October 8, 2025 • 17 mins
After dropping the first two games in the NLDS, is there any hope for the Cubs? North Side Territory host and The Athletic Cubs reporter Patrick Mooney takes us through the series and what's next.
How does this series impact the Cubs-Brewers rivalry and is there too much of a pitching gap for this to turn into a tighter series?
Hosts: Todd Frazier, Erik Kratz, Scott Braun
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, we've got North Side Territory host and the athletics
Patrick Mooney joining us right now to talk about the
Chicago Cubs trailing to nothing. Well, that's what Philly fans do.
Will Cubs fans do that? If they're in trouble in
this Game three against the Brewers? How do they fix this? Patrick?
I want to start with something like more glass half full,
Like how do the Cubs shock the world and come back?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I have a hard time coming on this show and
presenting like a credible path forward, Like, yeah, it's professional sports,
it's unscripted.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Crazy things happen.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
But sid If Sharman and I were talking about this
on North Side Territory, Like, you go back to the
twenty sixteen World Series, the Cubs are down three to one.
You got John Lester pitching Game five with a Roldis
Chapman waiting to do, you know, superhuman things out of
the bullpen.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Then you have a rating it's not.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Young Award winner and Jake Arieta lined up for Game six,
and then the Major League eer A leader that year,
Kyle Hendricks awaiting Game seven, and the Cubs pitching at
this point feels almost totally depleted. You saw it in
(01:20):
Matthew Boyd going on three days rest, showed it in
Minaga clearly is off his game, giving.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Up way too many home runs.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Kate Horton is supposed to throw off a mound today
at Wrigley Field. They'll see if they can try and
push him, if they somehow find a way to advance.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But I don't know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Brewers just totally outplayed the Cubs in every phase of
the game in Milwaukee.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Okay, well that's okay. They don't need to pitch, they
just need to score.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Too. Yeah, right, Can they out hit?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Can they out hit this? Milwaukee's as as I think
somebody said on one show this week, hitting Milwaukee lineup
that led the league and run scored.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I mean, I just watching those games like where
like the Brewers just have the best players on the field,
the most dynamic pitchers on the mouth.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And that's what the Brewers do, right. They make teams look.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bad, whether it's just their style of play, they're swinging
miss stuff. I think even you see it in you know,
players coming from other organizations like Andrew Vaughan or Quinn Priester,
and all of a sudden something clicks and they're awesome.
I think you have fans and other small markets being like, well,
(02:43):
if the Brewers can do that, why can't.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Our team do that?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And even in Chicago, I think there is some frustration
of like the payroll the Cubs have, it should be higher,
but it's still way more in the in the Brewers,
and there still is this huge gap. And then you
have obviously Craig Counsel leaving Milwaukee and the Brewers get better.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
You have players like that.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And the Bruises have this amazing ability to sort of
like get rid of players at the right time and
kind of let someone else deal with the huge frage
and contract with the player to clients.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Just just all of that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Gives it makes it hard for me to imagine the
scenario in which the Cups advance.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Here.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
I want to talk about Jemison tie On. I mean,
I feel like he's been pretty good. I feel like
as the three guy or whatever you want to call him,
I feel like this is the guy right now that
can kind of kickstart this Cub's team to get gone.
Talk a little about him and how how good he's
been and how they're going to lean on him here
a little bit as they're moving forward.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
No, you're right, Sad, I guess I could have started there.
Like Jamison is a really good starting point. He's outside
of Kate Horton was probably their best pitcher towards the
end of the season there as you guys know, just
a terrific teammate, leader by example, a very rational person. Teammates,
(04:16):
you know, just talk about the example. He sets it
in the room. So yeah, you start there. The bullpen, obviously,
with all these days off during the series, should be
pretty well rested, maybe getting back to Wrigley Field, sparks something,
and you know, you've seen these flashes of the club's offense.
