Inside Chicago Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong’s MINDSET Before Opening Day! | CHGO Cubs Podcast

0:00Hey Chicago. What do you say? It's the CHTO Cubs podcast and we are closing in. What is it? Eight days until we hit the desert five shows. We're getting close our spring training trip. We're going to tell you all about it in a second. We've got a diehard deal going on. We're going to tell you about it too well. That's all right. They can stay on the vibes are high. And we're also going to dig into this injury bug story that hit the Cubs today. But first that trip because we are getting excited. I got to find my shady ways because this trip is presented by our friends at Shady. This deal is so bright. Oh, five shows away. Whoo. Show it to me. March 58. That's a Thursday. We're heading out to the desert for our CHTO road trip spring training presented by our friends at Shady Rays. It's polarized so I can still see my computer screen beautifully.

1:03And we are going to need these polarized shades because the desert sky is bright. And we will be there for three cactus league games for the Cubs. Maybe one cactus league game for the socks. Sean Anderson on Friday, I think. We've got a golf outing set up at Dobson Ranch golf course in Scottsdale where we will golf with the diehards and also golf with some of the other all-city networks and golf with integrity too as well as we say. Always with integrity. I take as many Mulligans as I want. That's okay. And we will dine. We will dine out there in the desert. I'm ready for it. All of its allocards. So if you want to just go to two cactus league games, do it. And then you want to come to what is it? Poor decisions. We want to poor decisions. Great name for a bar on Friday, Friday night, meet and greet. Maybe do a little Q&A. We're going to talk some Cubs, answer your questions. Maybe you talking on the microphone? Who knows? It's good, weird. Oh, it's Emmy. Yeah, look, people come up and talk on the microphone. We're going to have a

2:06lot of fun. You can join us there. And there's going to be some deals and I heard there might be some giveaways there. A lot of fun. By the way, speaking of deals right now, the diehard deal is still going on. It is the NFL CHGO Bears podcast combine deal, $36 for that first year, the diehard membership. It comes with a free t shirt, whatever shirt you want. Look, check out the new ice man one we got. Oh, I own that. They're getting excited about that. Who under the bear is going to draft? You can always check out the bear's podcast for that. But again, the diehard deal comes with the shirt. It also comes with all the discounts, which is important for the trip. And it also comes with the diehard card, instant credibility, whether you're in the airport or at poor decisions, level up at the ballpark, level up your game. Okay. So there it is. We'll talk about the trip again, but we are getting excited. Even though it's freezing here, I saw it's going to be like 90 and sunny the next couple days in Arizona. Don't tease me. Let's just go.

3:07This is going right now. I'm ready for it. Yeah, we serve it. Uh, better father, better husband, better man, go to game day men's health, visit game day CHGO.com to find your locations closest to you. It's time for our game day men's health difference maker. Okay. And what is the difference maker right now from game day men's health? Literally health. Yes, health is the difference maker. And that's we've said the number one goal of any spring training for any team, including your Chicago Cubs, stay healthy. Yeah, what's the phrase from the parlance of our times reality bites? Yes. This is a little bit of it, right? And it's not the worst. No, and as we've been applauding and harping on in the off season, I do believe Jad Hoyer's done a great job of insulating for these types of situations. Yeah. So I know we're going to get into let's just start maybe with Jordan Wicks first, right? Because he might be the one that hopefully is a guy that will be able to return in spring training and a guy that I think some

4:09people were hoping could be a contributor this year. The good news is obviously Jordan Wicks isn't pegged to be a fifth starter or even a sixth starter, seventh starter, not even really a bullpen guy right now, but definitely a depth piece and a guy that was working on his curveball all off season, hoping to get the velocity back up a little bit has been shut down per credit council with right left forearm inflammation. No UCL damage. And as Craig council says, hopefully it's days and not weeks Luke. So that's the first one to go. Well, we've talked we've talked about it all off season about the depth of the starting rotation and how it became the biggest problem the Cubs had at the end of the season and in the post season. So here's a guy Jordan Wicks that they were hesitant to go to and didn't want to go to at the end of the season. When there were opportunities last year for starts, they didn't go to Jordan Wicks. And he was a little upset about it. He, by the way, he talked to Megan Montemurro of the Tribune and she was saying he was saying that like some of the quotes were, hey, the organization and I

5:11don't always see eye to eye and sometimes that's tough to handle and he was talking specifically about spring training last year where he thought he was a starter and all the sudden they were talking bullpen and he wasn't never been in the bullpen and he wasn't ready for that. He called in a miscommunication, says they're on a better standing right now. He feels better about it and he's willing to help the team in whatever form or fashion they need him. Yeah. I don't know if that's going to be in the bullpen. I don't know if that's going to be as a starter, but I'm not saying he's a front line starter, but he's a nice guy to have in your pocket just like adding Colin Ray was nice. Jordan Wicks is a nice guy to have available to come make a start if you need him to make a start. He wouldn't be a bad guy to have come pitch four innings every once in a while either. So this is not a massive injury. The only hesitation I have on it is he's had a lot of injuries. He's had a lot of injuries. Yeah. And that's been one of his biggest problems, a former first round

6:13pick. Yeah. And while we're talking pitching around to lay or around to let however you want to say it, thanks for coming in the chat, man. Good to see you. We don't see you very often. So if it's your first time, thanks for coming in and hope you stick around all season 13 pictures, make it your thoughts on who I like for starter six men rotation could work. Yeah, drop in the comments. Who do you like? Because as it stands right now, Luke, I mean, Jordan Wicks is going to be behind in terms of trying to make the opening day. And when he talks about that miscommunication, I can't help but also go back to some of the comments that Matt Shaw made when they first started talking to him about switching to the outfield of him of the communication of just let me know what I'm doing and where I stand. And here's what I will say. The Cubs can communicate all that they want to the player in their internal constitution believes one way or the other. Hey, I'm a starter. Sure. I'm a I'm an all star. I'm a, you know, all thing. So the Cubs could tell you that you're a bullpen guy. And I think with Jordan Wicks is maybe he's in a better place this year because he's been able to mature in the mentality of I need to be able to adapt. And I need to say to myself,

