaker 1: what is he doing exactly? But I think sometimes he's

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Speaker 1: just like it can be. It's not I don't want

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Speaker 1: to call it out of control because he's he's for

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Speaker 1: his talent and what he can do, he's pretty in control.

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Speaker 1: But they are these sometimes these wild swings. Are these

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Speaker 1: just like going one hundred miles per hour, and ninety

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Speaker 1: nine percent of the time it leads to something brilliant.

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Speaker 1: We've seen some of these home runs come on balls

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Speaker 1: at his eyes or balls at his ankles. So he's

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Speaker 1: he's this remarkable talent that does things that others you

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Speaker 1: would tell not to do, and and he just he's

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Speaker 1: able to remember when he hit those home runs, those

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Speaker 1: two home runs, it was before he got hot, or

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Speaker 1: the All Star break last year, excuse me in Saint Louis. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and counsel kind of said, well, those are you know,

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Speaker 1: like he's those aren't pitches that we want him to

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Speaker 1: swing at, really, but he's kind of made a habit

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Speaker 1: of that.

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Speaker 2: He's doing something you don't.

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Speaker 1: You don't want people swinging at some of these pitches

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Speaker 1: that he swings at, and it can lead to it.

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Speaker 1: Like you said, you know, he's gonna have down moments

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Speaker 1: and that probably leads to some.

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Speaker 2: Slumps because that's the type of play areas. But I

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Speaker 2: don't think.

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Speaker 1: It's I think what we're seeing is he's got this

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Speaker 1: ability to kind of avoid the extended slump, and he

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Speaker 1: also has this ability to not dwell on it while

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Speaker 1: in the moment.

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Speaker 2: It looks like he takes it really hard.

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Speaker 1: He's someone that I wonder how many helmets he's broken

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Speaker 1: this season. I think that's kind of the you know,

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Speaker 1: say what you will about how he reacts. I think

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Speaker 1: it's kind of the perfect way in the sense that

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Speaker 1: in baseball, if you're going to be upset about what happens,

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Speaker 1: just let it be that moment, don't dwell on it.

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Speaker 1: And it doesn't seem like he dwells on it, it's

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Speaker 1: over once he slams that helmet, or slams the bad

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Speaker 1: or says whatever he needs to say.

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Speaker 2: It seems like he turns the page pretty quickly.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you can definitely see those moments of frustration. But

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Speaker 3: I think really what he's done is kind of it

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Speaker 3: kind of breathes new life into the Chicago Cubs. I mean,

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Speaker 3: maybe that's overstating it a bit, but like when you

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Speaker 3: look at this sort of moment here, of the circumstances

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Speaker 3: in which he was traded here, you know, as part

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Speaker 3: of this post twenty sixteen rebuild that we won't call

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Speaker 3: a rebuild, joining a team that was kind of on

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Speaker 3: the fringes on the wild card bubble, but just like

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Speaker 3: couldn't quite get over the hump. And obviously we'll talk

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Speaker 3: about Kyle tech Tucker the next segment, and he's been

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Speaker 3: a huge elevating force for this group as well.

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Speaker 2: But just like.

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Speaker 3: Even when the clubs were sort of rolling in twenty

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Speaker 3: three and twenty four, like when they had those good stretches,

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Speaker 3: like there wasn't a ton of like excitement or personality

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Speaker 3: or like the highlight reel clips. And again I'm overly

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Speaker 3: over generalizing here, but like he brings something different, like

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Speaker 3: a national spotlight, just a flair that brings young kids in.

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Speaker 3: Just an great spokesman for being so young. He talks

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Speaker 3: as if he's been in the big leagues for ten years.

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Speaker 3: And I don't mean that in a way in which

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Speaker 3: he's like condescending or entitled. It's just that he has

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Speaker 3: really good for as you know, immature. He could look

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Speaker 3: at the moment while slamming his helmet. He comes across

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Speaker 3: as extremely mature anytime you ask him a question. And

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Speaker 3: so I just think all of those him having an

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Speaker 3: MVP type year in a year when Kyle Tucker is

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Speaker 3: so close free agency, the whole front office is on

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Speaker 3: the hot seat. Ownership and business side is like, where's

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Speaker 3: kind of the draw to this team besides just Wrigley Field, Like,

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Speaker 3: what's that catalyst? It's been pie Crow Armstrong.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they to have seasons like this. You need surprises.

