Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya continue to lift Cubs, might not be enough | CHGO Cubs Podcast

oh [Music] this is the chgo Cubs podcast my name is Corey I am joined as always by Brendan and we are coming to you on sometimes I forget the date Brendan Sunday August 25th the Cubs show out a little bit in Miami Brendan but they dro the finale a big offensive Outburst for the Miami Marlins on Sunday 7-2 the finals so the Cubs do take two of three uh but with the Braves losing earlier on Sunday afternoon the Cubs not able to take advantage uh of a Braves loss so they will still sit five and a half out in that wild card spot effectively six and a half because of the tie Breakers but other than that Brendan how are you well you know I've been better we're hovering around this 500 Mark I would like them to take that next step forward uh we have a new YouTube uh theme your face is much larger my face is much larger I need to like make sure you know um in Tip Top form coming on these shows going forward over here but uh I've been I've been better I see that John yeah jersey in the frame that is the one of doing these now we have larger frames for those John Lester shots so good for us yeah I mean Brandon look uh we've talked about this I remember talking about it with Kevin Wells a couple weeks ago as well I know Cody Luke Ryan Jared have all kind of talked you know it's this season is what it is at this point I think we're all familiar with who this version of the Chicago Cubs is we discussed all of the different Nuance what sticks out though on a weekend like this Brendan is when you're scoreboard watching and the Cubs have played really good baseball I I was reading a tweet from friend of the show Michael Camy earlier that the Cubs are playing at like a 95 plus win Pace or something since the Fourth of July they played good baseball for a good bit here but they played such bad baseball for the first few months of this season that they are in a spot that is all of their own doing and we highlighted that throughout the year each of those Series where they were losing series to other teams in the NL Central or other teams in this wild card race unable to kind of take that advantage and now you're paying the price for it you're playing good baseball but but you're in a clustered mess and you're a good chunk of games behind uh an Atlanta Braves team and the Cubs frankly they you know they have nobody to blame for this hot stretch not helping them really get into and secure a playoff spot they have nobody to blame but themselves Brendan for them to maybe have a greater than 50% chance at the playoffs they probably have to go 23 and Eights in the remaining games which is and that's with the Braves what going like 500ish or something like that that's around 500ish that's assuming the Braves win 88 games okay so or 87 games rather so for the Cubs 23 and eight that seems like a massive task and one that the Braves easily can accomplish to get the 80 seven wins remember we don't own the tiebreaker that's another facet to this we're five and a half back but in reality we're six and a half back one week away from September as a result I've changed the way I think about the rest of the season for for me it's dialing in on PE Armstrong's improvements yeah surprised about Miguel Maya's improvements hoping Justin steel can finish stronger than he did last season and Sh to imanaga getting through September in stable fashion for the longest season of his career those are are the driving points for me yeah and those are things we're going to talk about in this show for sure because I don't want to spend the entire time focused on a wild card race that at this point is is pretty low probability because even the one thing we didn't mention Brendan in that sentiment it's not just the breaks you're behind the Giants you're behind the New York Mets you have teams like the Cardinals and reds that are you know kind of flip-flopping position every day uh we keep talking about it because technically the chance is still there the elimination number is zero uh but you know unfortunately it's it's a it's a tall order because as we've talked about too Brendon you still have a week coming up soon uh not this coming week but eventually where you have to play the Yankees and Aaron judge who's hitting a thousand homers a year and then you got to play the Dodgers so you know even a good week against those two teams if you went four and two May those two losses might be too much for you know when you were putting out that you know 2 whatever record like that's two losses you maybe can't afford so yeah again th this is what was frustrating about coming into this season and we talked so much about the frustration of this team being projected in that kind of low 80s win territory and the reason for that wasn't so much you don't have to care about the projection systems or believe in them as an exact science or anything but what we always talk talked about was that it reflected that's about where they project on paper and if everything goes really well you know maybe they're a high 80s win team if everything goes really poorly maybe they're a mid 70s high 70s win team the frustration is that it's playing out exactly as the computers kind of thought they're they're going to be a low 80s is if they continue this hot run maybe mid 80s type uh team and that was never good enough to surely and securely put them in a playoff spot and that was what so many of us expressed frustration over coming into the season and watching it now kind of play out that way it's exceptionally frustrating Brendan because it it just has so much of a like yep like yeah this is exactly how it was kind of laid out to go and here we are and lo and behold brenon like low to mid 80s isn't good enough it it was never good enough and it's it's not going to be good enough this year it's not and that was always the uh realistic reaching point for this team the way it was constructed and they've had success in areas we did not see coming Michael Bush is one example P crew Armstrong's Resurgence and ability to basically be your everyday center fielder was not expected the amount of wins he's been able to produce purely off defensive speed has outweighed the deficiencies offensively and now the offense is starting to Surge up and justify him being a staple for 2025 so there's been good and bad and more good is that Justice steel looks like the same guy sha looks better than we thought taone looks like someone who was reminiscent of his Yankees days and that's been really good to see but Cody Bellinger SE Suzuki too much volatility