Chicago Cubs STUCK in the standings

two really bad months have hurt the Cubs just like it did in 2023 you are locked on Cubs your daily Chicago Cubs podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are locked on Cubs part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day alongside Sam olber I'm Matt cozy Sam and I are lifelong fans taking our passion in discussion with you on all things comes thank you for being part of the show and making us your first listen today the best way you can help us grow the show is to listen every day like the video and comment anything below today's episode is presented by prize picks the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to prize.com lockon MLB and use code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100 and thank you for making us the number one destination on the planet Earth to talk Cubs and that's not an exaggeration that's that's real across audio and video and with that being said we do have a big announcement to make on this Thursday for Friday episode as we are going to be live from 11:00 a to 1 pm next Saturday September 7th at almost home in Wrigleyville Sam and I will be there hanging out before Cubs Yankees that day this is not a live show show it's a pregame hangout we hope to see a lot of our listeners and viewers there almost home in Wrigleyville 3801 North Clark Street in Chicago Sam this will be fun our first event in Wrigleyville and I'll be there for that well yeah I hope okay okay uh yeah that'll be a good time just the whole purpose is come say hello come say hell abely talk a little cubs uh probably have a have a a chicken wing with us say what everybody says to me when they see me in person they're going to go oh wow Sam you look a little bit taller I thought you're about 57 uh every time we we do a live show where people come up to me they go yeah I didn't realize you were that tall I guess sitting in a chair you know dwarfs me um but uh you know everyone goes I thought Matt was you know 63 yeah 51 so yeah no and so am I but I guess you're about a half an inch taller than me so one of us is lying about our Heights gotcha come say hello to us I think you're six feet uh yeah you have said that no I'm 100% you're six feet I don't know why you would say that uh come say hello to us as you could tell the school year started for mad as he's just pounded some caffeine at about 5:30 which isn't good sorry for that Kira um and we're gonna umh we're gonna talk about this Cub's team and we're going to talk about you know all right well you what if they do finish with 84 85 win that's right about where we thought they would be I think I had 87 you had something like 82 but you changed it 10 times and then right I've changed it a lot and then and then so but but the rest of the national League's just really really good is that a problem you know I had a tweet yesterday I'd like to bring up as well so so you tell us where you'd like to go with this and please come say hello to us September 7th which is a I believe the first official Saturday of college football to so there'll be a lot of things going on yeah well the first official college football Saturday is two days from now oh uh but this will be the second one so Illinois plays tonight that's weird they play Eastern Illinois I believe Tony Romo went to school there that's righto jins you owe me a coke Cubs are 68 and 66 fresh off a sweep of the buckos in the midst of a 9 and3 run in this so-called soft 18 game stretch they're also 29 and 18 since the 4th of July however they went 22 and 30 9 from April 27th to July 3rd and that has proven to be so far insurmountable as the Cubs have held Ser in the standings despite their recent success as of this recording about 5:30 central time here on a Thursday Cubs are five and a half games back in the third wild card spot with the Braves and Mets in front of them Sam I feel the Cubs are stuck in the standings and there's a lot of parallels to last year I like can I can I read you my tweet yeah this was I I tweeted this at about 11 o'clock Central time last night oh wow been really having a hard time been staying up late no I've been having a hard time falling asleep something I gotta look into um here's the Tweet quote from me 2023 Cubs had two bad months may they went 10 and 18 September they went 12 and 16 which is a bit deceiving because it it felt like it was worse than that but you know it was so bad towards the end yeah those two months that combined record mat 22 and 34 the 2024 Cubs so far we haven't played September yet have had two bad months they just happened consecutively they went 11 and 17 in May and 11 and 16 in June for an almost identical 22 and 33 record so they had two months last year where they combined to go 22 and 34 two months this year where they combined to go 22 and 33 and the end of the day this is this is just factual uh uh quantitative proof for what we said every team's going to have one of those months you can't have two because I did the math it's over a third of the season oh it's yeah 38% yeah it's over a third of the season so you can't be bad for over a third of the season and it's a lot you know you you you go back to last year Cubs had a decent April good June fine July tremend this August this year the other four months solid April solid uh uh fine July I think they were about a game over and so far a tremendous August we'll see what September brings you just have to limit the bad months to one or two and of course there's baseball and X's and O's to this and Matt you know we were talking off we were talking off the air about listening to podcast I went back last night and listen to our show Memorial Day weekend when I landed back from the city of Ang and and I I kind of insinuated it but I I regret it I should have just set it out there because I was feeling it I had said you know lack of urgency this is the time right and at the end of May sometimes it's not about you know WRC Plus at Ops plus sometimes it's just getting a group of guys together and going we're not having another month like that hey St Louis is coming to town then San Fran then the Mets we need to get right it's six out of nine let's go right we're gonna have more urgency this