← Dan Bernstein Unfiltered
Dan Bernstein Unfiltered
OFF THE IVY: Chicago Cubs WIN series in San Diego, enter May with one of the best records in baseball
00:33:21
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- [00:01]
Matt Abaticola
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
- [00:04]
Dan Bernstein
Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary.
- [00:19]
Matt Abaticola
Not available in all states. Everybody talked about it since I first moved to Oregon. The big one.
- [00:26]
Dan Bernstein
The earthquake that trashed the whole West Coast. Total destruction. Officially calling it the largest natural disaster in American history. I just didn't know what would help me next.
- [00:37]
Matt Abaticola
So I took it all. Even the gun.
- [00:40]
Dan Bernstein
It was time Cello American Afterlife presented by Pair of Thieves the number one fiction and drama podcast in America. Listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts available now.
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Matt Abaticola
Off the Ivy A Chicago Cubs podcast with Dan Bernstein, Matt Abaticoa and Cody Delmendo on 312 Sports
- [01:09]
Dan Bernstein
off the IBM 312 brought to you by Chicago Window Guys and Russ Armstrong, the owner who's actually gonna come to your home to give you the estimate and make sure that you are happy with your windows, which you will be when you call 847-302-9171 and check out his five star reviews at Chicago Window Guys.
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Cody Delmendo
The Cubs get a 54 win yesterday in San Diego. They take the series from the Padres. They go three and three on that West coast road trip. They've won two games in a row. They have won five series on the season. They've lost five series on the season. They're 19 and 12 and a half a game behind the Cincinnati Reds with an off day today. But once again the Cubs do take the series from the Padres. They win yesterday five to four in San Diego.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah, it was a really fun, exciting one yesterday. A little back and forth action, some drum, some sorry, some drama late and I would say Ben Brown saved the day like we all thought he would at some point in April in spring training. And when I say we I probably just mean me and my delusion. But actually happened PCA 22 run homer back to back days with a homer. Matt Shaw homer off a right handed reliever. One of the best relievers in the Padres bullpen, Jason Adam. Former Cub Jason Adam and he had a great game with Swanson sitting yesterday. I think those are the three guys who stood out to me outside of Jameson Tyon who, who who really stepped up on it in a day where the Cubs needed their starter to go deeper like those. Those four are the guys who stood out for me in this game.
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Dan Bernstein
You know what I liked about about Ben Brown specifically. And this is just the eye test. I, I haven't, you know, put this up against numbers and looked at spin rates and stuff. I like the way he uses the curveball underneath the zone where he can get that as a chase pitch rather than trying to loop that thing into the zone. If he's, if he keeps spinning that thing up there like that. He was. The swings and misses, he was getting on that were good against some good hitters. And the key with Ben Brown then is getting ahead in the count. You've got to set that pitch up and that is going to be by, by not these, you know, get me over fastballs and not, you know, 96 right there. But if he can come up with some sequencing and match the sequencing to the execution. That curveball that ends up low is nasty, but you got to earn the right to use it that way. And you can't just get out there hoping and you don't want to keep that thing from, from top to bottom into the zone. I want that thing starting out looking like a strike and falling like it did because that's nasty.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah.
