March 5, 2025 • 22 mins
The Cubs’ bullpen was a rollercoaster in 2024, plagued by inconsistency and injuries that left fans on edge in the late innings. But heading into 2025, there’s reason for optimism. With key offseason acquisitions, internal arms ready to take the next step, and a more strategic approach to bullpen management, Chicago looks primed for a turnaround in relief pitching. One of the biggest concerns—finding reliable left-handed options—has been addressed, giving the Cubs a more balanced and effective bullpen. Combine that with young arms developing and a fresh approach to late-game situations, and Cubs fans should feel a lot better about holding leads this season. Let’s dive into why the 2025 bullpen might finally be a strength instead of a weakness. Talk #Cubs baseball on our facebook group: / 188995809182063 @dingercubs is presented by OnTapSportsNet.com, your go-to source for Cubs news, analysis, and updates. Follow us on social media: @Diingercubs | @OnTapSportsNet Panelists: @dingercubs | @baseball_buj | @wycoffjd23 | Follow us on Twitter: @dingercubs Follow us on Instagram: @dingercubs TikTok: @dingercubs Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dingercubs
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you're listening to The Danger's Podcast, presented to you
by Test Sports Network with your host Mitch, Jake, Jeff
and Kevis to make ready to talk to some of
the Cubs.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Dangers.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
All I need is a bet, y'all, look.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
At, Believe, Underestimate.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The DAAR's Podcast is on the air. I'm your host,
Mitch Riding Solo. Today you talk a little Cubs bullpen,
a little preview of the twenty twenty five Cubs bullpen. Uh,
spring training games are on the way or have been underway.
The Cubs are hot, nine and two. Been fun to
(00:45):
watch all the new prospects getting playing time and just
seeing baseball being played whether it's snowing here at Iowa.
So it's just good to be able to know that
here soon there's gonna be baseball and there's gonna be
green grass, and yeah, exciting Cubs baseball because the season
is going to be a fun season for the Chicago Cubs.
(01:07):
They're nine and two. It's been fun to watch spring
training games. But today we're going to dig a little
bit deeper into the Cub's bullpen because last year, let's
be honest, the twenty twenty four Cubs bullpen was a
source of frustration for many of US fans from inconsistency,
from lack of injuries. That took a toll on some
(01:29):
of the guys that we count on as being high
leverage guys and then other guys just being inconsistent that
we count on for getting those high leverage situations. But
this is a new look Cubs bullpen and there's three
things that we'll be looking at today. Key additions to
the bullpen that are going to help. Big thing is
(01:52):
eternal growth from candidates from within the organization that can
to take a big step this next year. And then
we finally addressed issue of a lefty in the bullpen
where we needed a lefty and we haven't had one
in there, and I think we have some internal candidate
and then someday that we picked up along the way
(02:13):
this off season. So the additions, when you look at
the bullpen last year, you had guys like els Lay
who you were counting on for beginnings, big high leverage innings.
Hector Narris that you got from in free agency from
Houston that you expected to take a lot of the
(02:34):
eighth inning spots. And you had Merriweather, You had El Monte.
You had guys who at the beginning of the year
you were looking at as counting and being there for
the seven, eight nine, and none of those guys panned out,
whether it be from injuries, from Elle's lay, Merriweather yen
c al Monte, they all went down super early. And
(02:57):
you went through a stretch at the beginning of the
season from April to like June where our bullpen was
kind of just put together and and Jed would be
the first one to let you know that they didn't
have depth in the bullpen, and it significantly hurt the
(03:18):
Cubs when it came to being able to shut any
It shut games down towards the end, and it cost
us a lot of wins. It costs a lot of
wins on the board and could have been the difference
of us making the playoffs. I know our offense there
for two months was one of the worst in baseball
as well. But you did go through a stretch where
our bullpen was really struggling, and it wasn't until like
(03:39):
June and July where we picked up some guys and
filled in the little holes. It was like we were
building the aircraft in the air and it was tough.
But this year we have some key additions. We have
a big one and Ryan Presley. Ryan Presley, being the
dude in Houston for a number of years, is going
(04:00):
to fit right into the cub's closer role. He will
be able to bridge kind of the gap between Porter Hodge,
which Porter Hodge ended the year great, and we'll get
into a little bit of porter Hodge, but by Presley
has been a dude in Houston. Thirty six year olds
spent the last six seasons as the high average reliever
(04:22):
for Houston. Last year he moved into more of an
eighth inning role with addition of Hater, but there during
the World Series runs, he was the man in the
ninth inning. He was the dude that was relied on
to close out the games World Series champion in twenty
twenty two with one hundred and eleven saves throughout his experience.