week than they are and I know everybody listening is gonna laugh and say that that's old school that's not what the binder says that you do and you know all those things but that's just that's just what what needed to happen this team shouldn't have bled straight in uh their struggles in May shouldn't have bled into June especially after learning that that's what happened last year yeah so I think the recap to this campaign could be as as short as you want want it to be out there any point that anyone's going to make from here on out even if they keep playing well it's always not some of the time but all of the time gon to go back to the 61 games that's it you don't need some long explanation uh we will take a deep dive into the offense I think in that 61 uh maybe a little bit the bullpen the starting pitching has been so steady this year but don't go 22 and 39 how many times do I have to say it that's 38% of the year as it stands right now with this record 68 and 66 they have a just a 3% chance to make the playoffs according to Fan graphs unfortunately baseball reference has the Cubs with an expected record of 71 and 63 which would put them only two and a half games be behind the Braves when going into this month I'm thinking about can they do the reverse from last year you know when you talk numbers you talk percentages it's you know can we say there's like PTSD I don't know if that's appropriate they had a 92% chance to make the playoffs in September 6 2023 yeah they blew it deja vu is probably a better turn May and June this year they blew it and that's all it is right 17 games under 500 there's no mystery to being stuck in the standage not being able to gain ground they built themselves a massive hole yeah and I agree with everything you said I'd like to add one more thing yeah you mentioned the Braves we as a show think have done a nice job and I think the rest of the people as well are starting to realize let's say hypothetically so let's say the Cubs do get they continue to get hot they finish the year at 85 and 77 which is you know that that would cash their overunderish to his baseball team is why does the team up north have so much more success than you year in and year out because they're the team that's upset the apple cart they're the team that you know we thought it was going to be Cubs Cardinals maybe Reds that was what the offseason suggested and Milwaukee came in they traded Burns uh they have no Woodruff this year no council they they lost Devin Williams for the large part of the beginning of the season and then some Yelich got hurt and I watched them they were on in the background today as I was doing some work from home and they are just they're clinical they they're they're steing home um they take pitches they grind at bats their Bullpen and that's the team that you're competing with they have something figured out that you don't and you either need to fix that with your payroll advantage and just go hey we're gonna buy the corrections which I think they tried to do with Council and failed or you have to try and catch them with their their shrewdness or their intelligence because you know you you you look at their lines you look at everything and none of it adds up to a 95 win team but that's what they are because there's a lot of people including me that thought 87 would be plenty to win this division this year and it's not going to be because the Brewers are one of the best teams in baseball well up to you how you want to look at the 2020 season but the Brewers have been better than the Cubs for seven years now yep seven yep it's it's like a c it's like a Bears Packers thing now at this point where it's like yeah it's a it's not that the Brewers own us like the Packers do because the Cubs win plent of series the Brewers but it's just like it just feels like like like this year for example just to use football Detroit supposed to be really good right they're the team to beat in the division but it just feels like you got to go through Green Bay and and and the B and the Cubs need to figure out a way to to to be better than the Brewers that they have to figure that out and and because like the point I originally was trying to make is yeah we're going to do some scoreboard watching tonight with the Braves the Cubs aren't as good as the Braves they're not supposed to be if the Braves are healthy with Spencer stride or Strider Ronald aunia Austin Riley Azie alz these guys with all due respect because I love the CBS it's it's a complete difference in class okay are superstars on this team the only reason the Braves are within Striking Distance is because of their injuries what we were built to do this year we were built to win this division Tom Ricket said so a and we're supposed to be better than the Brewers so why aren't we I have answers I've answered them a ton clutch hitting margins playing the game the right way urgency all those things Bullpen but needs to acknowledge that and and answer that question in addition to the two months of Promise because guess what Matt we keep talking about those two months guess what happened at the end of May the and at the end of June what we went to Milwaukee and lost three out of four two out of yeah so the head-to-head isn't favorable yeah yeah they they they they were eight and five against us this year you know that matter part of it well of course it does if you flip it it's a six game difference and the stretch would be three back wow yeah that's pivotal and people don't want to say oh that's a measuring stick between the two teams how is it not the you said it the the Brewers 2018 flipped everything 18 19 20 21 22 count years I don't count 20 so six years then 18 Seasons they they have and and I'm guilty of it I thought getting Craig counil would change that with all due respect it has not changed a thing well and they traded their best pitcher traded their best pitcher lost their closer for a while two years ago they traded maybe the best closer of this generation right Haven it missed be there star players out right now star players out uh adamus they're gonna lose in in free agency and they just yeah yeah they they are very much like the Rays or or Cleveland of the national league and cubs