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Cody Delmendo
Certainly the hero of the game yesterday. I mean, Corbin Martin comes in and he walks three and loads the bases and it's like, well, this is not the way that this was supposed to go. And then Brown. Yeah, Brown was spectacular. I mean, he really was. You know, you mentioned Jameson, tie down, who goes seven, which I just love seeing that from the starter. Another quality start for Jameson Tyone gives up a couple home runs which account for those three earned runs he did give up, but he was spectacular in 95 pitches yesterday. Matt Shaw with the three hits on the, on the day, a double and that home run, opposite field. Home run, wasn't it or no, no, he was. Was it wasn't opposite field, was it? But yeah, after a really rough day on, on Wednesday or. No, today is Thursday. On Tuesday, he went over four, had a tough day out in the field. He was spectacular yesterday. Really bounced back nicely. So that was great. Was great to see. And then of course, as you mentioned, pca, we'll see if this can get a little bit of a slugging thing going for, for PCA here moving forward.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah, to Dan's point about Ben Brown, they pointed out on the marquee post game yesterday, his usage with his new pitch, the sinker. He's throwing it around 42% of the time, which is actually more than his four seamer, and I think he's using that to set up the knuckle curve. As you're, as you were alluding to Dan and he's even throwing the change up a little bit, but it's still less than 5% of the time. So it's not a pitch that he loves to throw. It's not a pitch that he has a lot of confidence in. That is why last season for anyone who had any hope for him, it was always about he, about him adding another pitch that he was confident in so he could set up the knuckle curve. So to, for him to do, for this development for him is huge. And I still think deep down the Cubs believe he can be a starter. But right now they need him in the bullpen. And he has been spectacular the month of April and he saved the day. Of course he induced the ground ball and it was in the perfect spot right to Matt Shaw with his foot already on second base hit by Machado, a guy who I think pro, I think he could be a Hall of Famer one day. Like we're talking about a great hitter over the course of time. And he gets that big double play, comes out in the ninth inning, gets the first two outs and, and then Council brings Milner in to get the final, the final out. And yeah, that was, that was a really impressive performance by Ben Brown. And yeah, that to me is what kind of highlights the game the most. But obviously he's not in that position without PCA hitting the two run homer without Matt Shaw getting the insurance run. And Jameson Tyone, I mean he was, he went 4.4 and a third innings perfect before giving up the homer to, to get, to allow the first hit. Of course it went over the fence. But what impressed me the most about Tyone is that he gave up the two homers and this isn't like the fifth inning. And then he still came back out there and gave you two more clean innings. So he just kind of locked back in and you don't see that all the time. Especially in this era of baseball with starting pitching. Guys are really good early. Maybe they figure you out in the middle, delay back end of your start and, and then you're done. It's very, to me at least in this Cubs rotation, it's rare to see guys give up runs in the fourth, fifth inning time and then able to give you two more after that. So he, he really was a big part in yesterday's win and just good to see like it was a, a real team win. You got enough offense. Your bullpen outside of Corbin Martin showed up and, and closed it down. And Tyone, you know, again, for a four or five starter, like, he's. He's just been so valuable for this team since he got here. I mean, outside of the first three months of his Cubs tenure, he's been spectacular, really, for. For what they're paying him and for what his role is.
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Dan Bernstein
Yeah. I almost feel like the idea of numbering the starters already at this point in the season is kind of out the window. You know, who. Whoever's got the. Whoever has the ball the next game.
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Cody Delmendo
That's number one. Yeah.
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Dan Bernstein
Every day you've got number one guy for that day. It seems. It almost seems sort of quaint to start thinking about, well, look what you're getting out of your three or your four, man, you're going to be out of pitchers by October anyway. So for every out you can get, for every inning you can get, for every, you know, if you have a giant pile of outs that you're going to need between now and a parade, just keep getting as many as you can.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah, yeah. And I think with looking at some positives of where the situation is with this pitching and with the bullpen in particular, that could be something where if the bullpen is healthy right now and you don't have all these injuries you're dealing with, maybe Tyone doesn't go back out there and give you two more.
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Dan Bernstein
That's what we're saying about Cabrera two days ago.
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Cody Delmendo
About.
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Dan Bernstein
Right. Is a tiring starter, like, who's. Who is the best option to get the next couple hitters out.
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Cody Delmendo
Right. And so maybe this is going to influence the way Craig Council looks at his starters right now and says, hey, you know what? Maybe last year I would have pulled that guy an inning or two earlier. Now, let's. Let's see what. And this is going to boost their confidence and their ability to say, yeah, I can go a little deeper. I'm not saying it's going to. It's going to buck the trend of what baseball is right now or what the Cubs are going to be. But he might be forced right now to let guys go 2, 3, 4, 5, or maybe even 6 more outs than he normally would have, which I don't think is a terrible thing. If a guy knows I can go seven, it's not like they're creeping in the fourth inning, going to the fifth, going, all right, I'm getting done here. Let's see how they. They change the way they throw or what they throw, knowing they're coming out soon. If a guy says, I might have Two or three more innings left in me to go. I might, it might look different how they approach their batters.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah. Well. And what's interesting about Jameson Tyon is that his, he, he's gotten better. He's improved as a pitcher since adding that kick change up to his arsenal last year. And not saying that he's an acer or anything like that. I'm just saying that he, he has generated more swing and miss since adding that change up. And I, I think at his, at this stage in his career where he, you know, he's, he throws 94, sometimes 95, but mainly 93, 94 since, since adding that change up, it's kind of, I don't know, it's, it's been able to help extend his career as what we have grown to know him as. And it's, it's a, it's a testament to him and the Cubs pitching coaches who have helped him develop this. And it's, he's just, he just doesn't get enough credit from a lot of fans, in my opinion. And he just, he finds a way to keep you in the game. And yeah, he's going to give up the long ball because he throws 93, 94 instead of 97. But man, he, he limits baserunners pretty well and he, he just, he eats innings for you, even on days where he doesn't necessarily have it. I think about that start against the Pirates where he gave up the six runs but the wind conditions were terrible that day. He gave up a bunch of runs early, ends up going six strikes out 10. Cubs come back to win that game because he was able to lock it in and eat some innings for them. Obviously the offense was able to get going that day. But yeah, it's a, it, it's, it's. He's a guy that I just think has been more valuable than I ever thought he would be. If you go back three and a
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Cody Delmendo
half years ago, one other guy to mention from yesterday's game is Alex Bregman who had a hit and walked twice. So he's on base three times that go back. That goes back to coming in, into Tuesday's game to pinch hit twice and get two hit, pinch it and then get two at bats. So that's five consecutive at bats he's been on base. So let's, you know, let's see if that streak continues for him as he, you know, maybe that that toe is feeling better and he's getting back to it. And you know, another day off today, you can maybe Start adding, adding some more slugging as well, too.