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Speaker 2: We've talked about that a lot, like to get superstar.

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Speaker 2: Surprise is how you have.

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Speaker 1: A great season, and it seems like the Cubs, at

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Speaker 1: least in the first half of are embarking on a

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Speaker 1: pretty great season.

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Speaker 2: This is I think better.

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Speaker 1: Than even someone like me who's optimistic but did not

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Speaker 1: expect this type of season as far as feeling this

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Speaker 1: strong and being among the best in baseball.

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Speaker 2: This is you.

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Speaker 1: Needed something like this to get there, and of course

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Speaker 1: you needed Kyle Tucker, and we'll talk about him. Let's

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Speaker 1: let's take a quick break.

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Speaker 4: We're gonna take you through the latest card that I

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Speaker 4: pulled in my Arena club slab pack aj And here

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Speaker 4: it is.

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Speaker 5: I pulled a Jared Jones card.

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Speaker 4: So Jared Jones is going to be out for a minute,

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Speaker 4: but I'm gonna hold onto this one for the long term.

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Speaker 5: He was nasty in his rookie season, a.

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Speaker 3: Great This is a great card to pull.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna go up in value once he comes back

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Speaker 1: because this guy dealt in his rookie season gets punch out,

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Speaker 1: so the innings once he's back.

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Speaker 3: Scott, you're in it for the long term.

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Speaker 2: Don't give up on Jared Jones or this card you

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Speaker 2: got from Arina Club.

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Speaker 4: Yep, there it is. That's how you pull a slab

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Speaker 4: pack card. It's very cool. It's all fancy and digital.

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Speaker 4: You can get it sent to you physically, and if

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Speaker 4: you want to sell it right back to Arena Club,

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Speaker 4: you can do that with their buyback option right away,

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Speaker 4: or you can hold it right now. You can get

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Speaker 4: twenty percent off your first slab pack or card purchase.

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Speaker 4: Just go to Arena club dot com slash foul, use

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Speaker 4: code foul. We've been talking about Arena Club all season

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Speaker 4: long because they dominate the hobby.

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Speaker 5: If you buy, sell, trade, collect, go for it.

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Speaker 1: Patrick, Kyle Tucker is an All Star. I don't think

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Speaker 1: any of us are surprised by it. He is in

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Speaker 1: the midst of arguably his best season ever. Really nice

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Speaker 1: time to have that season, platform season. Yeah, he's he's

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Speaker 1: in a bigger market. You know, no offense to the Astro.

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Speaker 1: It was obviously a great team, a great organization that's

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Speaker 1: won a couple of World Series in the recent past,

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Speaker 1: and and UH seems to consistently make the playoffs year

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Speaker 1: after year.

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Speaker 2: But you know, Chicago, La New.

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Speaker 1: York are just bigger places you become, you have a

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Speaker 1: better chance to kind of become a national star. And

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Speaker 1: if you had, if Kyle Tucker had gone unnoticed, that's

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Speaker 1: not happening anymore. He's he's starting alongside the PA and

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Speaker 1: Ronald Lacuna Junior. If if PA's the flair and the

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Speaker 1: flash of this team. Like I said before, like Kyle

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Speaker 1: Tucker's just the metronome. He's just there day after day

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Speaker 1: making plays, making this team better, and he has elevated

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Speaker 1: the group.

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Speaker 2: There.

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Speaker 1: There are so many players that feel like that can

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Speaker 1: just go about doing their business and not having to

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Speaker 1: be the start, not have the pressure on them, because

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Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker h seems to be able to just handle

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Speaker 1: all that pressure without even you know, barely aware that

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Speaker 1: it's happening. I don't know if he like he's so calm.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes it seems like he's there's there's not much emotion there.

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Speaker 1: I think his teammates see it more than we do.

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Speaker 1: But uh, it's it's impressive to to watch him go

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Speaker 1: about business and and he just like it's it's.

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Speaker 2: Kind of that.

