Kyle Hendricks' strong outing not enough, Chicago Cubs fall to Twins | CHGO Cubs Postgame Podcast

[Music] three [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey Chicago what do you say this is the chgo Cubs podcast oh boy we're back happy Monday night if you're tuning in live with us here on Cho Sports YouTube hit the like button for us that's the least you could do after the game we just watched hit the Subscribe if you're new Cody Del mindo and Patrick Norton who does Cho digest if you didn't know by the way yep um subscribe and then I bullied brandan into joining us you did the last thing I want to do is come on air and talk about this offense but you know what Cody I love you too much I support you too much to say no so your bowling did work well you know we can all just sit here and blame Luke for yet again going to Mexico for his you know it feel I feel like he goes to Mexico every couple months so yeah he knows how to pick the times that's that's what I say he he picked the perfect time because if I'm him I'd rather be anywhere than sitting here talking about this team right now after the game we just watched man here we go again yeah um so uh we're going to talk about the Cubs offense we're going to talk about Kyle Hendricks having at least being the positive from this game I think uh brenon I know you and Jared talked a lot about the the prospects that got promoted to uh Triple A yesterday but we'll touch on that some more Ryan Herrera will join us from beautiful historic Wrigley Field where I will probably ask him uh did you enjoy watching that game in which he will probably say something that's pretty normal but I would want him to tell me something else like no I didn't but you know it is what it is uh so before we start I do want to mention we've been we started promoting our watch party next Monday um I think it's Cubs and Guardians it's going to be in Hickory Hills at Prime Time bar and grill um it's the the event is on allc jo.com it's free to come just like all the rest of our watch parties we've had fun at a lot of them we've had some fun moments at them when the Cubs actually do win we'll see if they can beat the Guardians we'll we'll see if we even care if they beat the Guardians depending on how they have a history of beating Cleveland so they have that them they do they do specifically on a Wednesday uh a rainy day and Wednesday yes like eight years ago yeah how many years ago like eight years right when they won the World Series yeah when they won the World Series yes yes 2016 I believe 2016 you Joey thank you Joey appreciate and then we've been promoting I we haven't really we've it's been on our website all season and we've talked about it but because it is now officially August um our last takeover of the Season Cubs Yankees September 6th at Wrigley Field it's a Friday Day game which is we usually do Friday 120 Club but it is technically a takeover um and we're we're going to be sitting in the bleachers for this game so I know I'm I'm hoping and praying that Rizo is back and like at least gonna be there or something go there to shed a few tears for the tribute video at the very least um but yeah I if you want to see Rizzo potentially come to our takeover sit with us in the BL features it's all the information at all.com is that why you're so tan yes I am very tan because I you are unbelievably tan I don't know I don't know if anyone's told you that recently but you're just unbelievably tan well I've kind of noticed myself because like underneath the tank top it's like a complete different like color compared to the rest of me like as pale as Patrick next to you and me don't understand I am also at Friday 120 most of the time why aren't you as tan what kind of I put on 50 because I protect my skin all right well you're a smart guy Patrick thank you yeah uh one might say I am not but the sun likes me I don't know you know I I had it was kind of tough early in the year but now I'm just used to it anyway um all right let's talk about it Cubs strike out 14 times lose three to nothing to the Minnesota Twins uh and I would say Brendan Patrick that the high that I potentially was on well not really potentially but the high that I was on coming off winning three out of four against the Cardinals um I wouldn't say it's completely gone but it's it's definitely fading you know you could still win the series and I I did ask to win the series but the offense you know it's kind of a reality check tonight man like the offense been played well for like the last nine 10 games whatever but um then they play like this tonight and you're like this is the Chicago Cubs the 2024 Chicago Cubs that I I know all too well and I wish I didn't know all too well two players did not strike out tonight can't you name the two no I can't PCA PCA is one Dan V Swanson is the other wow well there you go I will say if there's any one positive thing from this game is PCA continues to look good I know he lost that ball in the light in center field but continues to hit the ball hard especially to the pole side he's adopted that leg kick which like maybe Jose Bautista back in the early 2010s May unlock something and before you know a PCA could be hitting 60 home runs 60 yes that that possible yeah don't let me0 of them will be inside the park yeah right listen you never know I will say this too like seya was out tonight and we just know this offense like they already are at a point where they they don't have room for error but like when one of your best hitters isn't in the lineup and considering the players that are on in on this roster Lo not having say in there just it's just the the lineup has a different look to it like I feel like going into the game I felt okay just because the offense had been playing well of late but you know say as as much as I've I don't know question questioned how I should think about this guy he's still one of your best players offensively at least and not having him in the lineup tonight definitely hurt and uh you know thankfully you know he sat out because of neck neck stiffness neck stiffness Craig Council said and uh he said that he should be back tomorrow so hopefully you know he's a difference tomorrow but yeah I mean this offense just looks really bad when they don't have the three M the three men the three main guys which to me me is SE Bellinger or hap I think that's what's kind of frustrating is that it's another example of a pitcher who does not have a track record of or doesn't have a successful track record in the big leagues looking like a SI young Contender against the Cubs I I mean that's yeah I mean David Festa comes into this game I think with a 66 ER yeah throws five innings two hits no runs two walks nine strikeouts on 8 two pitches I love hearing that I mean the the challenge with this team is what Cody alluded to just a few minutes ago it's the lack of