Anthony Rizzo Returns To Wrigley To Face The Chicago Cubs

two superstars and one Cub alltime great visit Wrigley this weekend let's talk about it 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 I'm Sam olber a lifelong fan taking my passion into a discussion with you forgot that yesterday on all things Cubs thank you for being part of the show and making lockdown Cubs your first listen today and 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 has brought to you by priz picks go to prize.com lockon MLB and use code all lowercase lockon MLB to win $50 instantly when you play $5 what a weekend what a sports weekend in the city beautiful what a sports weekend in Chicago the New York Yankees come to town we're going to preview that uh Series in the second segment we're also going to talk a little bit uh about some minor league developments in the last segment and kind of little standings update and of course you know the Chicago Bears play on Sunday so that'll be pretty cool just a lot of of Buzz around this city and if you want to come catch us on on Saturday Saturday pregame hangout Matt cozy Sam olber locked on Cub Saturday September 7th 11:00 am to 1 pm at almost home Tavern and Grill catch us just come say hello at anytime we'll be there could talk a little cubs talk a little bears talk a little life have a good time with Matt and myself uh you know we just wanted to do something to to see some listeners and talk and you know see if we can't get this thing turned around uh but I wanted to start Today's show off talking about Anthony Rizzo and his return to Wrigley Field because I was disappointed in myself a few weeks ago when Havier bayz returned to Wrigley Field I I didn't realize that that was his his first time back and I I didn't feel like I did his return Justice and you know it it just it kind of sat with me the wrong way and of of course Anthony Rizzo is is probably of all the guys to make their return not to make it a ranking but you know probably the one that hits closest to home for Cub fans for a lot of reasons mainly because he was the first one you know technically Starin Castro was but he was traded after the 2015 season so the first one of of the World Series winning core to get to Wrigley Field in 2012 um I remember it very well because I was there uh it was a late June uh 2012 debut uh my dad and I typically didn't do this we usually got tickets way far in advance but when we found out he was debuting we just decided to go to the game it was against the Mets I believe Cubs won that game I think it was 5-3 Final something like that and um you know I remember before the game I was you know I was nudging my dad I was like hey what are they playing I don't usually hear this and he was like yeah it's some sort of I I don't remember the song but it was like the start of something new start of something big um kind of instrumental they were playing around the stadium because Rizzo was debuting he didn't disappoint in his debut and I just wanted to to to give him his due and his credit because you know he he's an all-time Cub grade and for me when I think about the core guys of of Rizzo schwarber uh uh bayz Bryant ceras whoever else you want to throw in there sois Russell Lester arietta Hendricks whatever um you know he's kind of the Lynch pin um and the glue and there's there's two words that I think really describe Anthony Rizzo's time here the best way and the first one is consistency on the field um his consistency was it's something we talk about all the time with this year's team and what they don't have uh in the Golden Age of Cubs baseball from 15 to 19 these were Anthony Rizzo's numbers I I pulled a little new school Ops and then average homers and RBIs so 2015 278 31101 with an 899 Ops 2016 fourth an MVP voting 292 32 109 928 Ops 2017 273 32 109 exact same power numbers 899 Ops 2018 28325 101 846 Ops and then 2019 293 2793 924 Ops just remarkable consistency year after year after year I mean he had great years before that when he was coming up um but but just just such a consistent player on the field for the Cubs a a and was a stabilizer uh a phenomenal defensive first baseman probably I would go as far as to say maybe the best I've seen in my era defensively but what makes Anthony Rizzo special isn't anything on the field uh it's none of those things and that leads me to my second word uh to describe him uh or that describes him that's leadership Anthony Rizzo was a leader and it's another thing that I think this 2024 Cubs team could use um that's missing you know I know there's well maybe haps the leader maybe it's Swanson I don't know who it is but there was no question when Anthony Rizzo was on the field for the Cubs between I would say 14 and 21 who the captain who the leader was in that Clubhouse I know David Ross and John Lester also played that role but but it was Anthony Rizzo's team and I I thought Anthony Rizzo my favorite part of the core um was that they they had this great personality where they understood the stakes of winning a world championship here but they didn't let it affect their play they didn't let it bother them they they had this great combination of being able to stay loose but also understand how important it is to win one here and what that would do for this city and this fan base and and people and families and I thought Anthony Rizzo was kind of the poster boy of that thought Joe Madden was great with that uh but Anthony Rizzo was so great at doing that and so great at just kind of understanding the moment and you know knowing when to keep loose knowing when to to light a fire and that brings me to to my favorite Rizzo memory and it's probably not one of yours because there's so many on the field that he had right there's walkoff home runs huge playoff hits um