7:17I need to prepare to be a starter. I need to prepare to be a bullpen guy. I need to prepare to help the Chicago Cubs at the major league level get outs this season. So hopefully he can come back healthy. But if it does feel like sometimes young players, you know, the Cubs aren't just going to tell you right off the jump. We see this one particular role for you. You have to go out there and perform and earn it just like we talk about with Ben Brown. So it is interesting that maybe his mentality has changed a little bit. And I root for Jordan Wicks. But again, when we try and start penciling in guys in this bullpen mix, this is a setback that isn't good for Jordan Wicks in that case. It's like a batter that doesn't get any played appearances for four weeks. And then they bring him up when he's needed to in a key position. You're like, well, that's a tough spot. Yes. It is a tough spot. But you're a professional and you're getting paid to do it. And I think he realizes that it's what makes what Javier Assad has been able to do for the Cubs impressive. And it's what makes what Colin Ray did last year impressive really impressive. Yeah. So there have

8:20been guys that have approached that role very successfully. I think you have two in Assad and Ray for sure. I think that Wicks could be one of those guys that's in a similar role. If things are opportunities are there, he might start an Iowa. He still has options left. He's under control for a long time. And so I hope the injury is not something that's going to completely stall his spring training and ramping up his throwing right now. He's the throwing has stopped and they're going to wait and see. But the MRI stuff was good. Now the other big difference maker is on the other side. And that's Tyler Austin who is now out for months plural months and had a surgical procedure on his knee. This is a guy you were pretty high on going into the cactus league play and just arriving at spring training. I found him to be an intriguing player, right? And I thought this was

9:22sometimes especially as fans when we talk about free agents and what the Cubs aren't going to do trade targets all this stuff. We all know the names. And we canvass the major leagues. And sometimes and and honestly we saw this with a couple of years ago with what the white socks do with Eric Fettie identified a former league major league player who had success in the KBO or the MPO. They brought him back over and then he had success back at the major league level. So I was just intrigued by had the Cubs stumbled upon something. Yeah. And got a great deal. He didn't cost a lot of money to bring him back over. He's had a lot of success slugging overseas and can he come over and be twice the production of what Justin Turner did on the field. Justin Turner off the field, you know, the platitudes continue with the guys that are currently on the team. But hopefully Tyler Austin could have came in and played a little first base, played a little outfield, maybe pinch hit in the seventh inning, hit a bomb went deep. Unfortunately, you know, with this surgery with this

10:24knee procedure, another guy that I get it months, we'll see. I hope he can come back and be healthy. But the fact that it's happening now, Luke, unfortunately, you really start to question can Tyler Austin even help the Cubs this year? And I don't think that they should bank on that. If he comes back healthy and he can perform, that's found money at this point. But yeah, disappointing for a guy that I thought was a sneaky underrated signing by the Cubs, but I don't know if that's going to come to fruition for them. I've seen people on Twitter kind of going back and forth. Is this why they signed Conforto? Well, one's a lefty, one's a righty. I don't, I don't think so, but it would, it would, it certainly opens up a spot on the roster. Yes, there's no question about that. He was clearly the guy that was going to be your main backup at first base for Michael Bush, period, end of story. That was it. He was replacing Justin Turner, basically. And now that spot is open. And will somebody take advantage of that opportunity?

11:32Or will they still continue to poke around and see if somebody falls off another roster becomes available? I wouldn't put that past the Cubs either. Like I think they're still looking out there. Could it be a minor league or gets traded for a guy that doesn't have options on another team? Those type of things can still continue to happen. Now today's cactus league game, BJ Murray is playing first base. Right. Now that's a guy at the minor leagues we've heard about. He's hit the ball. The first handful of games in spring too. So I don't know that they're ready to rely on that. But what if BJ Murray got a lot of opportunities here because you've got the WBC going on and he gets at bats. What if what if he looks good in the spring? Well, in that collision with John, what had him on the roster? Yeah, that collision with Jonathan Long also opens that door at bats for him. The question that I have is when you're talking about who's going to back up Michael Bush at first base, I think in an ideal world, which the Cubs were planning on with Tyler Austin, you want that player to be right handed? Yes. I've seen

12:34some people in the comments in the chats saying, does this mean Moises by a steroids gets more run at first base? I think it's fine that he gets some run there. But I'm going to be honest with you when you're trying to get Michael Bush, Michael Bush better need a day off if Moises by a steroids is playing first base. We're not doing matchup stuff and we're taking Michael Bush out of the lineup to put Moises by a steroids versus a lefty also with the guy who clearly isn't as good as for at first base is Michael Bush. There are a couple names that are still out there. All of them veteran. Donovan Salanos, the first one, a guy who was last year in 2024 had an OPS of 760, so nothing terrible. But last year, 37 years old did not get a lot of playing time across between the Rangers and the Mariners didn't really get it done. The other guy that's really interesting also is Wilmer Flores. Now, this is a guy who is a legit hitter. He hit 16 bombs in 71 RBI's last year. He's only 33 years old. He's not up the creek. He's not cooked as we like to say here on

13:37the show. He's a guy that can play now. The question with Wilmer Flores is he's adequate at first base. He can play multiple positions, which is interesting. All of them adequately, nothing above average. But is he a guy that's looking for more of an opportunity? Is he a guy that's going to say, yeah, I'll play the Justin Turner once every couple weeks, maybe at first base. And I'm a replacement here and there is he may be looking for more of a major league opportunity. And then finally, door number three is, and I know some Cubs fans are going to hate this. What's Justin Turner doing right now? Oh man. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. He's not going to cost 10 million bucks. I don't think he's going to be productive. But if you're looking for a right-handed play, a right-handed bat at first base for that type of situation, are you ready to dance one more time with Justin Turner? I know the players will come back with open arms. It will be like Dexter Fowler in 2016 when he just magically walks in the outfielder

