Monday Morning Cubs Show
A show every Monday morning about the Chicago Cubs from Carl and Mahoney.
Monday Morning Cubs Show
Dear Marquee: SHOW THE GAMES + PCA Profile + WBC Preview
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The countdown to baseball gets real, and we can feel it. We kick off with that opening day itch, then tackle the story Cubs fans won’t stop talking about: why Marquee’s spring training blackout stings and what it says about priorities. From there, we dig into the roster choices that actually move the needle—how the Tyler Austin injury complicates first base platooning, whether Michael Busch can hold his own against lefties, and what internal options or short-term pivots make sense without overpaying for a name.
On the mound, we draw a hard line between excitement and urgency. Justin Steele is officially cleared—no setbacks, no shortcuts, same timeline—and that’s a win for October thinking. Let him ramp right and peak in mid-summer. Meanwhile, Shota Imanaga’s velocity is up and the contact has been loud. We explain why the velo matters more than spring results, what to watch in his tunneling and rhythm, and how a back-end role paired with a chip-on-the-shoulder season could be a quiet edge.
Then we open the PCA file. His Chicago Magazine profile was raw and unfiltered—F-bombs, pressure, vulnerability, swagger—and it raised real questions about mindset and maturity. We separate signal from noise: the tools are elite, the adjustment is mental, and leadership around him matters. That’s why the World Baseball Classic arrives at the perfect moment. PCA and Alex Bregman will share a clubhouse with the game’s best, learning how to channel fire without pressing. We also spotlight Cubs across the WBC (USA, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama), the injury calculus versus real-game value, and how short, high-leverage reps can accelerate development better than backfields ever could.
It all adds up to a clear thesis: depth to weather April, patience to get healthy, and a runway to hit stride when it counts. If you’re fired up for meaningful baseball, you’ll feel right at home here. If you enjoyed this, follow the show, rate us five stars on Spotify or Apple, and share it with a Cubs fan who needs that opening day jolt.
Thanks for tuning in!
- Carl & Mahoney
Welcome Back & Opening Day Itch
SPEAKER_02And we're clear. Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans, and welcome back to the Monday morning Cub Show. Today is Monday, March 2nd. It is Carl, and I'm joined by my close pal Mahoney. It's good to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER_00Good day, good morning to Carl and the maniacs. Boy, am I happy to be delivering this Monday morning cub show to you all.
SPEAKER_02Start to get that opening day tingle, starting to get that little. In no time, we will have day baseball, weekend baseball. We'll have great stories to talk about. Uh, obviously, we're gonna get into some of the world baseball classic stuff that's going on. We missed the PCA story last week just from timing. By the time we hit publish, they dropped the profile and PCA. So we're gonna circle back to that. But I think just opening comment is we're very close to opening day, Mahoney.
SPEAKER_00Carl, we're very close to opening day. I do get kind of that itch in me right now, the fact that there is meaningful professional baseball that will be being played this week towards the end with the world baseball classic. So the juices are flowing and we're rolling, baby. Come on.
SPEAKER_01Like, it's like it's about to be a rashful itch. Like, is it that itchy, or is it just like you start feeling itch?
SPEAKER_00The good kind of itch. Like, you know, the spring is in the air feeling, it looks like the weather's turning across the country a bit, you know, just getting that baseball, you know, juju in my senses.
SPEAKER_02And it's a departure from what we've said historically. This offseason, we really stretched ourselves, uh, particularly in like that November, December era, to be talking about roster construction stuff. It starts to pick up a little bit, uh, you know, in January, where it's easier to talk about like this is who we have going into spring training, but it is kind of you know crummy, so to say, the like pitchers and catchers report. And like, I don't this it's just that weird three-week, four-week period where like I I wish I could get a stiffer boner for it, but like now we're at the point where I'm really I'm really getting dialed in. Uh, you know, some of the injury stuff that's come out, what we're gonna do with the rotation. So we do we do have a nice full-bodied show for the maniacs.
SPEAKER_00No, there really is. This is the time of year things are picking up and we're really getting down to business.
SPEAKER_02So before I continue, just like mental vibe check, you're good. I feel great.
Sponsor: Thirsty Vaquero Shoutouts
SPEAKER_00I do feel great, and let me tell you, last week, Carl, when I had mentioned I had a little tickle in the throat, boy, did I not realize I was getting full-blown viral infection. Starting from the top, it wasn't COVID, tested negative. I had to go to the doctor and everything, it got so bad. I had been on the shelf up until about Saturday morning. So, I mean, I'm literally feeling amazing. And another thing, too, I just want to kind of fit that in there. Never thought I'd be talking about how sick I am all the time, as much publicly and personally. Anyone that can within an earshot, they're gonna hear about my trials and tribulations. But it's one of those things I promised myself I wouldn't do once I had kids, and then here I am. I'm telling the world about every single little, you know, sniffle and sneeze. But hey, the most important thing, Carl, I'm feeling great. Baseball's here, you look great, and I'm really excited to do this show because there is a lot of juice to get to.
SPEAKER_02A lot of good juice. And the reason we have the opportunity to talk about this stuff, guys, and if you have a little tickle in your throat, can I introduce you to a Mexican-style soda with a signature spicy finish that is all bite, no rattle, three bold flavors, guys? This show is brought to you by Thirsty Vaquero. And I'm we've we've said it before, we'll say it again. I will beat this dead horse with a stick. It is unlike any beverage you've ever had before.
SPEAKER_00Uh, lemon, ladrone, mango, muerte, sangria salvia, the watermelon flavor. It is phenomenal stuff. Any party you bring it to, you will be the talk of the town. People, once it hits the taste buds, it clears the sinuses a little bit. Carl, it's real agave.