(04:47):
But the dude is just gonna serves as an inning
eater there at the end, a guy you can count
on and is a dog. We like to say that
and kind of make fun that that we like to
have dogs down the end of the bullpen. Well, he's
a dog. He's a guy that's gonna be wanting that
in that ninth inning, and he wants to be the closer.
He wants that, and I think he's going to be great,
(05:08):
great pickup, great pickup for the Cubs to identify. Hey,
our bullped was a struggle last year. Let's get some
guys to fill in, and let's make sure we get
a closer. And especially like I I do see Porter
Hodge as being the future closer of this team and
just to take a little bit of the pressure off
and to give him somebody to learn from. And no
(05:32):
better person than than Ryan Presley there. The other one
is is Ryan Brazier, a great pickup, solid veteran who
posted a one point eight nine e RA over the
last two seasons with the Dodgers. With him, Porter Hodge
and Presley at the back end of our bullpen, that's
(05:55):
lights Like the dude has an average of ninety five
mile an hour fastball and villo on his fastball. He's
just a guy that's been kind of for the Dodgers
to be a solid guy in in their bullpen. He
will slot rate in nicely to this Cub's bullpen and
provide a good seventh inning guy or good matchup guy
(06:19):
for him to come in, gets a lot of ride,
he works a lot of up in the zone with
his fastball. He gets a lot of ride in his fastball,
a lot of carry there. So he's he's another guy
that that was a great pick up. Eli Morgan who
we picked up from the Guardians, another middle inning reliever. Uh,
(06:40):
just another guy that's adds depth to our bullpen. He
gets a lot of soft contact, a lot of hard
hit are not hard hit balls. I think him and
Tyson Miller will be kind of battling for for those
spots in the sixth seventh in of when we pull
(07:01):
our our starter of getting those innings, and it's gonna
be kind of a matchup. But they're both guys who
who don't get a lot of hard contact. Hit off
them induces a loss oft contact and allows our defense
to work, which our defense, our defense is gonna be
one of the best in baseball. When you have goal
glovers in the outfield, you have gold glovers up the middle,
(07:23):
and you have Bush who looked like a gold glover
in the second half the season at first, and you
have Shaw who has played the other day yesterday or
two days ago at third, looked, looks good. So they're
gonna be perfect guys that allow their defense to work
(07:44):
behind them with Eli Morgan coming over from from the Guardians.
But then you have guys like Porter Hodge. Poor Hodge
kind of stepped up. He last year took a huge step.
When he first got called up. I wasn't so sure,
but the dude just fit right into that ninth inning
has nasty stuff again. He kind of had that dog
(08:07):
in him. He wanted the ninth inning and it pitched really,
really well. So when you look at just those three
guys that we add in and I'm not done. We
have more auditions that we'll get to theo bar and
but we'll talk about that when it comes to the lefties.
But you pair that with the back end. When you
get Brazier, you get Presley, and you match that up
(08:30):
with what we are currently had and Porter Hodge. That
looks like a really good back end of the bullpen
where we can take our closer out and note that
we're gonna have dudes down there that we can count on,
which feel like we haven't had guys that we can
like super count on the last couple of years. But
(08:52):
poor Hodge is a dude and he's gonna be throwing
gas and he just has that swagger to him. I
really am looking to have him take a huge step
without that pressure of being the ninth inning guy this year,
of him fitting into that eighth inning, and it's gonna
be great. It's gonna be great to see him grow,
and it gives us a depth of like, if Presley
(09:12):
is struggling, we can fit poor Hodge right back in there.
Where last year when als Lay went down and we
threw Hector Nerris in there. Hector Nerris is not a closer.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
He he never was.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
I mean he was with, but he was. He's never
a guy that you would put in the ninth inning
and feel like, dude, this guy's gonna throw gas and
he's gonna get guys out without them making contact. Where Presley,
poor Hodge they have capability of striking guys out. And
so that's that's a huge, huge step in the right
(09:46):
direction for the back end of our bullpen guys who
are internal who I look to take a huge step
this year. I mean, we have Hodge I'm looking to
take a huge step. But then you have Daniel Plincia,
a guy that we've had our eye on for a
number of years in the organization. Able to hit triple
(10:08):
digits with his fastball. He's kind of floated between Triple
A and the Cubs. But hopefully this year I look
for him to establish himself in that bullpen. He might
start the year in the miners, but once he gets
called up, I expect him to be established in this
bullpen and a guy that can can't transition. Once Presley
(10:30):
in the move on that he will be a solid
guy in the late innings for this other for this
Cubs team, we have Jack Neely, a guy that we
got last year brought over. Been a high strikeout guy
in the miners last year. I think he struck out
guys in the miners at thirty seven clip and two
point eighty six e R. If he can be able
(10:52):
to transition that from the miners to the majors, like,
that's the guy. Another guy who we can count on. Tall, lanky,
left or righty. I liked what I saw last year.