14:41and they're all like, yeah, I almost would rather the Cubs look for. I like your idea of a guy that gets squeezed out somewhere else. Yeah, I think that's interesting. Craig Brindle, how many owes you want to put in that? No, my friend. A lot. Hey, all right. I'm not advocating. I'm throwing them out there. Here's what we'll do. We'll take a break. We'll talk more about those options and the Cubs options currently in the organization. But first a word from our sponsors on the CHGO Cubs podcast, the best Cubs podcast in the universe. Hey, Joey, what if you could have reliable and intelligent Wi-Fi and what if you could keep it at the same price for how long? Not one, not two, not three, not four, five years, five years. That's the Xfinity five-year price guaranteeing. Imagine Wi-Fi that makes everything in your home just kind of work together, finds and fixes problems before you even see them and it's super intelligent Wi-Fi. It's got like a six cents and it lets you stream the game while the rest of the family is watching something else

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16:47whole home generator. They've also got you covered because the four seasons, they guarantee same day installation. So all your heating cooling plumbing, electrical sewer and generator needs with no extra costs for nights or weekends. Right now you can save up to $4,000 on furnaces. Furnaces also started $39 a month or furnace AC combos at $57 a month. So just call the day and save that $50 from your trusted local experts. It's four seasons heating air conditioning plumbing sewer and electric. They've been serving the Chicago line area for 50 years. So visit four seasons heating cooling.com today. Welcome back to the CHGO Cubs podcast. We're talking about the Tyler Austin injury. We also mentioned Jordan Wix injury and we're trying to figure out who will be the backup at first base when Michael Bush is not available to play or they just want to have somebody else in there from the right side. Maybe hopefully that's not going to be nearly as much this season. And so I posed while we were in the commercial break, I asked you, would you rather have Justin Turner come back or Trayman Cini be let go by the angel so that he can have a run at it again.

17:53I invoked Justin Turner's name on this show and the chat went wild and I also just got a text but they weren't expecting Trayman Cini to be following it. I know I got a frequent text from diehard listener and supporter and good friend of mine down for Teenie saying, you know, it's wild thought Wednesday when Justin Turner is in the first block of the show. You look, I don't know if the Cubs need to necessarily do anything and I and I cousin throwing out all these veteran names and yeah, Trayman Cini's with the angels right now, basically the halfway retirement home organization. I think your idea is interesting though. Somebody someone that performs moderately well, that gets squeezed out in spring training, doesn't make a team. We don't know who that is necessarily right now, but you just want to have somebody as some insurance in case, you know, something would, Michael Bush had to miss a day or two. That's all you're looking for. Why can't I think of his name, the socks guy that's on the brewers that hit the three run home run Vaughan. Why can't we find our Vaughan?

18:55Right? Like, why can't we find him? Why can't we find the next one of those? Yeah, the diamond and the rough or more like the diamond and the pile of doodoo. Yeah, it was more like the poop and the toilet. Maybe we should start doing more trades with the white socks. Yeah, right? It's like a Jurassic Park, which he's sitting. I got one. All right. So you're looking for a guy that can just hit the basement, maybe right now. Well, how about this? He could play first base, second base, third base, shorts up, all equally the same. Paul Kinerko can't play any of it. It's Lenin Sosa. He just can't play any defense opposition, but he has homers. He dived 22 homers. Who doesn't love 22 homers? Don't look at any other stat. I don't know. You can't keep you can't keep the mayor down, though. Can't keep the Chicago, though. Yeah, it hasn't moved. That's true. No, thanks. Pass. Uh, here's here's ideas. So first of all, it looks like the outfield thing is Conforto Carlson McCormick. Yes. And maybe a little K.A. But maybe a little K.A. We will see. Uh, it was interesting. I don't know if the reporters were basing this off of the

20:01Jonathan Long elbow sprain in this. I believe the second cactus league game was that against the Rangers. Sixth ranked prospect. You know, he goes for a bad throw at first and the runner hits him. It's never looks good when that happens. We don't have more information on that yet. But he was really good at triple A. I don't know that he needs to prove anything else at triple A. Um, and you could look at that and say, well, why not? If he's healthy, give him that shot to start the season and see where he can go with it. Slash line 305 404, 479 last year at Iowa with 20 home runs and 91 RBI. That sounds like a guy that you could put there if the elbows okay. But now it looks like his spring has been at least delayed. I mentioned BJ Murray's playing there today in the cactus league game. But two days ago, the reporters sat with Craig Council and Bruce Lamine and some of the reporters started poking around about first base. I don't know if they

21:06just went on that long information or if they knew that Austin was headed for surgery or as a possibility. It's possible. It was both. And so they started, he would, uh, is there anybody? First of all, he asked, mobile is going to get, yeah, he's going to get some chances at first. He is. Uh, but it's spring training, you know, and they said, and then Bruce at Bruce Levine asked, is there anybody else you would think about getting some opportunities at first base? You know, and Council said, well, you got a name. He wanted Bruce to like, he didn't want to just give up information. He's got a name and he's like, well, you know, like, uh, you know, I'm at shot and he's like, oh, okay, that's where you're going. Uh, no, right now, there are no plans for match shot to learn first base. Okay. But then he did offer up, you know, if somebody else were to get some a few opportunities, he's like, but this is us talking about the backup plan to the