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Matt Abaticola
I believe Hap is on a 21 game on this street, correct? Yes. Yeah. And he won one for four yesterday with a walk, two strikeouts. But yeah, that's like third or fourth
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Cody Delmendo
best right now in active streaks in baseball or top. Top five at least. Yeah.
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Dan Bernstein
You know, you mentioned Bregman and Bregman is the fact that he has been noticeable in his lack of swinging because it's just sort of. It's what he does is that he takes a ton of pitches inside the zone, outside the zone. He just sees a lot of pitches. And we read the Joshi and analysis of just sort of putting a little warning on there and saying, well, wait a second, is this a sign of trying to walk more? Is this a sign of imminent collapse of an aging player? And that's an open item right now. We don't know. It was just sort of, hey, this is incomplete data. But let's look at what he's doing. And it turns out all the Cubs are doing it. The Cubs, according to Ken Rosenthal, are last in swing rate inside the zone and third from last in overall swing percentage. Now, Ken Rosenthal says it's not simply the Alex Bregman effect, but this remains something to watch. You know, Craig Council was a little defensive about it. He said, well, we haven't had a meeting and said swing less. Said if there's one guy that trumpets swing less, it's Bregman. Are guys hearing it? I don't know if I have a good answer. So that's Greg Counsel. And then there's all kinds of data here about everybody's swing rate within the zone being down. Nico Horner said it's a skill set. It's a bonus. But it can limit me if it's weak contact in good outs to hit. I've known this for a long time. I know hitting the ball hard off the ground is better. He said, I don't have that down yet, but I have a better idea of pitches I hit well. And it's really interesting to think about, as we discussed yesterday with pca. But when and where and how and what it does is it raises the stakes when they do swing. If you're going to swing less, you got to make it matter more when you do. However we want to say it, don't miss your pitch.
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Matt Abaticola
Don't.
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Dan Bernstein
Don't find that pitch and work to get that pitch and then hit it on the ground.
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Matt Abaticola
I believe it. I believe it's mentioned in that article that the swing rates would Actually be lower if Moises by Steros wasn't like there because he's been swinging at the first pitch and producing, you know. Yes. So it is, it is interesting. And, and there's stuff about Nico Horner. I think it's all. It mentions that his ground ball rate is down 10% to start the year. And I'm not surprised by that. He's hit a lot more fly balls, a lot more line drives obviously. And yeah, be curious to see where we're at a month from now. I don't really know how much to take away from it, but it's. Yeah, you're right. Does raise the stakes. You gotta you when you do swing, you got to make it count.
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Cody Delmendo
Well, also add PCA into that Moises by Esteros category of swinging early. So yeah, those two guys probably influenced that just a little bit. One real quick thing I want to. I want to point out, Dan, we did this on a DBU show. I didn't do it with. With Cody. I think the Cubs were in a bad spot, which I didn't want to share this with him. Look at Baseball Reference.
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Dan Bernstein
I think he can handle it. It's. It's okay.
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Cody Delmendo
I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. He was. He was in a delicate spot. When the season.
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Matt Abaticola
Is it when they were seven and nine?