I liked do I saw down at the Iowa Cubs. Uh,
he's a guy that looks really good. But the big
thing is is is I'm excited to see the pitching
(11:14):
development we got trend athletics Tylor Zambro, and I'm I'm
excited to see him get these guys in the lab
and figure out what they're good at and really capitalize
on on that. So, like Plincy, I feel like he's
going to be the perfect guy for Zambro to kind
of figure out how to use him effectively and to
(11:37):
improve on his pitches and make him elite. So I'm
super excited to see that. The other thing is is lefties.
We finally have addressed the lefty issue and it starts
internally since we've just talked about internally is Luke Little.
I am super excited to see the step Luke Little
is going to take. Last year he was he was
(11:59):
a dude there for a while in the Cub's bullpen
because of injuries he got and it got thrust in
there was pitching really well as a lefty out of
the pen, and then he went down with the injury.
So I'm really excited. Dude is a giant on the
mound in throws gas and so I'm excited to see
(12:19):
what he can do well. Paired up with with Theobar,
another guy that we have picked up from the Twins
a huge upgrade, and clearly we've needed upgrade from the
lefty side. Again. He is a little bit older, thirty eight,
coming off a down year with the Twins, but we
got him really cheap, just one million in twenty twenty five,
(12:42):
is a career of three point three eight ERA in
seventy three games. He's primed for a bounce back, bounce
back season, or bounce back with the Cubs. So pair
him with Luke Little from the left hand side. If
one of them goes down the injury or needs rest,
I feel like they're gonna pair up really, really well.
(13:05):
And so if Luke Little last year struggled a little
bit with with command issues, if you can get Downder control,
he had flashes of greatness. I feel like Little is
gonna start in the minors because we have THEO Bar.
But THEO Bar is a little bit older, his innings
are gonna get him momped up fast. So Luke Little
(13:28):
could be kind of their right there pairing with with
THEO Bar. Then you have other guys like Riley Martin
who will try to make this club Tyson Miller. You
have other guys who are right there knocking at the doorstep.
Another name I throw out there. You have you have
Julian Merriweather, who is back, who went through a ton
(13:50):
of injuries the year before all the injuries, was a
lights out guy at the of our rotation, end of
our bullpen. Again, I mentioned to Miller Nate Pearson, he
might be stretched out, but he throws gas. You have
Ethan Roberts who's going to be trying to make this
(14:11):
opening day roster. Caleb Killian. He's one that I have
wanted to take a step forward for the last couple
of years. He has dealt with injuries last year, but
he came back last year in the second half after
injury through gas and looked really good. So I'm hoping
for him to make a huge step. And then there's
(14:32):
other guys like Brad Keller. Zambro has raved about getting
opportunity to work with Brad Keller, who was who's elite
there for a little bit and so getting him in
the labs and being able to work with him. You
have Trevor Richards also. So the thing is that I
want to talk about is it's just the depth of
(14:54):
our bullpen this year. There's depth to it. We're last
year when we had a couple of injuries go down,
like it was difficult to find a guide that you
could count on or as a fan to feel comfortable
that they're going to get some outs here. And so
you have depth and that's gonna be huge. Brandon Hughes
is back from the left side. I think he will
(15:15):
spend most of the time in the minors, but again,
it does add depth. So there's a little preview of
this bullpen. I I'm excited to see them as they
start the year. I feel like that is going to
be huge. Can can we get guys put into the
right slots. I feel like the last couple of years,
(15:37):
it's taken a while to figure out he's going to
be the long guy. Drew Smiley was bouncing back and forth,
is he going to be a starter? Is going to
be a long guy? And that took a while to
kind of figure out where everybody fits it. And so
I think this year there's are established Hodg is going
(15:58):
to be the guy, right, he's gonna being about Ryan
Bracier de bar starting, Merriweather and Morgan are going to
be match up guys.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
One more guy who were playing more starter and close
guys are healthy.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Can all up, but you could depthing guys that we
can want and we can for one in the bullpen
and it worked their strongest if they're producing. I'm exciting
for this a lot more than last year.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And I was looking that was really high on traumatically
and I was wrong outside from that.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I really am excited for at last year, but this
year I am. I really started to feel last year
when he got in depth, and I think that's kind
of been the theme.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And then you know it's a lot of what they
for the position players want. Ken and James Toronto are still.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Picked them up. There's gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Be an injury or something those guys to get me
having time because you don't want to bring up Stero
Casey and say you're going to get the Alexander Canari.
