Monday Morning Cubs Show
A show every Monday morning about the Chicago Cubs from Carl and Mahoney.
Monday Morning Cubs Show
NLDS Game 2 Preview: Lineup Chess, Bullpen Math, and a Must-Win Night
One announcement turned a routine preview into a chess match: Milwaukee’s going with a lefty opener, Aaron Ashby, and that single move forces us to redraw the Cubs’ lineup from pitch one. We walk through the real implications of a lefty first inning in October—why Michael Busch can’t gift a guaranteed plate appearance to a tough southpaw, how two righties in the first three hitters can tilt early leverage, and what it means for the middle of the order once the bullpen carousel starts spinning. This isn’t theory; it’s about ring-fencing runs in a game that will likely be decided by inches.
We also take a clear-eyed look at Shota Imanaga’s assignment and the path to value on a night when Milwaukee punishes mistakes. The goal is modest and vital: four strong innings, strike one without living middle, and quick, honest decisions with traffic. Yesterday’s blowout did one favor—it preserved the bullpen—so the Cubs can play matchups aggressively if they claim even a thin early lead. Along the way, we talk through Milwaukee’s contact-first profile, the pressure of sequencing in a short series, and why a single lineup card can change the feel of the entire week.
There’s humor (we tried to make it a 35-minute show, again), but the analysis stays sharp: lineup architecture, bullpen timing, and the psychology of bouncing back to 1–1. If you care about the small edges that decide October, this breakdown gives you a map for tonight. Subscribe, drop a five-star review to keep the show rolling, and tell us your top three hitters against a lefty opener—who’s leading off and why?
Thanks for tuning in!
- Carl & Mahoney
And we're clear. Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans. Welcome back to the Monday Morning Cub Show. Today is, well, I guess it's Sunday, October 5th, but this is technically our Monday morning episode of the Monday Morning Cub Show. Getting ready here for a quick game two preview. It is Carl joined by Mahoney. It's always good to see you, my friend. Uh, glad to have you back.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, good to be back, Carl. Of course, for a Monday morning in addition. I wouldn't miss it. And that said, you know, feeling a little bit hung over, a little bit exhausted. But Carl, you know what's the beauty of doing these on Sunday night? We're gonna get well rest for tomorrow. We're gonna be rested.
SPEAKER_00:Do we have a cough button in studio? I still have a little COVID. You're talking about good rest. I'm over here. I'm telling you, the COVID. And I tried to battle through it a little bit. One day, obviously, two days, three days. You go through antibiotic routine. I tried a little bourbon. You said you're hungover. That that made it worse. That made the COVID worse. So, what you're hungover, what were you drinking? Seltzers? What were you? You were probably drinking fucking what black cherry white claws.
SPEAKER_01:It was a combination of THC, seltzers, winks, what have you, and with like probably a dozen pilsners throughout the day. Yeah, I was I was feeling myself because it was a big big sports day, but you know, I had to, you know, get that one out too, and the taste and the stink. And I exercised some of the demons, you know, listening to that episode yesterday. I feel like I'm a Hamish right now, right? You know, we're in this together. I'm a Hamish where I had to get it all out last night. And now the thing about it is we had an off day today. We can we can really get the stink out. We didn't have to watch the bears do anything embarrassing. It was very nice to just go through a Sunday, be clear-headed, and know that I'm gonna be well rested for an 808 p.m. start tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00:I cut the grass today, I power washed the house. We went to the pumpkin farm. I didn't pick out the pumpkins yet. We got a couple of hay bay bales of hay. You obviously understand Stirk Family Farm of Baloo's is coming up. Oh, yeah. Um, so just kind of laying the groundwork. Good call on the Hamish. Now, hey, that's a great character. Hamish is a great character. His dad is also a tremendous character. Braveheart in the top 20, solid for me, no movement. It's as strong as Dark Knight with me when I say top 20. It's an unmovable top 20 movie for me. Uh, that's one of my all-time favorite scenes. Hey, we have a big show we're gonna get to today, guys. Mahoney's back, been doing a lot of solo run work here, and it's good, just honestly, just down the stretch because I feel fresh, I feel tight. I've prepared all season. I've prepared all season to do this stuff. It's much easier to have Mahoney with me. We're gonna recap game one just enough so that we can talk about game two. There's something specific we have to talk about. If you listen, last episode went deep on the lineup strategy, and aha, the Brewers make a move today that I think is gonna change some stuff in the Cubs Clubhouse. And then obviously, we're gonna talk a little pitching, whatever else we forget. I do it every show, we start every show. We're gonna do a theme, but first, Mahoney, let's try and go 35 minutes. Not that I've ever even been close in ever, if you ever look it up.