we need them to perform to their second halves last season and despite se's performance on Saturday where he had two home runs had a triple it still hasn't been good enough to really push that team forward in form where you can sweep the Marlins and sweep these poor teams so it's what we expected there's good there's bad The Bad is outweighing the good the bullpen volatility is probably in hindsight going to be the Principal reason among other secondary reasons for them not hitting their Mark too yeah I mean it's frustrating did you enjoy the one day that we had at 500 that was nice I enjoyed it for about two hours yeah and then the Braves won and then I saw that record that they need to accomplished to even get to 88 and then I went went right back into reality my delusion lasted two hours yeah I you know uh I don't know it's tough to still be fr frustrated I think by my frustration is gone like i' I've moved beyond that my my Peak frustration was probably mid June end of June where they actually went below 500 I think it was early June they went below 500 for the first time so around that White Soxs area where they were playing one run games left and right in June and all the good starting pitching performances and the offense anemia that was Peak frustration I've moved on ever since the start of August it is what it is shifted my focus for better at for yeah so I you know again I think we'll see how the rest of this season plays out um crazier things have happened uh but it is you know they they played themselves into a situation Brendan where it's tough to look at series especially on the road and say you have to sweep the Marlins but you had to sweep the Marlins that's just what you need these teams you know and again like you look back at this week and it was a nice week you won series from Bad teams you took two or three uh from Detroit at home you win this series on the road with the Marlins uh but ultimately a 4-2 week against these two teams it's not good enough you're too far behind the teams that you're chasing the race is too congested around you uh for that to be good enough so it's unfortunate uh but that is the situation that we have Brendan so I I do want to shift the focus at least a little bit uh as you said kind of looking at obviously things that affect this year and how things are going to progress uh but the future of this team the future of this franchise and I think on display lately certainly as you mentioned uh two things worth kind of digging into Miguel Amaya's Resurgence uh really a a sight to behold for somebody that looked like they literally could not buy a hit at the MLB level and has been the hottest hitter on this team and then just the PCA of it all um an electric weekend from PCA of it all I like that description an inside the park home run a regular home run that he hit to the upper deck in Miami uh I think the second fastest home to first in the statcast era only behind Byron buckton I I you can let's start with PCA I want to start with PCA I was gonna say you can pick one but let's start with PCA it's it is really exciting to see this all starting to click for him he has obviously been one of if not the Cubs top prospect for a little while here and you've seen the flashes you've heard of what the intangible skills that he has are but to see his defense his base running and now seeing him attacking just clobbering MLB pitching and really looking comfortable up there there there there's still going to be more adjustments to come there will be slumps Etc but when he first came up obviously extremely young coming into a pennant race and you know did did not look good we we all talked about that and you know it it required a lot of patience from folks because of how young he was and how difficult that assignment was um but to be here a year later and to see him showing you everything you would have dreamed on for him at the EM the the the game Power is there the speed is there the defense is there his chaos ability to sort of like change a game to see it all happening at the major league level like I don't want to like run away with expectations here but it's easy to watch this and as you think of this team going forward go like all right like what are we looking at like a four- win player a six- win player you know it your your mind starts to get going a little crazy here Bren yeah let's do a quick ad break here Cory I have a few graphs that match what we're seeing with PCA and Amaya puts things into perspective so we'll do the ad break come back around I talk about the different perspectives that we're seeing with PCA andaya and and talk about just the surprising Resurgence or rather surgeons of those two guys uh lately first ad break here is from roback roback active Weare you all know by now we wear roback all the time it's quite simple it's the best fit the best feel the quality of the gear just speaks for itself their performers polos perform better in the heat than any other polos they're moisture wicking so the polo does not stick to you and have such it has such a nice stretch they're everyday shorts are also perfect for the combo for a day on the move they look clean but use the comfort of an elastic waistband with fall right around the corner what's better than to prepare for the season than adding one of their performance hoodies to your closet it they're 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Bloon beer.com /go Blue Moon made brighter celebrate responsibly Blue Moon Brewing Company Golden Colorado good weekend for Blue Moon Brendan it's it's hot in Chicago it's humid in Chicago so good weekend to pour yourself an ice cold blue moon slice of orange there you go tough to be uh talk to me about PCA I know you said you had some graphs um I went on my you know kind of little di narrative diet tribe there but take us in into you know what he's doing the changes he's making and why he's having such success uh at the MLB level recently the first set the stage his overall run production has been incredibly impressive so over the past month essentially and more specifically within the last two weeks we can compare his overall I like how you can peek over the graph now with this new format really really funny uh but we can compare PCA overall waited on base average or expected run production to every single player on the team and his line of woba through the course of the season is colorcoded in brown on this graph what you'll see is that he's between a green line which is Ian Hap's expected weight on base average and an orange line which is Miguel Maya's expected weighted on base average both of those guys hap