I don't think that's the guys that helps anyone. So
it's like this year goes down with an oblique thing,
Ian Half goes down with a hamstring thing, and okay,
(17:15):
let's let's see what owens gott up.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Same thing with bio strows.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Maybe again, maybe Carson Kelly is you know, dealing with
a little something glowing I don't know, and comes up
and can be that number two catcher for a couple
of weeks, and that, to me is where they step
in and maybe if they produce is really difficult. By
the way, Mitch, you know the Triple A and Major
League gap again, you don't expect these guys to come
(17:39):
in and start producing right away. Chris Morrell when he
did that back in twenty twenty two, that was that
was the outlier that breaks down. Maybe they can stay
on the roster after that, but they're gonna have a
lot of pressure on themselves to produce right away if
they get that chance.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So what you're saying is it's gonna be a fun
year to watch Iole comes baseball. I think I think
it's gonna be a fun year to watch both. But
I'm just really interested to see.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
We usually have these plans right of like, oh, this
guy's gonna come around this time this year. It's like,
I don't I don't know where these guys fit, which
is why I'm kind of surprised that there weren't more trades.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
This offseason with the prospects.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But I'm also glad about that because you look at
the twenty twenty six roster. After twenty twenty six. There's
not a lot of guys left on this team, so
I think the prospects need to say.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, it was it was really hard when I lived
in Ames, Like we went to a ton of ile
Cubs games and got to know a lot of the prospects,
and then they're getting traded and it's like, hey, I
know this guy, like he's I have a connection like,
and then he's gone. So it's it's tough that to
deal with prospects and you learn to like them and
you're like, Okay, this guy's a good dude and then
(18:49):
gets traded away, but it's still can follow his career
just with another team. Who else like that you've seen
so far in spring training? They're like, man, that that
he looks sharp or it's looked look good. I know
justin Steele, you showed his video looked sharp right away
in his first outing talk about bringing Hugheses back and.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
He looked good.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Who are somebody else that You're like, man, he looked
really good. I mean Porter Hodge looked really good.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yesterday saw four batters, albeit minor league batters, but struck
out all four. And you know, kind of back to
my point there hasn't been a ton of guys. There
hasn't been a ton of like really intense practices yet,
So it's tough for me to say that. I feel
like if you asked me that question again in three days,
I might have a better answer for you. But Steele
(19:39):
and and Hodge are the first ones that come to mind.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Mm hmmm, h Ben.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
You know what, Ben Cowles is really fun to watch
in the infield. He he's got a smooth globe. I
didn't know that about him. I didn't know anything about
his fielding. I've I've heard you know, he's a pretty hitter,
but his glove really has impressed me.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Sweet. Well, I'll let you go because I know you
have to get out and they're gonna be starting to
practice here pretty soon. You want to get over there
and see see all that. So thanks for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Keep killing the content for the Cubs.
We as Cubs fans appreciate all the videos and everything
you're putting out there, So keep doing that. Make sure
you go and subscribe to his YouTube channel, set up
(20:24):
man on YouTube, and follow him on Twitters, everywhere else.
The Instagram and TikTok is all at set up Man
Kyle yep, so thanks for joining us. Appreciate you stepping
in giving your time, especially being out spring training. So
thanks a lot, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Thanks Mitch.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
It's Mitch from The Dinger's podcast. Today, i want to
talk to you about something that's truly transformed the way
that I, as a coach work with young players and
especially my own kids. I'm talking about the B four
bat app. For those who have ever heard of before
bat app, it is an incredible tool that lets you
track your exitvelocity, launch angle, and more, all from your iPhone.
(21:05):
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and the results have been phenomenal. It provides valuable data
and video feedback that helps fine tune their swing. My
son absolutely loves it. He gets a kick out of
watching his videos of his swing and especially enjoys tracking
(21:28):
his exit velocity. It's like a game for it. I'm
trying to find that perfect blaunch angle to maximize his explosity.
For me, it's been amazing to see how much this
app has really helped improve their swings in that immediate
feedback and data that they get are a game changer.
So if you're looking to get that valuable data and
(21:49):
insight for your own slugger and for them to hit
maybe some more dingers this season, I highly recommend checking
out before Batting app. You can go to bfore dot org,
app dot com, or search before Batting in the app store.