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Cody Delmendo
Yes, it was right around there. Yeah. Matter of fact, that was when they were 7 and 9. It was 16 games in. So now that they're 31 games in, we're going to take a look at this because that's approximately 20 of the season is in Cody. When the. When The Cubs were. Were 10 into the season, 16 games in, they were the last team to make the playoffs in the National League. According to Baseball Reference. They do a simulation of 25, 000 seasons. Okay. They had the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Phillies, all as division winners with the Padres, the Pirates and the Cubs as wild card teams. The Cubs being the last team in. Rangers, Yankees, Guardians, Mariners, Red Sox, Blue Jays, where the American League teams now we jump up and we're at 31 games in. They also had the Cubs after 16 games winning 83 games. That was the average. Now after 31 games, the Cubs average. Their win for the season is 89 wins. So they jumped up six games. They have the playoff teams for the National League as the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Braves, the Padres, the Cubs as the second wild card team in and the Reds being the final team in American League. Yankees, Rangers, Guardians, A's, Mariners, Blue Jays, the Cubs have the second or the third. The third most significant change over these last 16 games. An increase of 28.4 chance of making the postseason. The Braves were the greatest increase at 54.7 because of the Phillies downfall. The Phillies with the most significant change of a 73.5% chance to not make the playoffs. So the biggest drop of any team in Major League Baseball are the. Are the Phillies. So they have the Cubs move up a spot. They. They still have the brewers winning the division. And the brewers chance of making the postseason has gone from 96 to 92%. But still the favorite to win the division.
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Matt Abaticola
That's so annoying. Like, this is like the brewers are in last right now, I believe.
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Cody Delmendo
I think they're. I think they're. I think they're one ahead of the somebody's.
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Dan Bernstein
They're 15 and 14. And if it makes you feel any
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Cody Delmendo
better, are they ahead of the Pirates, Dan?
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Dan Bernstein
Well, the Pirates are. Yeah. Pirates are 16 and 15. So it's just percentage points there. But if you want to look at third order record, which is a way of interpreting runs scored versus runs allowed, based on the quality of your competition,
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Cody Delmendo
I'm going to say the Reds are definitely not in first place.
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Dan Bernstein
The Reds are in the bottom of the division in that regard. And because they have given up more runs than they have scored.
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Cody Delmendo
Or are they negative now because they were plus one yesterday?
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Dan Bernstein
Well, they're. They're allowed 132. They've scored one. 27.
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Cody Delmendo
Oh, wow. Okay.
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Dan Bernstein
Yeah, wow is right. The Cubs are the fourth best team in baseball according to third order record. the moment, the Dodgers would have a record of 22 and 9. The Braves would be at 20 and 11, the Yankees at 20 and 11, and the Cubs also at 20 and 11, separated by mere percentage points.
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Cody Delmendo
Okay.
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Matt Abaticola
Reds are minus 5 and run differential.
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Dan Bernstein
Yes. The Reds have a record of 13 and 17 according to third order record, which is. If not necessarily. This. I need to say this over. This is Clay Davenport's third order record. It doesn't tell you who's going to win the World Series, but it does a really good job of telling you who's good and who's bad.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah. Because you have to look at the red schedule and see what it is. They're 10 and three on the road right now in this season.
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Matt Abaticola
The Rockies this weekend, I believe.
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Cody Delmendo
Okay.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah. Well, anyway, I mean, related to all of this, you know, those playoff odds, I. Is as annoying as it is that they still have the brewers winning the division. I. I'm not, I'm not surprised by this because they've won the division like last three, four years and you know, they do, they do it with a team that you just, they, they always underrate them beginning of the year and then they go on 14 game winning streaks that don't make any sense and they bunt you to death and it, it's annoying. But. Yeah, no, I'm. What I'm. What I'm curious about is who in this division is going to fall off first? Because right now this division is the best in Major league baseball. Everyone's above.500. And I thought for a while maybe the Cardinals were going to be that first team to fall off a little bit. But they've won three straight. They're 17 and 13. Third place. You know, we just talk about Milwaukee, Pittsburgh. Yeah. Good enough starting pitching and they've improved their offense this year. How long will that last? I don't know.
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Dan Bernstein
Oh, it's the Reds. The Reds can't sustain this.
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Matt Abaticola
Right.