that impact bat to offset these audience that tend to occur uh for a team that lacks a true Bonafide middle vorder bat by the way I know say is out with with neck stiffness I'm in with Co over here I take no days off okay I think uh seya uh probably hurt his neck on that popup to right field he kind of awkwardly slid I thought he heard his oblique when he did that but yeah when SE is out especially with a lineup That demands say as 2023 second half to even stay within you know the periphery of this race it magnifies a loss like that even in one or two games I I personally I know it's like a never- Ending Story with the Cubs offense looking bad against guys with whatever ER the guy had what four six six starts you said six start this was his sixth so he had five starts on the season so and we've seen other guys like like his very first two starts he gave up a ton of runs his last couple outings he hadn't give up many I will say this he didn't go very deep in a lot of those outings either and I think tonight probably was his best outing of his young young career um so yeah I I don't know I I don't even know where the guy was ranked in the the twins farm system so it is what it is but I will I for me I I'm willing to give the twins a little bit more credit just because they've been so good this year I mean their their pitching has been something I've watched from afar a little bit not like not to say that I'm some massive twins fan but like I felt like you had to win tonight because you got to face Pablo Lopez tomorrow and then you got Joe Ryan on on Wednesday who who are both very good and they just it seems like they're just pumping out guys they're Bullpen they had bunch of guys throwing upper 90s like it even after fesa came out it didn't get any easier no and that's the and you looted it or you eluded to it there with the pump and upper 90s it's if you face if you face a reliever or a starter with even even just an above average fast ball this team is not hitting it well yeah h yeah one of my uh best friends was a pitching coach for the twins over the past six years and uh I've hav't hearing about these guys from him forever so seeing you know Festa wasn't necessarily new for me and to your point Cody they've been the twins as a franchise uh has been one of the standout franchise franchises from a pitching development perspective this is not surprising to to zoom in and it's easy to do especially when talk about these one you know singular games to zoom in this tends to happen when you get someone like Festa who's not seen who has limited scouting reports and many of these guys actually probably all of these guys have seen fesa only for the first time tonight this tends to happen where fesa feels good you know finds his Groove takes advantage of a team who's never seen him and before you know it he get only gives up two hits and we're talking about this team shut out yet again so it is frustrating the hope is going forward that these shutouts and these feeble offensive showings are reduced over time but it's the same story over and over and over again and quite frankly over the past five years as Patrick said I feel as if we've been talking about this where a team any Cubs team is facing a pitcher they've never faced or has sparingly faced and they can't put up more than a handful of hits it's extremely frustra J um I think uh someone in the chat said something I think it was James talking about the umpires said he was yelling at the umpires there were some def there were definitely some bad calls I'm not going to sit here and blame the umpires I I I know people hate that but they they were or this guy in particular was horrendous at certain points in this game though and I think at the beginning of the game on the Marquee bra broadcast that it was slated that he is more pitcher friendly he kept calling the you know calling balls on inside um that were balls like he kept calling them strikes like he consistently was bad um whether you want to say guys have to adjust to how he's calling the game or not balls are balls and Strikes are strikes I don't know how else to really say it that's just how I'm always going to feel like this we I don't know how many times we have the conversation every year but like challenge ball strikes challenge uh the theall the ball strikes challenge system is absolutely needed at like a ridiculous level at this point for considering how much I've really noticed it this year again not the reason they lost tonight but this the home pled umpire to me was just horrendous in terms of just what actually is a ball and what actually is a strike I mean every umpire sucks they're the most worthless job in this entire country by 2050 every single umpire will be outdated replaced by a system that's already better as is I'm sick sick and tired of talking about umpires sick of tired of seeing High elevated breaking pitches go well above the Zone be called for strikes and screw over 2021 year-olds who are developing their Play Brush sick and tired of it I can't stand behind this for the life of me I don't understand why this hasn't been accelerated to improve the quality of the game and get rid of all this IR that we see in a day-to-day basis shame on baseball shame on Manford I'm sick of talking about this and I'm working myself up gosh I'm really good at doing that to you so it was Randazzo tonight tomorrow I think it'll be Phil czy which like oh Budd he isn't good like that's that's even worse all right well because of that maybe you should all bet on the twins tomorrow you know for your to hedge you know what I mean you can do that on circus Sportsbook uh the they have uh tight moneyline splits as uh one likes to say they like to say actually games strive to be a minus 110 split on the circus Sports menu unlike other sports books which may use a minus 115 or minus 120 splits circus Sports keeps as little money as possible on large Market bets especially compared to other books they don't limit they don't limit players based on their winnings either every player has the same limits unlike other books who do limit winning players and they encourage betters to download and explore all sports bidding apps available to compare the lines from each sports book there are real people behind the circus sports brand also who resolve resolve issues in a timely fashion unlike other books who use chat Bots all aspects of the app are being run by the same team that runs the main circus sports book in Las Vegas so download the circus Sports app right now at Circus sports.com illinoid apppp to get started today uh they also hang out with us at every Friday 1 120 Club they do and uh yeah they're great Partners I appreciate them very much okay uh and while you're on the app head on over get yourself a nice ice cold blue moon like Patrick for example and uh you know it helps it helps take these time