Trust me, you and your kids will love it. Now
let's get back to hitting some more dingers. Thanks for
(22:11):
joining us in this episode of the Dingers Podcast. I
hope you enjoyed the interview with Kyle from The Setup Man.
The dude is awesome to make sure you're subscribing and
following him at in all those places. But yeah, excited
that sprint training is here. Hopefully we have games coming
in like twelve days and the season will be here
before we know it, like thirty six days and there
(22:32):
in Japan playing a game. So excited that baseball is back,
even though it's snowing here in Iowa a lot. So
thanks for listening and go Cubs
If you're listening to The Danger's Podcast, presented to you
by Test Sports Network with your host Mitch, Jake, Jeff
and Kevis to make ready to talk to some of
the Cubs.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Dangers.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
All I need is a bet, y'all, look.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
At, Believe, Underestimate.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The DAAR's Podcast is on the air. I'm your host,
Mitch Riding Solo. Today you talk a little Cubs bullpen,
a little preview of the twenty twenty five Cubs bullpen. Uh,
spring training games are on the way or have been underway.
The Cubs are hot, nine and two. Been fun to
(00:45):
watch all the new prospects getting playing time and just
seeing baseball being played whether it's snowing here at Iowa.
So it's just good to be able to know that
here soon there's gonna be baseball and there's gonna be
green grass, and yeah, exciting Cubs baseball because the season
is going to be a fun season for the Chicago Cubs.
(01:07):
They're nine and two. It's been fun to watch spring
training games. But today we're going to dig a little
bit deeper into the Cub's bullpen because last year, let's
be honest, the twenty twenty four Cubs bullpen was a
source of frustration for many of US fans from inconsistency,
from lack of injuries. That took a toll on some
(01:29):
of the guys that we count on as being high
leverage guys and then other guys just being inconsistent that
we count on for getting those high leverage situations. But
this is a new look Cubs bullpen and there's three
things that we'll be looking at today. Key additions to
the bullpen that are going to help. Big thing is
(01:52):
eternal growth from candidates from within the organization that can
to take a big step this next year. And then
we finally addressed issue of a lefty in the bullpen
where we needed a lefty and we haven't had one
in there, and I think we have some internal candidate
and then someday that we picked up along the way
(02:13):
this off season. So the additions, when you look at
the bullpen last year, you had guys like els Lay
who you were counting on for beginnings, big high leverage innings.
Hector Narris that you got from in free agency from
Houston that you expected to take a lot of the
(02:34):
eighth inning spots. And you had Merriweather, You had El Monte.
You had guys who at the beginning of the year
you were looking at as counting and being there for
the seven, eight nine, and none of those guys panned out,
whether it be from injuries, from Elle's lay, Merriweather yen
c al Monte, they all went down super early. And
(02:57):
you went through a stretch at the beginning of the
season from April to like June where our bullpen was
kind of just put together and and Jed would be
the first one to let you know that they didn't
have depth in the bullpen, and it significantly hurt the
(03:18):
Cubs when it came to being able to shut any
It shut games down towards the end, and it cost
us a lot of wins. It costs a lot of
wins on the board and could have been the difference
of us making the playoffs. I know our offense there
for two months was one of the worst in baseball
as well. But you did go through a stretch where
our bullpen was really struggling, and it wasn't until like
(03:39):
June and July where we picked up some guys and
filled in the little holes. It was like we were
building the aircraft in the air and it was tough.
But this year we have some key additions. We have
a big one and Ryan Presley. Ryan Presley, being the
dude in Houston for a number of years, is going
(04:00):
to fit right into the cub's closer role. He will
be able to bridge kind of the gap between Porter Hodge,
which Porter Hodge ended the year great, and we'll get
into a little bit of porter Hodge, but by Presley
has been a dude in Houston. Thirty six year olds
spent the last six seasons as the high average reliever
(04:22):
for Houston. Last year he moved into more of an
eighth inning role with addition of Hater, but there during
the World Series runs, he was the man in the
ninth inning. He was the dude that was relied on
to close out the games World Series champion in twenty
twenty two with one hundred and eleven saves throughout his experience.
(04:47):
But the dude is just gonna serves as an inning
eater there at the end, a guy you can count
on and is a dog. We like to say that
and kind of make fun that that we like to
have dogs down the end of the bullpen. Well, he's
a dog. He's a guy that's gonna be wanting that
in that ninth inning, and he wants to be the closer.