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Speaker 1: Whatever happens happens, and he's just gonna go out there

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Speaker 1: and do his thing and and it works every single day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Counsel explain this very well on Wednesday at Wrigley of

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Speaker 3: just how with Pete and Kyle it's kind of this

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Speaker 3: like I don't know, fire and ice yin and Yang

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Speaker 3: type thing where they feed off of each other. And uh, Counsel,

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Speaker 3: who is not just a manager, has a background in

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Speaker 3: the front office, and it's kind of has a broad

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Speaker 3: kind of base level understanding of scouting and player development

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Speaker 3: just from his experiences being in the game so long.

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Speaker 3: Called Kyle Tucker, he's someone who has like the perfect

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Speaker 3: ideal makeup for a major league hitter. And I don't

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Speaker 3: think that's hyperbole. That's not really how council communicates. And

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Speaker 3: obviously Tucker's track record is such that it's hard to

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Speaker 3: argue with, but it's just this idea of being able

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Speaker 3: to separate every single pitch as a distinct event and

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Speaker 3: just moving on from the pitch the at bat. I

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Speaker 3: mean sometimes, I mean it looks like Kyle Tucker just

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Speaker 3: kind of like rolled out of bed and walked to

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Speaker 3: the batter's box, you know what I mean. Like there's

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Speaker 3: not a whole lot of you know, gyrations or worry

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Speaker 3: on his face or sort of reaction. It's just kind

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Speaker 3: of all right, move on to the next one. And

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Speaker 3: I think teammates subtly pick up on that. I think

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Speaker 3: there's kind of a calming effect, not just because of

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Speaker 3: how he handles it back, but also because he does

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Speaker 3: damage and that makes things easier just for everyone, I mean,

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Speaker 3: Council alluded to. This is a contract here. You know,

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Speaker 3: sometimes that can go in different directions, and you know

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Speaker 3: clearly this guy's gonna gonna get paid and it will

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Speaker 3: be well earned because I think he's shown kind of

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Speaker 3: another level. I mean you were saying the other day, right,

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Speaker 3: this could be his best season, but also doing it

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Speaker 3: under these circumstances, I think, without the same supporting cast

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Speaker 3: he had had during some of those you know, deep

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Speaker 3: October runs with the Astros. I think all of it

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Speaker 3: just kind of enhances his value as a free agent.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I believe.

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Speaker 1: Just according to Fangrafts, his career war was twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: one at five. He is at four already twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 1: He played in one hundred and forty games. So far,

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Speaker 1: He's played in eighty five games. Yeah, assuming he stays healthy,

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Speaker 1: this is he's you know, on pace for his best

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Speaker 1: season war wise.

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Speaker 2: At least you talk, you touched on it.

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Speaker 1: There. There's a contract here, coming to a huge market,

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Speaker 1: a bigger market, the spotlight, more more scrutiny. He goes

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Speaker 1: from you know, a team for much of the time

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Speaker 1: that he was there, there was Alex Bragman Jordan Alvarez,

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Speaker 1: you know, George Springer was there at one point. You know,

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Speaker 1: all those guys, jose L Tuve just to star after star,

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Speaker 1: All Stars, MVP candidates, and he's, you know, he's kind

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Speaker 1: of he doesn't have to carry the load. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: have to be the guy. How would he handle that?

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Speaker 1: He handle it with the plumb Apparently he doesn't have

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Speaker 1: any issues, stays the same, exactly what Council said. All

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Speaker 1: these changes, being uprooted, traded from the only organization he's

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Speaker 1: known in professional baseball, none of it seemed to rattle him.

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Speaker 1: You know, he he enters When did Vlad sign that

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Speaker 1: contract some early on in the season, the season had

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Speaker 1: already started, I believe maybe so he's you know, all

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Speaker 1: this pressure, there's so many different pressure points, and none

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Speaker 1: of it seems to impact him. He just goes out

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Speaker 1: there and continues to play at this elite level.

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Speaker 2: That that type of stuff. I feel like we can

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Speaker 2: gloss over it because it's hard. We just don't know

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Speaker 2: the impact, we don't know how to.

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Speaker 1: Measure it, and and it's so easy to just dismiss,

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Speaker 1: but it's I think it says a lot about him,

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Speaker 1: and it's you know, it's all the more reason why

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Speaker 1: he's going to get paid.