22:07backup plan. You know, you don't spend a lot of time on it. You just kind of cover those bases, but you want to see if in an emergency, somebody could play that during the game when somebody's hurt. And who were the two? I take a guess because I don't know this quote. I'll take a guess. I think one of the players that they named was Ian Happen was not interesting. Who they name? He said the two other catchers. He said, Amaya and Kelly. Amaya. Okay. Interesting. Right? Like you could have them both in the game at the same time. And this is like, if I want them, I want them in the game a lot. Yeah. So could he play serviceable first base? I don't know. My intention and I'm trusting Craig Council's quotes over the winner that, you know, what were we banging the table on a lot? Second half of last year was why are you sitting Michael Bush down against lefties? Well, he didn't have a lot of production, but I think he's the type of player that deserves and has earned the right to work through some of those issues and try and become a league average hitter against left handers because I want him in the line up every day. So if Craig Council is going to afford him that opportunity more this year,

23:14these are spot starts, man. Yeah. And that was the thing is it's like, can Miguel Amaya do it twice a month? Can he give you 18 innings a month? I think that's hopefully all things considered what you're looking for. That's, honestly, that's an interesting name. Yeah. I mean, either guy would be interesting. We'll see how much they both play. Again, I would not be surprised if there's still a name to be added to the mix. Craig Brindle says, whatever is it coming out of retirement? No. Listen, they're trying to get Mo baller into this lineup. They want to give him a shot and backup catcher is going to be a spot. DH is going to be a spot. But if the kid can really hit, you start putting them over at first base. I'll a Christopher Morelle and see if some guys can do it. Yes. Right? Like you just, you see what's out there. So it's an interesting spot that comes already. Have been put in a spot where you say, what's that backup plan? And man, you hope Michael Bush gets through spring training

24:16without any, any issues because then things get in even crazier. I don't disagree with you. I believe Ian Hap could be over at first. I would let Hap take some reps over there at spring training. He can flip over. He can hit right handed. He's played in the infield on that side of the field before it's second base. I understand different positions. You have enough fielders. I just think he, I just think he's a baseball player. I don't mean to be like brought about it. But I think that he could figure it out. And I think he could, you know, do it there. If not Rizzo, why not Dan Vogelbock? He's hitting coach. So the idea, the idea, the idea, Cholts is also like a guy like Rowdy Telez is out there. If you're looking for some lottery tickets here, but these are left handed guys. Yeah. You know, if you're going to bring a guy in someone like that, I personally, I'd prefer to be right handed, because at the very least you're going to say to yourself, he would play in the match up when there's a lefty on the mound. There's no reason Michael Bush should ever be on the bench outside of him, not being 100% in my opinion, regardless of matchup. And if there is that case,

25:17it would have to be versus a left handed pitch. Can you or anybody in the chat think of a a specialist for lack of a better term? A guy who can play first base and flash the leather, a defensive replacement late in the game where you say, this guy is great at first base, but he can't hit a lick anymore, right? Yeah. Sort of the opposite of what Turner was like, oh, most of these guys are usually, well, they might be able to hit, but we know they're not great at T. Is there a defensive specialist available around in the game, just like you find somebody who can just run or just like you find the outfield or who can go get it in the end of the game. Somebody who's great at defense, whether it's AAA level, whether it's a former major leaker that's sitting out there, somebody that's good at flashing the glove and would at least keep them good defensively for a game, but you know you're going to get nothing off of it. So per fielding Bible last year, number two in defensive runs saved at first base, Carlos Santana.

26:19Okay, that's the guy. I mean, I thought he signed with somebody though. Yeah, he might have, I brought his name up because he was in house last year, which also was maybe a reason why outside of the relationship with Craig Council that they gave him another shot. Godfather must have missed when I said that I joked already, Tray Mancini, but he's with the angel. So, you know, yeah, above average guys, Reese Hoskins, who just signed with the guardians. Justin Turner was above average last year. Revas. Revas still out there. I'm scrolling. I'm scrolling and I'm looking. He was on the pirates briefly. I don't think he's around anymore. Yeah, you know, I just think the Cubs are going to play it out for a little while. Yeah, I don't think you need to knee jerk reaction and figure something out, but I do think with Tyler Austin being out for months, it will be a consideration that they'll have to pay attention to, right? I don't think they're going to freak out the way the chat is freaking out about James and town giving up another couple runs in the first inning of his spring start. Easy guys. Yeah, easy does it. Everything's going to be fine. He's just working on stuff. I trust James and Tyrone. Dominic Fortini and the

27:23Chats says, didn't Rizzo tell a story to convention about happy in it first base? Hap could do it. Yeah. Doesn't this all depend on how long he'd be without Michael Bush? It's just a day or two. No major issues. He did. He told a story about how it was like a getaway day and they were playing in New York against the Mets and they were all working out in Ian Haps in the corner and John Lester comes in and starts screaming F bombs on the day that he pitches the way that John Lester would about like, I got Ian bleep in half at first base and Ian Haps in the corner working out and not knowing that Ian Haps in the room at the same time and even Rizzo had a really good laugh about that. Yeah, you know, I think Hap could do it in a pinch. I really do and I don't think he would take a lot of reps for him to wrap his head around it. There's got to be somebody else out there. There's got to be somebody on some team's roster and I don't think we call the white socks. All right. So anyways, two 15 in the mix and link for Rivas, but man, he can flash the leather,

28:25huh? I believe I believe Rivas was on a team with Kenny Powers, who was the closer for that team. Remember Tom Selleck and was right? Mr. 3000. Yeah. Mr. baseball. So maybe not Rivas. It might not be the way they go and I don't think it's going to be man's scene. Please. All right. Coming up on the show, what we're going to do is we've got some clips from PCA in an interview we did on a podcast. We're going to play something we got a quote from show to we want to talk about that's important. Then we're going to dig into the Cubs lineup and just how good is it? Are we overrating it? How's it compared to the rest of the league? We'll find out next on the CHGO Cubs podcast. Hey Cubs fans. I just want to talk to all the men for just a second here in 2026. Are you feeling a little down? I feel like you got a little bit low energy. Well, it couldn't be just the winter or that seasonal, whatever that's going on. It could be the case of low testosterone. And if you don't have the same motivation and drive every day or if the scales going up and down a little bit, it could