He wants that, and I think he's going to be great,
(05:08):
great pickup, great pickup for the Cubs to identify. Hey,
our bullped was a struggle last year. Let's get some
guys to fill in, and let's make sure we get
a closer. And especially like I I do see Porter
Hodge as being the future closer of this team and
just to take a little bit of the pressure off
and to give him somebody to learn from. And no
(05:32):
better person than than Ryan Presley there. The other one
is is Ryan Brazier, a great pickup, solid veteran who
posted a one point eight nine e RA over the
last two seasons with the Dodgers. With him, Porter Hodge
and Presley at the back end of our bullpen, that's
(05:55):
lights Like the dude has an average of ninety five
mile an hour fastball and villo on his fastball. He's
just a guy that's been kind of for the Dodgers
to be a solid guy in in their bullpen. He
will slot rate in nicely to this Cub's bullpen and
provide a good seventh inning guy or good matchup guy
(06:19):
for him to come in, gets a lot of ride,
he works a lot of up in the zone with
his fastball. He gets a lot of ride in his fastball,
a lot of carry there. So he's he's another guy
that that was a great pick up. Eli Morgan who
we picked up from the Guardians, another middle inning reliever. Uh,
(06:40):
just another guy that's adds depth to our bullpen. He
gets a lot of soft contact, a lot of hard
hit are not hard hit balls. I think him and
Tyson Miller will be kind of battling for for those
spots in the sixth seventh in of when we pull
(07:01):
our our starter of getting those innings, and it's gonna
be kind of a matchup. But they're both guys who
who don't get a lot of hard contact. Hit off
them induces a loss oft contact and allows our defense
to work, which our defense, our defense is gonna be
one of the best in baseball. When you have goal
glovers in the outfield, you have gold glovers up the middle,
(07:23):
and you have Bush who looked like a gold glover
in the second half the season at first, and you
have Shaw who has played the other day yesterday or
two days ago at third, looked, looks good. So they're
gonna be perfect guys that allow their defense to work
(07:44):
behind them with Eli Morgan coming over from from the Guardians.
But then you have guys like Porter Hodge. Poor Hodge
kind of stepped up. He last year took a huge step.
When he first got called up. I wasn't so sure,
but the dude just fit right into that ninth inning
has nasty stuff again. He kind of had that dog
(08:07):
in him. He wanted the ninth inning and it pitched really,
really well. So when you look at just those three
guys that we add in and I'm not done. We
have more auditions that we'll get to theo bar and
but we'll talk about that when it comes to the lefties.
But you pair that with the back end. When you
get Brazier, you get Presley, and you match that up
(08:30):
with what we are currently had and Porter Hodge. That
looks like a really good back end of the bullpen
where we can take our closer out and note that
we're gonna have dudes down there that we can count on,
which feel like we haven't had guys that we can
like super count on the last couple of years. But
(08:52):
poor Hodge is a dude and he's gonna be throwing
gas and he just has that swagger to him. I
really am looking to have him take a huge step
without that pressure of being the ninth inning guy this year,
of him fitting into that eighth inning, and it's gonna
be great. It's gonna be great to see him grow,
and it gives us a depth of like, if Presley
(09:12):
is struggling, we can fit poor Hodge right back in there.
Where last year when als Lay went down and we
threw Hector Nerris in there. Hector Nerris is not a closer.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
He he never was.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
I mean he was with, but he was. He's never
a guy that you would put in the ninth inning
and feel like, dude, this guy's gonna throw gas and
he's gonna get guys out without them making contact. Where Presley,
poor Hodge they have capability of striking guys out. And
so that's that's a huge, huge step in the right
(09:46):
direction for the back end of our bullpen guys who
are internal who I look to take a huge step
this year. I mean, we have Hodge I'm looking to
take a huge step. But then you have Daniel Plincia,
a guy that we've had our eye on for a
number of years in the organization. Able to hit triple
(10:08):
digits with his fastball. He's kind of floated between Triple
A and the Cubs. But hopefully this year I look
for him to establish himself in that bullpen. He might
start the year in the miners, but once he gets
called up, I expect him to be established in this
bullpen and a guy that can can't transition. Once Presley
(10:30):
in the move on that he will be a solid
guy in the late innings for this other for this
Cubs team, we have Jack Neely, a guy that we
got last year brought over. Been a high strikeout guy
in the miners last year. I think he struck out
guys in the miners at thirty seven clip and two
point eighty six e R. If he can be able
(10:52):
to transition that from the miners to the majors, like,
that's the guy. Another guy who we can count on. Tall, lanky,
left or righty. I liked what I saw last year.