you know I remember a couple of walk-off homers one against the Cardinals in 2012 one against the Dbacks in 18 he had that big hit in 17 heck he he caught the final out of the World Series that could be uh a pretty good memory but pretty good but for me and you guys know me by now you know I like to think a little bit different ly and I don't I'm not as into all the different statistics as everyone else is my favorite Anthony Rizzo memory was I believe it was mid July 2014 and the Cubs were in Cincinnati and a oldis Chapman ironically enough was on the mound and he was throwing about 102 103 and he kept throwing up and in unintentionally uh at some guys heads I think it was like Nate sheer Holtz or John Bakers a couple guys it was at least two or three up and in balls at 102 and as you just saw with Whit marfield the other day when you get hit in the head with 97 98 in this case 102 you don't really care if it was an accident or not right because your your career flashes before you your eyes it's dangerous and so you get angry and so the Cubs bench started to get angry at Chapman after the second one after the third one and I remember I remember this so vividly JD said something like hey Chapman has to wear that we know it's not intentional but it doesn't matter you can't be throwing up and in like that with that type of velocity it's just it's just you have to be able to control it he needs to let the Cubs get out what they're getting out and Chapman didn't he was laughing at the Cubs he was kind of belittling the Cubs a little bit I remember if I remember correctly he struck out Shear Holtz and then he kind of shrugged his glove towards the Cubs Dugout like oh come on forget it already you know and uh Anthony Rizzo between Innings came out to first base and he he took on the the Reds dugouts first base side he took on the entire Reds Dugout the entire Red's Dugout it was I think it might have been Alfredo Simone and then it was Chapman and and he just kind of lost it and I thought uh you know it it it it turned into not a brawl but a benches clearing thing and I just thought it was it was such a a turning point you know I think everyone looks at the beginning of the golden age of the Cubs when they signed uh Joe Madden and signed John Lester and I think that's accurate but I think if you really want to go all the way back that moment felt like a turning point where yeah the Cubs weren't there quite yet but they were coming and we're not going to be we're not going to take anything like that and I thought that was his first real moment of just exceptional leadership and I just thought it summarized him uh in such a in such a perfect way and the leader that he turned into so that's my favorite Anthony Rizzo moment I am I am really hoping that he uh uh you know has has a great weekend in terms of the Ovation and things like that because he deserves it him BAS orber Bryant you know all guys that you know deserve Ovations every time they can't they come here um for what they were able to do but there will be baseball this weekend and we're going to talk about that baseball coming up next this episode is brought to you by iata iata is a free app that gives you the most cash back every time you shop on hundreds of items from groceries to Beauty Supplies to toys so you can make sure you're beating in inflation no matter what you're purchasing other apps give you points that don't amount to much with ibata just add your offers in the app upload your receipt and you can get real cash that you can cash out to your bank account PayPal or gift cards join the over 50 million Savers and earn cash back every time you shop from over 2,000 Brands and retailers including Lowe's Macy's Sephora Best Buy and more right now ibata is offering our listeners $5 Just For Trying ibata by using Code locked on MLB when you register just go to the Apple or Google Play Store and download the free iBot app to start earning cash back by using Code lockon MLB that's i o TTA and use code locked on MLB the Cubs play the Yankees at20 Central Friday and you could hear every pitch of the Cubs Hometown podcast on SiriusXM by searching Cubs on the sxm app we are back here on locked on Cubs and we have a series to talk about this weekend all the uh emotional stuff with Rizzo very fair very real but there's a series to be played and it matters for both teams uh it matters a little bit different um a little bit less for the Cubs than it does for the Yankees but it's still An important series and uh we're going to preview it right now uh and the first thing we're going to talk about are the pitching matchups and uh on Friday it'll be Lucas Gil I believe that's how you pronounce prounce his name vers Wix Clark Schmidt on Saturday vers Javier Assad Garett Cole vers Jameson tyone on Sunday um pretty standard pitching matchups Gil got off to a great start had a hugely impressive may I think in May his ER was was under one since then he's come back down to earth a little bit um Clark Schmidt's been good recently Garett Cole's had an up and down year uh with injuries um but the Yankees are kind of a fascinating case study for a couple of reasons uh number one is that they are basically the exact opposite of the Cubs in terms of how they're built right the Cubs are built on this this idea of high floor we don't have a superstar but it's going to be different guys right different guys each day are going to contribute the Yankees are built around two and everyone else follows in line and I think the biggest complaint this year for Cub fans would be we don't have that true Superstar and I think that biggest complaint for the Yankees would be we don't have a good enough Supporting Cast and they're they're they're kind of mere you know opposites of each other if you will uh that's