SPEAKER_02I don't know what our what our presence is in Texas, but it's in gas stations in Texas and it's in grocery stores in Texas. Like it's in the cooler, you know, it's making its way up north into Chicago distribution, etc. Feels good to be on the ground floor of Thirsty Vaquero because, like, the first time you have it, yeah, the the reckoning that you have, like, why have I never had this before? Low sugar count, right? I had a couple cans of Coca-Cola this weekend because I like to let myself go. I mean, you're talking a hundred something plus grams of sugar. No, dude, Thirsty Vaquero, I'm gonna go ahead and say it organic agave, organic agave, like it's legitimate healthy stuff, real nectar, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And while I was under the weather this week, dude, grabbing a thirsty vaquero and just honestly having it tickle the throat and clear up the sinuses a little bit, it's just phenomenal stuff. And I work with a lot of folks from Texas, they're like, Thirsty Vaquero sponsors your podcast. I'm like, yeah, Thirsty Vaquero does. And I'm like, we're bringing it to the Midwest, baby.
Reviews, Support, And Show Plans
SPEAKER_02It's easy to stand behind for maniacs. It's a non-alcoholic beverage. We're making big push into non-alcoholic beverage content uh for the 2026 baseball season. I it's not that I've had too many cold ones, but we're just trying to separate the cold ones from the content this season. Thirsty Vacero is the partner for you guys. Check them out on Amazon, Thirsty Vicaro. You can get the link uh in my Twitter bio. It's just a great way to support the Monday morning cub show. And there will be other opportunities in the future, other stuff, other product and programming, but like the bedrock, you know, the title sponsor for this year is Thirsty Bacero. You will hear us say nothing but good things about him. Uh, so again, guys, go check them out on Amazon. Get yourself an all-bite, no rattle, signature, spicy finish Mexican style soda with organic agave. That's Thirsty Vacaro. Now, again, and if you're gonna do that, it probably doesn't take too much effort either to review the show five stars on Spotify or Apple. It is by far the number one boost to my self-esteem, is when I get to go see a new review.
SPEAKER_00So anytime I see a new review, I just nothing. I love the support. I mean, and how easy is it when you're ordering that Thirsty Vacaro from Amazon? Open up another tab, go to Spotify, the web browser, use the application, whichever, leave a review for us. We appreciate it. We know if you appreciate the show, it does just provide that a little additional boost. I like reading the comments too. Comment on an episode, feel free, and then throw five stars.
Spring Record Talk & Marquee Frustrations
SPEAKER_02Too easy. We're in it. We're in it. So we're in it, boys. We're following along. It the feedback does matter. Have your old lady do it. You know, give it to your dad or something next time you guys are sitting around the kitchen table. Let me see your phone for a second. Monday morning Cub show five star. Okay, so big show this week, and it's a big show because I'm willing to say this is our first offseason show that really moves the ball forward into opening day, into real baseball with the world baseball classic. So let's just start off, I think, nice and easy here with a nice baller strike. And it's the Cubs are four and six through their first spring training for their first 10 games in spring training, Mahoney. Baller strike, you don't care.
SPEAKER_00Uh strike. I do not care about records in spring training, Carl. But I do have to say, I miss it a little bit more than I thought. I'm not not being able to watch as many games.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would say if they were 10-0, baller strike, you would care.
SPEAKER_00Strike. Because I mean that's just positive news. Hey, we're undefeated, we're gonna keep this rolling. We could spin that in so many different directions, but it still is spring training, and the reality of it is I wouldn't care that much. 0-10, ball or strike, you would care. Strike maybe a little bit just to be like, power, we not running into a baseball here and there.
SPEAKER_02That'd be tough. I think that's kind of the point I'm trying to make. Oh, and 10 that I would you'd have my attention. 10 0. Maybe less you'd have my attention. It would be unique, it'd be interesting. It'd be like an anomaly. Yeah. Yeah, fun factor for Cracker Jack. Maybe a fun factor, Cracker Jack is a segment we're bringing back next week. It's it would be something like a trivia question answer down the road. Like what uh what was the spring training where the Cubs started 10-0 or something? Four and six is like that's where I kind of expect the team to be. You're gonna see bad stuff, you're gonna see mistakes, but like getting caught up in the spring training record, I don't really care about. Now, let me ask this ball or strike. You are mad about the fact the cubs aren't showing any of these games on Marquee Network.
SPEAKER_00Carl, that's a strike. And and hand up, I was kind of you know on a high horse about when pitcher catchers reported, yeah, I don't really care about spring training. When it's on in the background, nothing else is on, and I have time. Of course, I'm gonna watch Cubs baseball, love the sound. And honestly, I mentioned Marquee doesn't care that much because they're not gonna be airing as many games, and I have absolutely felt that. Um, it they're barely on, if at all, up until this point. I think that they will be airing some, but no, dude, I miss it more than I thought I would not having some spring training baseball games on in the background.
SPEAKER_02See, and I want to get to the bottom of why they're not doing it. I I am a little mad about it because I'm mad on behalf of the people who are mad. Like me personally, I would watch some of it, it would be more background noise. It would be very hard for me to carve out those three hours to sit down and focus on a baseball game the way I focus on a regular season game. But but I'm mad about the fact that there's maniacs who want it, who need it, who have it baked into their schedule. And I do feel like the Cubs historically, since the advent of Marquee Network, like we've had more spring training content available. So, like, it does it. Is this the first year where like we're really hitting the brakes on this and they're just not showing games? Is this a restructuring thing? Is this a cost thing?