SPEAKER_01:It's hilarious, though, and it's not a bit. And I saw you had opened that maybe a couple up like the preview episode on Friday, and I knew right away you're shooting yourself in the foot. You say 40 minutes, add another 20 to that, bab. At least every time you don't need to put yourself on a pitch clock at all, nor do you need to apologize for going long. It's all great. You know what I mean? Set the expectation. Hey, the show is gonna last a certain amount of time, and let's have it at that.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I want to be I want to be good to maniacs. I want to give them one of these days, we're gonna set the expectation. Promises made, promises delivered. Maybe today's the day. We'll just start with like a game one recap. Um, you know, obviously, kick in the stomach. I do think the boys bounce back based on the fact that we got our asses kicked so hard. What's your number one takeaway from losing as bad as we did coming into game two?
SPEAKER_01:Really, knowing it was essentially over, you know, before we could even get started, it was ripping the band-aid off. So that is my biggest takeaway. Not burning the bullpen, saving some arms. We will be rested going into game two, and I think that that the way we got our asses kicked, it did kind of work in our favor.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a little annoyed. I still don't know why we started Matt Boyd, and then I spent a lot of time talking about it, slept on it, researched it. I got nothing. I got nothing. So, just the only reason that makes me nervous is if we're stupid enough to make that decision. What gives me the right to sit here and say maybe we're good enough to win a World Series? If we're that dumb, we should be they should be at home fucking hand making Halloween costumes for junior instead of competing on the big stage.
SPEAKER_01:No, I I understand, I get it, you know, and you're not gonna get a whole lot out of Craig postgame. He essentially said decisions were made, that was the decision, and we support that decision. So you're not gonna get anything from there, you know. Um I feel very much strongly that he should not have been pitching. I feel like that we had a lot of other options, you know. The whole thing, I'm like, oh, 58, you know, he had 58 pitches in the outing a few days back, and he still pitched more than he has, you know, in the past four years combined, essentially. Yeah. With the amount of innings that this guy put in. So it's not like this is a conditioned starter who's been grinding, you know, 20 games per season, and you know what he's got that he's gonna have something left in the tank. If anything, Matthew Boyd was probably the biggest question mark on a short rest scenario. So that I I am understanding, I I guess I understand why they made the decision, but I just hate it so much.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, hate it. Hate it. I think it's stupid. I think it was stupid, and I think it was so stupid, you know. When people are we're sitting around, I don't know who our game two starter is at the time we're recording the skies. It's Sunday night, it's 9 p.m. What we're gonna work off of of stuff, what we do know. And here, off the top, what I know is I know Mahoney had a couple Thirsty Vaqueros yesterday. I absolutely know Mahoney worked his way through a four-pack, and I know three of those mixed with tequila. One of them, non-alcoholic, had it with lunch because it's such a good tasting, refreshing beverage. It's a Mexican-style soda. Thirsty Vaqueros, the official official partner and beverage sponsor of the Monday morning cub show of line of previews, of postgames. It's delicious. You can shop it on Amazon. Mahoney, one of your all-time favorite beverages, top five. I had said Dark Knight, Braveheart, top 20 firmly. I'm gonna say Thirsty Vaquero top five beverage.
SPEAKER_01:It's a top five cemented beverage. I had tasted Thirsty Vaquero for the first time. I've never looked back. The Limon Ladron is probably one of my favorite flavors, and you're talking about if you want to mix that with something great, but having it on its own is really just opened up my palate in so many different ways, and it's the Kleenex of this, you know, this niche seltzer. I've never had anything like it, and I'll only think of thirsty vaquero when I, you know, take a sip of that sparkling chili spice and salt.