29:29be yes, that low testosterone. And whether it's peak performance or becoming a better father, better husband, better man, better podcaster, better dog father, game day men's health. They want to support every man's health journey through personalized care that's going to be tailored to your goals. Let's talk about Josh for a second. Josh lost over 100 pounds. That's right. He's in a donna. He used game day men's health testosterone replacement therapy. And now he is ready for the beach and the summer. And that's the deal. It's a very quick and easy process and you'll be in and out an hour. They have personal care and family local owned clinics that are tailored just for you with an extremely high success rate. So feel better with more energy with testosterone, vitamin supplements, weight loss, whatever it is, use the QR code and go to game day CS show.com today to find the locations that are closest to you. New vehicles are in store at Ray Chrysler Dodge deep and ran. And this is your chance to score a great deal at the auto show sales event. Had to raise CDJR on Route 12 today to choose from their huge inventory of Chrysler Dodge cheap and ran vehicles

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31:38and me. The old man and you. Old man in the goat. Oh, that's a restaurant girl in the goat. Never mind. So PCA was on this podcast and it was just hanging out. And by the way, the PCA stuff we put out was at Twitter. Sarah, where I'm talking about. He's everything. The Brewers fans think he's not. He's thoughtful. He's smart. He's a hard worker. Yeah, it's out on our Twitter page. It'll be out on YouTube tomorrow. He made teammates love him. And everybody else in the league just thinks he's this complete buffoon. A child, right? Well, they don't know ball. They don't know ball. That's right. Go Cubs. And they haven't paid attention. So first of all, that got great responses because, you know, because the world is our fans have nothing else to do because the actors are no good. And the bears are better. The packers now. And Yannis doesn't want to be in Milwaukee. So what's left? Walleye season starts in March. That's good. Yeah. Somehow our franchise quarterback maybe

32:40already have the clips there. franchise quarterback. Yeah, I digress the stars have aligned. PCA was asked. They started talking about being traded, which we always want to talk about. Oh, would you trade this guy for this guy? We did it yesterday. We said, who would be the guy? If you had to trade PCA, who would you be one? And we came up with Bobby with junior for guys under currently 25 and under. And then if you want to talk about anybody, Otani, Judge, there's there's a handful of players. But there aren't too many of the young players in baseball who'd say, yeah, I think I definitely definitely do it. Maybe we're biased. PCA was talked about again. He was the Havi bias trade. He was asked about being traded from the Mets to the Cubs. I thought this was funny. We're, I have a bunch of met fan friends. And when it happened, they were, they told me this morning. They were pissed. Dude, it was like, and I didn't know what was what? Because I just wasn't following it that closely. And the second it happened, it was like, I don't even want to

33:44bring it up now because it hasn't got any better. They were not happy. Who's supposed to know that I was going to do anything though? Like I played six professional games. Like, yeah, big risk that the Cubs took. I don't, I would never blame the Mets at all for making that trade. Like, that was a good roster they had. And Lindor wanted to play with bias. I made their middle and field really good. But like, here we are now. Like, I had no clue. That's just, yeah, Lindor and Havi bias, of course, like childhood friends. And they went for it. It didn't work out. And this is one of those where you see an organization went for, it didn't pay off like it did for the Cubs a couple times. And wow, it's good for us. We finally got one that worked. We got PCA. But I think it's interesting that he doesn't blame the Mets for, he doesn't have ill feelings because the Mets traded him. He was hurting. He hadn't played a lot. And they put the wrong guy in the deal.

34:45Yeah. And to add like a little bit more, to color more inside the lines of what he was talking about, like, contextually, I found it to be really fascinating. And forgive me, I'm going to paraphrase some of the stuff that he was talking about. But you know how Jed last year was like, he even was surprised. But some of the things that PCA was doing on the field. And Peacore Armstrong, now at 24 years old, he frankly feels the same way. And we always forget a little bit about before a guy gets on our team, what is his story and where did he come from? And from PCA's perspective, he was talked a lot about one, you know, in 2020, was unable to play a lot of baseball. Got that shoulder injury, which really affected him, which was why he had only played in six games at the time of that trade when it happened in 2021. And he had said himself, before 2020, he said that he had maybe hit maybe six or seven home runs in a game throughout his whole life. That's how skinny he was. That's how fast he was. He said he was a fast slap at the other

35:46way kind of hitter. Get on base, cause some chaos. And from 2020 to 2021, rehabbing his shoulder, no one was able really to see how he was able to put on weight. Yeah. And he was actually able to grow into his body and get some muscle. He will probably most likely most definitely probably a lot of you. In 2021 to 2022, he starts playing the game a little bit more. He gets a little bit more speed. Obviously, he gets into all these different kinds of exercises. And when he starts squaring an up a little bit, he says, wow, maybe I do have this inside of me. So him, him, 30 bombs last year almost might have been just as much of a surprise to PCA as it was to Jed Hoyer as it was to the match as it was C Cubs fans. So who knows what it's going to unlock heading into this year? That's why I've always been like, if he hits 20 bombs this year, I'm not going to freak out. It's not going to be a power outage. And he said that as much like yesterday about being like, Hey, man, it's cool that you traded me because I hadn't played either. You know, I would have maybe done the same thing for Havi bias. But he also said every time he came