(04:37):
That's what made these two games even harder to kind
of comprehend of, Like they landed the first punch in
the first inning, whether it's Michael Bush's lead off home
run or Saeya Suzuki's huge swing. I think it was
maybe sixteen pitches into Game two. But other than that,
it's just been really quiet on the offensive end, and
(04:59):
it's not really an anomaly, like this is an awesome
offense in the first half, and for a variety of reasons,
it just sort of faded in the second half, and
now against a higher level of pitching, when the stakes are.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Even higher, the offense just hasn't come through.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
How did the Cubs and the Cubs fans and maybe
even the people on the bench feel about the pitcher
ploy that the Brewers pulled last night with Quinn Priester
and Aaron Ashby going out there and Priester never actually pitching.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Ao Suzuki liked the matchup. I guess I don't like.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
That went to me seemed a little bit overthinking it
on the Brewer's end. Obviously it worked out and the
Cubs kind of let them off the hook there. But
it's been kind of funny covering the playoffs here where
it seems like the managers from one night to the
next or one game to the next go from like genius,
idiot genius, like if it works, it was a great call,
(06:00):
and if it doesn't, it was a dumb move.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Tucker, Kyle Tucker, what does what does this version of
Kyle Tucker look like somebody that got rushed back after
an injury? Does it look like the struggling Kyle Tucker
that was pre injury and is their hope that he
can be the aircraft carrier that they brought him in
to be, and he was for two thirds three quarters
(06:26):
of the season.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, no doubt, I mean, he was that guy. It
is hard to see the Cubs.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Making the playoffs without him, or maybe they squeak in,
but just all the momentum that was created in the
first half really was a huge product of his production,
his presence, his sense of calm, the example he set
in the batter's box.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Is all around play.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
And we just have not seen that here really for
a couple months now in Part two due to whatever
happened with his hand, whether it was a subconscious thing
or not of just kind of messing with his mechanics
or just something was slightly off. And then with a
kaff here he's been a dh I don't think there's
(07:17):
any expectation that he's going to play the field this series.
Stay Suzuki has been more than passable in right field,
but obviously that kind of limits you. And I think
part of the appeal of Kyle Tucker was that base running,
that speed, just the all around contributions he could make
to the game.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
And right now he is limited.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
And you saw in the San Diego series a Cubs
thought he was getting that timing back and was making
good decisions and was kind of just seeing the ball
hitting line drives again. That impact, though, just hasn't been
here against Milwaukee. And obviously the Brewers have a terrific
pitching staff, a very good game planning system, but without
(08:03):
Tucker and when picrow Armstrong struggling, it's just it's just
a thin lineup.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Hey, shout out to Fox one. This episode is presented
by Fox One, are presenting sponsor for the next few weeks.
Here the playoff coverage is brought to you by Fox
one on foul Territory because we want to keep reminding
everyone that all Alds and alcs games, playoff games, and
the World Series can be found on a Fox one
And if you want to try it out, you've got
a seven day free trial that you can go to
(08:34):
foxwe dot com for We post the description the link
to the description in the episode with our FT links.