SPEAKER_00:Signature spicy finish, guys. It's gonna have you coming back for more. It's unbelievable, you know, and the fact that we got beverage industry experts behind it on the recipe, making it with 10% real fruit juice, making it with real agave nectar. I mean, the good stuff, honestly, when you go into the liquor cabinet where you reach to the top shelf, you're looking for the good stuff. This is on the shelf above the top shelf. I don't know what the fuck that's called, but that's where they keep the agave nectar for Thirsty but Carol. And my friends, the potion is magic. The recipe is terrific. It's a perfectly ratio balanced, uh, you know, Mexican style soda again with the signature spicy finish, available on Amazon. They'll ship anywhere. Actually, I dare someone listening to this, prove me wrong. Go to Amazon, throw it in the cart. I'll guarantee they ship to you. If they don't ship it to you, attaboy. If they don't ship it to you, I'm a monkey's uncle. Mahoney will venmo you 46 bucks.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, if they don't ship it to you, yeah, we will refund you immediately. But you know, and I know that they run a tight ship over there, thirsty for Carol. I had to crack one as we're talking about it right now, just to hit the lips because I you know I just can't stop thinking of this. I'm so fucking thirsty. I'll bite no rattle.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I'll bite no rattle. I'm so thirsty right now. I might just ask real, just quick pause. I'm gonna grab one. We're back.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. A genuine pause to go to the fridge to get yourself a thirsty vaquero. It's so good. The signature spicy finish. I'm I love the fact that we're both drinking the same flavor right now, too. Just in it together. What it how many how many calories? It's 90.
SPEAKER_00:You'd be shocked for the size of that can. Can I tell you something interesting? I don't know if this is trade secret stuff, it's actually like 84 calories or something, but you can't they can't in marketing, they were talking to like some canning expert, and they were like, mentally, 90 will look less than something specific, like 84. Wow, like, yeah, a blocky number next to an eight because they were like, yeah, those lines they'll like you we'll just put that's great, we'll put it because they make it and they're like, all right, then they measure it because a lot of times people make this stuff, and I know this is a cub show, but a lot of times people make this stuff and then they work backwards. How can we get it under 100? How do we get it under 120? How do you get start getting to the marketing spot? They get it, they they present the product that's so healthy and fresh and clean. And the marketing guy's like, listen, if for big box retail, hey, if I'm gonna go into Jewel Costco, I'm gonna throw this baby on the shelf nationwide, right? You got to start thinking broader macroeconomically and stuff. And the marketing guy's explaining to him, even 80, everyone knows 84 is less than 90, but mentally, a consumer sees 90 is one of the low, it's as low as you you can't get lower. You respect 90 calories. So is that can I say I don't if that's a trade, if that's a trade secret, I'll delete it.
SPEAKER_01:I think, yeah, it's a fun, it's a fun fact, Carl. It's not a cracker jack. I think that that's something that you know is just a good to know. A nice little take tidbit takeaway from the Monday morning cub show.
SPEAKER_00:Baller strike, we have been officially distracted from game one and are ready for game two. Strike.
SPEAKER_01:Strike upper right hand corner.
SPEAKER_00:So here's the number one thing we need to talk about is that the Brewers announced that they're starting an opener lefty, Aaron Ashby, which then I mean we're probably going to see Quinn Priester second. That has not been announced. And I can't prepare. I don't know if it's Chad Patrick then, who's a rookie pitcher. I don't know what they're gonna do. I don't know if they throw Quintana, I don't know what they're gonna do game two. I know they're gonna start Ashby, who's a lefty, throws with a 50-degree arm angle, heavy sinker, and he throws about 99 miles an hour. They might ask him just to go one inning. The big problem is you absolutely cannot hit Michael Bush. That's what I was gonna ask. Leadoff. And it kind of bothers me because I don't know how far down you can move Bush to neutralize Ashby. And there's a lot of Cubs fans listening to this that are like, it doesn't matter because it's the playoffs, let Michael Bush ride. It fucking matters, guys. He's got like a 630 OPS against lefties. He's got four home, he's trash, he's world beater against right-handed pitch, and he's trash against lefties. So that's the first big thing in my head, Mahoney, is that like the Brewers are fucking with us with this lefty opener, even though they don't have to use him at all.
SPEAKER_01:Right, yeah, it's a wrinkle that I didn't see coming and kind of put me into a bit of a pretzel right off the bat.
SPEAKER_00:So I think Nico Horner has to move up to hit right hit leadoff, or Ian Hap. Or like, I don't know who hits leadoff now. My guess this is a problem I didn't think we'd have to confront until game three, and that we'd be confronting against Jose Cantana. I did not, I did not anticipate so hand up Monday morning cub show. You know, I take victory laps. I will also pause, refresh myself with a thirsty. See this one coming and just say, guys, this one. Did you see him? Did you see it? Did you not tell me that you saw this coming?