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Speaker 2: He's going to get a ton of money because.

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Speaker 1: It's like, Okay, this guy isn't a distraction in any way.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't get distracted. He's a good presence in the clubhouse.

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Speaker 1: He elevates everyone around him. There's just so many positives.

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Speaker 1: You know, I guess I'm making the case for the

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Speaker 1: Cubs to spend what it takes to keep him. But

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Speaker 1: you know, that's like we discussed ear what was that

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Speaker 1: last week, earlier this week. I don't know if that's

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Speaker 1: going to happen, and it'll continue to be a talking

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Speaker 1: point until he signs wherever he signs. But it's just

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Speaker 1: so clear what he has done to this team. And

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Speaker 1: we talk about we talked about last year the extended

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Speaker 1: slumps of the offense in May and June that led

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Speaker 1: to essentially the downfall of the team and the team

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Speaker 1: not making the playoffs. Had similar slumps in twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 1: Those were both good teams, they just weren't great. And

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Speaker 1: while you need Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz and Chris

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Speaker 1: Flexen and then you need Pca to come out and

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Speaker 1: be a good player, to go to and go to great.

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Speaker 1: You also just need the guy that was already a superstar,

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Speaker 1: and they went out and got him, and now they

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Speaker 1: they've become this team that looks looks completely different than

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Speaker 1: what we expected. And and a down month is five hundred,

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Speaker 1: that's June. You know how many fans were you know,

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Speaker 1: at different points. I'm sure there were fans and media

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Speaker 1: members that after a bad loss, here comes, here comes

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Speaker 1: the slide, and they bounced back immediately. They never they

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Speaker 1: never had that huge slide. I think Saint Louis was

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Speaker 1: a perfect example of that. They've done a really good

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Speaker 1: job of avoiding that. That's not all on Tucker, but

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Speaker 1: he's kind of that that piece that kind of changed

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Speaker 1: everything and then locked everything into place. Patrick, let's take

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00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,720
Speaker 1: a one more quick break and then come back and

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Speaker 1: talk about some other one of those guys that he's

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Speaker 1: helped elevate, I believe, and then a couple other players

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Speaker 1: who may have a shot at making the all start team.

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Speaker 2: Patrick.

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Speaker 1: One name that feels like he's an All Star leads

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Speaker 1: the league in RBIs just hits the crap out of

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Speaker 1: the ball. Saya Suzuki. It seems like every single time

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Speaker 1: he's up, he's coming through. Lately, he's coming up with

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Speaker 1: big hits. He's driving the ball in the gap, he's

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Speaker 1: hitting it over the fence. I believe he has twenty

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Speaker 1: three home runs, which is too over his career high.

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Speaker 1: He's already, yeah, twenty three home runs.

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Speaker 2: He is.

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Speaker 1: One below his his MLB career high. For RBI, he's

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Speaker 1: matched last year's total. Just, I mean, some of this

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Speaker 1: stuff that's kind of ridiculous. He's he's just been. He

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Speaker 1: had a great night. I don't know what date it is,

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Speaker 1: he had a great night Wednesday. He's just been, you know,

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Speaker 1: incredibly good. I don't know if he will get there. Uh,

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Speaker 1: some of this stuff can be weird with the All

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Speaker 1: Star game, but I assume with injuries and things like that,

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Speaker 1: he's he's in. I just I can't imagine that say

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Speaker 1: Suzuki isn't an All Star.

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Speaker 3: Certainly all star worthy performance of first half that you

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Speaker 3: know he deserves to be in it. But yeah, between

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Speaker 3: the injuries and every team has to get a representative

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Speaker 3: and you know, guys begging out or like, I don't know,

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Speaker 3: I don't spend a whole lot of like brain power

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Speaker 3: of like trying to figure out the last couple spots.