got to figure it out Cubs have 28 games left the next three are against the Nationals we preview that series next today's episode's brought to you by liquid IV liquid IV goes well with baseball in summer and you could Hydrate with liquid IV the number one powdered hydration brand in the US OFA it's easy and convenient to tear pour and enjoy after a long night a day of traveling or a tough workout blast off with the iconic summer flavor of popsicle firecracker a festive blend of citrus fueled lemon lime tarte cherry and raspberry flavors three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink eight essential vitamins and nutrients always non Mo vegan gluten-free dairy free and soy free no more thirsty Summers you indulge in hydration with liquid IV get 20% off your first order of liquid IV when you go to liquid iv.com and use code MLB at checkout it's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MLB liquid i.com Cubs play the Nationals at 5:45 pm Central Friday and you can hear every pitch of the Cubs Hometown broadcast on SiriusXM by searching Cubs on the sxm app that's right Cubs begin a three-game series in the nation's capital 5:45 Friday they play at 3:05 Saturday and another early one Sunday 12:35 this is projected starters now unless it was released since we pressed record imanaga and Irvin Assad and Herz and tyone and Parker couple of lefties in there for the Nets yeah who are 23 and 34 since June 24th with they were hovering around 500 Sam at familiar face in DJ hers and couple couple unproven guys in there as well National's coming off taking two of three from the Yankees in DC yeah yeah yeah uh they got six and four in their last 10 pretty good player CJ Abrams that leads off for him he he really got off to a good start he's he's faltered a little bit they got a guy James Wood uh that they brought up who who's a a young a young player I believe just 21 years of age I could be wrong on that he oozes with talent and stardom in the middle of their lineup he's he's H 275 with a 374 on base um he's pretty good Garcia hits I mean they they don't they don't really hit many home runs they're not a big home run hitting team uh the pitchers that we're g to see you know her Herz obviously is the headliner because of the Cubs trade with candelario that was obviously um a failure for this organization despite what people say because Kar had a good couple of weeks he it was a failure he wasn't good enough the Cubs didn't make the playoffs that's why they made the trade um but um and then Mitchell Parker kind of a finesse Lefty on Sunday I mean nothing overwhelming uh the Cubs you know I mean it's hard to say because the Yankees just went in and lost two of three so it sounds kind of crazy to say but the Cub should handle this series with the way they're playing as long as it's all about runs with this team you know you like him and AUST chances of course tyion Assad two of those three guys will probably put in decent starts if you could score four or five plus for three games you like your chances absolutely and you know with with the Nationals on the heels of winning the series against the Yankees who uh might have the best combo of hitters since literally uh Ruth and gar yes um you know I I think that there's something there might be a little something Brewing there in DC Abrams and wood uh a couple others there you know I believe those are from one was the sto trade or were they both in the stto trade I don't know about wood Abrams was for sure um so you know a lot of young players I I have to say the DJ hers thing it's it's annoying yeah so the Cubs traded a major league starter less than 12 months later for a rental third baseman yeah who who who didn't even play third he played first more but again that's what it takes at the deadline to make the playoffs but he didn't perform that's why it's bad it's not it's not the process of it this team had a chance to make the postseason they took a shot it didn't work you're greated on results in this business and he was not a good Chicago cup I wanted to look this up during the segment especially after the onslaught of runs the last three games although you know this is plenty of room for this stat but the Cubs now when scoring four plus runs if that continues to be the magic number for them they're almost 40 over 500 now they're 56 and 17 unbelievable I saw stat it's I mean that that is dominant I saw a stat with Seattle uh yesterday I think it was five or more they're now 43 and four oh that's crazy you know this isn't the time to do this but I'm going to do it anyway okay keep an eye on the Mariners and cubs the Cubs need a controllable starter and the Mariners are going to trade one and they're going to need some offense and the Cubs have some guys like whether it's Bush Herer Casey whoever it is keep an eye on that because the Mariners you're right the the Mariners this season just they have like five really really good starters and their offense outside of the the team over on 35th and shields is just the worst offense in baseball and that's why they're not very good Julio Rodriguez supposed to be a star he hasn't been you know I could see like a maybe like a hor or a bush triantos or or a Casey something for a guy like a George Kirby or or Logan Gilbert then then you tackle that and then you go get some offensive help in free agency but that's neither here nor there mark me down on that for October 19th sounds good coming up next we're going to go into Farm Friday we're going to talk about Owen Casey who was speculated as the first call up for September well that's Sunday if that happens so we'll get a look at what he's done recently and then get an update on Jordan Wicks this episode is brought to you by prize picks I might get on prize picks right when we're done with the show because I got two starters in my fantasy playoffs going against each other Bowen Francis and cter Crawford I'm gonna take both their over strikeouts because that's what I need uh prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over five million active members prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports unlike other apps on prize pick it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in get in