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Dan Bernstein
And obviously they're exceptionally well managed. And I do think that that is a way of looking at some of the imbalances in these numbers that they have. One of, if not the best manager in baseball. And you can only do so much with that that ultimately those runs scored and runs allowed will define how good Jar.
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I mean, that, that's fair to say. I, I could see them falling off, but the. Do. Are we talking about a fall off that, you know, has them near the bottom of the division? I, I don't know about that.
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Dan Bernstein
But I do expect the Cardinals then would be your next choice, right?
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah, probably just because they're so young and, and I still think the best thing for them is to be selling in July.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah, I, I think when it comes down to it, it's going to be the, the Cubs and Brewers will be the top two and then there's going to be a gap and then it'll be the other three teams. And that's just the way it should be this year. And I think that it plays out that way with the, the Reds eventually bottoming out in this division. You know, I was, I, I caught some White Sox baseball yesterday, Dan. I was inspired to watch because of you and they had a, a 10
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Dan Bernstein
because of Drew Romo.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah, you got me inspired to watch and then I wanted to watch the other guy hit home runs and I had no idea how you talk about how good of a division is the NL Central. The White Sox are a game and a half out of first place at 14 and 17.
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Dan Bernstein
Yeah.
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Matt Abaticola
Cleveland is. Leads the division at 516. 16. The Pirates would be leading that division.
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Cody Delmendo
That's something. And then, yeah, with the Tigers in second place right now at 15 and 16, the White Sox at 14 and 17. And I don't know if you guys saw what happened to Javi Baez got carted off the other night. I did.
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Matt Abaticola
I did.
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Cody Delmendo
Sliding in the first base and his ankle got caught and it just. It did not look good at all.
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Dan Bernstein
That looked like the Robin Ventura injury.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah, it was bad. But yeah, I was inspired to watch a little. Just a tiny bit of that yesterday to see that. That 10th inning win. But yeah, I mean, right now, this division is just. They're playing really good baseball. I don't know if it's a matter of the competition. You're playing as a. As it might appear that way for The Cincinnati Reds, 10 and 3 on the road, but, you know, it's all gonna. It's all gonna balance out. And I think it comes down to the Cubs and the brewers chasing for this division title once again. So hopefully you don't feel too bad about it, but the Cubs actually have improved over the last 30 days. In the Baseball Reference playoff odds. They did have them, by the way, finishing their. Their best possibility of 99 wins with the brewers at their best possibility of 103 wins. Again, these are 25, 000 season similar. The simulation they go through.
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Matt Abaticola
Through. Yeah, well, if we got that, that would be. That would be a really fun yet also annoying season to. To watch.
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Cody Delmendo
What if the brewers went 103 and the Cubs went 99?
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Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I, I just, I'm interested. You can. We can talk about this a little bit. Like, I, I think that like we. The. The Cubs went and paid Craig Council 8. $40 million, $8 million a year to come in here and win the division. And as much as like making the playoffs, getting in it like that is a.
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Cody Delmendo
It's all that matters.
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Matt Abaticola
Like, you need to do it. You just need to get in. It's all. I still go back to thinking Game 5 against the brewers last year would have been at Wrigley if you win the division. And so it just to me, this year, you got to win the division because if you're in that situation again, I want to be a beautiful, historic Wrigley Field with 40,000 and a night game. And, and like that crowd behind the Cubs instead of having to go up to Milwaukee with their roof that's always leaking that they brag about. And, and just like Deal with the misery of how that goes. And game five was brutal last year, so.
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Cody Delmendo
Yeah, it was. And Cody, and you're not wrong about that. And yeah, you know, the whole. The whole point is the base is get into the playoffs. Get into the playoffs. That's what you have to do. But with the Cubs payroll and with the expectations and of course, with the hiring of Craig Counsel, the Cubs should be in the conversation of how do we get that. That one or two seed. All right, maybe we're not catching the Dodgers, but how do we get that two seed? How do we get a buy in that. In that. In that first round? And we're just sitting at home and resting a little bit and getting ready for whatever happens next.
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Dan Bernstein
It's not just council. It's not. I, I think it's one thing to put it all on council. Yeah, obviously that's true. But just look at this last off season with the Cabrera move and the Bregman move. Like, you didn't, you didn't get a third baseman heading into his 30s here who might be on the. Might be on the precipice of decline.
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Cody Delmendo
It's on Jed, too. You're right.