doesn't make sense but you know what I mean um they're they're they're very different now the Yankees have players that have the ability to be great Supporting Cast members we just talked about one in the first segment Anthony Rizzo but he's been hurting off all year uh John Carlos Stanton you know when he goes I think the Yankees are World Series contenders I think he's the key to their lineup but you know he's been up and down all year Torres has been up and down vp's been up and down lameu has been bad so they don't they're missing the Ian haps the Suzukis the Michael bushes the Bellinger um I I think I still think if Cody Bellinger didn't get hurt maybe the Yanks would have traded for him and of course we know what the Cubs are missing and that's the alphas and in my opinion there are four guys maybe five that are at the table when you're talking about the best players in the world those are Sho Otani Aaron judge Bobby Whit Jr Juan stto and if you want to throw yord on Alvarez in there at least offensively I'm here to hear about it and the Yankees have two of those guys uh just all World talents uh I I don't think we have to get into too much about him if you control those guys you win it's a lot easier than it s pounds uh the thing that worries me so so the good news going into this weekend I'm going to I'm going to fact check myself just to make sure it hasn't changed but I think it's going to be pretty pitcher friendly this weekend yeah looks like highs of 6764 and 75 uh- which probably means the wind's going to be blowing in from the lake w- which benefits the Cubs this weekend because you don't want you don't want to play those guys with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field thing that concerns me a little bit is it's been a little while since Aaron judge's last home run I think the Yankees have lost four of their last six in fact since June they're under 500 I believe they're game under 500 since June 1 so it's not a a a giant task for the Cubs to win this series but I don't like that somebody like Aaron judge who was just at a 61 Homer Pace a week ago hasn't homered in a while hopefully he could just stay quiet for three more games because you know uh the flurry is coming but listen I'm excited for this series why wouldn't I be uh you have so much going we talked about Rizzo it's it's fun to watch guys like Aaron judge and Juan stto um it's fun it's fun to compete against them and it's the Yankees It's the gold standard of of Major League Baseball it's the Cubs and Yankees I said it yesterday you know when I'm talking about the gold standard or or you know the when you combine everything so winning but but history tradition fan base Legacy ballpark money all those things I think your Mount Rushmore baseball teams in the new New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs I I I think there you know maybe the Cardinals have a shout U maybe but but I I I think those are the teams and and you get two of them to match up this weekend and then we get to go we get to go play uh at Chas Ravine this week uh against the Dodgers and you know as far as the Cubs go with this I think that there's some interest here because these games aren't meaningless for the Cubs we'll talk about that in a second they aren't meaningless so you know it's yes the Cubs are technically going to be playing spoiler but if they were to really get hot they would still be alive and and you you want to test yourself against these teams right the Dodgers have been the standard the Yankees are in a penet race because I don't think the Cubs are super super far off from being a great baseball team but you know right now I would consider them an above average team and we're going to get a chance up close to look at a couple really really good teams and and see how we compete against them and and see if we could rise to the occasion because you know these are really important games for the Yankees and and important games for the Dodgers too I'm really excited about it it's going to be a great Sports weekend uh Friday 120 Saturday 120 Sunday 120 um you know you'll probably have to dual screen it on Sunday with the Bear game but that's always fun to do and um you know I I I think the Cubs have a good chance this weekend I really do coming up next we're going to talk about we're going to take a little visit around the league and talk about one Cubs prospect that is making unbelievable noise this episode is brought to you by prize picks 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 picks it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six player sta projections and watch the winnings roll in get in on the daily action with your friends and become part of the prize picks Community today you can now win up to a hundred times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks you can turn 10 bucks into a thousand sign up today and get $50 instantly when you play for $ five do you don't need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed the experience of playing with prize picks is so simple and fun coming up starting this Sunday one Caleb Williams passing yard gets you one win on prize picks every week in September that's right only one yard gets you an automatic win every football weekend in September four weeks of free W's don't miss this deal on priz picks because it's gone When September Ends download the prize picks app today and use code lockdown MLB for a first deposit match up to 100 bucks that's code lockdown MLB on prize picks for a deposit match up to $100 prize picks run your game we're back here on locked on Cubs and I want to talk about two things to close the show today the first one is around the farm one guy that guy's name is Cam Smith he recently got promoted to South Bend and since then he is