OFF THE IVY: Chicago Cubs lose BRUTALLY in extra innings to White Sox to drop third consecutive series

Summary

Podcast Summary: Dan Bernstein Unfiltered – OFF THE IVY: Chicago Cubs Lose Brutally in Extra Innings to White Sox

Date: May 18, 2026
Hosts: Dan Bernstein, Matt Abaticola, Cody Delmendo
Podcast Network: Three One Two Sports

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Episode Overview

This special "Off the Ivy" episode zeroes in on the Cubs’ grueling extra-innings loss to the surging White Sox and the fallout from dropping their third straight series. The hosts dissect the Chicago Cubs’ recent struggles, bullpen management dilemmas, and the ever-tight NL Central race, all while balancing frustration with glimmers of optimism. Listeners hear candid, analytical, and sometimes tongue-in-cheek debate from three passionate and knowledgeable Chicago sports voices.

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Inning-by-Inning: Weekend Recap & Standings Update

• Wild Weekend in Chicago Baseball

  • The hosts describe the Cubs–White Sox series as “raggedy wild and woolly ball,” with high entertainment but little satisfaction for Cubs fans due to dramatic losses.
  • Quote [01:47]: “That was some raggedy wild and woolly ball that was being played and man, that park plays small when the conditions are just right. ... outcomes did not go the Cubs way particularly painfully yesterday.” — Matt Abaticola

• Cubs’ Recent Record Source of Concern

  • The Cubs are now 29–18, just 1.5 games ahead of both Milwaukee & St. Louis.
  • Noted they’re coming off a “three and six road trip” and just dropped a series to a suddenly hot White Sox club.
  • Despite a strong home record—15 straight wins at Wrigley—the expectations are tempered by recent play and ongoing injuries.
  • Quote [03:22]: “They’ve won 15 straight at Wrigley Field...But I won’t lie to you, I am nervous about this [Milwaukee] series.” — Dan Bernstein

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Brewers Preview: Nerves, Rivalry, and Division Tension

• Why the Next Series Feels So Important

  • The Brewers have played the Cubs tough over recent years, and the hosts argue these division games are more impactful than interleague fun against the White Sox.
  • Quote [08:16]: "These games matter more than playing the White Sox. They do. They matter more." — Cody Delmendo

• Cubs Not a Clear Favorite Despite Record

  • “Nothing’s going to be easy. I mean this is like the Cubs aren’t going to run away with this division.” — Cody Delmendo [07:07]
  • Hosts discuss how the NL Central (and most MLB divisions) remain extremely tight.

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Game Management Scrutiny: The Bullpen Debate

• Managerial Decisions Following the Loss

  • Heavy criticism of bullpen moves, especially using Ryan Rolison for a third straight day after Palencia had thrown only 14 pitches in the ninth.
  • Quote [11:45]: “Why not try him for a six-out save? ... Why Rollison’s getting in there three straight days, I don’t know.” — Cody Delmendo
  • Dan suggests Palencia rarely works two innings, possibly influencing Council’s decision, but he admits, “You’re kind of shifting me to your side a little bit.” [13:29]

• Injury Woes and Depth Issues

  • Multiple high-leverage arms (Hunter Harvey, Ben Brown now in rotation, Riley Martin, Caleb Thielbar) are hurt, forcing Council into “impossible situations.”
  • Quote [20:14]: “He’s got no good choices at the moment other than trusting Palencia for the last three outs.” — Matt Abaticola

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Phil Maton: Lightning Rod for Bullpen Frustration

• Is It Time To Cut Bait?

  • The stats: high barrel rate, career-high average exit velocity, ERA over 6 in May. Discussion centers on whether his $14M contract influences playing time.
  • Quote [16:16]: “You can't be blind to issues that you have right now. And they do have issues.” — Matt Abaticola
  • Cody notes Maton’s had some good outings, but the leash is short: “If you made a mistake on the guy, eat the money and get him out. It’s $7 million this year...that is absolutely nothing in Major League Baseball today.”

• Finding Hope & Comparing Relievers

  • Despite concerns, Dan points out Maton’s K rate and ground-ball numbers are decent, but “expected ERA is at 5.35.”
  • Quote [22:41]: “I still feel better about him and his future with the Cubs than I ever did with Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly.” — Dan Bernstein

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Bright Spots: “Babe” Conforto’s Out-of-Nowhere Tear

• Surprising Star of May

  • Michael "Babe" Conforto is highlighted for his scorching May: .400/.500/.920 in limited at-bats, slugging .920.
  • Quote [23:40]: “It's a great story for him...I loved that we got extra baseball out of it and they made it close. But he shouldn't be the reason why you're beating teams.” — Cody Delmendo

• Perspective from Basketball

  • Matt draws a comparison to the NBA’s .400/.500/.900 club for rare shooting splits, underscoring how unlikely Conforto’s run has been.
  • Quote [24:27]: “Sometimes things happen that are on the tiniest slice of percentages in the outcome range. And this is one of those things.” — Matt Abaticola

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The Rotation: Confidence Power Rankings

• Who Do You Trust?
  • The hosts rank their confidence in the current Cubs starters:
    • Dan: Shota Imanaga, Ben Brown, Cabrera, Colin Rea, Jameson Taillon. [28:12]
    • Cody: Ben Brown, Shota, (tie) Cabrera/Taillon, Rea.
  • Discussion touches on Ben Brown’s emergence and Cabrera’s improvement after a rough start.
  • Cubs option Javier Assad to Triple-A to “stretch out” as a starter due to rotation needs and depth.
  • Key Quote [30:30]: “They could go six starters ... Tyone leads baseball in home runs allowed now after the Saturday start.” — Dan Bernstein