If you want to click that and give us a
little love, that would be cool. We're working our asses
off all postseason long, and you can see that Tigers
Mariners game that Prizinski and Wayne Right and Adam Amin
are going to be calling again. If you're like, ah,
I don't have an option here. Fox one seven day
(08:57):
free trial. Go check it out. They have live goats, like.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You like that he looks fansom there, he does, he does.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
It's a great headshot for him. Anyway, stream all your
Fox favorites together in one place at the Fox one app.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Is there a giveaway or something at Wrigley Field tomorrow,
because at the end of the Brewers game it wasn't
even over. There was a ton of Cubs fans taking
the quick trip across the bridge. Is there something that
they're rushing too? And does it feel like for Cubs
fans that they've been the bigger brother the older brother,
(09:35):
and little brother is now gotten taller than them. Does
it feel like there's no coming back from this or
does it feel like, in a more of a macro sense,
not just this series, but no coming back from it
and there needs to be wholesale changes in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I would guess that Cubs fans are still probably gonna
be skeptical of the Brewers no matter what. Like if
the Brewers get rocked against the Dodgers in the NLCS,
it's kind of like, you know, whatever they played a
week longer but there's no doubt that the Brewers, under
Council's leadership, and you were there, Eric hastened the demise
(10:18):
of the post twenty sixteen Cubs. They were irritating, they
were frustrating. I think Theopsky and Jed Hoyer constantly looked
at their roster, Milwaukee's roster and was like, why is
Craig Counsel ringing more out of their group than we
are out of ours? And you know, it hasn't been
(10:41):
just one person or one player. They've been relentless. And
I asked Jed Hoyr this before the playoffs started towards
end of the season, of like, it does this sort
of take you back to your Al East days when
you're with the Red Sox and the Rays were coming up.
You just kind of have to assume that they're going
to win ninety games a year. And I think that's
kind of the parallel here for the Cubs. And I think,
(11:05):
you know, widespread changes, I don't, I don't think so.
I mean that first half earned Jed Hoyer contracts extension
and sort of solidified the future of this front office.
Craig Council isn't going anywhere, and I think mostly you
look at this Cub's team and I think they've sort
of gotten what they deserve. Do They haven't really overachieved
(11:28):
to a great extent, They certainly haven't underachieved. I think
this is a team built to like make the playoffs
and be back in the mix next year. And then
that's the broader questions are kind of what you're getting
at is, you know, sort of like payroll and the
willingness to kind of go all in for one season.
And obviously this wasn't it. You trade for Kyle Tucker,
(11:49):
but you don't sign Alex Bregman. You upgrade the team
at the trade deadline, but you don't make that one
huge splashy move. And you know they'll whenever this season ends,
they'll do their kind of deep dive. But I don't
expect them to look at this body of work and
be like, we have to make huge changes or totally
(12:12):
overhaul our philosophy right or wrong?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Justin steel still in this rotation. How much does it change?
I know there's what ifs and whatever's, And that's to
me why they didn't go in on a Max Free.
They didn't go in on a Corbyn Burns because they
had Justin Steele, they didn't know they had Kate Horton.
But if Justin Steele is here for this series, does
(12:37):
he make enough of an impact that it could have
changed this series?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah? You know, the Steel injury was so.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Long ago that I think the Cubs moved on pretty quickly.
I think the Horton coming up when Shoda got hurt
was huge. But like, clearly the Cubs are an organization
that's obsessed with pitch depth and they are constantly acquiring it. Uh,
but even that has its limits. And like they went
(13:09):
all out to beat the Padres. They pitched, not flawlessly,
but they pitched at an extremely high level.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I think that took something.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Out of them, and I realized that expectations are lower
for starting pitchers now in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
But like, it's just not sustainable.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
If you're getting like, you know, two and two thirds innings,
you know, every playoff game, that's just not going to work,
especially when you're facing a team that was coming off
of buy and has Freddy Peralta pitching game one and
lined up if necessary deeper in the series.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Hey, Patrick, if they are able to truck through and
pull off a win or two here, how do you
think the team sets up for these next couple games
right after Game three with ty On if they're able
to pull that off and be priest who never loses.