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Dan Bernstein
Yeah. You don't take that risk. And Jed deserves a lot of credit for putting this team together. And what's going on right now with the pitching depth, however they're finding it that we haven't mentioned Jed's name, but this is. If he has built this resilient a team that, that is on him and credit to him. But it's a lot more than just Counsel when it comes to. To how, how they're pot. Committed to this particular team.
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Matt Abaticola
Yes.
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Dan Bernstein
They should win the division.
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Matt Abaticola
I completely agree with what you're saying. I'm just emphasizing that, like, the expectation here is very high. And, and they, they just simply to me, need to win the division. Or, or else we could find ourselves in another situation.
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Cody Delmendo
Yes.
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Matt Abaticola
Last year, again.
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Cody Delmendo
Well, Cody, I know why you bring it up. It is frustrating as a Cubs fan, you know, you bring in Craig Counsel, one of the better managers in base, happens. You continually lose to the team that he left, which is really frustrating. It just makes. It makes it worse.
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Matt Abaticola
And I like Pat Murphy, too.
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Dan Bernstein
I know he's awesome.
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Cody Delmendo
See, that. That's. That's another wrinkle that adds to the whole situation. If he was unlikable or you hated him or he was a bad manager that just fell into luck, it would be, like, easier to look at, but it makes it more difficult tomorrow when we have a Little bit more time. Since there's an off day today, I want to talk about the pitching depth and pitching injuries, not just with the Cubs, but overall in baseball. You know, the season starts with 4374 outs needed. In the regular season. The Cubs have gotten 837 out so far. So we're 3537 outs to go. How are those outs going to come? And we talk about that.
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Dan Bernstein
This is my big pile of outs.
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Cody Delmendo
Yes.
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Dan Bernstein
You actually defined it. Thank you.
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Cody Delmendo
I defined it for.
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Matt Abaticola
Yes.
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Cody Delmendo
So that's like. So The Cubs have 3,500 outs. Outs to get still. Where are those outs going to come? Because then we're going to look at the pitchers that won't be here. We know that a guy like Porter Hodge and Kate Horton will not be getting us outs. We know Justin Steel, that Justin Steel, whatever projection you might have had for him, those outs have now been limited. So there are extra outs to get now within those 3,500. So I want to break it down a little more. Not just the Cubs injuries, but also pitching injuries within Major League Baseball. So we'll discuss that tomorrow with an off day today.
- [27:43]
Dan Bernstein
If you need Windows, Russ Armstrong is the person you're going to call because his factory is here in Chicago. He's here in Chicago. Everything's right here. You're not dealing with some giant national or international windows conglomerate that is just using a local front to make you feel like it's local. This is Chicago Window guys. And he can come over to your house and he can talk to you about Windows and make sure that you get the best product at the best price. It really is that simple. With everything you're hearing about these buy one, get one free things, just talk to Russ. And if you want to get other quotes from other places and say, well, Russ, this is what other places are promising me. He's going to go through everything with you and say, okay, well, that's a teaser. That's not real. You're going to end up paying more here. You're going to pay more for this. And he'll match any price that you're getting, and he's going to give you the best product. You're also importantly, when it comes to installation, when it comes to measuring, when it comes to people in and around your house, there's no randos. Everybody works for Russ. Everybody is part of his crew. So the same people that have been to my house multiple times are going to be the people who are going to be at your house and I can tell you from my experience that everything is on time. Everything is absolutely clean as a whistle, no issues. And Russ is checking in on you the whole time to make sure everything is going well. He, you know, it's, he uses his people. There's other places will pick up a van full of third party labor and they'll just subcontract it out for that day and you don't know who they are or what they do. Not the case with Chicago Window guys. So call him. Get your windows. Get good windows. Have Russ make them at his factory here, 847-302-9171 and check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNowGuys.com a little breaking
- [29:32]
Matt Abaticola
news if you want to call it. I just saw this come across the timeline from the MLB Players association communications Twitter account. Players Trust announced that Matthew Boyd as the first most valuable philanthropist honoree of 2026.
- [29:51]
Dan Bernstein
Most.
- [29:52]
Matt Abaticola
I don't know what any of this means, but philanthropist.
- [29:56]
Dan Bernstein
Wow.
- [29:57]
Matt Abaticola
Work in the community like off the field. So kind of a cool honor to, to get for, for, for him. So.
- [30:06]
Dan Bernstein
All right, good for him. Good for Matthew Boyd. Now we can just, you know, make sure that he is using that pitch count as efficiently as possible and getting all the swinging miss that he needs. Yeah.