on the daily actions with your 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Triple A IA after a rough beginning Wick's last two starts has produced eight and twoth third scoreless Innings with only one walk and eight strikeouts I do Wonder Sam if his time next timeout will be for the Cubs one of three options I think and tell me what you think as a piggy back to Assad or as a starter in Hendrick spot or as a six starter what's say you I think I think after this Rehab start he should make the next start for Hendrick and then maybe Hendricks could just piggy back off of him okay so Hendrick first in relief for Wix yeah let Wix go four and Kyle go to and then go to the go to the pen it'll never happen it never works out the way you think it's gonna yeah well hope hopefully why not get Wicks some more Major League reps before the year ends what I'd be surprised with with this much time still left I'd like to see a pitch against the Yankees okay you know throw them out in the fire a little bit so maybe a week from Friday he pitches yeah throw throw him out there against the Yanks and see what happens I I I believe you grow that way absolutely I I love it shoot with that in mind bat PCA first or second against the Bronx bombers I like that idea too especially with the way Michael Bush has been slugging the baseball slugging yeah strong word yeah no no I'd like to see him down in the order maybe like fifth sixth or 12th and then you could oh the shade well it's just it's there's some fantasy implications with him but um it'll be interesting to see if he I hope he doesn't sit backtack days versus those lefties Saturday and Sunday you don't Patrick wisdom starts on the last two days of August dude that's going to be so frustrating well you know he's starting one of them and he's probably going to hit a long ball he may hit one like he may hit one of like the Lincoln Memorial or something I I was hoping that we would be able to do a little DC trivia because you know that's my I don't have that one of my favorite cities uh you know I I I love history and American history I really haven't been there in quite a while I should get back I think I said this last year when we played him I said I I should get back there that you know what Mark me down next year I'm gonna depending on the time I'd like to do a Cubs Nats trip in DC go see go see the linol memorial go see the capital building you know all those things tour around and then watch the Cubs lose a 3-2 game in DC come on you know what I why did you do that I I'd like to do that what's your favorite part did you go to DC when you were a kid I did I went uh went in high school oh so you didn't do like the not as a part of a school trip you just with my family yeah yeah saw the sites and uh I I enjoyed it I think I think the Smithsonian the the yeah the museums were great I think the most surreal part for me as a youth was National Cemetery was being being at alington cemetery and seeing the Eternal Flame over Kennedy's casket that's great that's pretty cool um uh and then and then Ford Theater where where President Lincoln was assassinated that right just that that was you know just there's so much history there one more note uh Owen Casey guess we're off of that then how about that for a seg yeah it's a good segue that was by Johnny Carson and McMahon scho no I just think it's I just think I I just I love I love the history of this country I know you do I know no it's great they should have something no I'm not gonna get into that oh and Casey might get called up as soon as Sunday and he is hot right now seven for his last 12 listen to this two homers two doubles and a triple on the season he's slashing 272 37463 with 15 homers and 128 strikeouts in 107 games so maybe we see him as soon as Sunday a lot of swing and Miss in that kid's bath but he's he's got some pop yeah we missed seeing the FDR Memorial when I was there because of weather uh so you know that'd be something to check off no I think you're gonna see Casey I think exactly what you said is gonna happen I think the Cubs are gonna put some guys on waivers so they would have had to do that today oh is it the last day today because 48 Hours be the last day August then maybe they part ways with wisdom well but maybe they did put them out waivers we just don't know right right and and they might they might DFA honestly Sam they might DFA wisdom um maybe maybe talkman too I don't think that'd be wise um I think they should keep him into the winter don't you think they keep talking but don't they have Luis Vasquez on the active roster right now they do so they could just bring up sent him down they could yeah they could you're right and then I think we see Jack Neely probably come up Sunday as the first pitcher call up so and don't forget they get an extra guy what do you mean like like a September call up don't they get one more guy they don't have to send somebody down yes you're right so they just come up yeah yeah so they could get they they could do Casey for Vasquez and then maybe bring up you know Elantra as well oh that's well look at you Mr Mr roster yeah look at me okay so all right well that's the show proba won't see you till after Labor Day so have a around Labor Day so have a great Labor Day weekend um well yeah we'll be back Sunday for Monday we still got to decide about Monday for Tuesday yeah have a great weekend enjoy Labor Day weekend I believe is one of the great weekends of the year you got College Football starting up baseball penet race and then right around corner you could smell NFL football and then Saturday September 7th you could hang out with Matt NY look at you Mr podcast at almost home you know where I'll probably be overeating I might have a a Coke oh well well then talk to me and not Matt thank you so much for checking out this edition of lock on Cubs you 20 tell how small I look on camera but we'll give you all things Cubs with a laugh or two along the way be sure to hit subscribe on YouTube smash the like button for the algorithm and leave a festar review on Apple Spotify and everywhere you get your podcast all right we'll be back Sunday for Monday to recap Cubs Nats and more he's Sam olber I'm Matt cozy this is lock on Cubs