and Amaya are above 400 and sandwich in between his PCA at around 410 within the last three weeks really impressive that he's hanging out in the tier of someone like Ian hap and those three guys hap PCA and Amaya are the reason they're winning games recently PCA has been one of the best offensive producers from a wo perspective even not considering speed then you ask the question well how is this happening and and is it sustainable this graph is showing whiffs over over time again pca's colored in brown if you go to July you see this Brown Line peing towards 20% that has now decreased down to under 10% since the start of August and so not only is PCA hitting the ball hard but he's whiffing at rates that typically you see from guys like Nico Herer or SE Suzuki so he's been able to get Beyond those early season struggles and make more contact this is a 20 two-year-old hitter who has had an unorthodox upbringing through the league with injuries a shorten Co year right being drafted and he's getting the experience and adapting really fast the question I always had with him was can he make enough contact so he can get more base hits because he may not walk that much and he may not hit for that much power and just to tie this all together one of the comparisons due to defense is Dansby Swanson dansby's career strikeout rate is 24% PCA strikeout rate this season is 22% their power outputs dansby's career average is exactly the same as pca's current output so this that alone is showing that if PCA can continue this type of performance offensively assuming the defense is matched to Dansby well we know what that equates to value-wise almost $200 million in a contract and wars that reach above five per season what we're seeing right now is incredibly incredibly encouraging so yeah I mean look um I'm curious what you think uh if we're looking forward so you know typically we see him in those seven eight spots in the lineup do you think the rest of the year Council sticks with that and just sort of allows him to continue this offensive um adjustment and learning period and growth that he's going through at this level and then if we look towards next year obviously not looking what this team looks like where do you think if if this is his game if what we're seeing right now is how he is at the major league level he's figured it out he's giving you speed he's giving you power he's using the whole field where do you think ideally he slots in this lineup is he automatically a leadoff hitter because of his his speed or or because he can be a more Dynamic hitter than maybe a typical leadoff hitter would he would you not slot him there I'm curious what you think about how they kind of Move Along his progression as we go forward here he's 22 years old we talked for about three years now on the show how we need reliable offense at the top of the lineup PCA has performed exceptionally well and it's not to Discount that he can't do that in 2025 but there's a difference between expecting that and hoping that happens and I think to go into 2025 with PCA as like your top five hitter maybe just putting them in that lead off spot may not be the wisest thing to do that being said there's value in having speed at top the order but that value we've seen with Nico having the speed comes with 100 percentile contact rate so I don't think PC at lead off right now is necessarily going to be the logical transition for his career I think ultimately he's gonna stand around what we've seen with Dansby in certain rosters he may that fifth six seventh in a World Series championship roster he may bat ninth like Danby Swanson bat in ninth in the 2021 run that the Braves had doesn't discount his overall value it doesn't suggest that he can't even reach to be like you know a top three four hitter but there's a difference between that possibility and then Surefire confidence for 2025 yeah I think that makes sense um you know so I mean you know bring I want to talk about Miguel Amaya too um but bringing a full circle I mean this is everything you'd want to see from PE I mean it's exceeding my expectations you I I always believed in him I believe the bat would come around and I thought a lot of people weren't you a little concerned though like not from last year but just he was striking out a ton for someone who didn't hit that for that much power was that ever a concern like early on that was I wouldn't say I I was sure you know it would turn around but I a big believer in him and he succeeded at every level and I I think even earlier in the year I kind of had the attitude of like he's really young man like this is going to take some time we got to just be patient with this and and wait for him to kind of start to get comfortable I think before we can kind of uh go to the jury and kind of think if this is is working on it it was just too early um and I think you know that was the thing last year you know way too many people um there there was a big difference in noting that he looked overmatched and not he did I'm saying that that that was fair but I think a lot of people went too far in feeling like that was kind of an indictment on his Prospect status or his ability to play at the major league level when it was you know really just an extremely young guy uh in a tough spot and so I think he's he's definitely exceeding expectations with the run that he's on right now but I think however you square it he's showing you that potential at the MLB level that it plays at the MLB level that he can make those adjustments he can identify what is not working in his game what does he need to work on how does he need to get better to succeed at this level and man I mean it's his potential is an extraordinarily valuable player and if what we're seeing is an indication that he can keep this up to finish out this season and carry that into next year uh it's a I mean I don't want to be like too hyperbolic Brendon but it it really changes changes their Outlook man like if he is hitting that ceiling you know we talk about about what they need what they don't have Etc like if he is this kind of full like five tool player it changes their outlook on basically everything it would change how they attack this offseason it would change how you feel about this offense uh he's that Dynamic of a player and and we're seeing him show those steps to being able to put that together again like a hot run for a month or a little over like that doesn't mean the experiment's over and the adjustments over and it's all settled but the fact that you're able to do it at all there are plenty of top prospects that come up and they never really have