- [30:16]
Cody Delmendo
Is he gonna throw more strikes with this now? Is that, is that what happens?
- [30:21]
Matt Abaticola
I feel pretty good about a bounce back going his next start. I do because he's pitched pretty well this year outside of his last start. So. And opening and that opening day.
- [30:30]
Cody Delmendo
Yeah. So I guess outside of those two. Yeah, it's all good.
- [30:33]
Matt Abaticola
Half his starts he's been pretty good.
- [30:35]
Dan Bernstein
Have you looked at all Cody or Matt? Have you guys looked at catcher ERA yet? Do we have enough to know who's doing the best job receiving? Because I have not looked yet. I'm interested to see just going forward. I wanted to put this out there because as ABS is changing framing value, I think the idea of how we value catchers is going forward as there's going to be more challenges and eventually we'll have my. I think we should push that button and just have ABS call everything. But I do think the way that we look at catchers and the way we understand catching value is in flux a little bit now. So I want to keep an eye on that. I want to keep an eye to see who's effective with whom behind the plate for the Cubs because that'll be something this season that is going to matter as we get into the fall.
- [31:24]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I'm, I'M not really sure. I am looking at Carson Kelly's baseball savant since you brought it up and his framing is actually like well below league average. He's 11th percentile. Blocks above average is at 48 percentile but his pop time is at 72. So that's why he's been able to throw out some runners. Interesting. I, I don't know. I, I view, I've always viewed Kelly as the better defensive option compared to Amaya. But Kelly's, if you look at his hitting value right now, it's all red on baseball savant, which is fun to see too, so.
- [32:03]
Cody Delmendo
Yes.
- [32:04]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, it's something I think.
- [32:06]
Dan Bernstein
Just keep an eye on it. Yeah, yeah, bookmark it. I just in general because I, I feel like my understanding of catcher's defensive value is, is floating a little bit right now because we don't know the effect of abs on how a catcher sets up and where they might be cheating and saying, look, I've, I've got to prepare myself to receive this in a way that makes it look like a strike and maybe they're not able to jump across to the other batter's box to stop one in the same way or you know, absorb a low pitch that a pitcher wants to throw. We're going to need a much larger sample. But for a team like the Cubs that is so rooted in the quality of their defense, I really want to make sure that we've got an accurate assessment of arguably the most important defensive position on the field outside of shortstop at center field.
- [32:58]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, that's fair.
- [33:01]
Cody Delmendo
One could go to on Dansby Swanson so that, that sore ass is just a day to day situation and he was, he's expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow. So that was good to hear, Good to hear that yesterday that it wasn't something serious.
- [33:15]
Matt Abaticola
I'm happy that like what I said about the luxury the Cubs have and, and, and Matt Shaw being able to step in because in years past they would just throw in, you know, an aging veteran who, you know, you just didn't know if he was going to give you anything. More often than not they, they were basically a zero in your lineup. Matt Shaw comes in yesterday, three hits and played a pretty solid second base. Sure. And, and so as long as there's no more injuries on the infield, you'll be good. And also Swanson probably be in the lineup on Friday like you said.
- [33:44]
Dan Bernstein
So.
- [33:44]
Cody Delmendo
Yeah.
- [33:45]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah.
- [33:46]
Dan Bernstein
All right, well that will do it for today's off the ivy here on 312 Sports. It has been brought to you by Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window Guys at 847-302-9171 and chicagowindow guys.com off the Ivy
- [34:05]
Cody Delmendo
A Chicago Cubs podcast with Dan Bernstein,
- [34:08]
Matt Abaticola
Matt Abaticola and Cody Delmendo on 312 Sports. A vacation rental should come with support, not surprises. That's why VRBO comes with a Verbocare guarantee and 24. 7 life support from real people. So if something goes sideways, VRBoCare can help. If the host cancels verbo care. If the listing says heated pool, but there's actually no pool to heat, Definitely a verbo care thing.
- [34:32]
Dan Bernstein
If my teenager starts calling me Leslie
- [34:34]
Matt Abaticola
instead of mom, that's a family thing. Leslie. That makes sense.
- [34:37]
Dan Bernstein
Sorry.
- [34:38]
Matt Abaticola
Book with support, not surprises. Verbo Care and 24. 7 Life Support. If you know you Verbo terms apply. See verbo.comtrust for details.