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Upcoming Brewers Series: Scouting the Matchup

• Brandon Sproat vs Shota Imanaga

  • Sproat’s impressive velocity but pedestrian results are discussed, as well as his likeliness to allow runs early.
  • Dan fears another Brewers “pitching magic trick,” comparing Sproat’s situation to past pitcher reclamations.
  • Quote [35:35]: “They desperately need Shota to just be a stopper tonight.” — Dan Bernstein
  • Matt’s advice for the Cubs: “Limit yourself to solo home runs. … You better play great defense because you better limit yourself to solo home runs.” [35:54]

• Winds at Wrigley

  • The Wrigley Winds app: “11 miles per hour, gusts up to 25 miles per hour.” [34:17]

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Player Focus: Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA)—Love for the Villain

• Emerging as a Polarizing Star
  • PCA is becoming widely disliked by Cubs rivals, which the hosts relish; they compare his “love him or hate him” aura to Joakim Noah’s with the Bulls—only PCA is “a way better athlete.”
  • Quote [36:58]: “PCA becoming like this ... so hated by all the Cubs rivals, I love every bit of it. ... If he’s on your team, you love him and if he’s not on your team, you absolutely hate him.” — Dan Bernstein
  • Discussion of PCA’s flashes of emotion, growth, and his trolling/banter with opposing fans, including an engagement party in the stands.
  • “He enjoys it...I think he thrives off it.” — Matt Abaticola [39:24]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Nothing’s going to be easy. ... The Cubs should win this division. That doesn’t mean they’re going to.” — Cody Delmendo [07:07]
• “You’re making a great argument here. ... You’re actually kind of shifting me to your side a little bit.” — Dan Bernstein, on bullpen second-guessing [13:29]
• “You can't use him. ... It was just unfortunate that in two of his last three outings, [Maton’s] given up big home runs that led to losses.” — Matt Abaticola [15:48]
• “If he can’t do it and if you made a mistake on the guy, eat the money and get him out.” — Cody Delmendo [16:43]

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Key Timestamps

• Cubs/White Sox game and weekend overview: [01:47] – [03:22]
• Bullpen/counsel decision making: [11:05] – [14:40]
• Phil Maton debate: [14:40] – [18:34]
• Rotation power rankings: [27:30] – [30:30]
• Brewers preview: [33:01] – [36:22]
• PCA as the new Chicago villain: [36:58] – [39:24]

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Summary: The Mood & Takeaways

The Cubs’ third consecutive series loss has exposed cracks—especially in the bullpen and back of the rotation—which have the hosts both agitated and realistic in their analysis. While optimism reigns for breakout performers like Michael Conforto and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s showmanship, big-picture nerves persist with the Brewers arriving for what might be the most important series of the young season. The conversation is energetic, unsparing, but dotted with humor and a clear-eyed love of the game.

For fans needing to understand the season’s pulse and the state of the Cubs, this episode delivers sharp perspective, a reality check, and the therapy only true Chicago baseball dialogue can provide.

Transcript

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[Cody Delmendo]

Cubs podcast with Dan Bernstein, Matt Abaticola

[Dan Bernstein]

and Cody Delmendo on Three One Two Sports.

[Matt Abaticola]

Welcome to off the Ivy on Three One Two Sports. It's brought to you by Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window Guys, 847-302-9171 and check out their five star [e-mail] what a weekend for Chicago baseball. That was some raggedy wild and woolly ball that was being played and man, that park plays small when it when the conditions are just right. And it was electric the entire time and the outcomes did not go the Cubs way particularly painfully yesterday.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, it was a tough loss yesterday. The 9 to 8 loss in 10 innings. The Cubs do drop the series to the White Sox who are now two games over.500. The White Sox are still game behind the Guardians who are just as hot as the White Sox are now. The guardians 7 and 3 in their last 10 just like the White Sox, the Cubs though more importantly, 29 and 18. Cody game and a half ahead of Milwaukee and St. Louis. Milwaukee at 26 and 18 and St. Louis 27 and 19. The Cubs, of course, start their three game series tonight with Milwaukee at Wrigley Field. St. Louis is at home for, no, they're off today. And then they started three game series Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday against Pittsburgh. So the Cubs again, 29 and 18 a game and a half up on Milwaukee and St. Louis with some really important games coming for all three teams here in the next three days, four days.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's going to be good to be back at Wrigley Field. Three and six road trip is just not what I would have, it's not what I would have thought. We were going to get one when they went to Texas when this road trip started. And you can make an argument the Cubs should have won two of the two of the three series. They just couldn't pull out some of these close wins and yesterday being the most annoying one or most painful one to endure. So yeah, they've won 15 straight at Wrigley Field. They won at one point until Saturday, 16 straight in Chicago. But yeah, they're going to need to get it going at home despite, you know, the injuries, bullpen injuries especially. And I'll say the one thing I took away from the weekend on a positive note is it felt like the offense got its back going again because as frustrating as the offense was Yesterday, leaving like 13 guys on base, you still scored eight runs. You just, you just couldn't, you couldn't keep the White Sox in the ballpark, man. So at least Saturday especially, but just again, a really frustrating loss on Sunday in a series that you would have liked to, to get to take some momentum into the series against Milwaukee. Thankfully, Milwaukee and St. Louis lost yesterday, so the standing stayed the same. But I won't lie to you, I'm, I am nervous about this series. I don't feel great about it. But this could also be the, the, the Get Right series that I've been waiting for after playing.

