Chicago Cubs Baseball News | Cubs aim for sweep

the Cubs close out August on a hot note beating the Washington Nationals yesterday 5 to3 to end their August now they open up September with one more game against Washington and they go for their second straight sweep we're going to talk about that and what it might take to catch the Atlanta Braves as the Cubs are starting to finally gain some ground that and more on this edition of the Cubs Baseball channel make sure to like And subscribe get in that comment section let us know if you think there's some action here and if you think the Cubs can make a late push and what I see some people on Twitter calling Craig tber we'll have to see but for now here is your invitation to our show [Music] [Applause] [Music] what's up everybody Welcome to the Cubs Baseball channel my name is Anthony pasquali he is Mick Gillespie and you can find him on Twitter at broadcaster Mick you can find me at antore pasquali 3 the Cubs are RedHot right now winners of five in a row they win again yesterday five to three over the Washington Nationals to take both the first two games in this series make this team's playing some really good ball right now well we wanted them to beat the teams they're supposed to beat and that's what they're doing and it's uh been really fun to watch um you know it's been the top and the bottom of the lineup the pitching uh the bull Pen's been good how about Porter Hodge coming in and closing games out they that these the teams that they're playing aren't really that good but they haven't been able to polish them off like they have now and it's making such a big difference because you know you got to get these wins and stack them up to have a chance and uh you know you get over 500 you start winning games and it's it's a big deal so I love what I'm seeing and it's been a lot of fun yeah the Cubs are four games over 500 now and a big reason why is they played the month of August 11 games over 500 they closed the month at 19 and8 uh which allowed them to make up some ground in the standings um you're probably gonna have to put another month like this together to have a chance at making the playoffs especially with how bad May and June were but 19 and eight that's about as good as you could ask for and it really makes you wonder what if they didn't get swept in Cleveland how how much different would we be talking about this team right now well I mean and there's a lot of would have could have should is here I mean you know think about how many bad months they had you know how many opportunities at the beginning of the Season where they had games one and then the bullpen couldn't do anything about it you know the the the part of the Season where they played like a what I called a dead fish and that's the problem in in the game of baseball is that you you don't get a ton of opportunities but the you know the lose games that you're supposed to win anyway but when you start to look at it you know what I mean the Braves are 13 games over 500 so and they're in the last playoff spot so there's still a mountain to climb but four and a half games is manageable um they just got to keep doing what they're doing yeah without a doubt that's the only way to do it let me pose this question to you they've got 26 games in September what record do you think would put them into the playoffs I know there's obviously some variables you you need the the Braves and the Mets to lose a little bit and uh and all those sorts of things but you know if you said let's say they they won 16 games and that puts them at uh 86 would that be enough 87 88 what do you think they need to do it that is a tough question because the problem is is that you know last year the third playoff spot was you know around three or four games over 500 I mean you're trying to catch a team that's 13 games over 500 and Atlanta getting healthy uh you know they've been kind of banged up and uh you know so that's a man I don't know I mean Cubs still only have a you know a little under 5% chance to make the playoffs and I guess it's because this number's so high right I mean you you probably need maybe over 20 wins yeah it that probably you probably need to get very close to 90 I think is the number and you know we obviously are rooting for them to make the playoffs but Nate maybe getting 87 and missing um would give Jed Hoyer enough motivation or whoever it is making decisions by the time uh winter comes around to say hey we need to get over that hump what do we need to do to get over that hump and and start making some moves so it doesn't have to be a late push and instead you're you're cruising through the regular season with months like this not in August but maybe in April and in June and and those sorts of things but let's talk about waivers for a little bit the Cubs obviously put Drew smiley on waivers he did not get claimed he cleared waivers so he is back with the Cubs for the rest of the season the St Louis Cardinals put Shawn Armstrong on waivers and the Cubs claimed him and added him to the 40-man roster yesterday I believe it was Daniel Palencia who was sent back down to triaa Iowa uh so now Shawn Armstrong joins this Bullpen we haven't seen him pitch yet he didn't pitch yesterday um but in terms of the bullpen Jorge Lopez was back he pitched yesterday I know there was some talk about him maybe going on the injured list with that groin injury but they felt it was good enough to have him pitch but he pitched the eighth because Porter Hodge came in and locked down another save his third of the season so smiley Armstrong Lopez and hodj all in that Bullpen right now yeah yeah really good and it's that time of year too where you're trying to prove that you know you're what you're going to do next year you know and interesting that the Cubs would go out and get a reliever but hey Z waivers you get a chance to do it uh I'm I'm honestly I'm not surprised that I I'm a little surprised that no one took Dre Smiley I figured that one of those teams would want him just because you know how hard is it to get a left-hander that has had a better season than him right now but um you know the business of baseball is one in which you know it's not just what you do on the field it's the money that's involved the the roster spot you know it's you got if you take somebody you got to