these types of games a lot easier in my personal opinion you know some beers can say they're brewed for baseball but only Blue Moon is brewed by baseball beer and baseball just go together and no beer goes together than the one that H that was literally born in a ballpark Blue Moon was created at corfield in Denver Colorado it's the Natural Choice for opening day and all season long uh someone in the chat earlier asked if I did a beer bag after they won three out of four I think her name was Carrie at the beginning of the show as we were the countdown was starting uh Carrie to let you know I did do a beer about it that the video is on my Instagram account if you or on my Twitter account if you want to go check it out but Blue Moon all right it it it would have I had all kinds of Blue Moon this weekend thanks to the Cubs uh not really being bad until tonight so shout out to Blue Moon uh a new baseball season do deserves a bold unique beer from its refreshing flavor with Valencia orange peel for a subtle sweetness and hint of coriander Blue Moon Belgian style we ale is oneof a kind beer that makes that it's made brighter it's carefully crafted in full flavored with refreshing notes and a smooth creamy finish it's brewed by 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Bloon beer.com chgo to see your delivery op that's get. Bloon beard.com chgo Blue Moon made Brier celebrate responsibly Blue Moon Brewing Company Golden Colorado I'll just mentioned Blue Moon big uh partner with our watch parties oh yeah yes if you were at Miller's Al house at the last one I bought everybody their first Blue Moon you did come out to Hickory Hills Prime Time absolutely and Patrick will buy you beer yes maybe I don't know we'll see don't hold me to it we're also doing a like watch along for Wednesday's game right here in our studio it's going to be me Jared and I think Kevin Wells um we're gonna have plenty of Blue Moon because it's like sponsored by Blue Moon shout out to them I love Blue Moon it gets me through watching the 2024 Cubs and I'm sure that's the only reason that Brennan is able to survive through the the trying times he's going through right now that's exactly right it's basically medicine you know I don't know if it's in their uh you know their slogan or whatever I don't even know if it's like legal for me to say but it is a good cure for certain diseases let's put it that way right okay um let's talk about I guess one of the few good things and I I feel like that was Kyle Hendricks tonight six Innings two earn five strikeouts Brenan uh as we've given you credit in the past I know Corey did uh particularly maybe two or three Sunday shows ago um you were very I wouldn't say you were loud but you were very like well because you came on the podcast that day you're right about that for some reason I see your face and I just start going off I don't know what it is you up man but I I just remember I remember a few Sunday shows ago Corey kind of set you up bringing up you know everything that you guys talked about Kyle Hendricks back in probably late April early May um everyone ready to DFA the guy and even since June yeah he's had some bad starts still but um he's definitely regressed positively and you know they lost tonight but it sure as hell wasn't his fault man six Innings two earned runs like you got to score runs for the guy um you know a lot of people months ago thought this guy was finished like legitimately would re retire after the season and he's he might if you know if if no one wants to offer him a contract I don't know what the future with him and the Cubs entails but assistant pitching coach right but like he's he's certainly showing that he can still do it I mean this twins lineup's pretty good you know like Royce Lewis they showed on the broadcast like I know he's hasn't had as many at bats as most of the qualified players in the league but for the the season thus far he's been really good for them and uh you know they've had their offense overall has been pretty good I would say and for him to shut them down basically you know gave up a solo Homer and then you know he I felt like only allowing the one run the very first run of the game was uh positive considering the first I think it was the first two hitters that got on that inning and he only gave up one run that inning so you know you conceded a run in a way like I don't know I I don't know what else to really say about the guy just like every time I feel like I'm way out on him he reels me back in I'm not to say that he should be your second or third best starter on a team I'm just saying that like he clearly still has something left in the Tank Man stuff still looks good go ahead Patrick well that's the thing is that uh it's not an impressive number now nor will it be MH but his 6.6 ra right now is the lowest that he's had after a start all year long so like it's it's trended in a better Direction obviously not where you want it to be but he he ended April with a 12 ER it's gotten better and it's okay to admit that right his stuff looks similar to what it's been over the past few years when when Cory and I were talking about him back in April and when you came on the show Cody that was the foundation of the conversation is trying to understand why the results weren't coming if the change up looked good and the fast ball looked as if it were last season when he did have results so he goes to the bullpen comes back he develops a curveball which he uses 10 15 20% of the time during games and that seems to increase his margin for error or change how he goes through certain guys and through the order multiple times it's given him just another dimension to add he's been great he's been relatively great as as Patrick was saying 6.6 ER is not what you want and not what you wanted to slot him in as but when the heak of his worst was a 12 ER and now it's down almost to under six it does speak volume to the changes he has made we only have about 50 games left in the season for him it's going to be about eight nine more starts he's playing for his next contract he's still a young guy in this league for a pitcher of his repertoire and his status he very well could pitch multiple years if he shows teams including the Cubs that he's capable of doing it maybe the Cubs end up kersha him bringing him back one year at a time paying him $6 million kind of like a league minimum type deal for a veteran if they want however they Define that he's pitching for his career and he's proving that he still may have some left in the tank so far uh how many wins does Hector nerys have Brennan well he's the uh Major League relief winning pitcher and maybe one of the best winning Cubs relievers of all time he reminds me of how good Antonio El fona was back in the day both is all-time great Cubs relievers well I asked because Dan in the chat said he's three and 