[Matt Abaticola]

Why don't you feel good about it?

[Dan Bernstein]

The history against the brewers over the last seven, eight years is just.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, but isn't this team better, isn't this Cubs team notably better than any of those Cubs teams?

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, if, if they, if this team is notably better than any of those teams, it, it's definitely notably better than all of them. Except for maybe last year, which perhaps this team is better than last year. I, I, I still, I 210 game winning streaks. It makes you want to say that they are but 7 and 9, 20 and 3, 2 and 6 or something like that. So I think that's like the stretches of like all, all of it. I, that's a tweet from my good friend Sam Olber from Locked on Cubs. You tweeted that over the weekend and so that those, that, that last record could be wrong. Now I don't know exactly when he tweeted that, but it's like that 20 and three stretch was wonderful and now they've come back down to earth a little bit. Like where's the middling ground? Like that's what I'm trying to find. Like here, you know, you got, can you play 500 ball when you're not playing insane ball? You know, and Milwaukee is playing well right now. You know, they, they, they, they swept the Yankees last weekend. They played well this past week. They won a series against the Twins and it's been annoying that the Cubs have played pretty well overall, yet only a game and a half up in the division. And that's because Milwaukee has maintained pace. And so I, I think this Cubs team should be better than all those teams from the past. And if you, you put a gun to my head right now and told me to say yes or no, I would say yes, they are. But Milwaukee's playing well right now. This is a rivalry series and they're going to come to, they're going to come to play and try and, you know, continue the success they've had against the Cubs in recent years. And so it just, I just don't see it being an easy series. And I don't, I don't see it being a fun watch, to be honest with you.

[Cody Delmendo]

Nothing's, nothing's going to be easy. I mean this is like the Cubs aren't going to run away with this division. I mean they should win the division. They are on paper the better team. And as it sits right now, they are the better team. They're 11 games over.500. They do have, yeah, they have a game and a half lead over, over two teams in a Division 1 you didn't expect to be there right now, but it's only 47 games in and if you look at across baseball, the Rays have a three game lead on the Yankees. The rest of it, I mean that's a one game lead in the Central. It's a close race in the, in the west as well. The Braves, the only team right now that have a significant lead only because the Mets are dying in their payroll and the Phillies, who are now just again over.500, were off to a terrible start. Everything else is close. Game and a half in the Central. It's a half a game lead for the Padres over the Dodgers. Everything is close. Right now. It's only 47 games in. The Cubs should win this division and doesn't mean they're going to. Payroll doesn't guarantee anything. We know Milwaukee is a talented team, but. Yeah, I'm looking forward to tonight. I don't know. I mean, I'm excited about tonight.

[Dan Bernstein]

I am.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm too.

[Cody Delmendo]

I'm very excited about tonight. These games matter more than playing the White Sox. They do. They matter more. And, and the White and the Cubs being at home, who are playing great baseball at home right now during this season. Let's see, let's see what happens. I'm excited about it. You know, talk about that weekend series. They dropped two or three to the White Sox, who are playing great baseball. They're one of the better offensive teams in the game. You, you know, yesterday or two days ago, you come across Davis, Martin, who is, whatever he's unlocked with his secondary pitches in this season. He's one of the best starters in the game. I didn't expect to win that game. And I wasn't even as irritated about yesterday. I was, I was grateful that the Cubs even got to extra innings. You know what? If you're counting on Babe Conforto to carry you offensively, then you're gonna be because that's not the way the script is written. That was, that was a treat. That he hit a three run homer to tie the game and send to extras was an absolute treat. I loved that we got extra baseball out of it and they made it close. But he shouldn't be the reason why you're beating teams or getting the extra innings and forcing things like that. The White Sox deserve to win that series. They took two out of the three. You know, whatever.

[Dan Bernstein]

I, I just to go with what you're saying on yesterday's game, like the way it played out to. The Cubs led what, four to one in this.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, they did.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Cody Delmendo]

And that's a great offensive team playing at home.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, you're right.

[Cody Delmendo]

And they have a really good bullpen. I mean.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I just, I, I need, I, I need this. This. When you play a team like the White Sox and this isn't, this isn't slander, this is the White Sox are over exceeding expectations. Right. Like they, you could make an argument the Cubs got The White Sox at the wrong time. Like we said, the Cubs got a lot of like the Phillies at the, at the right time. You know, right. Like you can make that argument about the Cubs getting the White Sox this weekend at the wrong time. And, and that's probably true because who the heck is Tristan Peters and how did he go from the Savannah Bananas to the, to the, to Major League Baseball? And then Ed Edgar caro in the 10th inning hadn't hit a homer all year with like a.400 OPS. Just, it's like Mike Y for the Braves during the week. But the, the thing, the, the thing about it is that you had a lead, you had a, you had a multiple run lead and you just couldn't hold on to it. And then like you said, Matt, it took a, a guy that you signed a minor league deal to, who's been insane to start the year to hit a three run homer off Dominguez in the top of the ninth inning to just keep the game alive. So yeah, you're right, it is a treat, but it should have never even got to that point.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, the bigger issue, I think the bigger issue is if you had told Craig Counsel that he would be going, if you told him when they got out of spring training that Ryan Rollison would be in your circle of trust as, as you're a go to left handed pitcher late in games, in real games, he would have looked at you like, what the hell went wrong with our pitching if that's the case.

[Cody Delmendo]

Well, let me ask you this. So Ryan Rollison pitches in all three games through 10 on Friday, 12 on Saturday, and I mean very efficient yesterday in two pitches. Got it done.