SPEAKER_01:No, I honestly did not. I would I would have shot you a text just to give you the heads up, but no, I didn't see this one coming, Carl.
SPEAKER_00:Because I'll be mad if I find and if any maniac knew this was coming. Now, speaking of maniacs, there's a maniac out there that's very close to Mahoney. I'm gonna just say if I do blind test, one, two, three, what's his name? Well, I'll guarantee you we get this guy correctly. Okay, ready on the count of three, we're gonna say his name. One, two, three, lizard king, lizard king, Cadillac.
SPEAKER_01:I like to call him on the scene.
SPEAKER_00:They make they make a beer, Lizard King, that I saw at the liquor store yesterday, two days ago, and it's called Lizard King. I guess like, oh no, dude, it's like one of these 11 and a half ounce.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, oh yeah. I know about the lizard, I know about this beer.
SPEAKER_00:Cut in the grass, hot day, couple lizard kings. Those things moved quickly. So, lizard king, you're out there, we're thinking about you. Just a funny moment for the show, just a funny moment for the maniacs as we're kind of just thinking about game two here. The fact Ashby goes means Bush, in my opinion, in my opinion, I would do it personally, and I expect it professionally from watching Craig Council that they would move Michael Bush out of the leadoff spot because he's so terrible against Ashby's like a tough lefty for this, too. It's not like he's bad against lefties, and okay, here's Cupcake Jose Cantana. It's like we're he's bad against lefties, and here's a lefty who throws a hundred.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's what that's what sucks about the whole thing, is because you really can't take Michael Bush out of the lineup either. Right? I think you can move him down to six. You can move him down, but it's not like we're gonna start Justin Turner at first base.
SPEAKER_00:I'd like to see two righties in our first three hitters. So if like Nico Horner hits one, then do we go Tucker two, say a three? Ian Hap for four. Is that crazy? Now, who gives a shit? People are gonna be like, oh no, we're not hitting Ian Hap four. Ian Hap was hitting three against a padre. Shut up. With this isn't unrealistic. The top five hitters in the lineup are Michael Bush, Nico Horner, Kyle Tucker, Ian Hap, say Suzuki. The six hitters, Carson, the mixes. Are we willing to move Carson Kelly to four? This is and here's the thing. I can probably sit here for three hours and maybe come up with an answer, but I'm telling you, as time of recording, I don't have one, and I I I would imagine somebody listening here has one. Please send it to us.
SPEAKER_01:It's funny, too, because honestly, I do not care who is our three, four, five hitter in this situation, just as long as Michael Bush isn't batting first.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:That's really what I care about, and everything else kind of can fall into place after.
SPEAKER_00:Can we add two of our first three hitters already? Yes. I care that Michael Bush doesn't lead off. Correct. And and if they moved him to two, I'm saying, like, I doesn't make that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, then the what what's the big difference there?
SPEAKER_00:But then the other thing is all right, say they hit him five. Well, here's a nightmare scenario. Runners on first and third and two outs. Here comes Michael Bush driving up there against Aaron against Aaron. That's like exactly what they're feeding in. So it's almost like they're forcing her hand to be like, fine, fuck it, Bush, you go six, and now we're gonna bring Carson Kelly from six into the top five. And now I'm mad after they get through this opener, and I gotta look at Quinn Priester mow down these righties. Now people are gonna be like, does this really matter? Yeah, it matters. The Brewer scored six runs in the first inning last. Yeah, we yes, these this all matters very much so. Setting up the lineup so that we have the maximum advantage against them. So say Nico won in say a three, Tucker two, or you know, do you go hap to?
SPEAKER_01:I'm fine really with any configuration, as long as Michael Bush isn't in that top, those first three bats. You're right. You're already saying that. I know, but like, but I I trust Craig is this is why he's getting paid the big bucks to make these decisions because it is it's a tough problem to come up with a solution on the fly, and there might be no right or wrong answer.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, this is a much, much harder problem to solve than if Matt Boyd should pitch game one, and we couldn't even come close to that. This would be like the movie Armageddon, and like they can't figure out how to get the F-16s off the fucking, you know, when they're doing the training exercises, like we gotta go to the asteroid.
SPEAKER_01:You'll not even get to the climax of the movie.