runs like this they never adjust to the major league level they never show those skills that they're always promised to have they come up and they fall flat and you know sometimes you never hear from him again so to see PCA doing this is extremely exciting um and if he can continue it for this last like little over a month of this season it's yeah I think some of us are going to get pretty carried away with I mean I'll be fully honest with you I'll be fully honest with you I'm probably this is where my delusional optimism probably kicks in like there's a reality and I have that part of my brain then there's a complete delusional side of my brain what I'm I'm so impressed right now by by PCA I again I did not expect this from my perspective genuine concern about the whiffs not just this season or even the tail end of September but dating back before he even debuted we saw some of the whiff and the miners I'm like man I'm surprised he's not making more contact and then I started to spiral because the Cubs were lacking offense and their number one Prospect being PCA was a defensive first guy and I'm thinking where the hell is the offense going to come so that was a huge point of pessimism for me so when PCA is now called up and showing not just some power not the speed and the defense but actually doing it in a way that's high output contact it it eases my concerns and that makes me really encourage really encouraged going forward especially for a 22y old he's a young guy just turn 2 Bron um I I am curious you were sort of uh it sounded like you you said it in there are you are you seemingly suggesting that PCA has know where you're going power and the speed to be the best in the National League in the National League I know when I was saying that I didn't even mean to do that but I saw like your eyes kind of go like this I'm like ah he's going to hey I know that one yeah I know that one but but in all reality how often do you see a guy Sprint around the bases from home to home and inside the Barker in 14 seconds and then the very next day hit a 437 foot home run I mean never happened when he was a prospect you know we hear from so many of those wonderful Prospect writers Greg hus Brian Smith Greg Zac Etc and they always talk about you know they they they they talk about their potential and whatever but PCA is one of those guys when when you saw him of course you can see this but then you'd read the tweets and scouting reports and articles and just talking about how Dynamic and and the range of skills that this guy has the potential to show at the major league level and I think like a series like this in Miami is such a fascinating one um because you see it all on display we see his defense every day even if it's not a play that jumps out to everybody um especially being in the stands like at Wrigley Field my I'm behind home plate so like I have a perfect vantage point to how far are unreal Yeah well yeah thanks they're yeah it's a lot of they're they're very expensive so you're welcome well Tom thanks you Corey and you're partially put winning Oni if you great job you have you have personally like funded player I think over the past you know decade how do you feel about that I'll take credit for sha then there you go if I get the pick um but like sitting behind the plate uh you know just behind the catcher you get such a clear view of the ground that he covers when he's ranging from like left Center to right center and then when you watch it on TV he's casually jogging under the ball catching it like it's nothing but when you when they even on TV when they do the kind of full zoomed out picture like you get such a clear view of like whoa you know this guy is like barely trying and he's covering a third of the Outfield right now like to catch a line drive that you know really is not hanging in the air for that long it's extremely impressive then you see this weekend in Miami an inside the park home run a regular home run to the upper deck it's it's really really impressive brenon and on the inside the park home run in particular too like I love the attitude dude I so many people I the word chaos and like I know people have caugh called him like a chaos maker you know or whatever the phrase is but like on that inside the park home run like it's close you're forcing the Marlins to make a play but I love the attitude and you see it when he gets up and how I was hoping they s yeah like he just has that um you know innate Mo desire yes to want to change the game and to make that extra play and to be the guy that is kind of flipping the script whether it's on an inning or a game or whatever that might be and it did remind me a little bit like jav bayz back at Wrigley Field earlier this week and Jed Hoyer uh I know our guy Ryan Herrero was at the Ballpark and he got I think the video of it that was out on the CHD Hub social handles um they may have shown it during the one of the shows this week as well talking about how you know his favorite thing about jav was like his fearlessness and just that that belief in his own abilities and zero fear in terms of trying to make something happen and just believing in his own abilities and skills to push plays and make plays happen and there's a there's a balance with it of course and you know this was one of the things that we talked about so much Joe Madden like famously extremely good at allowing Javi to develop that and and and have that fearlessness it's a huge part of it if he's getting benched by his manager every three days for trying to steal an extra base you you're going to coach that fearlessness out of them which Joe Madden talked about never wanting to do and so like watching these games I appreciate the way that cig council is going about this they're letting them play they're putting them out there every day and you know we're not hearing things about like oh he's forcing the issue too much or you know he's got to dial this back there's clearly an an approach from Council and his staff to let PCA find his footing at the MLB level he has these skills and to allow him to kind of develop that confidence of yeah man like that was tight IT some people might be like it's a little crazy push that into a you know an inside the park home run maybe just take the triple but well will he sending everyone he'd be sending you sending everybody yeah willly it doesn't matter but yeah but I'm excited about that I'm excited the at the environment the Cubs seem to have provided to develop and and just on full display in this series in Milwaukee um so we do have to hit our second ad break here and then we'll come back I do I I think we can