10 uh you know he does he does point out his 660 ra which Patrick already basically said like yeah it was really bad at the end of April and he's brought down I'm not even here to say that like he's back to 2016 for I'm just acknowledge the fact that he's been better since the you know I would say the start of June and honestly they wouldn't be in this position which I know we don't want to be in this position but they would be in a significantly worse situation than if if he didn't step up when Jordan Wicks got HT or and and with Ben Brown going down and all that too like whether it depending on how you want the how you want the team to be win loss record right now based off how the trade deadline went or whatever but I th it'll sound like a stray here and kind of is but would you you have to account for health of the rest of your team whether that's in the majors or in the in the farm and then you also have to account for the developmental process you're not going to rush anybody up to take hendrix's spot and that leaves you with would you rather watch Kyle Hendrick every every fifth day go you know four to five or maybe even like tonight six innings or would you rather watch Dan sty and the and the answer to me is Kyle Hendrick every fifth day I'm fine with that yeah yeah into Nick Mam's points his stuff looks good his Comet was quote his stuff looks like the last three years it looks good uh that's sarcasm at what I just said in case you guys didn't know other than plopping 80 m per hours in the heart of the plate he's not what he was a couple seasons ago go when the stuff looks good it's relevant the stuff he's showing now is exactly the same stuff he showed last season when he was able to deserve the contract he got this season so that's always been the question is why is he not getting the results is it Randomness probably not there's probably more to it but the Cubs are getting their answer and although he not been good overall he's been one of the main Cub starting pitchers and a stabilizing force over the past six weeks amidst injuries to Javier Assad who many were calling to replace hendrickx and kick Hendrick off the team he's been a stabilizing force with Ben Brown whose career seems actually quite uh in Jeopardy to be frank with a neck neck injury that few pitchers have ever had before that sounds very concerning when a Cubs Young starting pitching staff going through significant injuries including Jordan Wick's forearm strain and Kate Horton's lat strain it it requires guys like K to step up and he's done that and he's looked better with a new curveball so we can always dial in on the semantics of him looking good but the reality is since he's come back to the rotation he's been what the Cubs need because all the other depth pieces have gone down to injuries right yeah I mean again I I'm reading some of the chat I'm just like I don't we're not even really trying to fight with y'all like we understand that where he at he where he is at this point in his career but again just acknowledge the fact that he has been better and he is not the reason they lost T night that's the thing is that and also the's a bad example for the chat right and also the Home Run he gave up that was I mean it was was it a curveball on the outside edge that he Som cutting cutting change up was it a maybe he left it up a little too much I couldn't believe the guy a little bit was up a little bit Yeah so it's not like he left it over the hard to play that's all I'm saying and again I understand are we having this are we having this discussion if the Cubs score seven or even four right that's the thing and that's what I've said all season about this team is if this team could have some sort of consistency on offense you know I don't think Hendricks would be three and 10 all right and you know you you want to go by win loss record you could probably look at Justin steel and Shaga and wonder why those records look like they do too they've all of them have had starts where they do what Kyle henrix did tonight and they take the loss because they don't know how to score runs so you know is what it is man Hector nerys is eight and4 with a 3.6 CR he's having a terrific the rotation put him in the rotation with yeah so anyway yeah I thought Pearson looked decent as well how how do you feel about Pearson uh he's a project he's a project I mean we all see the stuff he throws upper 90s maxes out low hundreds unique shapes on his secondaries he's a project he's one of many projects the Cubs have had and one of many projects to Cubs will continue to have will he work out some do some don't the Julian merryweathers work out and sometimes other experiments tend to fizzle away like Daniel Norris who you got always remind me of uh in the past all these former uh Blue Jays so it is what it is we'll see I'm optimistic when you whenever you have a a reliever who has this type of good stuff it always piques your interest and it has peaked the Cub's interest but you do have to be realistic in your expectations and he has to improve his command I would agree with that what about you I'm I'm cool with him I from what I've seen from him he either does really well or hits somebody in the head and so that's pretty that's pretty interesting he he's done well since his debut he he's definitely done that all right we got a couple ads here and then I kind of want to talk about ESO parades since the chat is and then we Ryan Herrera is goingon to join us here in a little bit um it's grilling season folks get your pork all right the summer is almost over so you you need to get in on this all right people who are active need more protein than the average American in fact the Academy of nutrition and dietetics dietitians of Canada and the American College of sports medicine recommend 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for athletes depending on training one 3 ounce serving of pork provides 23 grams of highquality protein that can help active individuals build and preserve muscle the international Society of sports and nutrition recommends that people who are involved in a general fitness program who or who are interested in optimiz optimizing their health eat low fat high quality sources of protein which include lean cuts of pork Patrick all right elevate your protein game with lean pork a Powerhouse of natural goodness Savor the flavor Savor the gains and celebrate any occasion by enjoying the best pork produced by Illinois Pig Farmers from your sausage and bacon for breakfast to pull pork or juicy chops hot off the grill it's an entire season dedicated to Pork and the people behind the product paid for by the Illinois pork producers generations of commitment also Luke keeps asking me when I'm going to wear the FCO overalls to Wrigley and maybe maybe September when Rizzo comes back for the Yankees takeover maybe I will because I