[Matt Abaticola]

Came in there and did a home

[Dan Bernstein]

run into the game fast as possible.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, Pencia pitched Thursday, he pitched on Saturday or then he pitched yesterday and threw 14 pitches. Why wasn't he out there for the 10th? He wasn't using back to back games. He had Friday off, he had Saturday off. And he goes out there for the ninth and throws 14 pitches. Why, why not, why not try him for a six out save? I, I didn't understand at all. And you have Rollson going three days in a row and you know, and I, I, I was up in, I was in Walworth, Wisconsin for a baseball tournament. So I couldn't get the Cubs broadcast. I couldn't. You can't get the White Sox regular radio broadcast anywhere in the state of Illinois, which is unfortunate for their fans. So I'm listening on the app and I'm way behind on the app. And I'm listening to Len and dj, and they made a great point because, you know, they say Rollinson's on the mound, he's coming out there. And I'm like, why is he pitching again? And then Len was like, this is something that's going to be an advantage for the White Sox. They've seen him the last two days now, and here he comes out, and you execute a perfect bunt, and then you get a home run from a guy, you wouldn't expect it. So things just bounced the White Sox way, and it went really well. I want to know why Rollison was out there for three days in a row. I, I want to understand that. When, when your closer hadn't pitched since Thursday and through 14 pitches in the ninth, why couldn't he go out there for more pitches in the 10th inning? That's what I want to know.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think this is speculation in my own head, but it's, it's very rare where Palencia has gone out there for two innings and.

[Cody Delmendo]

Okay, but if you're, if you're looking ahead to this Milwaukee series, that's. Get the three outs that are in front of you. You have the lead. Get the three outs in front of you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, I, you, you're making a great argument here. I, I, you're, you're actually kind of shifting me to your side a little bit. But just from Craig Council perspective, you know, just thinking about how Palency was on the IL just a few weeks ago, trying to maintain that because of the injuries, and I, again, I think that he's, he, he doesn't pitch two innings very often. I, I don't remember the last time he did. So that would be my guess to why. But why Rollson's getting in there three straight, three straight days, I don't know. But Milner goes out there, it feels like almost every day, too. But.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, the bigger problem, the bigger problem is you have a massive hole in your high leverage bullpen. If Phil Mayton's bad, and, and so far he looks bad. You did the phantom DL and you said, well, why is Phil Mayton bad? Oh, his knee hurts. Okay, well, let's get his knee better. Well, his knee is all better. And it was starting a kinetic chain issue that made all his pitching bad. And now what's the problem? Is his knee hurting again? What is causing a barrel rate of 16.7%?

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, Dan, that's a, it's a great number to bring up, and it's a great question to ask about Maytown. And there's. I have two two thoughts on Phil Made Times. We've talked about him so much on this podcast so far this year. And Cody, you brought up the fact of what they brought him in, what they're paying him for, that doesn't mean a thing. $7 million shouldn't keep you from throwing a guy back out there. You can eat $7 million tomorrow and get rid of this guy. If you think he's garbage, that should not be the reason why they keep putting him out there. Listen, in the month of May, he's gone seven and a third innings, seven hits, five earned runs, nine Ks, two walks. He's given up two home runs to allow five earned runs against Atlanta, in Atlanta, against the White Sox at US Cellular or the rate or guaranteed or Kaminsky, whatever it is. So yeah, I mean those are two high powered offenses that he gave up two home runs to. Now I, I know, I mean you can, you can shrug your shoulders all you want. I get it. And his ERA in May is over six. He's 61 4. He's pitched eight games. He's had three holds. And in those games that he's pitched, The Cubs are 5 and 3. He's been, he's been good. He's been very good six times out and had two bad outings against two of the better offenses in baseball. I'm not ready to say that he's bad.

[Matt Abaticola]

He sucks.

[Cody Delmendo]

You can't use him. It was just unfortunate that in two of his last three outings he's given up big home runs that led to losses.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, very unfortunate the giving up home runs lead to losses.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, but that happens. That happens. And out of, out of eight outings this month, in the month of May, he said two bad outings, you don't want any, but that's going to happen. And it's not like it was like, it's not like it happened against, you know, a shitty last place team. These are two high powered offenses on their, at their ballpark.

[Matt Abaticola]

But if you're talking about somebody you brought in to win playoff games, I

[Cody Delmendo]

know, I get it.

[Matt Abaticola]

You brought this guy. You're going to be facing all kinds of. I'm not going to use the excuse of these offenses. Execute your pitches and I get both

[Cody Delmendo]

sides of it, man. I do, I really do.

[Matt Abaticola]

The exit velocity against him has spiked to a career high. The exit velocity against on average at the moment, small sample or whatever is a career high. He, he is getting hit hard.

[Cody Delmendo]

And here's the thing. If, then, if he if he can't do it and if you made a mistake on the guy, eat the money and get him out. It's $7 million this year. What's the total contract, Cody? Do you know? Top of your head. Two years? 14.

[Dan Bernstein]

So 7 million next year.

[Matt Abaticola]

Eat it.

[Cody Delmendo]

Eat it. That's nothing. That is absolutely nothing in Major League baseball today. Yeah, well, he's good enough. Then eat it somewhere.

[Matt Abaticola]

And this year he's cost you 2.2 million in value. With an underwater war of negative point. You're already paying more than you're paying.

[Cody Delmendo]

Right. And if you can't do it, then fine. That can't be the reason why the Cubs keep throwing a guy out there if they believe he can't do the job.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm not writing him off completely. I'm just saying you, like you said, Maddie, you've got to be ruthless in your decision making here. And when it comes to formulating your plan for when you're going to start adding arms, when you're going to start looking for help, you. You can't be blind to issues that you, that you have right now. And they do have issues.