SPEAKER_00I don't understand. Yeah, I'm under the assumption it's a potential restructuring and cost thing. I do know that they had laid a lot of their Bears beat and coverage folks off after the Bears' previous season, not that they put in a ton of production value in that stuff, but people did lose their jobs recently at marquee, and as far as I remember reading exactly, but um, I don't have names and what have you. So that's some of the writing on the wall. Um, I do think with the the pending lockout, how is the Ricketts family how how are they preparing for that within the network that they own and not having to pay an announcer for five extra games and whoever else that they would have to staff to have an actual production for spring training? Um so yeah, I mean I think that uh it's a likely cost cutting measures, and it's sad because that's the type of thing that affects the fan directly.
SPEAKER_02Cost cutting in advance of the lockout coming is something I didn't see coming. So thank you, Mahoney, because now that you mentioned that, it's like that actually would make a lot of sense if in anticipation, because if they're laying it off now, or I shouldn't say laying people off now, but if they're positioning themselves now so that they're not doing it next year, then you're reducing the future public outcry when they do end up laying these people off. Right.
SPEAKER_00Like they're just getting in front of it, it seems like it's kind of like a psychological operation. Well, let's see, the fans take it away from them now, they're not gonna miss it as much next spring. I another argument, yeah.
First Base Depth Hit: Tyler Austin Out
SPEAKER_02Another argument I have about marquee network is I do think that they're trying to cover too much stuff. It's just the marquee network, it should just be Cubs, it should be old documentaries, they should be putting time into like just Cubs content programming. I don't care at all about the Bears coverage that they were trying to put together or the Bears pose, like you're not the Bears and you don't have any access or rights to that content. Uh and the same thing, like, I don't know, is this being shitty? Like the Chicago Sky, I feel like that's opportunistic of them trying to be like, oh, and we have Chicago Sky content. Like if I'm paying$20 a month for the Marquee Network, I want I want Chicago Cubs content. I want programming. And if you guys can't figure it out, then um, you know, play old games or something. There, there's plenty of shit they can do with it. I just want to recognize up front, yes, the Monday morning cub show does think it's bullshit that they're not showing these spring training games, even though historically we have branded ourselves as a podcast that you know we don't really get too wrapped up in the spring training storylines, but you should still be showing ready. You should still be showing the fucking games. Count that one, Lizard King.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. You need to be showing the games. And I do feel like when Marquis first came out, it was exactly what you had just said and alluded to of what it should be, where it was nothing but Cubs documentaries, a Harry Carey special, old games regularly being shown. And now that they've diversified a bit and you know, trying to cover other sports and teams within the city, which is, I mean, probably what they should do. But from my perspective and a fan, I like seeing that 24-7 Cubs content, and that is really what I bought into Marquee for. And the fact that they're not showing spring training games is a little concerning, but it is what it is, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_02And I think they grossly overestimated how much we want to sit there and watch live programming of like former Cubs sitting around and talking generally. They put the blazers on, it's like here's Fergie Jenkins is sitting here telling a story that people people just today as Cubs fans aren't really wired into uh, you know, like what I think Marquee Network's original bro broadcasting was just a lot of guys sitting around in blazers telling stories to each other, like Sutcliffe is you know laughing at Randy Humley's jokes or whatever. It's just kind of bullshit to me.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, give me some like ghost of Brian LaHare stuff. I want to talk about that half a year, but either way, we'll see if that shapes up over the next season or so. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh let's get into some of the spring training stuff. I thought last week, you know, we spent a good amount of time really agreeing and setting the stage that it's so positive to have a spring training where like literally the only question in place is what do we do with right field and can Matt Shaw play a competent right field? And then the second question of that was Is Michael Bush when opening day ready? Is he going to be able to hit left-handed pitching? And really the one thing we kind of honed in on is like, well, is it going to be Jonathan Long? Is it going to be Tyler Austin? It turns out Tyler Austin, the righty platoon that we had signed for a little less than a million and a half from the Korean League to come back, a Yankee prospect, a right-handed hitter who smashes lefties. Turns out he's having knee surgery and he's out for basically months, which means you know his season's cooked.
SPEAKER_00Right. I think it's like six-month recovery time. And oddly enough, we were poking holes to try to find something almost negative to talk about with the Cubs team or what could be a problem in this coming year. And first place is the one thing that and the only thing really that we honed in on. And lo and behold, I brought up Tyler Austin. Well, isn't he going to be able to spell Michael at first a little bit? No, he's not. Two days later, he goes under the knife. And now it is, I don't think, a huge problem, but it is a problem that the Cubs, I think, will have to address, you know, within the next couple months, seeing how things shake out with Bush playing every day, etc.
Justin Steele Cleared, No Rush
SPEAKER_02Well, they have historically gone to the first base position of fine depth, whether it was like Trey Mancini, who's still in the big leagues, by the way, I believe, with the Angels. Shout out to that guy. Uh, last year with Justin Turner, who got six, seven million dollars. I don't think he slugged over 350 last year. And so this Tyler Austin move was was significant because he wasn't this established MLB veteran. You could not really play the clubhouse leader card. He could be a leader in the clubhouse, he could be a guy, you know, that people rally around. But like Justin Turner has that legendary clubhouse vibe. And so departure would be instead of the older guy, the Trey Mancini, and then the elevated version of that would be Justin Turner. You know, we're actually going to go with a righty who's really good against left-handed pitching. We scout him to be really good against left-handed pitching. He still has a couple of big years in front of him, and we're getting him on a bargain. So, like, you're paying less than we did with Justin Turner. You're not getting the clubhouse leadership, but you're supposed to be getting a guy who could really have like a thunderous 440 slug against left-handed pitching, 450 slug, which is exactly what you would want to spell Michael Bush. And so the fact that he's out knee surgery, I don't want to hear people start talking about Michael Conforto is going to take that position. That's a completely different conversation with what we're doing with Conforto. Just sticking on first base for a second now. You know, the question is like, can Jonathan Long, I think there are some injury issues with him not playing in the world baseball classic. Um, so it is a question mark. It is a question mark with respect to Michael Bush being able to handle left pitching, left-handed pitching right out of the gate. Like from, and if it is an issue, then it's gonna be a problem for Jed to solve.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And like what I just said, we're gonna know fast.