But if they're able to beat him, then what does
it look like going forward? Because I think we can
all agree at this point the risk to go with
(14:13):
Matt Boyd on the short rest was not the right move.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, I mean, Quinn Priester grew up a Cups fan.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I think he went to some of those twenty sixteen
World Series games, so it'll be fun to see him
pitch in that environment. I think it comes down to here,
like your best players have to be your best players,
and you've seen it with the Brewers. I mean, I mean,
I need to get Wilson Contreras's breakdown of Williams's home
(14:47):
run celebration last night, because that was awesome. I've been
to games that American Family Field maybe it's called Miller
Park back then, but where like Wilson would blow kisses
to the crowd and stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Like that awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
So, like, I don't know if if Kyle Tucker hits
a three run home run, if Pekrow Armstrong hits a
three run home run, like it's it's not totally out
of the question.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
The Cubs have not. I think their longest losing streak.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Was three games and then they clinched a playoff spot
and went on like a five game losing streak. So
this team has been able to like manage series and
minimize those down periods.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I just think like.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
This Brewers team is at another level, and like if
they were wearing Yankees or Dodgers uniforms, like we'd be
talking would have been talking about them in a totally
different context for most of this year.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Last one, here is the specific pitching setup for Games
four and five, just bullpenning chaos.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I mean, that's that's kind of been like that since
first pitch of Game one of this NLDS.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I think you kind of see see where they're at.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Like the comes to their credit have been like so
good at this It's like what Eric was saying earlier
of all right, justin steel all star pitcher goes down
in April, they just keep progressing. Showa goes down, Kate
Horton comes up like they had. Colin Ray was awesome
for them on balance this year, Javer Sad gets hurt
(16:25):
like maybe the first day of spring training or even
before camp officially opens, and you know, they don't really
miss him, but when it's so condensed like this, when
every pitch matters, it just feels like they're pitching plans
are sort.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Of shredded here.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think it's just try and win Wednesday and then
worry about Thursday immediately after game three, assuming you have
another tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, yeah, just thinking even if they're able to slay
the Brewers, and for example, they the Dodgers and they're like,
we're not really sure with half of our starters for
this seven game series, and the Dodgers are like glass now, Snell,
I'm as honey, Okay, so yeah, I mean I get it.
They're they're missing two guys who are top end starters
(17:16):
right now. But that's that's part of the song and
dance here, and while they'll continue to build up pitching depth, well,
we'll see what happens. Patrick. You did your best to
bring a little positivity to the vibes here. But it
will be fun. It'll be a fun, raucous Game three
at Brickley caotalking you of course, we'll listen to all
that you're bringing at the table on North Side Territory too,
but have fun out there.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Thanks, guys appreciate it.
Hey, we've got North Side Territory host and the athletics
Patrick Mooney joining us right now to talk about the
Chicago Cubs trailing to nothing. Well, that's what Philly fans do.
Will Cubs fans do that? If they're in trouble in
this Game three against the Brewers? How do they fix this? Patrick?
I want to start with something like more glass half full,
Like how do the Cubs shock the world and come back?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I have a hard time coming on this show and
presenting like a credible path forward, Like, yeah, it's professional sports,
it's unscripted.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Crazy things happen.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
But sid If Sharman and I were talking about this
on North Side Territory, Like, you go back to the
twenty sixteen World Series, the Cubs are down three to one.
You got John Lester pitching Game five with a Roldis
Chapman waiting to do, you know, superhuman things out of
the bullpen.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Then you have a rating it's not.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Young Award winner and Jake Arieta lined up for Game six,
and then the Major League eer A leader that year,
Kyle Hendricks awaiting Game seven, and the Cubs pitching at
this point feels almost totally depleted. You saw it in
(01:20):
Matthew Boyd going on three days rest, showed it in
Minaga clearly is off his game, giving.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Up way too many home runs.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Kate Horton is supposed to throw off a mound today
at Wrigley Field. They'll see if they can try and
push him, if they somehow find a way to advance.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But I don't know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Brewers just totally outplayed the Cubs in every phase of
the game in Milwaukee.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Okay, well that's okay. They don't need to pitch, they
just need to score.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Too. Yeah, right, Can they out hit?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Can they out hit this? Milwaukee's as as I think
somebody said on one show this week, hitting Milwaukee lineup
that led the league and run scored.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I mean, I just watching those games like where
like the Brewers just have the best players on the field,
the most dynamic pitchers on the mouth.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And that's what the Brewers do, right. They make teams look.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bad, whether it's just their style of play, they're swinging
miss stuff. I think even you see it in you know,
players coming from other organizations like Andrew Vaughan or Quinn Priester,
and all of a sudden something clicks and they're awesome.