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Speaker 3: I think it's more just the eye test. You look

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Speaker 3: at his stats, you watch him, and I think that

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Speaker 3: was kind of this nagging feeling around, sayah, the last

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Speaker 3: couple of years of like he's I mean just unbelievably jacked,

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Speaker 3: like physically is just a force. And then you look

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Speaker 3: at if you're into the data, like he lights that

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Speaker 3: up swing decisions like all of these things. But it

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Speaker 3: I mean, Jed Hoyer said it like we would talk about, like, man,

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Speaker 3: he really should be putting more balls in the seats

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Speaker 3: and he hadn't, and you know, for him to have

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Speaker 3: this year, I think this is the hitter they envisioned.

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Speaker 3: And it's kind of interesting when you look at these

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Speaker 3: three players we've been talking about of like Okay, you're

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Speaker 3: not gonna call it a rebuild, but you have to

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Speaker 3: hit on certain things. And you know, the trade deadline

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Speaker 3: of twenty one as unpopular and as uncomfortable as that

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00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:06,160
Speaker 3: could have been, and they at least nailed one trade

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Speaker 3: to get a franchise level player in PCA coming out

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Speaker 3: of the lockout.

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Speaker 2: It was.

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Speaker 3: Intelligence spending right the next great Cubs team, you know,

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Speaker 3: a deal where they felt they could find a competitive

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Speaker 3: and advantage in Japan with kind of the investments they

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Speaker 3: had made there, and this was a hitter. They hoped

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Speaker 3: Sea would become like this is what and then when

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00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 3: you have some pieces, you kind of need that finishing

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Speaker 3: move for an established star and it was Kyle Tucker

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Speaker 3: and I think all three of these players, you know,

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Speaker 3: have kind of fed off each other. I mean if

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Speaker 3: you kind of watch every night, like Cubs had that

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Speaker 3: great hot start offensively where everyone was crushing the ball,

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Speaker 3: and you know there are certain players, you know, like

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Speaker 3: Carson Kelly who had kind of unbelievable stretches and it

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00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,680
Speaker 3: felt like it was going like I think it's kind

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Speaker 3: of cool down a bit to where it's like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: they have those. I would say Michael Bush has had

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Speaker 3: a nice, you know, first half as well, but like

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Speaker 3: those three guys are are driving it in a lot

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Speaker 3: of ways and kind of feeding off each other in

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Speaker 3: terms of you know, there are guys on base. That's

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Speaker 3: why I say it has you know, so many RBIs right,

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Speaker 3: like he's he's they're setting the table for him. I

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Speaker 3: think Say has learned from Tucker's patients and discipline what

437
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 3: we were talking about in the prior segment. And then yeah,

438
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 3: you have Pete and Say with their like weird relationship

439
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 3: and kind of celebrations and kind of just the the goofiness,

440
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 3: uh you know that happened. That's way more endearing on

441
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 3: winning teams. And that just looks kind of like amateur

442
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 3: Hour of the team's bad. Like they have those little

443
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,640
Speaker 3: inside jokes and those kind of the you know, celebrations

444
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,879
Speaker 3: and the taps and things like that. And so you

445
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,200
Speaker 3: have a lot of things coming together at once here,

446
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 3: and certainly Say has performed at a level to which

447
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,240
Speaker 3: he would certainly make sense to be in the All

448
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 3: Star team picture.

449
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:27,959
Speaker 1: So you talked about you know, you can look at

450
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,879
Speaker 1: the data stuff like that. There's just some stuff that

451
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 1: just pops out at you. I think this one is

452
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: really simple. Ground ball rate in twenty twenty three, so

453
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 1: two seasons ago, was forty three point one percent. It

454
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: sounded twenty eight point five percent this season just completely

455
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,880
Speaker 1: reversing that number. He's gone from a ground ball hitter,

456
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,480
Speaker 1: like ground ball dominant. He's was hitting the ball hard,

457
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 1: but it was just on the ground too much. It was,

458
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 1: you know, simple change, launch angle change. As far as

459
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,159
Speaker 1: barrel percentage, twenty twenty three, ten point five percent, now

460
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: it's eighteen point four percent.

461
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,440
Speaker 2: That's a huge jump. He's gone.

462
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: He's he's one of the best at barreling the ball

463
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 1: up now. He just consistently puts the It's he always

464
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: hit the ball hard. There was that was never a problem.

465
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 1: It was just I guess you could call it contact point,

466
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 1: would you know, I'd be curious to hear him talk

467
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,479
Speaker 1: about it. It's sometimes with the interpreter, it's hard to

468
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,800
Speaker 1: get into these you know, the nitty gritty with these players.