SPEAKER_02So hey, let's stay on injury stuff. Just I this is good injury news. We go from bad injury to Tyler Austin to good injury news. So Justin Steele is clear. This was what Justin Steele had published on social media. He had a couple videos out, dire straits in the background. Love that. Extremely underrated band. Um, but no, he's he's cleared, and so then that brings up another question that we had in the group chat this weekend because now that he's cleared, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00Well, we see in the group chat, I mean, it wasn't just the group chat, we all saw that come out that he's 100% cleared, good to go. It's like, wait, what does that mean? We all got kind of a little bit too excited, too fast, and um, it is still from my understanding, Carl, like same timeline and everything, but what does that mean from when the doctor tells you that you're 100% your MCL is ready to go? What does it mean from uh like a timeline? Is he gonna be back sooner?
SPEAKER_02No, no, no. He's back May, June. You that doesn't get accelerated. I think this is one of those. If you're outside of baseball rehabilitation, uh, you know, this could sound way better than it actually is. Like he's cleared, okay, he's back on the mound.
SPEAKER_00That's what I was like initially thinking, and I mean I I knew the answer to that question. I'm not gonna lie, because I read the Sun Times article on Sunday where he's like, nope, same schedule, everything's on the same page. So it's the doctor essentially telling you, hey, there weren't any setbacks. Everything went as it should have, and you're ready to proceed with your next steps of ramping up, if you will.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what what however many times he has to see the doctor, say it's on a weekly basis, say it's every time after he throws, maybe there's excess imaging that are going on. Like as you're rehabbing your elbow and you're going through your throwing program, there's all these checks in place. I read you're clear as no more meetings with the doctor, no more regular check-ins, no more imaging. You're clear. So from now until let's say he comes back June 1st, you you have that three-month window where he can now get on the mound, start throwing curveballs, he can start throwing his cutter, you know, and really just work into his throwing program without having the doctor standing on the mound with him every single time.
SPEAKER_00And Carl, ball or strike, there's no reason to rush Justin Steele's return to the mound.
SPEAKER_02I right now I say no, and I hope that it stays that way. You know, I I just have no interest in putting any guys in injury issues. Like, I have no interest in compromising or even remotely going down the path where something could be a problem. The most important thing for us, right, is and this could be arrogant, we could come back and regret this.
SPEAKER_00No, I have to, I know I almost know what you're gonna say, but go.
Shota’s Velo Up, Results Mixed
SPEAKER_02We have to accept the fact that like the worst that we could play baseball, in my opinion, is 500. That the worst that we could do in April is 500. Now, again, that we could come back and be three games under 500 because we played like complete shit, but just with the depth across the lineup and across the pitching staff and into the bullpen, it's it's gonna be really hard for this team to go on losing streaks. So, like as we're getting into May, and now we're talking about the timeline, Justin Steele comes back. It's not like there's urgency to jump out and get this great start to the season. We had a little bit of that urgency last year. You should you definitely want to have that urgency when you're a 500 ball club, but to me, this is a great club and it's a deep club. And with that in mind, it's the trade deadline on where you really want to be playing your best baseball into October. And so if Justin Steele is coming along nice and slow and steady and it's June and July, like you can start to make the argument that, well, when we sit around, we say, We need to acquire great starting pitching. It's like, well, if Justin Steele is hitting his stride at the end of July, if he's got eight weeks under his belt, he can really go out there and let it rip 90, 95 pitches. There is not going to be a single starting pitcher available at the trade deadline that's going to even remotely compare, in my opinion, to the addition Justin Steele would bring to the Cup. So you just have to shift your mindset about, yeah, I want him to be, I would be great if he was our opening day number one. He should be the opening day starter. But there's no reason to rush this guy because the rest of the team is deep and good enough so that like we can bring him along on his own term so that he's thriving post-trade deadline.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and post-trade deadline is when we're going to need these guys, especially a Justin Steele type, if we're going to make a deep run in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's where it's where every single GM is sitting at the trade deadline going, we can never have enough depth. We can never have enough. So we need to go get one more starting pitcher. And he'll be back long before the trade deadline. But if he's lurking from five innings and to five and a third and to six innings, and like if we're taking the restrictor plate off the governor, the governor off the restrictor plate, so to say, on Justin Steele, you want that in like mid-August. So for me, couldn't be any happier with where his timeline's at. And I'd say mentally, as we'll talk about with PCA, like, sounds like Justin Steele and seems like Justin Steele is in a great place.
SPEAKER_00It does. Every, every honestly, it feels like he's been in a great place for a while now. Like, even dealing with it during surgery when he had a cast or whatever the hell on his arm, he seemed like he was processing things the right way to do so as a professional athlete. And it seems like that that mentality has brought him through, and he seems even better now. So I just think that that's the type of guy that he is, and I'm I'm grateful for Justin Steele in that regard, the way he's handled himself.
SPEAKER_02Just quickly staying on the injury bug, just the last thing here, and this isn't even really injury bug. Like Shoda did have some wear and tear last year, missed some time, slowed down, etc. Back this year, qualifying offer, chip on his shoulder. You're gonna hear me talk about that a lot this year with Shoda Imanaga. Qualifying offer, chip on his shoulder. Cubs don't pick up his extension. That turned into a bigger mess. Even though he was sensational his first year, quality his second year. Couldn't trust him in October. We go down this weird path. He accepts the qualifying offer after we turned down his multi-year deal. I think the Cubs wanted him to turn down the qualifying offer. That just brings him back here with the chip on his shoulder. And that's what he said. There is a chip on Shota's shoulder. He's up to 93, 94. They say his fastball velocity is as good as they've seen it, especially this time of the year. Gave up three home runs to the White Sox. Gave up three home runs to the White Sox. Which one do you care more about? Like he is throwing harder and getting shit on, or do you care more about the fact that he's throwing harder?
