Speaker 1: Hello, Patrick, how are you? Aj?
Speaker 2: I expected the call as soon as the Cubs lost
Speaker 2: nine of eleven games. I knew I wasn't gonna be
Speaker 2: on when they're winning twenty of twenty three. So I
Speaker 2: got very much. I'm very much looking forward to Uh,
Speaker 2: you know, your your thoughts and questions here.
Speaker 1: AJ.
Speaker 3: This is a national this is a national broadcast. You
Speaker 3: need to be a little bit more professional.
Speaker 1: Okay, Oh, I'm totally bossed. I'm not even love. White
Speaker 1: Sox went two out of three against the Chubbies. It's
Speaker 1: always a good day. And they know know do they
Speaker 1: beat them two out of three. They freaking snatched their
Speaker 1: soul and now they got swept by the Brewers. So
Speaker 1: it's been a good five days. KP. I'm sorry, Patrick,
Speaker 1: I can't apologize for the fact that the White Sox
Speaker 1: took two out of three, snatched their soul, and now
Speaker 1: they got swept by the Brewers.
Speaker 2: I think you're right in terms of a sort of
Speaker 2: a hangover effect like pe Crow Armstrong.
Speaker 1: We saw it this week.
Speaker 2: At Wrigley Field. It has seeped into his game. That
Speaker 2: incident with a fan on the south side. I think
Speaker 2: it was, you know, kind of a cumulative effect of
Speaker 2: a lot of stuff he was hearing. He sort of
Speaker 2: snapped in the moment. What he said was indefensible. I
Speaker 2: don't think it's truly truly representative of like how he
Speaker 2: interacts with people behind the scenes and his relationships in
Speaker 2: the clubhouse, the way he is kind of an ambassador
Speaker 2: for the Cubs, but he is, as he put it
Speaker 2: at Wrigley Field, like the physical stuff comes from a
Speaker 2: mental place. And he's gone from like all world defender
Speaker 2: to defensive liability as he got caught up in this
Speaker 2: national news cycle that has sort of exploded on him.
Speaker 4: So what was a bigger series before we get to
Speaker 4: the whole, because I know AJ has experienced the Chicago
Speaker 4: when both are good, and I know he wants to
Speaker 4: talk about that. But which was a bigger series? The
Speaker 4: White Sox series against the Cubs or the Cubs series
Speaker 4: against the Brewers? And maybe I guess kind of in
Speaker 4: that question, did the Cubs really think it was gonna
Speaker 4: be a big series when they were playing the White
Speaker 4: Sox and then all of a sudden, whoa hit him
Speaker 4: in the face?
Speaker 2: I think, I mean it was three sellout crowds on
Speaker 2: the South Side. I mean great energy there. AJ is right,
Speaker 2: like when the White Sox are rolling and the Cubs
Speaker 2: are good, it doesn't happen very often where these two
Speaker 2: teams line up with winning records. That's kind of how
Speaker 2: it goes in Chicago baseball. But no, I think they
Speaker 2: were ready to play. The White Sox have just made
Speaker 2: you know, an AJ can speak to it, like some
Speaker 2: real improvements. They've got some hitters, they've got some pitching.
Speaker 2: And I think the Brewers series cratzy is bigger and
Speaker 2: more more embarrassing frankly, like their performance and just or organizationally,
Speaker 2: the way that the Brewers keep reinventing themselves and staying
Speaker 2: ahead of the Cubs is kind of amazing. I was
Speaker 2: saying this on North Side Territory earlier today, like maybe
Speaker 2: the Brewers and Cubs are just battling out to see
Speaker 2: who can get swept by the Dodgers in the in
Speaker 2: the playoffs. But like right now, what the Brewers are
Speaker 2: doing just makes the Cubs look bad. Like, you know,
Speaker 2: the Cubs spend a roughly one hundred million dollars more
Speaker 2: in their opening day payroll. They're looking up at them
Speaker 2: in the standings. They trade away Freddy Peralta. They keep
Speaker 2: bringing in these like broken pitching prospects and fixing them.