36:47to the plate, it wriggly field and people started chanting PCA in big moments. And he'd been old for four. He's like, man, I felt the pressure like I got to do something. I got to do something and he's going to go into a different head space this year. So partially, I blame you and Sarah and the Friday 120 club for chanting that anytime you were there. You put all the pressure on him. It's his second half was your fault, Sarah. Shout out Friday 120. We put the rally cake in front of you. I get it. It's our it's on us. By the way, I've seen a new Friday 120 club t-shirt designed to be loaded around. We got it. We got a little sneak peek at it today. Pretty cool. So just know that's could be coming to the merch store fairly soon. He also talked about playoff game four against the brewers. Now, this is a kid who grew up in Hollywood. He's a sports fan. By the way, he fell in love with the Bears, not just Caleb Williams. He says the first time he's ever fallen in love with a professional sports team that he wasn't playing on. Like he was

37:49in on the Bears. And that's part of how he's fallen in love with our city. Like he sees what sports mean in the city of Chicago. It's it's our slogan sports over everything. It's cubs over everything. Bears over everything. And so he talked about game four. I thought this was cool too, right? I think I felt the weight of the moment for sure. Riggly kind of brought that out of me too, just because that place was on fire. It was so it was special. Like game, game four of the NLDS against Milwaukee. Like we always say like from pitch one, the place with like I'm telling you from hour before the game, it was like a way different buzz. And I felt in that place ever. So you know, you you I don't know how to put this actually like, that's an interesting question because like every place should matter all the time. But like you definitely feel a little more in the playoffs.

38:53And we were all prepped on that. Like we had so many dudes who had experience in the playoffs in in October. But you're not really prepared till you actually do it yourself. And I mean, also, like it was tough for me, but I do feel definitely feel better prepared for for this year. That's for sure. Even in 2015 when the young cubs were coming up, I think in any sport, there's something to good playoff experience for young players, even when it's not going well. It's still good to have that experience in your back pocket and safe. Okay, I know it can be that bad, but I've been through it. And now I know this much and I can do this and this and there's different ways to cope with it. You can always tell yourself you're prepared, but you're never prepared until you go through something once. It's incredible what October baseball can do to a player and a team. It's even more incredible what October baseball when you have a little taste

39:53to success that the cubs had winning one round can also do, right? Like and and what I love about pico Armstrong just there is one sincerity and accountability, right? Like he was like, look, then you all saw it. You know, I felt the moment and I didn't really step up. I feel like I'm going to be more prepared this time, but him also like sitting and understanding how important it was because we knew how important it was like that series when he says that Wrigley was on fire, I'm not in disagreement with him, right? And now that all of that is transpired. The way that it's permeated through not just players like pico Armstrong getting excited for this year, we're going to hear a quote from Shoda and just a little bit also that feels the same way. But now you got the owner, Tom Rick, it's saying we want to get back to winning World Series plural, right? Like there's just the whole experience of us eating rally cake and watching the Padres and burgers and frankly, it's it's it's seismic might be a little aggressive, but there's

40:57been a real shifts of mentality throughout the whole organization. And that is the reason why Alex Bregman is now here. That is why the owner is talking a certain way. That's why Craig Council, I think has been more transparent than he has been in his the entire time that he's put on a cup's uniform. There's just a different mentality right now. And a lot of that has to do with that success. And frankly, Pat yourself on the back comes fans. It has a little bit to do with you too as well. Like you showing up and being that impassioned, making that place on fire for those players, it is not going lost on them. They've not been forgotten. They talked about it after the games. Yeah, about what Riggly was like against the Padres and the Brewers. And if you're a Dodgers fan, right, we just show up and we party. And it's a Benagans and we're all yuppies and stuff like that. All right. We'll listen to those quotes right there from most players. I mean, I understand it just because I don't, and this isn't enough to any fan, but I don't think they, they just makes me feel like they don't get it. Like from a player standpoint, like talking

41:59about playoffs, like where you want to be, you want to be in those kind of moments, like you want to take down the best team. It'd be really fun to be on that team as well. Play with those guys, but like, man, if you got the money, spend it, go get the best guys. I think it's better for the game. Like we saw the World Series. The Blue Jays aren't nearly the same kind of roster. I don't think is the Dodgers were. Their bullpen was incredible. Their Treyas Savage went and shocked the world. And it was really cool. But like, you're talking the best like one through nine ever almost and game went to, they went in seven games. Like baseball is baseball. It'll always be baseball. They should have won. And what's their games? And they had totally different chances they could have won. They were, they could have ended in six. And it would have been the Blue Jays. Not the dot. Like, I love it. Personally, like go spend the money. I think it incentivizes other teams to do the same. Like we got big market teams for a reason. Like

43:00a city like LA, like it's supposed to be this flashy, big, popular thing, New York, same way. And you see what the meds have done. Yeah. You see what the Yankees are doing. Yeah. Like even us, like we're going and signing guys like Brett, we're going and signing the guys that we should be signing. So I actually like it. And I would like it if they gave Pete Karam strong an extension, possibly halfway through this season or at the end of this season. I don't think it's coming in cactus league action. But I just, I like everything the kid says. I really do. And and I'm the furthest from his age. Like I could be his father. I'm old enough. But there's something about his confidence and his calm, honesty and intelligence, right? Like it's not, he's not blowing smoke. He's being, he's being as open as you can ask an athlete to be until they get burned doing it. And I don't think he's going to say like he's not going to get burned

44:04about the Dodgers fans, Cubs fans things. Not. So what? No, the nuance to that is he acknowledges that everyone knows that the Dodgers are the most talented team, right? The best team, the World Series champions. And I think the nuances, he's not running away from that. And he wants to beat the best. Yeah. He wants to beat the best. That's the kind of athlete that you want. That's the attitude that you want. And if that means he's going to talk a little mess along the way. Because frankly, also he's from Sherman, Oaks, California. Yeah. So I also lived there for over 10 years. So being around it, you're in Dodgers nation all the time. He has a little bit of some insight in terms, in terms of what the fans are like, what being a Dodgers saying that he knows the environment. But the fact that he can acknowledge that they're the best team. And I want to beat the best. Yeah, he's going to talk a little mess. It's not him talking out of his butt. I think the way some people want to phrase it or think about it. All right. You know who else wants to win and prove himself this year? Like the end of last season left some people with a bad taste in