SPEAKER_00:We we're in act one right now, right? We're in an animal cracker scene. We can't even put on the fucking spacesuits. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, we can't get in the pool, and where the point of this is we gotta sit the problems, we're just so behind, I feel like. If in the Matt Boyd decision, I gotta get over that. But as I think about game two, how we set the lineup, why does this matter? Because this is a game of margins. We didn't get smoked here, but like, yeah, I would imagine game. This is a 4-3, you know, 5-4, 3-2. It's gonna be one of these fucking games. That's how it's mostly been, except for Matt Boyd shit. I gotta stop talking about him, but I except for him shit in his pants.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, baller strike, like, we gotta win this game in Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_00:Now, ball or strike, this is the most important thing. That's a strike. This is the most important game, absolute biggest can't lose. We were in the same situation 2015. We lost the first game. The NLDS came back one three in a row.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, we've been here before, so that's why I'm not like extremely worried at this juncture. We've been here before, it sucked that we got the break speed blown off, but October baseball, there's always gonna be times where you feel like it's not gonna happen and this isn't gonna work out, and then you know, you push through as a fan, and then you hope the team wins, you know. Like, really, that's all you can do.
SPEAKER_00:We haven't been in my pushback to this is like, yeah, I think it were that's a little bit more like if you're a Red Sox fan, you want to take that stance, go around. You're right. No, you're right. You know, we've got one World Series championship to our name. We just don't do this very often.
SPEAKER_01:Playoff series total 12.
SPEAKER_00:Like, I'm super anxious. Now, the problem with that is they didn't have playoff series until the 80s, right? So fuck your playoff. People love to say that shit.
SPEAKER_01:It's still only 12.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's not a lot. All right, it's not a lot. White Sox have way less. Fuck them.
SPEAKER_01:But my point is it's a five-game series. We can't just you know hang your hat on the wall because we lost game one.
SPEAKER_00:I'm not, I'm but I'm ready for game two. I'm ready for game two. I'm generally just saying, are you nervous or are you enjoying this?
SPEAKER_01:I'm enjoying, I'm enjoying it, and uh, I mean, up until yesterday, I was very, very upset, you know, but I'm glad it like happened the way it did so early. I really do. It felt like a band-aid got ripped off.
SPEAKER_00:That's a perfect way to lose. You're gonna lose, get your ass kicked. Said that up and down the postgame. If you're gonna lose, get we have to get our ass kicked. So going into game two, I would say if I I don't want to lose, but if we did lose game one, that's exactly how I'd like to lose it. Going into game two, it's not even it's not a must-win or a can't lose, it's both. It's everything you need to be you need it to be. One-one is fine. You we gotta get to one-one, and I wasn't nervous at all. I was prepped for this, I was ready to go. I'm ready, dude. I'm sitting here reading about Quinn Priester stat cast, all stuff. Here's a and then I get the notification Brewers are using Aaron Ashby as a starter, they're using a fucking lefty reliever as an opener. These motherfuckers, these I say it, I've been watching the F-words, but if I'm gonna sit here and be honest with you guys, these motherfuckers. That's where my head's at, Mahoney. They're motherfuckers because from a preparation standpoint of putting this lineup together, I thought at the very least, here's the little advantage for us. All we've seen, we see righty, righty, righty come into the brewer series, see a righty, yep, game two, fine. The fact Craig can just roll back into the lineup. All right, boys, here we're gonna bounce because then you're in a situation that's gonna be easier to bounce back. It's just easier to bounce back. Manager walks into the clubhouse and say, All right, guys, we got our asses kicked. Here's the lineup for today. It's the same lineup as it's been for the last couple of games, just that's a little, that's just a little benefit. Now the fact Craig's got to go on the lineup, Craig's gotta go do some thinking. And I think and I hope we did a good enough job to introduce to the maniacs that it is an actual problem to say to yourself, now where do you hit Mad Boyd? Or Michael Bush. Why am I saying Matt Boyd? He's stuck in my fucking head.
SPEAKER_01:Still on that. That's a horror. That sucks.
SPEAKER_00:Fucking hate man. Just hate Mad Boyd right now. But Michael Bush, because again, we have to at least agree or build some consensus here. He shouldn't be hitting in the top five top three of the lineup. He shouldn't be hitting leadoff. And this is just because if we're gonna go against the lefty to start the game, you may say it doesn't matter. Well, if he only has four or five played appearances, I'm not just gonna give up one that's guaranteed against a lefty. I'd rather, however, you can't hide him in the top five because two outs he's gonna be up. You can't hide him if there's a runner on second base and one out. Bullshit. So now it's like, all right, I guess Michael Bush hit six, then Carson Kelly goes to the top. So this is all serious shit we're considering here.