Speaker 2: Their international operation is rolling and either the Cubs never
Speaker 2: really look back after firing David Ross and hiring Craig Council,
Speaker 2: but the Brewers have not taken a step back at all,
Speaker 2: while Craig commutes from Milwaukee and just adding all of
Speaker 2: it together at this particular moment, just a really bad
Speaker 2: series in which they oh, they didn't hold a lead
Speaker 2: at any single point of that three game suite.
Speaker 4: We love our dog Beella, who splays out in the
Speaker 4: open sun on our floor like she's an underwear model,
Speaker 4: and that's why we love her so much. To scratch
Speaker 4: her belly.
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Speaker 1: Patrick, All right, what year did you start covering the Cubs?
Speaker 1: Twenty ten? Okay, so you weren't even there in the
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight when both
Speaker 1: teams were still good. Ted Lilly's chucking his glove in
Speaker 1: the playoffs all those years, right, See, this was kind
Speaker 1: of your first experience where both teams were at least
Speaker 1: decent and kind of trying, right, I mean maybe thirteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: but the Cubs weren't very good, and then fifteen sixteen
Speaker 1: when the Cubs were good, the White Sox weren't very good.
Speaker 1: So this was your first experience. And by the way,
Speaker 1: if you think what that lady said to PCA, and
Speaker 1: what he said back to her was the worst thing
Speaker 1: I ever heard on a Cubs White Sox field. You're
Speaker 1: way off based because I said I probably said some
Speaker 1: worse things. It didn't get caught on camera, and the
Speaker 1: Cubs fans always said worse things to me, So listen,
Speaker 1: I understand his frustration with it. But what was it like?
Speaker 1: Because I always tell people I played Red Sox, Syankeies,
Speaker 1: I played Giants, Dodgers, I played Cubs Cardinals. I've been
Speaker 1: in a lot of the biggest rivalries in baseball, but
Speaker 1: those six games a year when we played against the Cubs,
Speaker 1: when I was on the White Sox and we were
Speaker 1: both good where they're like playoff games, they were the
Speaker 1: best regular season atmosphere have ever been to. What was
Speaker 1: it like for you to experience that for the first time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was kind of a renewal of
Speaker 2: that because a lot of these rivalry series over the
Speaker 2: last decade or so have been sort of recalling. You know,
Speaker 2: Ozziegean and Loop Panela were such amazing entertainers, like they
Speaker 2: were the perfect, you know, frontman for this type of series,
Speaker 2: and you know, you'd have Loop Panella rippin' Steve Stone,
Speaker 2: you'd have Ozzie Gean talking about it was like the
Speaker 2: rats lifting weights at Wrigley Field. We had a rat
Speaker 2: run by a couple home stands ago right past the
Speaker 2: Phillies dugout. But like, like it should it shouldn't be
Speaker 2: like you know, the kind of the A J big
Speaker 2: Z like stroll down Memory Lane, Like it should be
Speaker 2: the players right on the field, and you know, you're
Speaker 2: you're right, Like this is going to follow PCA every
Speaker 2: time he goes to the south side, and you know,
Speaker 2: I think he will, uh you know, move past this.
Speaker 2: But like right now, it's it's hard to watch. I mean,
Speaker 2: the the he makes spectacular plays look routine. He sort
Speaker 2: of takes away highlight reel catches because his instincts and
Speaker 2: movements are so good. Uh, but these are sort of
Speaker 2: like routine plays, like little league errors. That that plus
Speaker 2: his offensive struggles and that the weight of his new
Speaker 2: contract and wanting to perform, you know, all of it
Speaker 2: has it up in a way that will make him,
Speaker 2: you know, a huge part of this rivalry for the
Speaker 2: next several years. I mean, he is the villain on
Speaker 2: the Cubs team for all of those White Sox fans
Speaker 2: who definitely showed out last weekend.