SPEAKER_00I personally care more about the fact that he's throwing harder, the uptick in velocity, and spring training. Pitchers are going to be working on stuff. He's still dealing with this uptick in velocity. So if the White Sox home are three times off of him in spring training, so be it. I personally put more stake into the fact that he's throwing 94 as opposed to 91.
SPEAKER_02I will have uh some I will have some questions if it's like mid-late April and he doesn't have great results out of the gate. I think he needs to have like from the start of the season, I think he needs to be putting up quality starts. I don't like the idea of Shoda not looking good to start the season and that like he'll find it. I think he needs to find it from the beginning because um it's very much his fastball working off of his secondary pitches in the sharpness and the bite to his fastball, and it's more about his mechanics and his rhythm. There's just a whole lot of things that go into what makes Shota being effective. And I would be nervous if it's mid-April into late May, and he doesn't have that deception repeatability where everything kind of looks at the exact same, that tunneling stuff that he does so well. So that as much as I'd like to just immediately overlook the fact he gave up three home runs, he is throwing harder. I am a little I am just like a little nervous. I'm just a little nervous about this guy. The counterpoint though is that we we're not asking him to be a one or a two this year. We're not asking him to even be like a three. He's gonna pitch at the back of the rotation, and hopefully that all just goes into the chip that's on his shoulder.
SPEAKER_00Hopefully, yeah, I do think the responsibility that we're gonna be asking of Shota, he's beyond capable of. Um, I also do agree with he needs to have it kind of going from the get-go. I do feel like he's a rhythm guy, and the confidence really blends into his rhythm and his approach to the game. So I do feel that goes hand in hand, and we'll see how that you know maintains. Will that velocity stick around right now? It looks like it's going to. But like you said, how is our pitchers going to complement it and how is he performing early on? I think is going to dictate how his whole season's gonna be.
PCA Profile: Language, Mindset, Maturity
SPEAKER_02And a good thing to me is like I don't I don't want to see him pitch world baseball classic, and I don't even know if Japan had invited him or what that relationship's like, but I do love that he's just in Cubs camp working on his shit, you know, blinders on, getting ready for opening day. So with that in mind, we do have world baseball classic stuff to talk about, but first the you know, hot shit cub center fielder, Pete Crow Armstrong will be playing in the world baseball classic. And man, this guy just ripped up headlines last week with the story out of Chicago magazine. I know you had two big takeaways.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like you said earlier, maybe 20 minutes after we had published this article dropped, but really two big takeaways I had was PCA was very emotional in this interview. Don't know the timing when he had that, when this guy got caught, but and a lot of F words, man, a lot of F bombs coming out of PCA in a Chicago magazine article. You don't really read those types of uh you know just kind of aggressive speech in these editorials, I should say. And it was a little bit uh a little bit a lot from Pete. And uh goods with the bads. I could see some people that got him pumped up, others, I think it's a little cause for concern.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like I the the amount of F words and how casually he was using them in in his quotes combined with the emotion he had. My thought was I don't does he know who the Chicago like the Chicago magazine is gonna be well read, or this is gonna be, but did he think this was like a throwaway or something?
SPEAKER_00Or that was my confusion is did he know who he was talking to? And then looking at the writer we had discussed, he's a very well respected, known. And Chicago magazine is a kind of a big deal, right? It's along the lines of New York magazine where it will be well read, it's going to hit the news wires, you know, and I don't know. I think maybe he thought he was talking to somebody else.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like he he could have just thought this is just some throwaway magazine article, not a big deal at all. You know, maybe surprised with that. And then the other thought is like I was I was surprised how uh like the uniformity in which the readers take away the quotes from not quotes, but like his his teammates and you know, coaching staff, etc. Like everybody agrees that it's not like some mechanical issue with Pete Crow Armstrong. Like, is he chasing? Is he not chasing? Is he trying to hit the ball in the air? Like, they just all say it comes down to his emotional state and like his mental approach to the game. Like it has nothing to do with the physical side. So when you look at the slump from last year, where he hits 25 homers in the first half, six in the second half, and he says it in there. Most of the people around him, it seems like are attributing that to the mental side of the game.
SPEAKER_00And that's what we saw. His I don't want to say outburst, but very much showing his emotion on his sleeve during games, during those struggles, you know, throwing a bat down here and there, minor temper tantrums, you know, screaming at himself, what have you. And then you couple that with an article of this nature where it's like, I get when people are frustrated, especially younger players on the field. But when that translates into the media and how aggressive you're coming across, and I'm not knocking him, I don't know the state he was in at the time or anything, but I because some people like like they love the article. They were like, hell yeah, I want to see us fire out of my center fielder. But that's not, I think, is what's going to breed success, is where you have to be some calm, cool, and collected in your approach to everyday life and on the field. So if that doesn't make sense, I apologize. But honestly, I think that's that my main takeaway from things is we've seen it both ways now, and that's why it might be a little bit of a cause for concern to where his head's at.