469
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: But you know something has changed there. He's it's a

470
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,200
Speaker 1: I think it's beyond him being aggress more aggressive. There's

471
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,680
Speaker 1: something that he's changed to get that contact point and

472
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:45,880
Speaker 1: launch the ball a little bit more consistently.

473
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,880
Speaker 2: Council did say, you know.

474
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,199
Speaker 1: It's it is different the way he hits it. You know,

475
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:57,359
Speaker 1: it's not these long, majestic home runs. It's these hard

476
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: liners and sometimes they just like scrape the top of

477
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 1: the wall, but they're hit one hundred and fifteen miles

478
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,920
Speaker 1: per hour and it just, you know, just flies out

479
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 1: of the park so quickly. But it isn't, you know,

480
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: the Glen Allen Hill type home run.

481
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 2: It's it's you know, it's.

482
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 1: A different type of home run, but he's putting it

483
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: in the seats so much more, so much more often. Patrick,

484
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: I don't know how they're going to if they're going

485
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:29,560
Speaker 1: to give others spots, but I think there's a couple

486
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: other players that deserve mentioned. One is Michael Bush. Michael

487
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 1: Bush is having just a ridiculously good season. It's so

488
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 1: quietly going about it. I mean, I'm not sure if

489
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: there's many first basemen that are having a better season,

490
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:53,320
Speaker 1: you know, purely offensively. Maybe Pete Alonso. I think Pete

491
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 1: Alonso is probably the only guy. He's having a better

492
00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 1: season offensively or equal season offensively to Freddie Freeman. You know,

493
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: it's similar values by war according to Fangrafs, better offensively

494
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: according to Fangrafs, way to runs created plush. He I

495
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: think he's deserving. I just don't know if there's enough spots.

496
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: And then pitching wise, we talked about Matthew Boyd last episode.

497
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,479
Speaker 2: I think he's an All Star. I keep looking at

498
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 2: those numbers. You know.

499
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: The keys for me is like you're starting pitcher and

500
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 1: you're among the leaders in innings pitched, and then your

501
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 1: e er is super low. It seems like a simple,

502
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: simple way to get in there, and the bullpen's been great.

503
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: I just don't know if they have a guy that

504
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 1: you focus in on. Maybe Daniel Palencia. We'll talk more

505
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,720
Speaker 1: about him next episode, But I don't know, if you know,

506
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: these secondary guys don't get in. That's not how the

507
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 1: All Star game works. But you know, Drew pomeranz as

508
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: a zero e er, Brad Keller just seems to go

509
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 1: out there and get the job done every single time

510
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 1: he's called upon. They're not getting it on the All

511
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,040
Speaker 1: Star team. I'm not sure if, but but you know,

512
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 1: maybe with the saves and the one hundred and two

513
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,800
Speaker 1: mile pour fastball, Daniel Palencia can sneak in. Not sure

514
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: if there's anyone else I would I would point to,

515
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 1: but those, I mean, that's it's so much more than

516
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,720
Speaker 1: what we expected coming into the season. I think it

517
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 1: was like Kyle Tupper and can anyone else get in there,

518
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: showda if he's you know, obviously Shoda was hurt Justin Steele.

519
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,480
Speaker 1: Like these guys, it's a different group than what you

520
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,920
Speaker 1: came into the season thinking about.

521
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,160
Speaker 3: No doubt. I mean, I think part of it too

522
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,240
Speaker 3: is like some sometimes of the All Star stuff, it's

523
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,200
Speaker 3: like it almost takes a year for things to sink in.

524
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 3: And I think this Cups team has surprised people and

525
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:52,000
Speaker 3: that there are guys with you know, lower name recognition,

526
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 3: like the entire bullpen. I don't know if Polenci has

527
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 3: had the like runway as a closer to where he's

528
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 3: kind of top of mind here, but certainly he's performing

529
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,440
Speaker 3: at that level. I don't know if council can create

530
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 3: like an outgetter position on an All Star roster, but

531
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:15,400
Speaker 3: certainly like Brad Keller's done everything they've asked and more.