Speaker 3: Oh, you couldn't have set this up any better for me,
Speaker 3: aj thank you. Two questions about PCA, are you hearing
Speaker 3: any sort of maybe regrets about giving him that long
Speaker 3: term deal given the type of year he came off.
Speaker 3: He's young, maybe a little bit immature, you know, him
Speaker 3: potentially striking after potentially what could be his best year.
Speaker 3: And then there was conversations about PCA and Bregmant kind
Speaker 3: of sitting in their lockers, you know, late into the.
Speaker 1: Game the other day.
Speaker 3: Do you how much do you feel like Bregmant could
Speaker 3: kind of help kind of that growth of maturity, of
Speaker 3: understanding separating offense from defense, defense from offense, and just
Speaker 3: kind of you know, him being a veteran presence in
Speaker 3: that clubhouse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kevin, I mean, you know as well as anyone
Speaker 2: like how hard it is to play center field and
Speaker 2: how hard it is to find guys who can man
Speaker 2: that position. I mean, the Cubs really after a dexter
Speaker 2: Fowler went to Saint Louis, I've been kind of a
Speaker 2: revolving door there. They had guys who, you know, would
Speaker 2: they could trust for spurts or like they kind of
Speaker 2: had open auditions, and you know, with Pete, their models
Speaker 2: love him like theyre they think he will bring a
Speaker 2: ton of surplus value. That's why they did the deal.
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any looking back. You're right, there
Speaker 2: are moments of immaturity, but I would say given how
Speaker 2: long he's been in the spotlight in a city like Chicago,
Speaker 2: he's handled himself very well. If you kind of frame
Speaker 2: his day Wednesday, you know, before the game, he met
Speaker 2: with a group of young kids in the Cubs dugout,
Speaker 2: and that is something that he does frequently. Like if
Speaker 2: you watch him during VP, coming on and off the field,
Speaker 2: He's always posing for selfies with kids. He's always signing autographs.
Speaker 2: As you guys know, like certain players are wired differently.
Speaker 2: Some guys they are all about business or they're just
Speaker 2: not interested. I think Pete takes that responsibility very seriously,
Speaker 2: and that's why this has bothered him so much. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, being forced to apologize and take accountability for this,
Speaker 2: you know, has kind of weighed on him. I think
Speaker 2: you see it in a job where you have to
Speaker 2: make split second decisions all the time, and then kind
Speaker 2: of the end of his day. By the time the
Speaker 2: media was led into the Rugley Field clubhouse, Yes, you're right,
Speaker 2: Bregman and Pete were both in full uniform, sitting in
Speaker 2: chairs next to each other. Their lockers are in the
Speaker 2: same you know, cluster within the clubhouse, and I think
Speaker 2: Bregman from the moment he signed, has been all about
Speaker 2: trying to help all of his teammates. But Pete in
Speaker 2: particular is a very good listener. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: that's what minor league coaches would tell you, what Craig
Speaker 2: Council would would say that Pete is willing to take
Speaker 2: feedback and Bregman obviously is known as one of the
Speaker 2: game's best leaders.
Speaker 1: I think that helps.
Speaker 2: I think it would help more if Bregman produce on
Speaker 2: the field, and he's just not quite there yet. I
Speaker 2: think he'll be fine in the end, but he's you know,
Speaker 2: hasn't delivered a ton of impact at a Thailand like
Speaker 2: basically the entire lineup is in a slump, just a
Speaker 2: huge team wide funk.
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Speaker 1: Patrick, I love that Bregnan was doing this with PCA.
Speaker 1: It's great. It's a veteran guy. It's kind of what
Speaker 1: Bregnan was brought into. But did anyone ask, say, if
Speaker 1: PCA was rubbing off on him last night when that
Speaker 1: ball hit him square in the chest in the fly ball,
Speaker 1: or did we just gloss over the fact that that happened.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean last night, it's like, what sort of
Speaker 2: like negative Cubs storyline do you want to go with
Speaker 2: all of them? Right, all of them saying it was like,
Speaker 2: it's like an avalanche write them all of Edward Cabrera.