SPEAKER_02And just piggybacking off of that, it's not that I dislike it at all. I mean, there's things I'm thinking extra hard about, but I wouldn't put myself in the category of loving it. I like there's things I liked about it, and then there's things where I'm like, this, this is this is different. And not that different's bad, but I'll just give you some context of like, you know, the best American players, like you would have never in a thousand years ever heard Aaron Judge ever talk like that at a young stage in his career. They're different guys, different organizations, you know, and the same thing goes for Bobby Witt and Corbin Carroll. You know, you wouldn't get any of these Latin players like Ju Soto wouldn't be talking that shit, although Juan Soto on the field talks a lot of shit. So what made me surprised about it is that he was very good last year and had done amazing things on the field, but had a lot of this baggage about like I need to do more, and there's pressure. Like the one quote where he's saying, you know, they're chanting PCA, PCA, and I'm thinking, fuck, I gotta do something. You know, that's that's a problem to me, is that's a problem.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can't press, and and baseball, you're never going to. I mean, 99% of the time, you are not gonna be the one that changes the entire outcome of a game. Now he can, but I think you know my point. It's you can't put that kind of pressure on yourself as a player to think you're gonna win the whole thing by yourself.
SPEAKER_02And no one would ever ask him to do that in baseball, right? Especially in the professional ranks. I mean, it's like that in high school. But it's a testament to PCA and how he plays the game and how quickly he got to the big leagues and how much success he has naturally for being a tremendous athlete, a tremendous bat-to-ball skill guy who, yeah, he's gonna strike out, but his high end, the 25 homers in the first half, that's not an accident. It's not because the wind's blown out at Wrigley Field, it's because he's a sensational player. But then when we have questions about what goes on in the second half, why is he slumping, you know, a lot of people were pointing at, well, maybe he's changing his approach because his chase rate is going down. But then you see that his slug goes down, you know, substantially when his chase rate goes down. And so like the numbers necessarily don't back it up. I I think it gives also a good look into you know the guy in the clubhouse and the guy with his teammates. And there's the one quote that I absolutely loved in there. I'm sure I come off like a douche sometimes. And that is a fair thing to say, uh, as the young guy who's making these deep runs into left center and waving off Ian Hap early in the year, and the guy who, you know, I'm not saying he spikes his helmet, but he's got a lot of panache to him when he strikes out, even though like the big league strikeout rate is 25%. You're gonna strike out. You're a young guy. You it's striking out as part of your game, uh, but he still, when he does, he has that sense of, I can't believe I struck out, or I'm mad at myself for striking out. When it's like, you know, a lot of this stuff is just inherent to the game. And so just the more you talk and think about it, the more it makes sense when you get these quotes from you know, staff and from other teammates that say the biggest thing for him is just the mental side because the physical is all there.
SPEAKER_00So and that's I like hearing about that. That seemed to be kind of the theme throughout that article is the people around him know that the physical tools are all there, know his capabilities. We all know that with what we've seen. And one thing that will come with you know, more service time is maturity. So maybe Pete just has to be a little more mature, and that's gonna help translate to his success on the field and off of it.
Dodgers Comments And Fanbases
SPEAKER_02And that goes back to Bregman. I think Bregman around PCA is gonna be a home run, you know, and I think it also changes the dynamic of Dansby Swanson's leadership in the clubhouse. You know, it's not that he's gonna do less, it's just it's gonna be better paired with Bregman. So just a lot of things that I like about that. And then I suppose uh we will get into the PCA quotes about the Dodgers, but the last thing that I have about this is I just hope that the fiery and the competitive and the pissed offness, the bridging that gap is truly through team success. And how much can he remove? I had a bad day, the team won. Now, when the team was great last year, PCA was awesome. And when the team was bad last year, PCA seriously struggled. So there were very few times last year where PCA could leave the field with a loss, he played well, or with a win where he played like shit. And that experience, if it comes early, whenever it comes in the season, I think can help bridge the gap in the maturity. Because again, last year, when he played like shit, the team lost. So he didn't really even have these moments where it's like, well, I played like shit, but we were good this month, or we're on a roll, like no, and he sucked, we were down.
SPEAKER_00That's a very good point. And maybe he takes it that personally.
SPEAKER_02Now, one thing you said I loved what state of mind was he in, you know, when he was giving this interview, he did seem very casual. Again, dropping F-bombs. You don't see that a lot with Major League Baseball players. You'd see that with like old general managers and old school guys, but just the way the branding is, it sounds like he didn't, you know, it sounds like he hasn't had much media coaching. Or again, I'm really confused with like how raw and uncut he came from the Chicago mag interview because I feel like it would have been set up through the Chicago Cubs PR.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like definitely um it should have gone through like certain hoops, like and I'm not saying vet the questions, right? But like that's typically how things go, as far as I know, with those types of editorial interviews. Uh is it the cover? It might be the cover. I don't know the cover.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The the Cubs PR department, you know, for good or bad, they just we just have such a big national fan base, and the family-friendly thing is really more of like a a risk um is like a risk strategy thing. Like, you don't want your players coming off, and I'm not saying this me personally, I'm saying the Cubs institution, the Cubs organization, like you necessarily don't really want your players out there giving such flavorful, you know, and dropping F-bombs is his easiest way I could put it. Like, it's one thing for us to sit here on the podcast and do it. So, what the surprising thing when you see Pete, you know, speak as eloquently, you know, and bluntly as he did, and then the Dodgers comments, right? So, this is what everybody had their hands wrapped up in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, totally. You don't want baseball players to be like super polarizing off the field.