SPEAKER_01:How much do you think Pat Murphy was like, this is gonna really, really piss off Craig?
SPEAKER_00:Either Pat Murphy or somebody else. Somebody was like, I have an idea. Why don't we throw Ashby first? Because they'll have no idea what to do to Bush. Because this we talked about this on the show, too. The biggest problem the Cubs have with their lineup is what to do with Bush against lefties.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Yeah, we've talked about that ad nauseum for a half a season, and now you're here when it counts the most, and it is, you know, just the mystery wrapped in secret sauce there. I don't know what I don't have the answer.
SPEAKER_00:And I I would challenge anyone who doesn't think this is a big deal, and anybody who thinks we're spending too much time on this going into game two, because in my head, this is it. This is like this is really big shit because uh what they do assume innings two to six, then it just gives it just gives them the opportunity to have an upper hand with bullpen matchups, because then you're gonna have Bush down in a lineup, you're gonna Bush closer towards PCA. Who's their other lefty? Nick Mears. I didn't say that name correctly. So they can bring somebody else in later if you bunch the lefties together. So, anyways, we're getting a little bit too long-winded on it. That's just my big lineup observation about it, you know. Overall, I thought the way the Brewers played in game one and as it pertains to game two, they're solid, they just don't strike out, they hit the ball extremely hard. That's it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, runs the bases well, hits the ball well, doesn't strike out, and I think what there was something we had three we outhomered them three to one or three-zero, and like that probably has never happened before, where a team of the postseason gets out homered. This is what Craig said, so I'm quoting Craig indirectly, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And now we got obviously on the opposite side of that, talk about really bury the lead. Showday starting game two for the Cubs, yep, and um, you know, I he's we gotta be positive. Right? I'm here to we're positive, we're shepherding this in. So how can Shota have success against his Brewers lineup?
SPEAKER_01:Four innings I need out of Shota Emanaga. Give me four innings, and then I think we can start hammering you know some of our bullpen arms at this lineup.
SPEAKER_00:I was trained to get anybody but Shota, but it's a little nerve-wracking.
SPEAKER_01:But it's Shota. See, that's it. You just did it. Again, it's Shota. Exactly. I've really I'm more confident in him than I would be, you know, the fact that he got one of the monkeys off his back earlier on in the week, like I think that he might be a little bit more dialed in, and I have a lot of faith that it's an 808 start for whatever reason.
SPEAKER_00:I like him under the lights. He's gotten his absolute shit pounded. His last I mean his last seven starts, but so okay, this is the problem, is I don't know because I understand there's value to the positivity that the Monday morning cup show has ushered throughout the season, especially the Dole Drums, especially the 500 baseball, June, July. When stuff's really started to slow down, I thought you and I, except for one episode, like came in here and really let it go. We were very positive. Now, as we're talking about this game two preview, as it pertains to Showta, I just have like major major reservations, and I'm just not I'm not trying to like like disguise them through you know blind optimism.
SPEAKER_01:No, we can't be overly optimistic, not in a playoff divisional series, all right. I am nervous, it's nerve-wracking, but I do feel like he got rid of some of that stink earlier on in the week. This is a total feel thing. I'm not going off of numbers.
SPEAKER_00:Don't go off. Why would I I don't want you to go off numbers? You're the feel guy. You're feel, you're touching feel. You always have been. I've played golf. I know I understand you.
SPEAKER_01:Something about that 808 start. I don't know why it spoke to me. I hate it. I don't like it for my own person, but for Managa, I I don't know why I think that it's just gonna line up under the lights nicely.
SPEAKER_00:Well, he's a he's a he'll enjoy a day in Milwaukee. He has an opportunity to get up early, go for the river walk, have a cup of coffee, you know, get out of the hotel, stretch your legs. And and listen, I got plenty of mean shit to say about just about everybody. Don't think I don't have mean shit to say. But Milwaukee's not bad this time of year.
SPEAKER_01:No, I do, I do enjoy that the 5th district, what's it called? Third district. It's a nice district they have going on down there.
SPEAKER_00:We know. I know on the river with the brathouse. Hopefully, Shota Imanaga doesn't have the Continental. Because I'm just thinking we talked a little bit about digestive issues traveling to Milwaukee, seafood, shellfish. So just get out of the hotel. Do not know Hotel Continental.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Any of that kind of seafood you don't you want to stay away from, especially during the playoff week. In a fan city, Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_00:They have a couple places right there on the river, and that's what I'm saying. Is like he might he might see it and just get caught off guard and just think, you know what, I could use a tilapia for lunch. Not thinking that it's fresh, not knowing it's not fresh.