wrap the discussion uh on PCA but I do want to come back and talk about Miguel Amaya and we will do that after this quick ad break shop summertime savings going on now at Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and save on the perfect new vehicle for you this August score new lower prices across their huge inventory during the make this The Summer Event for a 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a career Mark you you know I'm sure there's like a formula you can put in to figure that out like from a war perspective with how he's Relentless at stealing bases with how good he is on defense like boy like that is a really really valuable player and then of course in the smaller sample he's performing even better than that so you can you can dream on a more modest you know like 780 Ops kind of guy or maybe let your mind get carried away maybe he's just a you know 850 900 OBS guy and he's gonna start winning MVPs one of these days well I kind of blame you for struggles the reason being is because we had an episode I know we had an episode in April and one of our early encouraging signs you said was Miguel Amaya Miguel Amaya looks good I'm happy they're giving him over 60% of the playing time ever since then he's been one of the worst offensive producers in the league one of the worst catchers in the leek so partially your fault just saying now that we're moving to Amaya the numbers I was reading was PCA oh well you know I'm just saying for PCA which well the problem is Corey their overall run production is exactly the same yeah I mean they're they're on fire so e it's easy to get I just wanted to read those numbers for PCA so you know to to have the it's easy to see when he's flying around the bases on the inside the park home run but then you look at the actual numbers it's like these are really good um switching to Miguel Amaya though and speaking of you know people that have been really good what a week for Miguel Amaya two homers uh 364 batting average 391 on base 682 slug um has the you know the big grand slam the other day um you know like vintage Undertaker here from miguela I mean just raising back up from the dead um I you know this was you were getting discussion of people that were completely with him I mean moved on ready to DFA they weren't unfair discussions though no I mean look the guy couldn't hit couldn't hit and for however long in this season nobody that was playing catcher for the Cubs could throw out you or me if they were trying to steal second base for whatever reason um what a turnaround for Miguel Amaya here I mean who goes from that to now you're you know and again people will you know make fun of me for even phrasing it this way but like fighting for your play playoff lives right and he's he's holding the offense above water in in in some of these games if not for Miguel Amaya this four and two week against Detroit Miami looks very different Brendan and so for a guy to come from that point to you know what was his WRC plus five at one point in this season the worst I don't yeah and then for him to now be back where he is and to have this kind of hot stretch uh a a really encouraging sign especially as you go into next year and and we've talked about this before like not really sure what that catcher situation looks like and this little stretch here especially if you can keep it going to the end of the year is you know another one in those line of like okay like now we kind of have to reevaluate things and where does this put our catcher situation as we head into the off season his numbers since the All-Star break and getting more playing time are just absolutely absurd but most absurd is that strikeout rate 12% strikeout rate in almost his last 100 plate appearances well having a ton of power and batting over 300 hitting four home runs hitting doubles he's SP one of the best hitters not just on the Cubs but scale to his playing time one of the best catchers in the league offensively over the past month and a half now ever since he removed that leg stride that has been the takeoff point for him which is funny because the contrast is PCA developed a Le so this is just how stupid baseball is PCA takes off because he stole me Miguel Amaya's Lex drive that's kind of how I look at it the talent with Miguel Maya has always been there the fascinating feature about this and his Resurgence and it was borrowed from what they were talking about in the Marquee broadcast on Saturday but I didn't even realize I always knew intuitively he didn't play much since 2019 but I didn't really understand the scale of it this is absurd since 2019 he's had under 500 plate appearances across every level that's insane over under 500 plate appearances across every level entering this season so for us to expect that he can be a significan contributor without going through some major growing pains was unrealistic and the Cubs plan to have Jan Gomes bat half the time take half the play appearances was justifiable the risk of course was that the age was going to throttle that possibility and it did and young Gomes had to be thefa you can critique that type of game plan and maybe they should have had a third catcher but regardless the talent for Miguel Amaya has always been there it's just the sheer volume to adapt and optimize and make use of that Talent has just not been there and when I say talent I mean if we look at just the raw skills how fast he swings back his bat length he over the past month has swung the bat the fastest of any Cubs batter again this is Illustrated in his orange line throughout time he's swinging the bat faster than Dansby Swanson he's swinging the bat faster than Ian ha and this is not just by a small little margin but a significant margin compared to even guys like Cody Bellinger who by the way we should we should talk about because some of the signs are kind of weird with them but all this is showing that Miguel amay is not just some like guy who's finding barrels recently he's a guy who's had talent and if he can find a way to make use of that and save himself from being non-tendered in the off season it adds value to this 2025 team is it enough to secure an everyday catching roll I'm not sure I think some of the extreme lows were still concerning and the defense the low popup time the struggles throwing batters out is an actual concern but he enters a conversation of what the Cubs can do next to shore up that catching depth and if the offense even normalizes not to you know this standard but around League average it does provide the Cubs more options going into the offseason yeah and so you guys have heard us say this