I think you have fans and other small markets being like, well,
(02:43):
if the Brewers can do that, why can't.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Our team do that?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And even in Chicago, I think there is some frustration
of like the payroll the Cubs have, it should be higher,
but it's still way more in the in the Brewers,
and there still is this huge gap. And then you
have obviously Craig Counsel leaving Milwaukee and the Brewers get better.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
You have players like that.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And the Bruises have this amazing ability to sort of
like get rid of players at the right time and
kind of let someone else deal with the huge frage
and contract with the player to clients.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Just just all of that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Gives it makes it hard for me to imagine the
scenario in which the Cups advance.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Here.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
I want to talk about Jemison tie On. I mean,
I feel like he's been pretty good. I feel like
as the three guy or whatever you want to call him,
I feel like this is the guy right now that
can kind of kickstart this Cub's team to get gone.
Talk a little about him and how how good he's
been and how they're going to lean on him here
a little bit as they're moving forward.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
No, you're right, Sad, I guess I could have started there.
Like Jamison is a really good starting point. He's outside
of Kate Horton was probably their best pitcher towards the
end of the season there as you guys know, just
a terrific teammate, leader by example, a very rational person. Teammates,
(04:16):
you know, just talk about the example. He sets it
in the room. So yeah, you start there. The bullpen, obviously,
with all these days off during the series, should be
pretty well rested, maybe getting back to Wrigley Field, sparks something,
and you know, you've seen these flashes of the club's offense.
(04:37):
That's what made these two games even harder to kind
of comprehend of, Like they landed the first punch in
the first inning, whether it's Michael Bush's lead off home
run or Saeya Suzuki's huge swing. I think it was
maybe sixteen pitches into Game two. But other than that,
it's just been really quiet on the offensive end, and
(04:59):
it's not really an anomaly, like this is an awesome
offense in the first half, and for a variety of reasons,
it just sort of faded in the second half, and
now against a higher level of pitching, when the stakes are.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Even higher, the offense just hasn't come through.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
How did the Cubs and the Cubs fans and maybe
even the people on the bench feel about the pitcher
ploy that the Brewers pulled last night with Quinn Priester
and Aaron Ashby going out there and Priester never actually pitching.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Ao Suzuki liked the matchup. I guess I don't like.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
That went to me seemed a little bit overthinking it
on the Brewer's end. Obviously it worked out and the
Cubs kind of let them off the hook there. But
it's been kind of funny covering the playoffs here where
it seems like the managers from one night to the
next or one game to the next go from like genius,
idiot genius, like if it works, it was a great call,
(06:00):
and if it doesn't, it was a dumb move.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Tucker, Kyle Tucker, what does what does this version of
Kyle Tucker look like somebody that got rushed back after
an injury? Does it look like the struggling Kyle Tucker
that was pre injury and is their hope that he
can be the aircraft carrier that they brought him in
to be, and he was for two thirds three quarters
(06:26):
of the season.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, no doubt, I mean, he was that guy. It
is hard to see the Cubs.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Making the playoffs without him, or maybe they squeak in,
but just all the momentum that was created in the
first half really was a huge product of his production,
his presence, his sense of calm, the example he set
in the batter's box.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Is all around play.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
And we just have not seen that here really for
a couple months now in Part two due to whatever
happened with his hand, whether it was a subconscious thing
or not of just kind of messing with his mechanics
or just something was slightly off. And then with a
kaff here he's been a dh I don't think there's
(07:17):
any expectation that he's going to play the field this series.