SPEAKER_02Really, you don't, and and I can't think of examples with the Cubs where it's like, oh, that was a really polarizing person. I mean, Milton Bradley was a polarizing jerk. Um, Kyle Farnsworth was polarizing, and that he would go drink at Murphy's bleachers. You know, he was polarizing, then he beat up Paul Wilson. Like, he wasn't giving you a lot of things.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like Sembrano temper tantrums in the dugout. I'm talking that's like those are during the game or right after, you know. So, yeah, I think you know my point. But like you were saying, then the what took me aback a bit, just to stay on topic here, the Dodgers thing. So I'm like, yeah, fuck the Dodgers, love that. You know, last year Pete came out saying how much he loved going to the stadium, loves playing there, loves the cubbies playing there too. But it was almost kind of like, is he talking about trying to play for LA in three years? That was the surrounding notion of that quote a year and a half ago. And then you read this stuff, and it's like, damn, dude, wait, he doesn't like the Dodgers. He kind of just shit on their fan base.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was a really interesting move. Um I'll just the quotes I got, they're just they aren't just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever they care. That's him talking about Cubs fans. You know, we're just not baseball fans that go to the game to take pictures, which I don't, I don't that's it. That's an interesting take. The other one is, you know, the people are great, they give a shit. They aren't just baseball fans yet. They want to go, I guess I'm just rereading the same quote here. You know, they're paying attention, which I strongly disagree with, right? Like Cubs fans are great. If we're gonna start making the argument that Cubs fans are great because we're in every pitch and we're paying attention, you know, I think that's unique because like around 40-45% of people at a Cubs game are there for the very first time. You know, it is by far the number one tourist destination in Chicago. You do have a ton of great Cubs fans. Playoff atmosphere at Wrigley Field is unlike any other sporting event I've been to. You know, like this is to me him giving Cubs fans good sound bites to be like, I'm one of you, I love you guys. And furthermore, I'm gonna go at the Dodgers because the Dodgers are the big target, every they have the biggest target in baseball on their back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it makes sense. I just do feel like him aligning with Cubs fan in regard to saying that they're in on every pitch, that has never been the narrative. The one thing, the one knock on Cubs fans as a whole, and I mean the so many positives, right? With regardless of how many people are in on every pitch or not. But the one narrative I've kind of agreed with where it's like is most people at the stadium are not in on every pitch. And I'm not saying me or you or any of the ranked fouls, there's plenty of those too. But as a fan, with 50% of the people going to Wrigley Field for the first time, it might be their first baseball game of all time. They're taking in a lot of other stuff than the game itself, as well as the pitches and catches and all that. So I don't know why he went with that narrative, as that's the one thing that I've kind of agreed with throughout my life of the difference between, you know, White Sox fans and Cubs fans, the the shit we've heard forever.
WBC Rosters, Roles, And Risks
SPEAKER_02White Sox fans are significant, and Cubs fans hate me for saying this. I'm just being dead honest with you guys from my own personal experience. White Sox fans are much more into the pitch in the moment in a game. Now, where what Wrigley Field does better than anybody else is get on your feet and cheer. Whether it's in the second inning with bases loaded and two outs, or whenever it's in that jam, that's the thing Wrigley can really do is put fans on their feet, make noise, cheer, get loud. That I don't think you see in any stadium at all, except for maybe Fenway Park, would be I'd be interested, Fenway may, you know, like a day game on a Tuesday or something, getaway, you know, that's really it I can think of. But like you can go to Wrigley Field third inning in the middle of April, people will be on their feet clapping and cheering like a bunch of hooligans. So, but that's more of the atmosphere that is less to do with you know the individual Cub fan, you know, really being locked in and pay attention. And then the counter to that I'd give to PCA is when you play center field and you get to interact with people in the bleachers, you know. So he does have a good relationship with Cubs fans. I know that he's very active running around before games and waving and throwing balls and really endearing himself to people out there. So I'm just seeing this as more of like a step towards him endearing himself to Cubs fans. He is comfortable taking a shot at Dodgers fans because he grew up in LA. I'm sure he's got buddies that are Dodgers fans, going to games as a Dodger, you know, like when he was a kid at Dodgers Stadium, and he had talked about, you know, the guys, the Dodgers fans that had put the The Giants fan and the coma, and like there's some ugly aspects of being a Dodgers fan for sure. But in my personal experience going to Dodgers Stadium, I had a great time interacting with with fans. I went with Jake for the uh 22 home run derby and all-star game. And like, you know, you're walking Dodgers Stadium with a fucking Cy Young Award winner and a guy who threw a no-hitter at Dodgers Stadium. And like I was nervous because I was like, I told him on the way in, I go, hey, just so you know, like Dodgers fans are fucking crazy. Like, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying for us to have like shit started or whatever. And he was like, whatever. If people want to start shit with me, go right ahead. You know, he's like, fuck it, 6'5, 250. Could have been the complete opposite of like we're walking, you know, out in the outfield concourse, and like it was obviously, you know, you're again, I'm there with Jake who's won a Cy Young and has dominated at Dodger Stadium and beat him in the NLCS and all that shit. And like my general impression was people were out of their way, nice and polite, but again, it's a different environment. It's a home run derby, whatever. But just I've been out there before, and my thought was like, I like Dodgers fans. You know, and I think in the history of baseball, like that's a weird fan base to kind of come at. Like, you want to make fun of Rockies fans, like they're a bunch of hipster weirdos. You want to make fun of Astros fans, like those people are just volatile and insane online. There's plenty of fan bases to make fun of. I just again surprised the Dodgers caught his ire. But then again, I keep giving myself like here's all these other devil's advocate. You grew up, he grew up in LA. He's got buddies that are Dodgers fans, and I would sure of all of like he probably knows more Dodgers fans personally than he does any other organization.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and so he maybe can speak to that vibe more than you or I from afar, but either way, it was interestingly timed.
SPEAKER_02And if this turns into like Cubs fans versus Dodgers fans on Twitter, like you know, whatever P. Crow Armstrong does for like this year in the future and all this stuff, it's gonna be, you know. And just last thing real quick on this, last thing, you know, he does have tremendous, tremendous stats at Dodgers Stadium in his career and against the Dodgers. So, like, if you are gonna talk shit, if you are gonna bring on the IR, he's got a 350 career average, 341 LBP, 750 slug uh in 10 career games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
SPEAKER_00So, like fair, you know, it's fair. If you can, yeah, if you put those numbers behind it, you could talk shit about the team. That makes sense. It would look a lot worse if he was, you know, one four or whatever.