[Dan Bernstein]

So for me, I agree with what we're saying about Phil Maton. Even though there are some things about him that I, that give me some optimism. Like his K rate is at 28, which is good for a reliever. His ground ball rate is over 50%. He gets good extension. But his, you know, then you look at the negative and he's walking almost. He's walking almost 9% of the batteries he's faced and damage and average exit velocity against him and expected. Erra is at 5.35. So to bring it back around for me, when I look at the Cubs bullpen right now, I think he would be a much better asset if you had some high velocity in there that's outside of Daniel Palencia. And you're missing Hunter Harvey, who you brought in to to be one of those types of guys. I know you're missing Ben Brown now

[Cody Delmendo]

too, because he's in your rotation.

[Matt Abaticola]

Sure.

[Dan Bernstein]

Even though he probably wouldn't be using him in high leverage spots. But I. You can. All things considered, there could have been a scenario where that happened. Right? Yep. Riley Martin was a guy who could, who could throw hard a little bit. For you who's been on the injured list. Right. Like or currently is on the injured list. Caleb Dilbar doesn't throw 100, but he, he hits 95. Okay. And he was obviously very serviceable for you for over a season. Or for last season and through this season to. Before he got hurt. So you're.

[Cody Delmendo]

You're miss.

[Dan Bernstein]

To me, those. Those are just three names right there where we wouldn't be talking about a Ryan Rollson. And I don't think Phil Mayton would have been in that inning. You know, I think Phil Mayton, if. If Theo Bar and Hunter and Hunter Harvey were healthy to go with Palencia, Maton would be. He would be used in the eighth inning at certain. Certain times probably as, like the quote, unquote, setup man. But he also would be used in fifth, sixth, seventh inning, given matchups and stuff like that. Right now, Craig Counsel is in a. In a. Is looking at this bullpen, and he's just like, okay, who do we use?

[Matt Abaticola]

Like.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like you guys say, spinning the wheel of like, who to use?

[Matt Abaticola]

And I. I know exactly how he feel. If he were listening to this right now, he would immediately sit down and say, okay, what would you prefer I do?

[Cody Delmendo]

Right, Because I gave you one thing there.

[Matt Abaticola]

You gave him one thing. Yes, but that is always the correct question. It's like, or whom or who tomorrow, then. Or whom yesterday, then he's always bound by the moment, and he's gonna say, well, I. I didn't have him, him or him.

[Cody Delmendo]

And I'm only gonna have.

[Matt Abaticola]

I gotta check that. You're like, I've got a limitation on this guy because he's coming back and there's too many in this guy. But you're. I think the point that you're making about Ben Brown being pulled out of that right now and Meitan being less reliable, that he's. He's got no good choices at the moment other than trusting Palencia for the last three outs.

[Cody Delmendo]

Right? And then, you know, I'll follow that up, too, because then if Palencia goes out there and he does the same thing that Rollison did yesterday, people are saying, well, why is he going back out there for a second inning? So I. I get it. It's an impossible situation. I mean, the Cubs realize, they understand where they're at so much so that they just signed Liam Hendricks last week. I mean, that. That's where they're at. So I get it. And it's a difficult and a tough situation. I just, you know, with me time, like I said, if it gets to a point where they say, all right, this guy can't do it, the cup, because the Chicago Cubs cannot be bound by $14 million, period. It's just that simple. I know we all said that earlier in this. In the season, but we got to take that off the table. That can't be the reason why. You know, if there's something to fix, fix it. If he's not healthy, get him healthy. But you can't keep doing it because, oh, man, we spent 14 million on this guy. Who cares? Who cares? You can that out tomorrow. It's fine.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I, you know, I would just add that it. Because it is May 18 and the state of the bullpen, like, I, I just don't see them like, cutting ties at all this year. If a bunch of guys come back and they're healthy and he continues to suck into August, then sure, I could see it, but I just don't see it anytime soon.

[Cody Delmendo]

No, you're probably right, Cody, but I'm just saying I'm making the point because we made the argument earlier in the year that it's like, oh, it's $7 million. Who gives it? I mean, $7 million is nothing. So that, that can't be the reason why. But you're, you're probably right. I, you know, I agree with you on it. And I'm also more. A little more defending Maytime than going after him because he has had a good month and he had two bad innings against two good teams. And that's no excuse. Dan, I hear you there, but I mean, that's a, That's a tough situation to be in. So a little excuse. Yeah, okay, fine. You're right. I'm. I think, I think, I think it's more to. To argue with you than it is defend filmmaker.

[Matt Abaticola]

At least you admit it.

[Cody Delmendo]

I think that's really all it is.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, that's. Let's.

[Cody Delmendo]

Let's find a reason.

[Matt Abaticola]

I get it. See, at least, at least my son looks at me and he goes, I'm just rage baiting you to entertain myself.

[Cody Delmendo]

Well, I do that too.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I know you to end on me time. I still feel better about him and his future with the Cubs than I ever did with Hector Neris and Ryan Presley.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's fair.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Jesus.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yes, that.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think that's actually an important thing to say the way you said it, because for me, it's sort of been easy to make him the third piece. You know, that sort of satisfying third piece in the heart attack Hector, Ryan Stressley, and then come up and then come up with a nickname for another former Astro mid-30s guy. So I, I'm. You've convinced me. I'm gonna dial it back a little bit. But if it happens again and, and he goes out there and somebody launches another one to my. I'm gonna redouble my, my, my distaste.