Stay Suzuki has been more than passable in right field,
but obviously that kind of limits you. And I think
part of the appeal of Kyle Tucker was that base running,
that speed, just the all around contributions he could make
to the game.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
And right now he is limited.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
And you saw in the San Diego series a Cubs
thought he was getting that timing back and was making
good decisions and was kind of just seeing the ball
hitting line drives again. That impact, though, just hasn't been
here against Milwaukee. And obviously the Brewers have a terrific
pitching staff, a very good game planning system, but without
(08:03):
Tucker and when picrow Armstrong struggling, it's just it's just
a thin lineup.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Hey, shout out to Fox one. This episode is presented
by Fox One, are presenting sponsor for the next few weeks.
Here the playoff coverage is brought to you by Fox
one on foul Territory because we want to keep reminding
everyone that all Alds and alcs games, playoff games, and
the World Series can be found on a Fox one
And if you want to try it out, you've got
a seven day free trial that you can go to
(08:34):
foxwe dot com for We post the description the link
to the description in the episode with our FT links.
If you want to click that and give us a
little love, that would be cool. We're working our asses
off all postseason long, and you can see that Tigers
Mariners game that Prizinski and Wayne Right and Adam Amin
are going to be calling again. If you're like, ah,
I don't have an option here. Fox one seven day
(08:57):
free trial. Go check it out. They have live goats, like.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You like that he looks fansom there, he does, he does.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
It's a great headshot for him. Anyway, stream all your
Fox favorites together in one place at the Fox one app.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Is there a giveaway or something at Wrigley Field tomorrow,
because at the end of the Brewers game it wasn't
even over. There was a ton of Cubs fans taking
the quick trip across the bridge. Is there something that
they're rushing too? And does it feel like for Cubs
fans that they've been the bigger brother the older brother,
(09:35):
and little brother is now gotten taller than them. Does
it feel like there's no coming back from this or
does it feel like, in a more of a macro sense,
not just this series, but no coming back from it
and there needs to be wholesale changes in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I would guess that Cubs fans are still probably gonna
be skeptical of the Brewers no matter what. Like if
the Brewers get rocked against the Dodgers in the NLCS,
it's kind of like, you know, whatever they played a
week longer but there's no doubt that the Brewers, under
Council's leadership, and you were there, Eric hastened the demise
(10:18):
of the post twenty sixteen Cubs. They were irritating, they
were frustrating. I think Theopsky and Jed Hoyer constantly looked
at their roster, Milwaukee's roster and was like, why is
Craig Counsel ringing more out of their group than we
are out of ours? And you know, it hasn't been
(10:41):
just one person or one player. They've been relentless. And
I asked Jed Hoyr this before the playoffs started towards
end of the season, of like, it does this sort
of take you back to your Al East days when
you're with the Red Sox and the Rays were coming up.
You just kind of have to assume that they're going
to win ninety games a year. And I think that's
kind of the parallel here for the Cubs. And I think,
(11:05):
you know, widespread changes, I don't, I don't think so.
I mean that first half earned Jed Hoyer contracts extension
and sort of solidified the future of this front office.
Craig Council isn't going anywhere, and I think mostly you
look at this Cub's team and I think they've sort
of gotten what they deserve. Do They haven't really overachieved
(11:28):
to a great extent, They certainly haven't underachieved. I think
this is a team built to like make the playoffs
and be back in the mix next year. And then
that's the broader questions are kind of what you're getting
at is, you know, sort of like payroll and the
willingness to kind of go all in for one season.
And obviously this wasn't it. You trade for Kyle Tucker,
(11:49):
but you don't sign Alex Bregman. You upgrade the team
at the trade deadline, but you don't make that one
huge splashy move. And you know they'll whenever this season ends,
they'll do their kind of deep dive. But I don't
expect them to look at this body of work and
be like, we have to make huge changes or totally
(12:12):
overhaul our philosophy right or wrong?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Justin steel still in this rotation. How much does it change?
I know there's what ifs and whatever's, And that's to
me why they didn't go in on a Max Free.