SPEAKER_01:Don't trust the whitefish. You don't know what the white fish is. It could be tilapia, you know, it could be a bread of cod. So just stay back.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, people actually I'm being dead serious when I say Shodi Imanaga is a real tough. I mean, when I say tough, it's a bad matchup. I uh I'm not speaking this into existence and I'm not doubting anyone like this. But the unfortunate thing is this is really the best we can do right now. And Jamison Tan will win on Wednesday, so I'm not worried about that. At all, in the least bit. And Matt Boyd only threw 30 pitches game one, and he's sensational at home. So like he does line up for game four. Should we somehow figure out a way to win game two? I think the series doesn't, I think we win the next two.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. No, I'm right there with you, dude. We take one in Milwaukee, the series is ours.
SPEAKER_00:The problem is that Shoda's not that hot. He's just not that good, and the Brewers are locked in. Like the Brewers beat the shit out of Matt Boyd. Like a lot of people are like, oh, well, Nico Horner made an error. The Brewers beat the shit out of Matt Boyd. And so, like, is Shoda better? He's on short rest. The only other thing, though, he's got a chip on his shoulder, right? He's a competitive player.
SPEAKER_01:That's what I'm thinking, man. Like, he got he shook off that stink. He's very competitive with himself. So we got a playoff baseball night game in Milwaukee. I'm feeling good about it. And I just I'm glad we got that out of the way in the first game of the series. What about Craig?
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say, you think Craig's happy about it? You think Craig moves moves on?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I do. I think he can actually, he's one of those types of people that has to focus on the next thing, and I think he does a pretty good job. Yeah. You know, because he just doesn't seem to be affected, which is, I guess, a good thing. You know, I mean, it's just this has been kind of a fun, a group therapy session, if you will, just to move on, knowing that we're gonna get, you know, solid rest heading into Monday. We had a full day, you could focus on work. There's not gonna be where you're gonna have to like adjust the radio, being flying down the highway. This one guy, when they switched the game last week, this guy sat down next to me at a Buffalo Wild Wings. I was picking up my kid. He thought the game was starting at two, and I'm like, no, man, it doesn't start until four. This guy was completely flabbergasted, and you're not gonna have to worry about that anymore. These times are set, so just enjoy it. If you took the day off, fine. But if not, just go to work, focus on your stuff, and then you're gonna be able to have a nice dinner, real sensible, and you still are gonna have about two hours before game time, and you're not gonna sleep, you're not gonna get to bed till midnight.
SPEAKER_00:You're gonna be amped.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. Well, let's just like enjoy this ride.
SPEAKER_00:Did you and this guy hang out at Buffalo Wild Wing? Did you guys fucking bond over the fact that you guys are hanging out?
SPEAKER_01:No, he was to he was kind of pissed because this dude totally adjusted his entire day around a 2 p.m. start, and they didn't switch that time until pretty much later in the in the day, but either way, it worked out for us, and I'd imagine it worked out for the gentleman as well.
SPEAKER_00:How many degrees of separation has that guy removed from Pizza Smack, you think?
SPEAKER_01:God notwithstanding on the north side, there's probably like an eight pizza, you know, degree of separation there, eight pizza slices.
SPEAKER_00:What's the maximum like six, right? In the world, yeah. So we had to bring up I brought a pizza smack last night. We got to bring up pizza smack every episode. Um, some of just some other just quick game two notes. So like Murphy making this chess move basically just sets up council doesn't have to submit the lineup card till later tomorrow. So like I'm I'm doing my the biggest thing to me is what do the cubs do in response to the fact they name this guy as the opener. And then the other question is if they shit on like this, I don't even know how nervous I have to be. I just don't know how much like if the cubs come out and they just get their absolute doors blown off, like if Shoda Imanagas just you know gets chased, similar to what happened, like Matt Boyd. One of the problems that could be is like they could go to Chad Patrick in the second inning, then and then throw Quinn Priester in the third game, and then we don't even have to see Cantana, and then we're really fucked. Yeah, and we're that's that's fucked with the Capitol fucked, right?