[Cody Delmendo]

How about that real quick before I know Dan, you've got it. We got to talk about some windows as well, too.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, you better believe we do.

[Cody Delmendo]

I want to mention my guy, Babe Conforto in the month of May. Here's his line. 400, 500, 920. He's slugging 920 in the month of May. So he's at 25 at bats. I get it. He's had, let me see, the last six of the last seven games that he's played. He's been a starter. And The Cubs are 2 and 4 in those games. Now. It's not because of Babe Conforto. Not saying that always defenses cost them these games, but it's just he's doing all this offense. They're still losing games, which is unfortunate, but. And only 25 at bats. Not a whole lot of time in the 18 days of May here, but. 400, 500, 920, 14, 20 OPS for the season, he's at. 345. 456, 655, 1110.

[Matt Abaticola]

There is a stat. There's a stat in basketball that's incredibly rare. Okay, that is 400, 500, 900. And that is 3 point percentage, 2 point overall field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Like, you are a, you're a special shooter. I think Kyle Korver flirted with some of those numbers. Yeah, you're talking about like Steph Curry, if you can be a 400, 500, 900 in basketball, but to be one in baseball for this extended period of time, it's for a guy who was like, every metric, everything suggested done. And this was for all that we use the predictive, the predictive aspects of these numbers. Sometimes things happen that are on the tiniest slice of percentages in the outcome range. And this is one of those things.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah. If I would have said to you guys, hey, in the month of May, there's going to be a Cubs player that on May 18th is 400, 500, 920 in the month of May, Cody probably would have said Moises by Steros or Mike.

[Matt Abaticola]

I might have said Michael Bush.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, I would have said Suzuki. No one would have said Babe Conforto. But what a fun story. Like, it's, it's a great story for him. And you know what I, Craig Counsel is he's dialing up right? And using him at the right times to start to pinch hit. I mean, he Said pinch hit, walk offs. I mean, it's been unbelievable. So he's been, he's been locked in on using Michael Conforto. For the times that he uses him, it's been fun.

[Matt Abaticola]

If you need windows, you have to call Russ Armstrong. Russ owns Chicago Window Guys. He is Chicago Window Guys. And then when you call him, he'll come out to your house and you'll talk about windows. He'll say, what do you need? More importantly, what do you not need? He's not there to sell you anything you don't need. He's just there to make sure that you have the windows you want in the way that you want with as little hassle as possible. And I know because I've been through the process a couple of times now. We've done a couple of tranches of window replacements in my house and they're just so much better than what the original builders put in. Give him a call. 847-302-9171. Check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNowBeyond. And don't worry about all you're bombarded with window advertising. Every time you turn on a game, it's window, window, he'll match any price. Don't fall for some of these gimmicks. The buy one, get one free banana in the tailpipe and all that stuff that just let him explain why Windows cost what they do and what you're paying for and why you're paying for it. It's all his people that do the installations. You don't have to worry about any third party labor subcontracted randos in and around your house. Call Russ Armstrong, 847-302-9171 and you can check out all the nice things that have been said about his wonderful windows and [e-mail] all right, taking a look

[Cody Delmendo]

at the current Cubs players and their, their war. Who's leading the team right now with

[Matt Abaticola]

the 2.3 war, PCA, Nico or PCA?

[Cody Delmendo]

It is PCA. Correct. And then 1.9 would be Nico and 1.6 is happer. Ian Hap.

[Matt Abaticola]

Very good.

[Cody Delmendo]

Nicely done, gentlemen. One other starters question for you. I was looking at the five starters they currently have on their roster. Who in order. Give me your order, your ranking, I'll give you mine. Level of confidence. When you see that guy's name on the schedule, you say, all right, feel good about that and then it wanes as you go lower. In that order. Give me your order. Current cup starters, when you see them

[Dan Bernstein]

on the schedule right now, in this current.

[Cody Delmendo]

Right now, Right this.

[Dan Bernstein]

Today I go showeda number one as most confident. Ben Brown number two. Okay. And then. Oh, man.

[Matt Abaticola]

I. I wrote down Cabrera number three. I wrote down Shona Brown. Cabrera, Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I would go Cabrera 3, and then Colin Ray 4 and Tyone 5. As, like, as a confidence level.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah. Interesting. So. And this is going to shock you. So for me, right now, I feel the most confident, most excited when I see Ben Brown's name.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I. I mean, I love what

[Cody Delmendo]

Shot is doing, but, I mean, there is something about what Ben Brown has and what he can bring to the mound, which is. I never thought I would have been saying this on May 18, asking me, you know, earlier in the year. So for me, it's Brown shota. I have a tie at Cabrera and Tyone, and then Ray, for me, is last.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, Cabrera was a lot better against the Sox on Friday. Until the end. Yep, the end was disappointing, but throughout the start, he was a lot better. And I thought he rebounded from the start before against the Braves.

[Cody Delmendo]

Agreed. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

So maybe it's a baby step in the right direction because they need. They certainly need him to be better. Right. That.

[Matt Abaticola]

Just.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's just the facts.

[Cody Delmendo]

All right, well, let's look at the.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, so Ben. Ben Brown would be one.

[Cody Delmendo]

One for me. Yeah. One. It's Brown showdown. I. I love what showed is doing, but it just. It's the. The stuff that Ben Brown has and his potential is what excites me. And I see him get another start, it's like, all right, let's see what you got now, kid. I called it last time. I said, he's gonna give you no more than 65. I want to see how they slowly extend him out and see what he can do as he goes deeper and further. All right, what.