before but as we've talked about the numbers with Miguel Amaya has him as our Illinois pork producers Power Player of the week he provided the power all week for the Cubs and that is presented by Illinois pork producers Savor the Flavors Savor the gains and celebrate any occasion by enjoying the best pork produced by Illinois Pig Farmers 1073 Ops for Miguel Amaya this week two homers big Grand Slam um and as you said Brendan it's it's one of those things that you mentioned the plate appearances you know since 2019 that was what was so fun about the story um you know when he was able to come up and join this club and and stay with the team and and kind of start uh his MLB career was that he had had such a tumultuous run in the minor this a top prospect who just seemed to have every like injury and roadblock kind of thrown at him uh on his trajectory and so for him to come up was really exciting and to see him kind of like oh man like maybe he's found this and you know he can get back into kind of his former status and then you know it kind of Tanked obviously uh with the numbers so yeah it it it's going to be a thing I would imagine even if he keeps this up towards the end of the year I I'm not sure you're going to have the confidence that you don't still need to address the position um if he is able to keep this up though perhaps it affects how deliberately or you know how much resource you commit to addressing the position I think if he can keep this up and kind of show you these signs on the offensive level perhaps it's something where you prioritize a strong platoon partner kind of the way you were planning on coming into the year I think that differs to me in the way that a lot of people were seemingly thinking about addressing the position which was you know two months ago we have no catchers we don't know if there's you know even a prospect there because we're not sure if uh you know mo baller can handle it at the MLB level and and do it defensively and whatever so maybe that's a huge position yeah yeah yeah I didn't realize you were calling him that I know the prospect lingo I'm shocked you called him that um but it it does it does feel like perhaps it can take them from this is a huge position of need and one that we don't have an answer for to okay maybe we have half the answer and maybe you don't need to pump all your resources into trading for or finding that big time starting catcher but go and strengthen the platoon get real support have a backup plan instead of a 37y old that you're hoping you know continues to hit and and play well and stuff but we'll see it's it's a long month and you know again if you if you sort of start to see those struggles creep back in it it does feel like a position that is very uncertain for this franchise and so it'll be interesting to see over the next month if Miguel Amaya can further clar add Clarity to that position and kind of how we all feel they need to address that going into the offseason yeah because it tough brenon like and and we'll get to the adbreak in a second like he was a a former top prospect like you said this isn't a guy who's just like locking into some good swings or coming out of nowhere like he had that that pedigree and that scouting background and and you know these are all skills that you know people knew he had and had for a long time it's just been a really tough Journey for him to get to this point and obviously sustain it through his first run at the big league level but it's not it's not unfounded that he could be a really solid MLB catcher yeah we're getting screamed after being too positive so let's finish up in the last last 15 minutes focusing on only the positive yeah well we can finish up on being more pessimistic the last 15 minutes about that we can talk about how uh a disappointing Bellinger has been recently how about we do that we we do need to uh do our last ad break here which we're going to do right here Blue Moon you know when I was watching Miguel Maya hit three base hits on Saturday I was popping three blue moons for every base H that Miguel Maya was getting I was drinking Blue Moon uh from his refreshing flavor with Valencia orange peel for a subtle sweetness and hints of coriander Blue Moon Belgian style weedel is a one-of-a-kind beer that's made brighter why strike out with the same old beer when you can get something one of a kind it's bold flavor bright explosion of color and iconic orange slic ritual guarantees a one-of-a-kind experience that's perfect for this upcoming Chicago beautiful weather don't strike out Blue Moon you're never going to strike out you're going to make as much contact like pca's making like you will with blue moon every 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Bloon beer.com chdo Blue Moon bab Brier celebrate responsibly Blue Moon Brewing Company Golden Colorado all right brenon and you know as we finish up this ad break here I do want to take a moment to just talk about everything going on at chgo obviously bear season coming up so the tailgates are going to be back the best in the city so be on the look for those uh our Bears crew does incredible work uh and they have been waiting not at chgo necessarily a long time but as fans for a long time for a season like I think the one is coming up for the Chicago Bears uh so dial in to all of the chgo Bears coverage um some incredible stuff there chdl is also on your Roku devices now so you can check us out uh if you have a Roku device or a Roku TV visit the website all the great writing that's going on especially from our guys Ryan Herrera and Jared Willis on the Cub side all chg.com check it out think about becoming a Die Hard member you can find all the information at all chg.com and continue supporting uh everything going on at chgo uh hopefully at some point Brendan you know we're looking forward to a a big Cub season um like I think they are over on the chdo bear side but uh for now we just keep getting you know low 80s projection teams that we have to come on mid 80s mid 80s get that right mid 80s Jed J Jed had a hire well like I I see it in the chat like listen all I'm GNA say is referring to this episode as a positive Cubs podcast is a hilarious spin on the conversation we've been having we are focused on only players so far that might help the Cubs next year we're not even talking about like this year and this playoff race and really anything about that so I I do find that to be a funny uh comment to receive when we're talking about where's PCA should hit in the order next year because like this year isn't really worth talking about but my my general feeling on that does go back