45:10their mouth. PCA is one. Yes. Shota is obviously another. It didn't go well at the end. But he's bulked up a little bit. The injury is back. And he is carrying with him sort of the pressure, I guess, of last year not going well. And I think he really took it to heart in the off season. He said on his to who was this too? Was this just to reporters? I don't even know. So this was so yeah, I can look it up. This was actually from a Japanese publication. Oh, okay. Yeah. So this is through translation. He said, I want the moment I become world champion to be the first thing I remember when I retire. It's not just my dream. My family in Japan shares it. And I carry their hope with me. That's why I want to make it come true. That's another deep. That's another deep thought is not just some some guy come up the ballpark saying, yeah, dude, if we win, we win. It's getting the dance. We don't we don't see what happens. This is becoming

46:13personal. And that's the type of player that the Cubs have been seeking in this rebuild. And frankly, with PCA talked about the crowd, that's because it's been a long time coming. It was long overdue that they got to act like that again. And this these quotes, they're becoming habitual. Right? I mean, he's not the only person that's throwing the C word around. And that is championship. Oh, I thought, okay, don't don't do it. Not a wild thought Wednesday. Whoa, this family show. No, no, no, but like this is this is a mentality cupcake. This is a mentality. This is what they're talking about. They saw how close they got. They feel like it's within their reach this season. They feel like that if they can at least get to whatever the final four, the championship series that they think that they have what it takes to get there. Now granted, still February, right? Long way to go. Long, long, long way to go. But those two quotes,

47:14like that quote and what we've been playing from PCA is really interesting because Luke, my question for you would be just let's isolate it to the playoffs with the podders and the brewers. Do you think PCA and Shota are the two players that maybe have the most to prove from that series? Are there are those maybe the two players that disappointed you the most outside of Kyle Tucker, who's no longer around guys that are still on the team. Yeah, guys that are still on the team. Because even even in half, Ian Hap had a terrible playoffs, right? But you'll never take away that three run laser tank. He hit off Freddie Peralta that frankly got us back into the series in the first place. Yeah. So I mean, the easy one is Shota. Yes. No question. This is a guy that when steel was down was the eight-year staff and you couldn't even you couldn't even pitch him in the biggest game that you've had in a long time. You couldn't even pitch him. And PCA is probably the other one like Shaw wasn't good, but Shaw was just coming off the struggle. PCA is the one that was MVP level. We're printing MVP. We needed him more than matcha, right? You

48:20know, I mean, we needed. Yes. Well, he had been bringing to the team on your more than we had a really good series against the Padres to the point where maybe the every manager said. He beat us. Yeah. We he beat us almost single-handedly. He beat us. Say I had a great series. Nico Horner was solid. Carson Kelly hits the bomb. You know who the third name is that's got. I don't know that a lot to prove, but has plenty of motivation. They should all have motivation after getting one win away from the NLCS. Justin Steele's got that fire burning too. That's a good that rehab. Like, here's the guy who has been here fighting, fighting, fighting to get in a postseason game and be the guy on the mound. And the injury takes his whole season away. Then he's got to go through painful rehab where he can just sit there and painfully watch his guys play, but neat, especially need him out there in game five. That had to be mind-blowingly hard against the Brewers. Pulled away from you too.

49:22Cade Horton. Cade Horton is another one. Yeah. Cade Horton, we clings to the division, but he goes out there for the next start gets pulled. Everyone starts freaking out. What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? Imaging, imaging, imaging ladder on the doorstep. Being one of the hopefully one of the premier pictures or faces of that playoff series under the spotlight and his game is as locked in as it's probably been in his whole life. I mean, I don't know. College World Series. He was pretty incredible, right? But it's pretty down close. Gets to that point, unable to perform due to a, you know, fracture dribb. Tries to throw, enough discomfort that would change his, you know, his mechanics. They shot him down. So, yeah, no, there's a lot of guys that, that, you know, they not only got a taste of it, but had some shortcomings and some man, if I can get back in the moment, how would I do this differently? How would I be ready for this moment? And that's the type of stuff that I think PCA and Shota are articulating here in these clips. Well, like steel and half are the guys that,

50:25on the team that I'm just thinking of, offhand, that have been there through the absolute lows of the rebuild, right? They've been in the organization to see how great it can be, but they've never really been in it to see and play in it when they're playing for a world series, right? Like not, okay, hap, but not steel, not steel. He's been, he was at the core of the bad team, trying to find guys that could work their way up. And he finally had an opportunity on a winning team. And unfortunately for him, he searched. So I think he doesn't necessarily have a lot to prove, but he's got plenty of motivation. Yeah, and Corey Seacrest and the chat, Corey men always love seeing you in the chat, dude. You have great comments with that same attitude. What's preventing the cups from being, quote, unquote, that team, or quote, unquote, that, that, that, the best team. Um, great TV deal. Maybe broadcasts in the spring training games. No, um, I, not much, man. I mean, not to be broad about it. It's still only February,

51:29but the only thing preventing them from being the best team is probably time and the opportunity to just go out there and, and take it. You know what I mean? I, I, the Dodgers are going, the Dodgers are going to be more talented, right? It is always going to be a really, really difficult matchup. And I know we always bring up the Dodgers, but man, the fillies are going to be tough. The mets have my, might have something to say about it. The braves too as well. But the Cubs can line up with them and they can win on any given day. It's going to be about the elapsing of time to get you to October, taking care of business, um, and just meeting the opportunity, meeting the moment as PCA says. Uh, so you mentioned a couple teams. And I was, uh, just flipping through the old Twitter and I looked at ESPN released their line up rankings, okay? For, for teams this year, we'll go top 10 ESPN lineups who has the best, according to them, who has the best lineup in baseball, major league baseball class. Mm hmm. So we've been