[Matt Abaticola]

What does it mean that Javier Assad is going down to be stretched out?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't think he's. I mean, maybe he is. Did they. Did the council say that he. That he's being optioned for that?

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, that. That's what I thought I saw.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. I. I think.

[Cody Delmendo]

I think you're right, Dan. I think. I think that's what. Yeah, that's.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's what I saw.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Cody Delmendo]

So, I mean, obviously it's one of those guys in the back end of this rotation. Are they. Are they. Will they move to that bullpen position? Are you gonna have six starters? I mean, what are you gonna do?

[Dan Bernstein]

They could go six starters, which would be an interesting decision. But you know, maybe Colin Ray and Tyone right now they're both in a bad rut. Ty own leads baseball and home runs allowed now after the Saturday start. You know, and there's a lot of good things about Tyone. He, he can, he, when he's not giving up the long ball, he can eat a lot of innings for you. He can be very efficient, gets out. Very veteran, good veteran starting pitcher at the back end of a rotation.

[Matt Abaticola]

This is what was said. By the way, this is from the AP report. Javier Assad was optioned to Triple A Iowa Sunday to stretch him out as a starting pitcher. They brought up left hander Ty. Is it Blatch or Black from AAA? Hunter Harvey's now in the 60 day injured list. And this is the quote from Council. If you kind of look at this right now, starting pitching where we're at, Matt still being a pretty good chunk of time away, making sure that should something else happen, we have somebody equipped. We're transitioning Ben to this role. But the shortness of his stints, that affects you. We don't want to get caught where we've got nobody else that's really stretched out in any kind of way. And the Cubs could, could get Caleb Field bar back as soon as today.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, well then again I didn't see that. So thank you for finding that.

[Matt Abaticola]

And they also claimed Christian Roa off waivers from Baltimore and option the right hander to Iowa. Roa is 27, he's Owen 1 with a 3.86 ERA and nine career major league games.

[Dan Bernstein]

Interesting. Okay, well then yeah, they're probably gonna keep Assad in Iowa for a bit here, I would guess and unless until there's an injury and because I think Ben Brown, like you said, Matt, he has impressed enough to stay in the rotation and he's got stuff that they need coming out of the rotation. And if you, if Shota keeps it up, you got a really, a really good one two punch with those two. And then hopefully Cabrera keeps improving off the last appearance. And then if, if Colin Ray and Jameson Town are your four or five starters, fine, like you can live with that. You need them to not give up as many homers. But it's, there are worse scenarios. You could be in the bottom of the rotation, but those first three, they got to be rolling for you to have a chance to win series. So yeah, no, it makes sense that Assad's in Iowa now because I was actually kind of confused about it.

[Matt Abaticola]

So.

[Cody Delmendo]

The Cubs start their series with Milwaukee tonight three Night games the next three evenings here against against the brewers at Wrigley Field. Tonight it is Brandon Sprout Sproat. Sprout. Sprout bro. Sproat. He'll take on Shota imanaga sproat. At eight games he's one and two with a.575 ERA. His whiff rate K rate right around league average. His chase rate is very low. His fastball velocity though is in the 83rd percentile of major League Baseball. His K rate is down. His walk rate is down this year as well too. Not not a whole ton of information. I think he only made two starts last year for the Mets before becoming part of that Freddie Peralta trade for the brewers and the Mets. He's gotten two in the first and fourth innings. Those seems like numbers that have so you can get to him early. Would love to see the Cubs jump up early and get something started against against the brewers here going on both sides of the of the plate have gotten to him. Left handed right hander. No no real advantage either way. He strikes out both but he's walked the left handers a lot more. So if the lefties can take advantage of that and maybe see some pitches wait for their pitch would again would love to see the Cubs get off to an early start in this game tonight.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah no I Sproat is a guy that he I don't think the stuff or anything is is like Quinn Priester. But Quinn Priester came over to Milwaukee last year from Pittsburgh. Now he was kind of like a guy who had kind of failed and they fixed him. Sprout was one of the Mets I think top tier pitching prospects. So it is a different scenario but for the Mets to give up on a guy for for one year. Freddie Peralta was interesting to me. So the reason I view it similar to Quinn Priester is because it feels like the Mets just kind of gave up on him to go get a veteran who has one year right now it looks like a loss of a trade considering they could move Peralta before the deadline. But I just I I know the numbers aren't exactly great for Spur right now but I'm just so used to the brewers doing this with guys and this guy is a higher tier prospect than Quinn Priester was last year. So if they if it sounds like they need to score early and I against against Milwaukee and luckily the wind's blowing out according to the Wrigley Winds app. So 11 miles per hour Gus up to 25 miles per hour so need.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, let's do it. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

You score some runs against him. Early show to be. Despite the fact that, you know, we know he's a fly ball pitcher, he leads baseball and whiff rate and that's got to continue tonight. They desperately need Shota to like just be a stopper. They desperately need show to be a stopper tonight.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, then don't walk anybody. You better play great defense because you better limit yourself to solo home runs. There's going to be some, they're going to hit some solo homers, but that's all they can be. You cannot be walking guys or allowing anybody on base who you haven't done everything in your power to keep them off of base because things could get real ugly if you're getting crooked number home runs.

[Cody Delmendo]

So we're very early into the season, the Cubs at 29 and 18. This arguably the most important series of the season so far. The Cubs with a game and a half lead on Milwaukee who sits at 26 and 18. Also a game and a half lead on St. Louis who's 27 and 19. The Cardinals are off today. They open A series, a three game series tomorrow in St. Louis against the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates. So Cubs at 29 and 18, brewers 2618 and St. Louis 27 and 19. 6. 41st pitch tonight at Wrigley Field for Shota Imanaga.