SPEAKER_01:That lines up things nicely for Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_00:So I don't know if they'll do that. I don't know because I I'm not familiar with Pat Murphy using openers, and the reason I'm not familiar is because they just like they don't they don't do it, so the fact they're doing it now, it's kind of like you sons of guns. So whatever. This the Cubs used an opener in game two last week and lost, so I just that that that's continues. That's the biggest thing going into the game. That's the biggest thing.
SPEAKER_01:So well, we'll keep an eye on it. I'm gonna be very interested to see your lineup preview breaking down whatever Craig submits, and yeah, I'm looking forward to it. We got game two, still early in the series. We win game two, we're looking pretty, and we're right back at it. And I'm just looking forward to more of the Carl breakdowns as well, solo because I don't know if you saw I commented on the Spotify thread. I go, I'm a maniac now. Now I was a maniac, it was a wonderful listen. Well, then fucking you know, be a main, then make sure you subscribe to the show and you leave a five-star comment then, and just to piggyback off of some of your sentiments, thank you all so much for the reviews, and it does keep the drive going. And it's it's a beautiful thing to see those continuing to uptick, and it's great for the future of the Monday morning cub show.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, I mean, I think it's a nice gesture, you know, it's well responded. I'm paying attention, I pay attention closer than I'm Bill. I'm the Bill Belichick of Monday Morning Cub Show. That's how close I'm paying attention. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I know all the plays. I got I know all the personnel, you know. I just like I just know it. I just why do I know it? I know it. I built the three ring. I am the three ring. Riven and breathing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you got the hoodie on, it's ripped up.
SPEAKER_00:MMCS across the chest. This is just a light touch and go game two thing, just kind of get your head right. So I wish I knew more about you know I I wish there was more than an opener to talk about. And the you know, the show to thing, this should be about this. Is like the most dangerous part of the trip. Like, if we were backpacking our way through South Africa, you know, I guess in this NLDS, like Shota starting, like this is the Amazon where you could get eaten by the Anaconda. Like, this isn't the nice part of fucking is there a nice there's nice part, there's super nice parts, I'm sure you can walk towards this. Isn't the nice part of Argentina where you can buy a couple hookers and get your fucking dick sucked while you're smoking a you know, a palm all. Like, that's no, that's the nice part. That's a nice part. This is the part of Amazon. We're crossing rivers here, we're fording the river. There's a tribe, they're blowing fucking darts. Mahoney just took one to the jugular, you know.
SPEAKER_01:There's yeah, just bugs everywhere, right?
SPEAKER_00:Like, it's just it is that's the in. But here's the thing, though. Similar to the movie Jumanji, if we get through to it, if we can get past this moment, if we can weather the storm, you know, perfect storm 2001, Mark Wahlberg, those guys didn't fucking make it. If we can, if we can get through it, then I'm telling you, once we get to the other side, it'll be great. It's like Charlie and the good chocolate fair, it'd be fucking great.
SPEAKER_01:You're just on these movie runs lately, it's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, like yesterday, I really wanted to make her remember the Titans one, and I'm like, Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Boom, here it comes. It was like just the overwhelming percentage of stuff that's inside my head where I'm telling myself, don't say it, don't say it, don't do this, don't do this. Well, you know what? Yeah, that's gotten me in some trouble over the years, but nothing, you know, nothing too stupid.
SPEAKER_01:Keep it coming, Carl.
SPEAKER_00:So here's a situation. It's Sunday, it's just a little bit before 10 p.m. Thanks to the maniacs tuning in. It's just a little game two, kind of get your heads ready for it. I'll have a lineup preview, I'll post game. We'll have stuff available tomorrow. You know, I don't have like I wish again, just last thing. It's just how do we respond to what they do with the opener? How does Show to show up to this? And most importantly, like what role does Michael Bush gonna play? And I I I could just be overreacting where people are like, fuck it, don't change a thing. This is the way it is. I just we're it that's the play. I don't think it's like that. It's it hasn't been like that at all ever. It's not like that on a random fucking Thursday in May. I can't imagine it's gonna be like that right now.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00:So, you know, color me shocked otherwise. So, this is the Monday morning cubs show. Throw a review, follow my honey at T Bitness and get yourselves. Oh, God, this frog is COVID. You know, I was been doing I've been telling people, I'm like, I got a frog in my throat. The frog's been COVID. So, anyways, what I'm trying to say is go to Amazon and get some thirsty with Carol.
SPEAKER_01:Delicious. Go, Cubs, go. Come on. Levy, eight oh eight. Let's roll.