feel like the weather won't be nearly as hot it like I would say Friday was was scorching hot it was the hottest day Friday was humid and uncomfortable yes all right maybe I will finally wear those overalls from f to Wrigley in September all right you fitted out the best sports gear around hoodies shoes signs bobbleheads and everything in between going to basketball or hockey games baseball games show off your love with Team branded friendship bracelets whether it is jackets Beach wear or even overalls like I said there is something for fans for almost every occasion set decorations we got like Clark the cub here on uh the table we got a Hayden wisneski one um I know we have others for other teams here in Chicago too we always like to point out the Matt schwarmer one that came out in 2022 Brennon I know I know you had an A F like a big fascination with Matt schwarmer back like a couple years ago that that that's Ryan's guy actually is that Ryan's he's the one who wanted to write that story I all I know is they have a mash warmer Cubs bobblehead and it would be an absolute collector's item if you read the story we did it was the question was his slider is rating as the worst in the league but why has it been so good we could not figure it out I was stunned when he was dfid heartbroken yeah you know I definitely pour a blue moon out for him you know um anyway uh check out fogo.com or click the link in the description below for all non prale items use promo code cho10 for 10% off okay I didn't have this in the rundown Patrick but based off the chat and based off uh you know I think it's on social media too and I've been making massive joke about it because that's how I do things but ESO parades what three for 2 27 three for 27 not a great night offensively great night defensively he had a couple nice defensive plays at third base uh but the bat has been slow he I think last week he had a game against the Reds where he hit two doubles um he had a hit yesterday so those are his three hits since he became a Chicago Cub for the second time um I guess the question here is are are we worried about his Bat considering well let me finish considering go like since the beginning of July when he was even with the race still it it's been it hasn't been good taking that into account the answer is still no oh and I will tell you that I I appreciate the fact that the defense rebounded tonight because I feel like there is a tendency among professional baseball players where if you're slumping you can kind of like the mentality can shift and then suddenly you're not doing well in the field I like two when you rebound in the field it feels like the good at bats are around the corner and that's what I'm hoping kind of happens here yeah Brennen 27 plate appearances that's it's a few it's a few weeks if I if we say oh I'm concerned about heak Pet's over 27 play appearances then you're even sicker than us doing this show after the Cubs got shut out yet again okay it's only been three weeks let's see what happens the concern that I think is fair even though it has been three weeks with the Cubs it's been one week with the Cubs it's been one week with the Cubs Co messes with my brain I feel like he's been on the Cubs technically technically not even a week because he was traded to the Cubs last Tuesday and then he didn't play the next game I don't believe am I am I traded no that that is on Monday was it Monday okay so he didn't play he didn't play Tuesday and then yeah he played his first game with the Cubs was last Wednesday so watching I've been watching ESO play for the Cubs since he was 17 I remember him back in Mesa way back then before before your time even maybe Patrick uh I watch for a long time yeah are you the youngest person on our staff uh no no I'm no I'm 25 Emma definitely has to be the youngest yeah oh man you guys are babies you know one they get gray hairs like but uh but it won't look as good as your hair yeah yeah Bren Brendan is Brendan spends all of his time on the west coast so he's actually 55 but just looks really good whoa it's not but uh false false claims out there Patrick lot a lot of sunscreen just like you how about that yeah I'll say this just to acknowledge what a lot of the YouTube chat and what everyone is saying on social media I mean for on Sunday that's yeah there we are myad I'll say this um Paredes is B is at bats I feel like he's giving good at bats um I think Craig counil or someone mentioned his 12 pitch at bat that he had I want to say on Friday that kind of ignited their offense a little bit in which the Cubs ended up winning that game um he had a hit and a walk yesterday um you know tonight wasn't great I will say that but no one in the Cubs offense looked good tonight um so whatever I just I understand a large majority of people are going to argue about this probably for the rest of the season and into the offseason because everyone and me included I me you Brennan and Corey for sure were Christopher morell's biggest Defenders on this podcast but because he was so beloved by a lot of fans I think it's just something that people going to continue to talk about and I don't care that Morell hit two homers in two games he struck he struck out multiple times in multiple games since then as well and he had two errors in one game uh for the Rays as well and just this past week so um the rays are even getting a little bit of what we got to deal with Morel this year as well I will I've said this as well that I think Morel has the higher ceiling with the bat um but I sat here and talked about the underlying metrics for him plenty the last three and a half months and people didn't want to hear it and now people are talking about paris's underlying metrics and saying like oh this guy's really bad and it just it's so to me it's it's very funny when people want to shape their own narratives I get it if we're two months down the road and he's not hitting I totally get it but 27 at bats play appearances whatever freaking slow your rooll people that's all I can say I feel like it's the same group of people that are also giving up on Craig Council yeah well and it's not even just our YouTube chat it's been all over social media too and that's why on social media for me I just kind of turned it into a joke like every time parus makes a great defensive play Cubs win the trade every time he grounds out the short Rays win the trade like whatever that that's where I'm at like I feel like we have to wait it out a little bit you know like I still think that the trade could potentially work out for both teams because at the end of the day I still think the Cubs move Cubs move Morel because he they couldn't find a position for him to play and as we've already seen with him at the Rays it it hasn't worked out very well defensively for him over there yet either and if we're going to judge it after not even