I liked do I saw down at the Iowa Cubs. Uh,
he's a guy that looks really good. But the big
thing is is is I'm excited to see the pitching
(11:14):
development we got trend athletics Tylor Zambro, and I'm I'm
excited to see him get these guys in the lab
and figure out what they're good at and really capitalize
on on that. So, like Plincy, I feel like he's
going to be the perfect guy for Zambro to kind
of figure out how to use him effectively and to
(11:37):
improve on his pitches and make him elite. So I'm
super excited to see that. The other thing is is lefties.
We finally have addressed the lefty issue and it starts
internally since we've just talked about internally is Luke Little.
I am super excited to see the step Luke Little
is going to take. Last year he was he was
(11:59):
a dude there for a while in the Cub's bullpen
because of injuries he got and it got thrust in
there was pitching really well as a lefty out of
the pen, and then he went down with the injury.
So I'm really excited. Dude is a giant on the
mound in throws gas and so I'm excited to see
(12:19):
what he can do well. Paired up with with Theobar,
another guy that we have picked up from the Twins
a huge upgrade, and clearly we've needed upgrade from the
lefty side. Again. He is a little bit older, thirty eight,
coming off a down year with the Twins, but we
got him really cheap, just one million in twenty twenty five,
(12:42):
is a career of three point three eight ERA in
seventy three games. He's primed for a bounce back, bounce
back season, or bounce back with the Cubs. So pair
him with Luke Little from the left hand side. If
one of them goes down the injury or needs rest,
I feel like they're gonna pair up really, really well.
(13:05):
And so if Luke Little last year struggled a little
bit with with command issues, if you can get Downder control,
he had flashes of greatness. I feel like Little is
gonna start in the minors because we have THEO Bar.
But THEO Bar is a little bit older, his innings
are gonna get him momped up fast. So Luke Little
(13:28):
could be kind of their right there pairing with with
THEO Bar. Then you have other guys like Riley Martin
who will try to make this club Tyson Miller. You
have other guys who are right there knocking at the doorstep.
Another name I throw out there. You have you have
Julian Merriweather, who is back, who went through a ton
(13:50):
of injuries the year before all the injuries, was a
lights out guy at the of our rotation, end of
our bullpen. Again, I mentioned to Miller Nate Pearson, he
might be stretched out, but he throws gas. You have
Ethan Roberts who's going to be trying to make this
(14:11):
opening day roster. Caleb Killian. He's one that I have
wanted to take a step forward for the last couple
of years. He has dealt with injuries last year, but
he came back last year in the second half after
injury through gas and looked really good. So I'm hoping
for him to make a huge step. And then there's
(14:32):
other guys like Brad Keller. Zambro has raved about getting
opportunity to work with Brad Keller, who was who's elite
there for a little bit and so getting him in
the labs and being able to work with him. You
have Trevor Richards also. So the thing is that I
want to talk about is it's just the depth of
(14:54):
our bullpen this year. There's depth to it. We're last
year when we had a couple of injuries go down,
like it was difficult to find a guide that you
could count on or as a fan to feel comfortable
that they're going to get some outs here. And so
you have depth and that's gonna be huge. Brandon Hughes
is back from the left side. I think he will
(15:15):
spend most of the time in the minors, but again,
it does add depth. So there's a little preview of
this bullpen. I I'm excited to see them as they
start the year. I feel like that is going to
be huge. Can can we get guys put into the
right slots. I feel like the last couple of years,
(15:37):
it's taken a while to figure out he's going to
be the long guy. Drew Smiley was bouncing back and forth,
is he going to be a starter? Is going to
be a long guy? And that took a while to
kind of figure out where everybody fits it. And so
I think this year there's are established Hodg is going
(15:58):
to be the guy, right, he's gonna being about Ryan
Bracier de bar starting, Merriweather and Morgan are going to
be match up guys.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
One more guy who were playing more starter and close
guys are healthy.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Can all up, but you could depthing guys that we
can want and we can for one in the bullpen
and it worked their strongest if they're producing. I'm exciting
for this a lot more than last year.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And I was looking that was really high on traumatically
and I was wrong outside from that.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I really am excited for at last year, but this
year I am. I really started to feel last year
when he got in depth, and I think that's kind
of been the theme.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And then you know it's a lot of what they
for the position players want. Ken and James Toronto are still.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Picked them up. There's gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Be an injury or something those guys to get me
having time because you don't want to bring up Stero
Casey and say you're going to get the Alexander Canari.