to what we talked about in the beginning of the episode Brendon like I have been mad the entire off season that this team was projected in the low 80s let's see how negative you get let's hear it yeah like and so that that we're living it I I don't need to come on here every time you and I talk to remind about the playoff situation and how pissed I am at Jed Hoyer or this or this I I've been there you guys like so have you Ron like that this is why we were so mad about it I was thinking the other day when you were going through in the off season about how how you talked about the projections and the kind of like standard Devi and how frustrating it was that they didn't put themselves in a situation where one of those standard deviations was getting them to a surely good team that is just definitely winning the division or competing for a wild card spot with no question and we keep looking at the team the Cubs are chasing the Atlanta Braves as a really good example of that they were a high you know mid High 90s projected team everything went wrong for that team their whole team is hurt aunia Strider Austin Riley's hurt now everybody's hurt and they're they're going to go maybe one maybe even a little more standard deviation down from their projection and they're likely still going to make the playoffs yeah and that's my dream the Cubs didn't get there they're not playing to that higher percentile outcome they're playing about right to the middle and they're going to get what they deserve that's what happens when you screw around for three month months you blow 20 games you lose as many one-run games as humanly possible you give away a bunch of games you could have closed off in the eighth or ninth inning and now you're chasing all these teams and looking up in the standings and saying oh gee we had a four- two week and we didn't gain any ground on a playoff spot and look in the mirror if you want to know who to blame if because it's all their fault so I wanted to come on here Brendan and focus on the key developments I think the miguela development and the PCA development are hugely impactful to whatever happens the rest of this year but more importantly just going forward these are young players that could be a part of this fold for years to come um and there will be a time where we look back and kind of freak out about Jed and how the team was built and what's going to go on this off season Etc um but I think those developments were so encouraging that that's what I you know we wanted focus on that's why I focus on it because this team requires it that's the discomfort I have with some of the overall direction I was talking to Cody about this on one of the main CIO weekly uh weekday shows like a year and a half ago and Cody may not remember this but I was on the show and I basically implied hey I'm uncomfortable with what the front office is doing right now I don't see clear-cut Bonafide you know offensive producers to the tier of Rizzo and Chris Bryant and those guys back in the day and I'm genuinely concern concerned about the major league talent I think this is gonna be pretty pretty un unnerving going forward and Cody's sitting there laughing in his chair he like oh I think it will be okay I'm like oh man am I being too pessimistic over here so this has always been a concern for me because I require I'm I'm one of those fans that does not like the drama you may like some of the drama Corey being a wrestling guy I want to sit through yeah I think I think that's true I want to sit through a 15 nothing game and and be bored and get my phone out like that's to that's to me happiness okay where I'm bored watching the Cubs I'm falling asleep on the couch that's my happy Zone when the Cubs are not projected to be a 97 win team it's not good enough for me and that's unrealistic expectations I totally acknowledge that every fan wants to be a 97 plus win team on paper I don't set that 97 win team arbitrarily or that number arbitrarily that 97 win marker is important for me because most teams fall between a 14 win error in their projection which means 10 of 30 teams are going to miss their Mark by 14 wins so the way I do that math in my head is okay well if you're 97 wins on paper if you miss your mark by 14 wins well you're on 83 84 wins you're in that wild card conversation which means you're probably still going to make the playoffs which means that's the Braves current situation so as I always talk about this teams under the context of being delusionally stupid that I want to go into the year as a 97 win team on paper paper or if not if it's 90 92 you do risk it a little bit but still okay at least maybe the next year or the subsequent year your 97 wins on paper is achievable if it's not in that range it's not good enough for me I always want to put that clearly stated that it has to be 97 plus to even get close to not being at the will of baseball being stupid yeah so I don't know it uh is what it is um it is what it is it is what it is I would love to get back to 2016 when you and I were doing these shows and they had that spell right before the allar break where they didn't win many games and you were like H you know it's whatever we're so going to be okay and guess what H or three wins and it still was okay Cory 2016 turn out okay yeah so I don't know there there's been a lot of good in this season um and it's also played out you know in a a fairly predictable way that is likely going to leave them without a playoff spot again um you know you think of of some of the stuff that has just been exceptional though as we you know get towards the end of this show um Justin steel again you know just sort of cementing himself now you know fairly consistently I was looking at a a tweet the other day from friend of the show Matt clap on Twitter 2022 Justin steel 3.18 ER 3.2 fit 24.6% K rate the following year 3.06 ER 3.02 fit 24.6% K rate 2024 so far 3.07 ra 3.17 fit 24.8% K rate just remarkably consistent I mean those numbers are that's Ben zobis level consistency remind me Ben zis again was the significance of Ben zist benis the Tampa Bay Ray is that who you're asking about uh I thought he played for a different team oh the Royals the Royals you won a World Series with the Royals yeah um I think it was the cups actually yeah he was the World Series MVP in 2016 for the cops cops got it okay yeah I I I saw our guy Cody dendo the other night um for dinner and I got I did the I like doing the bit live in person he referenced the World Series I was like oh what game was that Cody does he play along yes of course um but just a remarkable level of consistency and you know it's