a week like a lot of people have been like you have to acknowledge that he still has the same flaws over there for them too so I I think that paradus being competent defensively and uh you know again giving you decent bats in terms of working pitch counts making contact not striking out um I think the hits will come eventually but I think he's still just getting kind of settled in here and also like I said he had been struggling since the beginning of July so we'll see when he gets out of the slump hopefully he does that way people stop talking about this like whole trade thing because like it's really annoying at this point this gets viewed and I understand why as a onev one vacuum decision with the context involved it makes sense from both sides if you want to look at the one we one V1 vacuum discussion Morell has a higher ceiling it's obvious he's got top five overall bat speed the metrics you talked about were very encouraging early in the year he's someone if it all click is one of the better hitters in the league the question is How likely is it that it all Clicks in time to line up with this Cubs competitive window the Cubs have every one of their top hitting prospects in tripa there's going to be limited Runway at some point in the next year and a half they need to have some certainty they can't go in with an experiment at every single position we've already seen that play out this year in a disastrous fashion so I understand Jet's perspective I'm going to sacrifice the higher ceiling with the lower ceiling may cause some concern for fans but the defense at third base the defense backup at second base the unique pole side profile the very unique swing decision and contact profile is more likely to yield productive value for the team and the sacrifice is that 40 plus home run uh calberg IM imrl but you may get that elsewhere and you may get the opportunity to fully explore that possibility in a different position because you don't have to keep experimenting and risking that at third base I understand it but I also do share some of the overall aims with letting someone like Morell go but unfortunately I will probably stand by this I believe the Cubs are a little bit too late on a few of their decisions and testing guys out of certain positions or making 40 Man decisions which I do push back on and even bios is one of the examples where I don't quite see the value on the 40 Man versus promoting the development of someone like bios right now but these are the decisions the CBS from an office makes and it will determine if they're going to be with this Cubs team in the next year and a half yeah I I think you bring a make a good point about you know the guys who just got promoted to Triple A on top of the fact of bi stos and and Owen Casey like I don't know how these guys were going to be able to exist with Morell on the roster I think like that's and that's why them not being able to find Morel a position is a big reason why I think they moved him you know like Craig Craig Council historically does not use a singular DH he's never been the type to just have one guy in the lineup in that role every night all year it has been a rotational thing whether it's for rest or for whatever reason or like now with Cody Bellinger where he physically cannot play in the field uh or at least he comfortably cannot play in the field right and so you still want his Bat in the lineup obviously didn't really do much tonight but still you want that bat in the lineup so you're going to have that bat in the lineup you wouldn't be able to do that if you had Morel as your everyday DH or at least he would be on the bench or potentially a liability in the field yeah yeah oh well it's uh it's a very uh again it's I know this isn't going to be the last time we talk about it it's just I think a lot of fans just don't fully understand the reasoning behind it so trying to explain it the best we can at least from our perspective I think and I think it's fair what we're saying it's not like again again me I know for sure me Brennan and Corey were very much still Believers of Morell we'd come in here and get [ __ ] on by the YouTube chat every single day whenever we would use his underlying metrics as a def as a defense mechanism you know like it's uh you know but to be clear to be clear again looking at a player individually and making those claims as we did that we were confident in Morel does not mean it's certain that happens it's just the the likelihood it happens is not unrealistic and you know how I fan I always look for the more extreme outcomes I'm dying for the Cubs to get a 50 plus home run guy and Morel has the talent to do that but with all these discussions we've ever had I don't like risking things I want the Cubs to be a 95 win team so those experiments we're talking about I need to happen in the background of a reso Bryant middle of the order it's not sufficient for this team to go into the year expecting Morell to produce like that as their cleanup hitter that was a risk that was too much for the 2024 Cubs undeniably and again it may cost Jed Hoyer his job those Fringe decisions I don't want to get that confused that it was appropriate for the Cubs to go into the season doing that but at the same time his top tier Talent is extremely interesting and exactly why an organization like the Rays made their risk in giving up Petes even at that cheaper arbitration price because they like many other fans believe in that profile and that's the gamble they wanted to make well that's kind of the thing and like if you look back at 2016 talk about risk your biggest risk that year was arguably putting Kyle schwarber in left field mhm that was like the only unproven aspect of the defensive going into the year sure that ends immediately unfortunately um replac you can even say going beyond that though going beyond that sure but then you look at shorer getting hurt and you had something you had a backup plan if Morell didn't work out defensively it was well then sorry Cody it was Miles Master Bon is goingon to have to be a defensive replacement or David bod now would have to be a defensive replacement like there were were things that didn't make sense in the in in a longterm season where it's like there would be no expectation for this team to do well if Morell didn't do well because the risk was so big and that was reflected in their win projection of 84 and we we heard Jad say to local radio that they have better internal projections but in reality there's no good projection system every single projection system sucks like true truly absolutely sucks the amount of error even if you improve it is still not enough to make anyone confident who's you know in data science so the way to kind of offset that as we've talked about now for I believe a year and a half is to go into the season like obviously the Braves the Braves right