[Matt Abaticola]

Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because I'm not on DBU and I know you're going to talk about it a lot. I just gotta say that I will. PCA becoming like this. Like he's just so hated by all the Cubs rivals. I love every bit of it. I love every bit of it. And it kind of reminds me of like PCA is a way better like player than, than this guy. But it reminds me a lot of like Joe Kim Noah in a way. Like he's just the guy that if he's on your team, you absolutely love him and if he's not on your team, you absolutely hate him.

[Matt Abaticola]

So it's an interesting name. I

[Dan Bernstein]

way better athlete, player than Jokim Noah was for the Bulls. But no, I don't.

[Matt Abaticola]

Hey, hey, easy.

[Cody Delmendo]

I mean, I love Joe. He was a very good player. It's a hard, it's, it's a hard comparison. But PC is the best defensive player in the game of baseball. Jokim Noah was never the best anything in.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was defensive player of the year.

[Cody Delmendo]

Ah, you're right, you're right, you're right. I think we can, I can make

[Dan Bernstein]

a good argument by the end of his career will have had better Chicago team experience in terms of success, individuals, I mean.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, joking. No, you're right. Got defensive player of the year votes a lot of years. And he was in 2013-14 Defensive Player of the Year and it was fourth and MVP voting, two time All Star.

[Cody Delmendo]

You're right. You're right. All right.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm not, I'm not even trying to take anything away from joking, Noah. The point is, is that they're both the same type of guy that if he's on your team, you love him and if he's not on your team, you absolutely hate him.

[Cody Delmendo]

And the PC is less weird though, too.

[Matt Abaticola]

I. I got a different comp for him. I got a different kind.

[Cody Delmendo]

Did you, did you see that their, their dinner party they had over the

[Dan Bernstein]

weekend with Caleb and Bezelas? Yeah.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah. The three of them went out for dinner. It looked like they were at some pizza place too. So.

[Matt Abaticola]

Good. Until it's the superstars or whatever it is with Gretzky and Bo Jackson and,

[Cody Delmendo]

you know, they go.

[Matt Abaticola]

They do their things with their superpowers. He. I think there's a little bit. We even had somebody in this particular rivalry who's this polarizing since Sammy, and there is like, there's a big difference. We're talking about it on DBU today. There's like, there's a critical difference between them, but because PCA doesn't mind it, he doesn't mind being.

[Cody Delmendo]

He actually enjoys it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I think he thrives off it.

[Matt Abaticola]

So we'll, you know, we'll see. But he's. He's got to get better offensively to make this work.

[Dan Bernstein]

Sure. Absolutely did hit a homer on Saturday, even though it really didn't mean anything at all. But.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, and he enjoyed it an awful lot for a home run that didn't mean anything.

[Cody Delmendo]

Yeah, good for him.

[Dan Bernstein]

But in his May numbers, again, I think he. He's been heating up in May. We'll see where he's at at the end of the month. But again, I just. The. Anyone who is tired of his antics, if you're a Cubs fan, you're tired of his, if you want to call them antics, like, I, I just don't know Girardi here.

[Matt Abaticola]

He has. He has.

[Dan Bernstein]

Understand those. Anyone who would be upset with pca, if you're a Cubs fan, based off the event, fans are upset with pca.

[Matt Abaticola]

What, Cub fans are mad at him?

[Dan Bernstein]

I. I don't know. I'm just saying if you are, you know, like, if you're tired of, you know, whatever, you know, because he, he does show a lot of emotion, a lot. I know a lot of fans get mad last year whenever he would throw the helmet, throw the bat after striking out and stuff. He doesn't do that a lot this year. And. And I actually appreciate it because it shows a more growth, more maturity. But I do like hearing him chirping with some girl. Having an engagement party out in. Wherever in right center field at the White Sox Cubs game yesterday. I do like that, especially when she starts it.

[Matt Abaticola]

So was that a bachelorette party?

[Dan Bernstein]

It was engaged engagement party, according to her. That's what she said on Twitter.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. That's a. That's a decision.

[Cody Delmendo]

The bullpen bar at.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's a decision.

[Cody Delmendo]

So, hey, congratulations. The White Sox taking the series over the Cubs, who are now two games over.500 and still the negative run differential. And enjoy that and keep chasing those guardians. Nice win there, south side.

[Matt Abaticola]

You can help yourself.

[Cody Delmendo]

I just gave them flowers.

[Matt Abaticola]

You cannot help.

[Cody Delmendo]

I just gave them.

[Matt Abaticola]

Along with Maddie and Cody, I'm Dan Bernstein, and this has been anything right off the Ivy, a Chicago Cubs podcast brought to you by Russ Armstrong in Chicago. Window guys. 847-302-9171 chicagowindowguys.com and this is Three One Two Sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

Off the Ivy, a Chicago Cubs podcast with Dan Bernstein, Matt Abaticola and Cody Delmendo on 312 Sports. Everybody talked about it since I first moved to Oregon.

[Matt Abaticola]

The big one.

[Cody Delmendo]

The earthquake that trashed the whole West Coast.

[Dan Bernstein]

Total destruction.

[Matt Abaticola]

Officially calling it the largest natural disaster in American history. I just didn't know what would help me next.

[Cody Delmendo]

So I took it all.

[Dan Bernstein]

Even the gun.

[Matt Abaticola]

It was time Cello see why American Afterlife is the number one fiction and drama podcast in America. Presented by pair of thieves. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite shows available now.