They didn't go in on a Corbyn Burns because they
had Justin Steele, they didn't know they had Kate Horton.
But if Justin Steele is here for this series, does
(12:37):
he make enough of an impact that it could have
changed this series?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah? You know, the Steel injury was so.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Long ago that I think the Cubs moved on pretty quickly.
I think the Horton coming up when Shoda got hurt
was huge. But like, clearly the Cubs are an organization
that's obsessed with pitch depth and they are constantly acquiring it. Uh,
but even that has its limits. And like they went
(13:09):
all out to beat the Padres. They pitched, not flawlessly,
but they pitched at an extremely high level.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I think that took something.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Out of them, and I realized that expectations are lower
for starting pitchers now in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
But like, it's just not sustainable.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
If you're getting like, you know, two and two thirds innings,
you know, every playoff game, that's just not going to work,
especially when you're facing a team that was coming off
of buy and has Freddy Peralta pitching game one and
lined up if necessary deeper in the series.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Hey, Patrick, if they are able to truck through and
pull off a win or two here, how do you
think the team sets up for these next couple games
right after Game three with ty On if they're able
to pull that off and be priest who never loses.
But if they're able to beat him, then what does
it look like going forward? Because I think we can
all agree at this point the risk to go with
(14:13):
Matt Boyd on the short rest was not the right move.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, I mean, Quinn Priester grew up a Cups fan.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I think he went to some of those twenty sixteen
World Series games, so it'll be fun to see him
pitch in that environment. I think it comes down to here,
like your best players have to be your best players,
and you've seen it with the Brewers. I mean, I mean,
I need to get Wilson Contreras's breakdown of Williams's home
(14:47):
run celebration last night, because that was awesome. I've been
to games that American Family Field maybe it's called Miller
Park back then, but where like Wilson would blow kisses
to the crowd and stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Like that awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
So, like, I don't know if if Kyle Tucker hits
a three run home run, if Pekrow Armstrong hits a
three run home run, like it's it's not totally out
of the question.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
The Cubs have not. I think their longest losing streak.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Was three games and then they clinched a playoff spot
and went on like a five game losing streak. So
this team has been able to like manage series and
minimize those down periods.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I just think like.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
This Brewers team is at another level, and like if
they were wearing Yankees or Dodgers uniforms, like we'd be
talking would have been talking about them in a totally
different context for most of this year.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Last one, here is the specific pitching setup for Games
four and five, just bullpenning chaos.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I mean, that's that's kind of been like that since
first pitch of Game one of this NLDS.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I think you kind of see see where they're at.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Like the comes to their credit have been like so
good at this It's like what Eric was saying earlier
of all right, justin steel all star pitcher goes down
in April, they just keep progressing. Showa goes down, Kate
Horton comes up like they had. Colin Ray was awesome
for them on balance this year, Javer Sad gets hurt
(16:25):
like maybe the first day of spring training or even
before camp officially opens, and you know, they don't really
miss him, but when it's so condensed like this, when
every pitch matters, it just feels like they're pitching plans
are sort.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Of shredded here.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think it's just try and win Wednesday and then
worry about Thursday immediately after game three, assuming you have
another tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, yeah, just thinking even if they're able to slay
the Brewers, and for example, they the Dodgers and they're like,
we're not really sure with half of our starters for
this seven game series, and the Dodgers are like glass now, Snell,
I'm as honey, Okay, so yeah, I mean I get it.
They're they're missing two guys who are top end starters
(17:16):
right now. But that's that's part of the song and
dance here, and while they'll continue to build up pitching depth, well,
we'll see what happens. Patrick. You did your best to
bring a little positivity to the vibes here. But it
will be fun. It'll be a fun, raucous Game three
at Brickley caotalking you of course, we'll listen to all
that you're bringing at the table on North Side Territory too,
but have fun out there.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Thanks, guys appreciate it.
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