Speaker 1: Just cubs this Cubs that they can't catch a fly ball,
Speaker 1: they can't catch a ground ball. We got a guy
Speaker 1: with the blister that can't pitch. We got a guy
Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd who we loved to death, that got hurt
Speaker 1: while he was bending over to help his kids. I mean,
Speaker 1: it is like you just need to avalanche them all
Speaker 1: into one thing and keep the pressure on this team. Patrick,
Speaker 1: it's your job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's like how much how much time you
Speaker 2: got a j you know, like we could do a
Speaker 2: whole extended, extended series. I thought, Cabrera, you know, you'll
Speaker 2: be shocked that the Cubs, you know, downplayed this injury
Speaker 2: and that you know, Cabrera thinks he'll be out pitching
Speaker 2: five days from now. We'll see it's a blister that
Speaker 2: he had had before last night. Starts she's had in
Speaker 2: the past, obviously, has an extensive medical history that the
Speaker 2: Cubs did not overlook, but they factored that into their
Speaker 2: calculation that they were willing to live with that risk
Speaker 2: because his stuff is that unique and potentially explosive. It
Speaker 2: hasn't really translated yet. He's been fine, but not really
Speaker 2: the dominating force you would hope for, particularly given all
Speaker 2: these injuries. I mean, he is someone that they'd like
Speaker 2: for a long time. We were talking about like after
Speaker 2: the twenty four season, I believe, basically multiple off seasons
Speaker 2: and at least one trade deadline, like they were all
Speaker 2: over this guy, talking to the Marlins. They had the
Speaker 2: Lizardo deal that fell through that they spiked over medical concerns.
Speaker 1: And so like they need him.
Speaker 2: They're going to reassess kind of today tomorrow see how
Speaker 2: he presents. And you know they've they were running out
Speaker 2: they're pitching like a month ago. You know, like this
Speaker 2: is not They've already moved two bullpen guys into the rotation.
Speaker 2: The pitching is in such a state that it was
Speaker 2: amazing they put together those two ten game winning streaks
Speaker 2: and now it's really sort of caught up to them.
Speaker 4: Patrick. I don't want to tell you how to run
Speaker 4: your show, but if you ever wanted aj Prizinski on
Speaker 4: This would be the time I've never seen him so
Speaker 4: effervescently talking about the Cubs so Northside territory ever once
Speaker 4: on this.
Speaker 1: Just so you know, okay, Cubby baseball right now.
Speaker 2: Heck yeah, just me just a one man show, just
Speaker 2: like AJ with you know, microphone on stage. We don't
Speaker 2: even have to do anything like you could. Just it's
Speaker 2: a monologue thirty minute.
Speaker 1: Though. Patrick, it was a cool homer by Conforido until
Speaker 1: it wasn't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he's been like literally the only bright spot
Speaker 2: in this offense, and.
Speaker 4: That could be he's killed the Cubs. The Cubs has
Speaker 4: fixed him. The Dodgers can even fix Conforida, but the
Speaker 4: Cubs analytics and their models, they could fix Confordo. My
Speaker 4: question is, well, the real Showa Imanaga please stand up?
Speaker 4: Which one is it? Is it the Shota that we
Speaker 4: saw at the All Star Game two years ago? Was
Speaker 4: it first half showda and the injury clearly clearly debilitated
Speaker 4: his you know, his secret pitch that gets by everybody,
Speaker 4: which he seemed to be healthy at the beginning of
Speaker 4: the year, and now it's like boop good bed good bed.
Speaker 4: Which Shoda is it? Because the Cubs models clearly didn't
Speaker 4: think it's the good SHOWDA, because they wouldn't have done
Speaker 4: the whole contract situation in the offseason had they thought
Speaker 4: it was the good SHOWDA.
Speaker 2: Well, if showed us pitching against the Brewers, it's bad.