get rid of somebody so um you know I I really thought that one of the team that a contending team was going to him yeah it and surprisingly he gets kept I think money is more of the reason why not performance he's been really strong this season um but as a result now we enter September and I know one of the first moves that the Cubs are going to make is Jordan Wicks being back he's gonna start today in DC he's going to be the first September call up uh but the issue is he was on the 60-day injured list so they need to put him on the 40-man roster which means somebody is going to get uh designated for assignment or put on the injured list so we'll have to keep our eyes on that um I'm also curious if you expect one of those prospects to be coming up whether it's you know Casey or sha triantos anybody like that um do you think any of those guys are you know ready to come up and help in September I mean I think Owen Casey could be a possibility I mean he's had another good year and I think he's the future for the Cubs and Wright you know why not let him get his feet wet and play some Outfield and you know and get some swings and take some lumps and have some success now when you're you're you've got a 5% chance a 4.7% chance to make the playoffs you know uh so I'm guessing him there's probably a couple other guys on that list that I'm not even thinking about um but I feel like next spring training would have to be for these guys you know where you're you're going to see a lot of the the players that you're talking about battling for spots on the bench I I would think that that players like Patrick wisdom I mean which you know the the guy keeps surviving but there wouldn't be a a place for him you'd probably want those young players to be on the on the bench and get the experience and battle for you know positioning on the field so the the roster is definitely in flux just because of where all the young players are right now in Triple A yeah and I agree with that completely but the Cubs as they stand right now are winners of five in a row eight of their last 10 um in their last 49 games they're 31 and 18 so they've really stepped it up a notch for about month and a half two months now and they've won eight out of their last nine series to put them four games above 500 in second place in the NL Central but look at that number at the bottom of your screen four games back of the Braves they lost yesterday so the Cubs are finally making up a little bit of ground they're eight- two in their last 10 games and have only picked up a game and a half um one of these teams the Cubs or the Braves aren't going to keep up this pace hopefully it's the Braves and the Cubs can stick with it and catch a pretty talented Atlanta Braves team but things are going in the right direction at the very least you're you're limiting that deficit and you're just playing good baseball which is a good thing yeah well I mean that's it yeah it's it's a shame that it that the Cubs aren't in better position right now for sure but you know you can only beat the teams that are on your Rost on the on the schedule and that's what they're doing and it's the more pressure that they put on these teams you know you get four four and a half games back you know and you just keep winning uh that you know you anything can happen I mean we saw it you know sometimes for the good sometimes for the bad but uh you go out there and play good ball every day I mean great things can happen and that's kind of what we're seeing but it's just been fun to watch uh these guys and I don't know if it was a Taylor Swift candle or not but you know whatever it is that's got this team moving in the right direction um I I can't say that it's going to translate into next year but I can say that there's still a chance this year that you can make some Ripples and four games isn't insurmountable and the good news is is not only uh you know are you're chasing one team but you're chasing three teams you know what if somebody else goes in the tank you know so uh you got a chance and you just got to keep winning games and then they got to get the sweeps you know and I know leading into to you know to the game today you got to sweep you you can't you can't settle for hey you know what we took two out of three Series wins aren't good enough anymore you got to you got to sweep yeah absolutely I agree with that fully and I think uh part of putting Jordan wicks in the starting rotation is going to be to set up your rotation to try to get more sweeps I think it might mean Kyle Hendrick back to the bullpen but we'll keep an eye on that when his spot in the rotation comes up but the numbers are slowly starting to rise the Cubs with a 5.4% chance now to make the playoffs so now it's only 90 what 4.6 that they don't it's it's getting lower and lower so we'll keep an eye on that too but all the Cubs can do is continue to win ball games and they have a chance to do that today against the Nationals early game 12:35 Central and it's Jordan Wicks off the injured list on the mound for the Cubs one and two on the year with a 4.18 erra against Mitchell Parker who is seven and eight on the year with a 4.26 ER as the Cubs Go for the sweep yeah go Cubs man I mean this is going to be interesting anytime you get late in the season you see what the Cubs are doing with some of the veteran players on the roster as far as designated you know designating players and releasing them you know who could be next going to be interesting maybe by the time you guys are watching it we found we find out but um it it's been really eventful the last couple weeks I I think that's going to change yeah no doubt I'm sure there's going to be a lot of roster changes just because September always has an influx of roster moves and we've noticed from being in the division with the Brewers with Craig Council managing them that this is is when the Brewers tend to make up a lot of ground so hopefully the Cubs can do the same with Craig council at the helm but guys thanks so much for joining us uh for the Cubs Baseball channel we always appreciate you guys liking and subscribing getting in that comment section and of course following us on Twitter on Instagram and on Tik Tok but for now hopefully we guys are talking to you with the brooms out after a Cubs win over the Nationals Go Cubs [Music]