532
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 3: And yeah, I'm with you with Matthew Boyd. Like when

533
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 3: you're the best pitcher on a on a first place

534
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:26,920
Speaker 3: team and you're putting up innings, your traditional numbers look good,

535
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,960
Speaker 3: you've made every start, it would just be a nice

536
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 3: honor given the journey, the injuries he's gone through to

537
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 3: get to that point. I think it's nice to reward

538
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 3: guys you know who are kind of you know later

539
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 3: in their career you've really had to work for it,

540
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 3: that it's not just the same guys over and over,

541
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 3: like a really nice human interest story if it does

542
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 3: eventually happen.

543
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:57,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, and completely spaced. Of course, Carson Kelly deserves a bench. Yeah,

544
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: he was a finalist, slumped for a little bit. I

545
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: think he looks good again. I think that's you know,

546
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 1: I'm not sure he's not. He's he's not going to

547
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 1: match what he did that that run he was on,

548
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 1: however long it was three weeks a month, that's that's

549
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: very unlikely. But doing what he's doing now, that's really important.

550
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 1: Just get a couple doubles, get base hits, take some walks.

551
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 1: So incredibly important for this team to have just consistent

552
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 1: production beyond the stars. I don't know, you know, Will

553
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 1: Smith has had a hell of a season, and I

554
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: don't know the rest of it.

555
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 2: I'm not. I'm like you, I'm not. I just don't.

556
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 2: I'm not going to do a deep dive on this stuff.

557
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 1: The All Star Game, maybe the All Star Game has

558
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:43,880
Speaker 1: lost its luster.

559
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,440
Speaker 2: It's a great honor for these guys, I guess the

560
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 2: All Star Game isn't what it was when we were

561
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:50,120
Speaker 2: growing up.

562
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 1: I think we can debate the value of releasing all

563
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,600
Speaker 1: these numbers as far as votes and everything.

564
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 2: I think it takes a little way from the surprise it.

565
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 3: Uh, but that's like phase two and then like all

566
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 3: these different layers. I still think it's a great event,

567
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 3: like I get which is more of just the process

568
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 3: and how Yeah, it's just like okay, like just let

569
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 3: us know who's an altar.

570
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 2: Not yeah, we can write the story.

571
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 3: You know.

572
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, the whole like finalist stuff. I was just

573
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 1: like this finalist. I didn't even realize it until like

574
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: they're announcing, like they're like, oh, it's between Will Smith

575
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: and Carson Count, Like, wait, they have finalists, why would

576
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 1: they announce the final two.

577
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 2: It's kind of like taking away from it.

578
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:30,400
Speaker 3: It's overly complicated.

579
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not my favorite thing, but I do like

580
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: the the festivities are still really fun.

581
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 2: The All Star Game is still.

582
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:45,520
Speaker 1: An event and and a fun event, and and it's

583
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: just a great like talking to people about it. When

584
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 1: you talk to them and they've made it, especially the

585
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,120
Speaker 1: first timers, it's a big deal.

586
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 2: Uh. It matters a lot. Say I did say, uh,

587
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,000
Speaker 2: and I think we can leave it on this.

588
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: They said, you know, he you know, he makes it great,

589
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,200
Speaker 1: but he's focused on getting to the postseason. That's much

590
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,360
Speaker 1: more important. I think that's that's what this team should

591
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,520
Speaker 1: be focused on. And I think they're they're setting a

592
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,879
Speaker 1: nice stage here for possibly a really fun uh end

593
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 1: of the summer and into October.

594
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:16,760
Speaker 2: Uh. We'll see what what the rest of the week holds.

595
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:17,920
Speaker 2: We'll we'll, we'll we'll.

596
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 1: Get to that later this week and then and then

597
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 1: next week a fun weekend in Saint or against St.

598
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 1: Louis at Wrigley. We'll talk about that soon. All right, Patrick,

599
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,879
Speaker 1: let's wrap this one up. It's Northside territory. Make sure

600
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,719
Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and

601
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 1: subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are on

602
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,319
Speaker 1: top of all things comes. Thanks so much for listening

603
00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: to everyone

604
00:34:39,960 --> 00:35:05,200
Speaker 2: Take strip today, Mo