hitting 414 526 621 for a 1.47 Ops a 218 WRC plus whatever computer metric you want to use he's crushing the ball and I know a lot of you are going to say well Sam who cares he he's so so far away from the league and what does it matter I'll tell you why it matters assets assets Bill Simmons on the ringer I don't know if you guys ever check check out the ringer they do a great thing every year they just did it for football they do it for NBA they do trade value rankings you know the top the top guys that have the most trade value which is very different from the best players because contract is a part of it so when you look at for example the Cubs Ian hap and SE Suzuki are probably the two of the best guys on the team but they wouldn't be in the top five six seven in terms of trade value or asset rankings because they both get paid a pretty good amount of money they wouldn't bring you stuff back but PCA because he's on a you know still his his you know minor league you know whatever arbitration stuff he's probably the number one most valuable asset that you have meaning if you call another team and you tell them hey PCA is on the table he's going to get you the most back out of anybody in the organization it's like it's like owning a house once you own a house you know how much value does that house have on the open market well this is just you know player value how many players can PCA get you back how many players Matt Shaw would probably be second on that list Kade probably drop down a little bit steel assuming that that the elbow's good to go long term which I believe it will be he's on that list because he's not getting paid a ton of money um you know you can go imaga is probably on there let me tell you something already just because of what he has done as a as a first round draft pick and exploding out of the professional scene cam Smith has now joined that party if you call a team in this offseason and you have a conversation about cam Smith they are going to be listening and then some because this guy is showing a ridiculous amount of upside and it's the second straight year the Cubs have had a first rounder last year Shaw this year Smith that is just exploding and looking like maybe the offensive Ste the draft early on so that's not a small thing that's going on monitor it it's another positive of long list of positives that Jed has been able to do with the farm system obviously the negatives are it hasn't resulted in a playoff team yet that's a huge problem but this cam smith thing is exciting uh it's worth looking at it's worth monitoring and already you know because potential and cost is so important in this league he has already uh drove himself into a conversation as one of the Cub's most valuable assets that they have in the organization so great job by Jed great job by by by this young man who who's just on fire um just want to take you guys briefly around the league uh as it relates to us before we get to the weekend Braves are looking for the sweep tonight I'm recording this before the game on Thursday Braves are looking for the sweep against the Rockies Mets have won seven in a row already swept the Red Sox it's probably why you've noticed the tone change uh in the playoffs from Sunday it's it's that delicate right you know the Cubs probably needed to win two out of three against Pittsburgh they didn't and then you also didn't want to have both the teams you were chasing sweep because the Cubs now got to play the Yanks and the Dodgers and you know you guys know the drill by now but those teams are red hot and you know all I could say is I've been looking at the camera my hat looks really weird I didn't know that nobody told me thanks um all I could say is is that the national league is a lot better than people thought it was going to be and it looked bad in May June but these teams San Diego Arizona the Dodgers Philly Atlanta Milwaukee and then you want to throw the Mets in there as a seventh there's seven teams that are going to be trying really hard to win 90 games that have a chance that's that's that's pretty crazy so you know I think it's good though ultimately for the Cubs and Jed because Jed won't be able to get away with saying hey you know what I think this is an 85 86 win roster but if we if everything goes right maybe we turn it into 90 win team no he's going to have to build a team on paper going into the year that looks like a 90 win roster next year and you know there's going to be some tough decisions there isak pereus is going to be one of them you know is he guaranteed a spot with the way he's performed so far this year that's a great question you know what are they gonna do with horer what are they gonna do with bush um you know these are things they're gonna have to answer because you know last year I said in the offseason I told Matt I said they need to build a roster we're opening day they're the clear Cut N L Central favorites they did not do that they were co-favorites with the Cardinals now I think the lesson seeing what Milwaukee's done San Diego's done Arizona's done now you need to build a roster in 2025 that looks like a slam dunk 90 plus win team before the season starts and then if you underperform a little bit okay maybe you win 86 87 maybe that's good enough if you overperform maybe you win 93 94 but it needs to be better because the national league isn't going anywhere these are really good teams um let's see what happens this weekend Cubs Yankees enjoy it enjoy the Bears enjoy enjoy uh all the sports this weekend enjoy the W Rizo return um it's going to be a a very fun weekend in Chicago thank you so much for checking out this edition of locked on Cubs you give us 20 to 30 minutes 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 I'm Sam olber and this is locked on cuups