I don't think that's the guys that helps anyone. So
it's like this year goes down with an oblique thing,
Ian Half goes down with a hamstring thing, and okay,
(17:15):
let's let's see what owens gott up.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Same thing with bio strows.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Maybe again, maybe Carson Kelly is you know, dealing with
a little something glowing I don't know, and comes up
and can be that number two catcher for a couple
of weeks, and that, to me is where they step
in and maybe if they produce is really difficult. By
the way, Mitch, you know the Triple A and Major
League gap again, you don't expect these guys to come
(17:39):
in and start producing right away. Chris Morrell when he
did that back in twenty twenty two, that was that
was the outlier that breaks down. Maybe they can stay
on the roster after that, but they're gonna have a
lot of pressure on themselves to produce right away if
they get that chance.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So what you're saying is it's gonna be a fun
year to watch Iole comes baseball. I think I think
it's gonna be a fun year to watch both. But
I'm just really interested to see.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
We usually have these plans right of like, oh, this
guy's gonna come around this time this year. It's like,
I don't I don't know where these guys fit, which
is why I'm kind of surprised that there weren't more trades.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
This offseason with the prospects.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But I'm also glad about that because you look at
the twenty twenty six roster. After twenty twenty six. There's
not a lot of guys left on this team, so
I think the prospects need to say.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, it was it was really hard when I lived
in Ames, Like we went to a ton of ile
Cubs games and got to know a lot of the prospects,
and then they're getting traded and it's like, hey, I
know this guy, like he's I have a connection like,
and then he's gone. So it's it's tough that to
deal with prospects and you learn to like them and
you're like, Okay, this guy's a good dude and then
(18:49):
gets traded away, but it's still can follow his career
just with another team. Who else like that you've seen
so far in spring training? They're like, man, that that
he looks sharp or it's looked look good. I know
justin Steele, you showed his video looked sharp right away
in his first outing talk about bringing Hugheses back and.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
He looked good.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Who are somebody else that You're like, man, he looked
really good. I mean Porter Hodge looked really good.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yesterday saw four batters, albeit minor league batters, but struck
out all four. And you know, kind of back to
my point there hasn't been a ton of guys. There
hasn't been a ton of like really intense practices yet,
So it's tough for me to say that. I feel
like if you asked me that question again in three days,
I might have a better answer for you. But Steele
(19:39):
and and Hodge are the first ones that come to mind.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Mm hmmm, h Ben.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
You know what, Ben Cowles is really fun to watch
in the infield. He he's got a smooth globe. I
didn't know that about him. I didn't know anything about
his fielding. I've I've heard you know, he's a pretty hitter,
but his glove really has impressed me.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Sweet. Well, I'll let you go because I know you
have to get out and they're gonna be starting to
practice here pretty soon. You want to get over there
and see see all that. So thanks for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Keep killing the content for the Cubs.
We as Cubs fans appreciate all the videos and everything
you're putting out there, So keep doing that. Make sure
you go and subscribe to his YouTube channel, set up
(20:24):
man on YouTube, and follow him on Twitters, everywhere else.
The Instagram and TikTok is all at set up Man
Kyle yep, so thanks for joining us. Appreciate you stepping
in giving your time, especially being out spring training. So
thanks a lot, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Thanks Mitch.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
It's Mitch from The Dinger's podcast. Today, i want to
talk to you about something that's truly transformed the way
that I, as a coach work with young players and
especially my own kids. I'm talking about the B four
bat app. For those who have ever heard of before
bat app, it is an incredible tool that lets you
track your exitvelocity, launch angle, and more, all from your iPhone.
(21:05):
No fancy bat sensor or expensive equipment needed, Just your iPhone,
a tripod and you're good to go. I use the
BA four bat app daily with my son and daughter
and the results have been phenomenal. It provides valuable data
and video feedback that helps fine tune their swing. My
son absolutely loves it. He gets a kick out of
watching his videos of his swing and especially enjoys tracking
(21:28):
his exit velocity. It's like a game for it. I'm
trying to find that perfect blaunch angle to maximize his explosity.
For me, it's been amazing to see how much this
app has really helped improve their swings in that immediate
feedback and data that they get are a game changer.
So if you're looking to get that valuable data and
(21:49):
insight for your own slugger and for them to hit
maybe some more dingers this season, I highly recommend checking
out before Batting app. You can go to bfore dot org,
app dot com, or search before Batting in the app store.
Trust me, you and your kids will love it. Now
let's get back to hitting some more dingers. Thanks for
(22:11):
joining us in this episode of the Dingers Podcast. I
hope you enjoyed the interview with Kyle from The Setup Man.
The dude is awesome to make sure you're subscribing and
following him at in all those places. But yeah, excited
that sprint training is here. Hopefully we have games coming
in like twelve days and the season will be here
before we know it, like thirty six days and there
(22:32):
in Japan playing a game. So excited that baseball is back,
even though it's snowing here in Iowa a lot. So
thanks for listening and go Cubs
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