52:30name checking them all. Yeah, let's do it. It's the Dodgers. The Dodgers are number one. Okay. They go to, they go through a lot of stuff. They give a different, a letter grade for a lot of things. Uh, and then they go line up wins. Line up wins is the number of wins the team would have if everything in the game was equal except for the lineup. So basically the pitching was absolutely identical. Yeah. So it strictly comes down to the lineup. Interesting. Okay. And the managing is exactly the same. All of it's the same. They gave the Dodgers 89.7 wins just based on their lineup. Okay. They said they have their lineup has seven stars and one potential hole. Okay. Mm hmm. Who's number two at 87.6? So I'm, I'm going to take a shot in the dark here. And I think this might be one that no one's considering. I'm going to guess the Mariners. No. I'm going to guess the Blue Jays. It is two nationally teams at number two and number three.

53:35I, I, I guarantee you they have the Mets high up. Uh, so I will go with the Phillies at number two. It is the Braves at number two. Really? At 87.6? Because Olsen, Riley and Akunia back in the fold. I mean, they've got Michael Harris. Yes. Maybe Ozzy Albeys is whatever. And they have obviously the rookie of the year. I think, uh, a lot of people who watched the playoffs last year forget that it was just a bad season for the Braves season from hell. But I think that's a team that could bounce back pretty nicely this season. At number three, they have the Mets at 86.2. I knew because of course, dude. Again, I said it yesterday. They were a baseball card lineup. You know what I mean? Like you look at the lineup. Polonco semi and Bati Alvarez, Luis Robert and Carson. Okay. So they went hitting B patient C plus power B plus base running B durability B minus B minus. Yes. Six stars. One hole. So I don't know what they're counting. The other guys,

54:40they certainly they're counting Robert. They're counting Robert Polonco and Simeon as a star? Does that feel right? Do they not? They don't name them. So there's one. They're leaving off there that I guess they're just qualifying. There's nothing. Um, at number four, now we go American League and the Mariners that you talked about. Yeah. They got a good lineup man and added Brendan Donovan, Nailer, Raleigh, Jayrod, Rosarena. Dude, it's a good lineup man. It's a good lineup. So I don't disagree with that. And then, you know, PCA talked about the blue jays not being as stacked as the Dodgers, but they were right there with them. Thanks to pitching as well. But they have the blue jays at 84.1 wins just based on the lineup. Now four stars, three holes, Springer, Barger, Guerrero, Kirk, Varsho, like Clement, down in eight. So they're looking at some other guys and saying, okay, maybe there's some.

55:40Now who's number six? The sixth best lineup. I would imagine now because it's ESPN. They're either Lane and Yankees or Phillies. Be my guest. This one I didn't see coming at all. Chuck Cubs. It is not the Cubs. This one I didn't see coming in. I can't believe they're ahead of the Cubs to be honest with you. Is it the Brewers? The Oakland A's at 84.1. It's all the young guys. It's Kirk slaying a liars. It's it's Soda Strum Rooker. Now they got Jeff McNeil. They've got Jacob Wilson. Okay. They got some names. Okay. So at number seven, you're Chicago Cubs. 83.8%. So one, two, three, fourth and fourth best lineup in the National League. Okay. Now here's what they said about the Cubs. Hitting C. Patience C. That's a little PCA probably. Maybe that's even your PCA on the patience. Well, dash of PCA power C plus base running C plus.

56:47Now I know we had that we just had to play at the start of spring training that was a base running blunder. I would put the Cubs way above a C plus at base run. I thought they were vastly improved last year. I liked what I saw. Here's where here's where ESPN likes them durability. A depth A minus the two go hand in hand. They think they've got a pretty durable team and they've got the depth to handle injuries day in and day out. Stars five holes two. Where are they seeing the holes in this lineup? Catcher. And I don't know. Catcher in DH. Well, it's Bush, Bragman half Suzuki Armstrong, Horner, Bayou Starros, Swanson, Kelly. I think they're probably saying Mo baller and Kelly. Yeah, I think so too. If they had to guess with the holes, I don't think they're saying Dan's be Swanson in 20 homeruns, even though he's very streaky. And I don't think anybody

57:49in the right mind is saying in half, even though it's a roller coaster ride, he always ends up with the same stats. Yeah, Swanson's like Galin, right? Like he didn't he's not great, but he's out there every day. So he gets brownie points for that. It says the Cubs, it seems are built to deploy a stable lineup with plenty of options if the injury bug bites. All right, we got like one minute left. Can you figure out the three teams below the Cubs? Two are in the National League. One is in the America. Well, already it's got to be the Phillies, right? How many times going to say the Phillies until they get number eight? Yes, of course. Phillies number nine. I'm surprised they weren't high. And another National League team. Yeah. Did it? I was going to say they're still like the Padres. They still like the Padres. Yeah, but they believe the Cubs are possibly right there. So we'll see. That's a cross that's a cross baseball. I take that that's top that's top 25% of baseball. I take that all day long. I would too. Hey, Cory and Brendan have the show coming up tomorrow on Thursday with Cubs related.

58:53Then we have shows Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And then we're going to Arizona, baby. Then there's going to be a halt. We're going there from Thursday to Sunday. The spring training trip, you can join us. There will still be a Cubs related show that Thursday. There will still be a Cubs related shows. But obviously, but we will be at the game. Yeah, we'll be at the games. Amen to that in the sunshine. Let me put on my shady rays just to prepare myself for this. We're going to fix JMO. That is our mission. Don't worry about JMO. We're going to fix it. Thanks for checking out the CHGO Cubs podcast. Some say the number one Cubs podcast in the universe. And wait a we get sunshine, baby. Until next time, fly the W.