unfortunate that it feels like kind of wasting it Brendan like you finally got gotten your homegrown your system developed guy that has come up and and taken charge of your rotation and you know for the last few years quite literally one of the best pitchers in baseball um and it doesn't feel like you're you know putting the best team around him I would really love to see Justin steel pitching in big games at Wrigley Field and meaningful games in September uh and playoff games in October I you know I know the the CH 120 Club is always out there in the left field bleach like imagine the energy of Justin steel walking out to the bullpen in the left field bleachers crisp October afternoon playoff game like he's ready to I turnning colors in the back we need it man like that's what we need and so it it it's it's one of those things I look at those numbers and I'm like man I mean that's awesome like that's awesome that he has developed into this player and when you see a pitcher put up those consistent level of numbers three years in a row like if you weren't a believer before I'm not sure what he can do to make you a Believer he's going out there and and doing the same thing every year and that same thing is really really good um but at the same time I look at him guy go man like it's been three years already you know that we've been seeing him do this and you know just no meaningful baseball really for Justin seal and that's disappointing um SE Suzuki I've always been a Believer and SE Suzuki and in that bat um you know and and again a thing I was looking at from uh our guy Matt clap like talking the other day like last seven months basically of baseball for SE Suzuki he's had one really bad one but those other six have been exceptional at the plate um and you know is he that star that transforms a lineup and takes them to that next level I don't think so you know you can't have those periods of great inconsistency and slumps in order to do that but when he's on man he's he's on Brendan and that is a real bone of side MLB hitter and I think so far into this signing I think it's pretty easy to look at that one and go it's it's a it's a very successful signing um his stuff in the field leaves some to be desired but again whether it's minor Leaguers guys that come over from Japan guys that come over from Korea or different leagues so many of them fizzle out or they're inconsistent they're unplayable they're platoon guys say as a Bonafide hitter man I mean he's a middle- of the order hitter in this league and he's proven that and this hot stretch that he's on right now is one where you know again you kind of dream and kind of Hope okay maybe there's even another level there if he can keep that level of consistency the whole year but even if he can't it he's still an incredibly valuable player so a lot of good going on in this year um unfortunately it's all you know happening on what's likely to be a 84 is Win team and that isn't going to be good enough well listen we gotta get out of here uh shout out to die hards if you want to be Chicago cgo Die Hard you can what you get is 20% off vents you get 20% off merch you get access to our wonderful written content by our guys Ryan Herrera Jared Willis they're at the ballparks every day it's great you have Discord discourse uh that we have all of our Die Hard fans uh talk about the leadest happenings on this team so I definitely encourage that we got the Pirates coming up the Nationals coming up so it will be an exciting week maybe if they just win every single game that's all I'm asking for win every single game yeah I mean so as we get out of here um you know just a quick look at the standings there's still some games coming I think the Mets are playing right now Mets one of the teams in front of the Cubs uh but Braves lose Cubs lose uh the Cardinals sit a half game ahead of the Cubs Giants a game ahead of the Cubs Mets three and a half games ahead of the Cubs uh and then the Braves at five and a half San Diego an extra two and a half in the second wild card spot Arizona four and a half so not great you it's not great um yeah not great um R Cody up I don't know why um he didn't even do anything today I gotta I'm just you know I'm feeling a little frisky right now I just want you know I'm I'm not I'm not happy he's minding his own business I don't know enjoy Sunday I don't know if he got his weekend steingolds delicious deli here in Lake View um so he might be in an extra bad mood if he didn't but um that's the lay of the land folks it's it's it's not good um so as you said Brandon you know the Cubs still their schedule pretty soft we'll see what happens we'll follow along um at this point you know the the the playoff spot the odds are shrinking the chances are thin but you know we'll follow along until they're mathematically out of it um and then you know the the fun part Brendan is as we look ahead uh after this week as you said they have uh Road series with the Pirates and the Nationals then the Pirates are here and you know just to make this season even where I I had totally forgotten about this Brendon I had put it out of my mind and then every now and again there's this like creeping thing that's sneaks into my brain and I just remember out of nowhere like at two in the morning I'll be sitting there thinking oh yeah Anthony Rizzo is coming back to Wrigley Field wearing a different uniform in two weeks you weren't miserable enough because be miserable with me it's like two weeks from now why you talking about it now you know next week I have to mentally prepare Bron my God killing me I'm trying to go off on and have a good rest of my Sunday over here you have to put that thought in my mind well forget about that yeah um all right y'all I think that's all we have for you um again some exciting developments uh on a personal player level for this team uh a good week for the Cubs but unfortunately at this point with how they struggled at the beginning of the year and how clustered this NL Wild Card race is 4- two uh probably not going to cut it they didn't pick up any ground they're still behind a few teams and five and a half behind the Atlanta Braves so as we get ready to turn the corner to September uh the odds are looking the situation is Bleak uh but Brendan and myself Cody Luke Ryan Jared we will have your coverage uh postgame shows throughout the week written content over at allo.com and we'll we'll see what uh the schedule in these games have for us and we'll try to put it all in context for for you guys so we appreciate your support Brendan and I will talk to you next Sunday and as always go [Music] [Applause] Cubs May