now have their entire team decimated by the injury book we have aunia breaking his kneecap yet again or whatever the hell happened and they have pitching injuries where they just had Max uh fried come back from a a nerve issue but they even with their worst percentile outcome are still likely a play Contender and that's what I want the Cubs to eventually reach is when they do get unlucky which there is an argument that that did happen this year they're still in playoff contention but the Cubs unluckiness or Misfortune SE not producing consistently Bellinger injuries not produced consistently it costs them another season and it cost to rickets dozens of millions of dollars and the attainment of new fans it's been a huge Miss and unacceptable by the front office to go into the year you know being optimistic about maybe their internal projection system being 87 88 wins that's not enough you got to be around 94 95 you make a good point about the Braves like their offense has taken a massive step back this year yet they still are you know still the number one team in the Wild Card right now I know the Phillies have emerg as like the best team in the National League um and they've had a lot of good go their way you know Alec B has you know been one of their like bonuses like he he was already a solid player um but he's emerged as you know a star he started the All-Star game uh and you know he hit a homer at Wrigley when the when the Phillies came to to like he he I remember whenever the Phillies fans like booed him or whatever on the field and now he's you know he's got to a point to where he's a star but when you have the Stars like they do it allows a guy to develop the way he has and you know we sit here and talk about the Cubs not having stars and this and that like we have I feel like every single day for the last two and a half years of doing this podcast at least for me but like the it that is where the Cubs need to get to where they can find a way to still develop while also you know putting a winning product out there um and it's easy it's easier said than done it's I mean that's just the way I look at it you know yeah well listen we don't follow the other teams fine intrig moves like we do with the Cub so it' be stupid to say that we do but we do obviously see what the Phillies have done and their way of operating with dumbrowski is risking more money in singular players of course that means spending Bryce Harper Trey Turner uh Kyle schwarber in a high aav Nick casianos who may not have worked out uh recently arinola but in Bryce Harper's case we've seen the flexibility it's created a 25 million annual average value Bryce Harper was signed to be an outfielder but because of uh uh Hoskins injuries and because of his injuries himself he's not their first baseman Kyle schwarber similarly was their left fielder at the time and the context changed and he was even tried at first base prior to be coming over to the Phillies now he's their DH but they were able to lock up at least some assurity in value and then it gave them the ability to take those risk and experiments that we're talking about the Cubs don't have any of that every single player you can argue on their team is an experiment and when you have that uncertainty it means you don't have the likelihood and those experiments more times than not end up failing that's just the reality of baseball I will say this one experiment they have that I'm really excited about and you kind of touched on the first segment but PCA I mean he's really starting to grow on me the offense yeah like you said like he's been one of the the few good things so I guess to end with that because Ryan is here and we're GNA have to kick you brandan but I wanted to end it with you know PCA seems like a he seems like a experiment that perhaps might work out for the CBS he's surprising me he's exceeding my expectations I know the numbers aren't quite there yet but the signs look good so I am happy about that all right man well uh thank you for joining us thank you uh you know for taking I guess Luke's spot whatever like he had to go to Mexico you stepped in while having Co I mean credit to you man I take no days off like even if I had a sore neck I would not take a day off I'd be bad and clean up for you guys just saying might as well be Cal Ripken Jr for podcasting that's right I don't miss although I actually may miss this upcoming Sunday which you should talk to Corey about anyway I'll see you guys later have a good ma'am see all right let's welcome in the guy the man the myth the legend big of me to say Ryan Herrera at beautiful historic Wrigley Field Patrick be lying it looks like he might be in an Office Depot I was gonna say Patrick does he look like he's in a stall or does he look like he's in he's he's in a trough right now I'm back I'm back in my stall back in my stall over here at Wrigley he doesn't have the Reds ballpark as the back this time that was a special occasion that was a road occasion well you're here now I guess this game kind of sucks so I I I haven't forgot you posted the pictures at getting the Skyline Chili I don't believe we talked about this we talk about this we haven't yet so what what would you rate the skyline Chile uh I think I gave it like a like a three and a half or four like not the absolute worst thing I've ever eaten out of five or 10 Ryan out of 10 uh it wasn't good don't get me wrong it wasn't good um they like the way I guess when I got it was like it was the spaghetti and it's it's not like chili it's like meat sauce which is a little odd but then they like pack a bunch of shredded cheese like pile it on top of it and so just to get to the chili you got to go through like three forkfuls of shredded cheese so if you're not a big cheese person like that just ruins the meal right there to begin with and then I definitely docked it a couple points just because like if I'm if I'm a city if I'm a big city or wanting to be a big City and I'm wanting to be known for some food like Skyline Chili is not the food I'm picking to be known for like it's really not or just just Cincinnati style chili is like that's not what I'm picking to be known for even like St Louis like the St Louis Pizza sucks but at least they have toasted ravioli like be known for that be proud of that like I just don't know whyis before you had to stop did was say again could you did you make it to Indianapolis before you had to stop or how you have to stop I was I was right outside Indianapolis uh I just had to put gas though I it wasn't because I sure sure that's what they all say no one wants to admit to using the be guess as we as we say don't want the facts getting the way of a good story no but yeah so I I just don't understand why Cincinnati people are so uh proud of Skyland Chile I won't if I ever go back to Cincinnati I won't be uh returning to Skyland Chile I