Speaker 2: But if showed us pitching against almost anyone else and
Speaker 2: is healthy, he's almost always good. I wouldn't, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: as long as showed is healthy, and I would not
Speaker 2: worry about him really at all. Like a list of
Speaker 2: concerns right now that has AJ in such a gleeful mood,
Speaker 2: Like I don't really think Showeda is on that one again,
Speaker 2: assuming you know he's healthy and but no, I mean
Speaker 2: I think there were reasons why he did not perform
Speaker 2: down the stretch last year. SHOWDA went out and sought answers,
Speaker 2: like almost immediately after the season, he's flying to Florida
Speaker 2: to work with at the Cressy facility. They got feedback
Speaker 2: and sort of what he had already sensed of, like
Speaker 2: that hamstring injury. I believe it was just sort of
Speaker 2: altered his mechanics in a slight way and just things
Speaker 2: like that of kilter. He lost some confidence obviously the Cubs.
Speaker 2: You know they've they locked into showed It again. I
Speaker 2: mean when he left Japan, you know, they thought he
Speaker 2: was gonna get you know, something like one hundred million
Speaker 2: dollars and that he would be out of their price range,
Speaker 2: and they weren't, weren't entirely sold on him like most
Speaker 2: of the baseball industry, and you know, Showeda was just
Speaker 2: hanging out in the Chicago area because that's where his
Speaker 2: agency is based stateside, and he really he was going
Speaker 2: to Blackhawks games and you know, training at Bo Jackson's
Speaker 2: facility out by o'haara, and they he just fell into
Speaker 2: their laps and it was just amazing. One of the
Speaker 2: best pitchers on the planet for a long stretch there
Speaker 2: as a rookie. And then this offseason it was another
Speaker 2: weird kind of exchange where they declined his three year option.
Speaker 2: He goes out, doesn't really get the multi year offer
Speaker 2: that he wants, accepts the qualifying offer, and I think
Speaker 2: that was a really good outcome for the Cubs. And
Speaker 2: so you're hoping he's fine. You're hoping Cabret's blister issue
Speaker 2: is not a big deal. Matthew Boyd is throwing bullpens now.
Speaker 2: I think if his initial timeline sticks, you would expect
Speaker 2: him back before the All Star break. Justin Steele's supposed
Speaker 2: to see doctor Keith Meister for a follow up visit
Speaker 2: next week. That would be roughly the end of his
Speaker 2: like one month shutdown. We'll see, you know what comes
Speaker 2: out of that when they can really ramp him back
Speaker 2: up again. But I don't know. I think this Brewers
Speaker 2: series show like they got to go big at the
Speaker 2: at the trade deadline, like they need help. They obviously
Speaker 2: weren't as good as they were when they were ripping
Speaker 2: off fifteen wins in the world at Wrigley, and they're
Speaker 2: probably not as bad as they've been, you know, during
Speaker 2: this recent stretch.
Speaker 1: Quick crushing people's dreams, Patrick Quick crushing people's dreams. Okay,
Speaker 1: especially mine, especially mine. But it was a good anniverse,
Speaker 1: or at least yesterday. For those who don't know, you
Speaker 1: have to google it, kids. I'm sure Patrick knows what
Speaker 1: yesterday was because he's a cub fan.
Speaker 2: So a Cubs fan, what are you talking about? I
Speaker 2: honestly don't know what the anniversary is.
Speaker 1: Okay, google it. Then you'll have to google everybody. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know what the anniversary was. Trust me, if
Speaker 1: you're a cut you work for the Cubs, you know
Speaker 1: what it was. But anyways, thank you, Patrick, I appreciate
Speaker 1: it true that you know what that's more bad stuff
Speaker 1: about the Cubs. Patrick, as your boss, I encourage it.
Speaker 1: You'll get more clicks. Thank you. You'll get more. You've
Speaker 1: got it for Cubs fans and for Cup haters. Subscribe
Speaker 1: to north Side Territory Patrick Hoast with Sea Dve Sharma.
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