don't think I think it's would we say Cincinnati's Blue Collar you know they have a lot of Pride just about it in general would you would you say that about Cincinnati sure okay maybe that's why maybe they really think it sucks too it's kind of like us with like when we talk about our pizza and like deep dish isn't we don't consider deep dish a Chicago style we we say Tavern style is you know like but like all the tourists and stuff they think like everyone outside of Chicago thinks that we think deep dish is Chicago style you know I don't know what to be fair they both they are both Chicago style it's just like the style we generally eat is not deep dishes The Tavern stuff they are both Chicago style pizzas fair enough I should have worded it better there yeah okay I guess we can talk about this game um Craig Council we have six minutes Craig council did he I'll set the over under at a minute 45 is that how what how long did he speak it it was under it was ly under a minute 45 I mean it's what what do you what do you say about this game right like Kyle Hendrick gave you six Innings two earned runs um the bullpen I think you know they got the one run off Pearson at the end of the game but outside of that was overall solid and the offense got four hits and two walks right like there's nothing you can say as far as like just they didn't do anything offensively today and like it it was funny because the second question he was asked was about Kyle Hendrick and he basically went know Kyle Hendricks pitched he pitched well it was a good start but we didn't score enough runs like immediately took it back to the offense um which is like that's that's the name of the game Kyle Hendrick I know Luke's also I sent that tweet into slack Luke's tweet is wrong he would not have 20 scoreless Innings if they took him out after four so Luke bad take Luke it's a bad take um he's too busy in Mexico he could care less right now yeah drinking Mojitos down in Mexico but yeah like Kyle Kyle gave you a quality start is this third quality start of the year I think um something like that and just he he was he did more than probably you expected him to do against a good team in Minnesota um and yeah the offense just didn't give him any support that's that's that's the game right there just they got shut out shut out 11th time on the season I want to say um so yeah that's that's games at this point but yeah um yeah I guess you know Bellinger still can't play in the field SE us sat out with stiff neck like was good to see hap back in there um I I believe you tweeted that uh SE should be back in the lineup tomorrow according to council yeah se's dealing with uh the neck soreness I guess he's been the last couple days has had it um and I think conso said that he was initially going to have SE sit yesterday Sunday the series finale against the Cardinals um but when hap obviously from from jumping into the wall uh Saturday was a late scratch Sunday um and so scratch half kept saying the lineup then gave say the day today he's uh he's expected yeah Kul anticipates that he'll be back in the lineup tomorrow as far as Bellinger like obviously he's hitting um the middle finger the fracture still I would say sort of affecting him but like to not to the point where he doesn't feel like he can hit through it I think overall he's hit pretty well since he did come back from the from the iil last week um so that's a positive sign but as far as throwing uh both him and Council said today is uh when he's throwing the way Council said it was like when he's throwing with intent uh is when uh when he feels it on the the middle finger I think they're playing catch every day and he's lengthening the the the distance is lengthened every day um but it's just when he's throwing with intent that he's feeling it still and so they're slowly progressing console said he won't see him in the field this series um and just going to take it day by day continue to gauge the pain tolerance and what he feel like he can he can deal with but um yeah for now Bellinger's still going to be dhing for the foreseeable future until we get a new update do you have anything not really I mean that that that's just kind of how it works and where would where would Christopher Morell be playing right now uh uh I don't I D I didn't see anything on social media media but I know La last night Matt Shaw James triantos and um Kevin alcantra promoted to Iowa didn't know if you know maybe even Craig pregame might have said anything about these guys anyone talk about their promotions before the game yeah uh Craig was asked about it but um kind of answered in more of a general sense just saying you know prospects being moved up uh means they have success uh moving up to the next level especially when that's the level you know right below the Big League triple A um and to him it you the way he kind of looks at it is that it it signals depth as far as your position player group goes um like obviously there are prospects and stuff but when they're right there uh you know knocking on the door for Jed Hoyer and the rest of the front office it signals like you may have some new options as far as your depth goes so um yeah like well they have the top six prospects depending where you're looking I think I would say MLB pipeline has it like their top six prospects are now in Triple A um and they're young and on the cust of the big leagues and that's as far as the organization goes but definitely for Craig C so it's that's a sign that the organizations you know the big league team is struggling obviously this season but like the the system and the organization seems to be in a healthier Place uh and with prospects who at the very least you can look at as depth that can potentially impact a big league roster if needed I think that's that's a good way to look look at it is like these guys just got promoted to the Triple A so they're not going to be impacting the ball club like relatively soon but U you know potentially if needed they can and then that's that's just kind of how CR Council looks at it all right well yeah like you said this game stunk uh I don't I mean I will say like I said it was kind of a you know my high I had going into tonight um not fully all the way down still got a chance to win the series but we'll see if they bounce back tomorrow the offense played well up until tonight so we'll see if it bounc back tomorrow it's going to be a tough task against uh Lopez yeah Pablo Lopez and they got Joe Ryan on Wednesday but sha we got sha day tomorrow buy our shirt the least you could do is buy our shirt all right um so yeah we'll see yall tomorrow thanks for checking out Cho Cubs podcast post game after the game tomorrow right here CH Sports YouTube hit that subscribe button hit the like button on your way out and and uh yeah me Jared and Kevin tomorrow see y'all then [Music] [Applause]