SPEAKER_02Overall verdict on the PCA stuff after having a full week and now this full conversation to break it down. It's a young, fiery guy. He's obviously very emotional and charged and competitive. You know, the comments about the Dodgers are the comments about it is what it is. The broader takeaway is his capacity to endear himself to Cubs fans and his willingness to endear himself to Cubs fans, let his hair down, drop a couple F-bounds, talk about the stuff that he struggled with, concede. Yeah, maybe I can be a little bit of a douchebag sometimes, but I think a lot of that is just inherent to the guy that he is in the way that he plays the game. One thing we're trying to bridge here is the fireness and the competitiveness should lead you positively. Where it can be negative is they're chanting PCA, I have to do something. They're gonna hit me fourth, I have to do something, as opposed to you're hitting fourth because you're our best option to hit fourth. They're chanting PCA because they love you, because you can do it, not because that they expect you to do it, but because we love you and we've seen you do it, and this is coming from a place that we want to lift this up and make this a difficult environment for the opposing 100%, man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's coming from a pace of love, sincerity, and support, not asking you to do anything. And anytime you hear a player thinking that they have to, you just think press. You never want to hear pressing in Major League Baseball because it never typically is going well with success. But the one thing you mentioned earlier, too, uh with Alex Bregman on this team, I do think that PCA will be able to take that an additional step up in his maturation as a baseball player. And the fact that they're leaving today for the world baseball classic together, I think is even more so likely with him and Bregman building that relationship and bond early on in Bregman's Cubs career.
SPEAKER_02Perfect transition, Mahoney, because that's the last thing we have on the note today. Cubs players in the world baseball classic. We'll obviously spend more time on USA in the format, but just generally so people know we've got three guys on team USA: Bregman, Boyd, PCA. Jamis and Teon should be uh the one or the two for Team Canada. He'll log a ton of innings. Uh say Suzuki's playing with Japan. I love that. I love that say gets to go spend that time with his countrymen. Uh Javier Sad's pitching for Mexico, which I like him getting meaningful starts and innings and opportunities with Mexico because he needs to turn the gear on now. I don't necessarily think that's a guy who benefits from extended spring training work. Like I've always said, Javier Asad can just roll out of bed and compete for you. And then Venezuela, Daniel Palencia is pitching out of the bullpen for Venezuela. I do and don't like it. You know, the only thing there is just the injury risk and concern because he has no choice but to throw 105 miles an hour every time he gets on the mound. So like just got to trust that he's ready to go. And then Panama, we've got Miguel Omaya and Christian Betancourt, two of our catchers underneath Carson Kelly. There's some issue, uh, questions about whether or not a mile end up playing first base. I'm not really sure what's going on now that Tyler Austin's out for the Cubs, so like not really sure what the Panamanian depth chart looks like, but if there's an opportunity for Miguel Omaya to go play first base in the world baseball classic, you know, that would be great. So I think whatever that is, 11, 12 guys from the Cubs in the World Baseball Classic. Now the tournament, I I I have good things to say about this tournament because I like from the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th of March into the 18th, I think. So it's like five days is when they do the knockout, the single elimination tournament. So there's pool play. Pool play starts this week. There's five teams in four different pool plays. It's a round robin. So you play four games, and then the top two teams advance into uh you know an eight-man tournament for all intents and purposes. The United States should be one of the top two teams in the five group. They're playing against like Great Britain, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. So we just have nothing like we're going into this, USA should be in the quarterfinals, just tying it back to our boys. I love PCA on the heels of this emotional interview that really lets his hair down, and you get a good look at like the brain behind uh you know the gold glove center fielder. The fact that he gets to go play on the team with Judge and Bobby Witt and Gunner Henderson, you know, and Byron Buxton, and like he's gonna be in the clubhouse in the locker room with just the biggest superstars in the game. It's only gonna help for an extended period of time. Like, not just the all-star game, you get to be around these guys. You actually get to be on a team and compete with each other. That should give PCA more than any of the reps that we could see from spring training in the Cubs, and where we question like, is it good if our guys go play for WBC or should be the should they be in spring training on the heel of seeing everything that had to be said about PCA, you know, the maturity and the mental makeup, like this is you could not ask for a better two-week stretch for PCA to get ready for opening day.
Why WBC Reps Matter For PCA
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And especially if he's the guy that correlates with his success with a team's success or you know, the people around him succeeding. Um, it is a beautiful thing, man. We got 20 teams, five different continents. The world baseball classic is coming March 5th this week, starting with that pool play. I I'm excited to watch. Oh, I'm sorry, buddy. Yeah, I'm excited to watch, and um quite honestly, I'm excited to see a lot of the Cubs participating throughout. So that's what's really nice. Crossing fingers, clinching butt cheeks. We do not want any injuries, knocking on wood, doing what we can, but I do want to sit back and really enjoy this time as a baseball fan as well.
SPEAKER_02So I'm interested in seeing if Bregman is he the starter at third base and how much playing time does he get at third base? And then the other question, or do they give it to Gunnar Henderson so that Bobby Whit can play second base or could play shortstop is what I'm saying. So it'll be interesting to see how much time Bregman gets. And then, you know, is PCA the starting center fielder, or is Byron uh Buxton the starting center fielder? And then are Cubs fans gonna get mad if PCA is not playing? I I have no tolerance for Cubs fans getting mad about playing time in the world baseball classic. Like, I think Pete's gonna get a start, he's gonna have four games in the round robin. Each guy's gonna get their chance to play, um, you know, and then like weave it up to DeRosa and the staff going into the quarterfinals and the semis if they get their, you know, how the starting lineup should shake out. Like, I'm I guess this is my long-winded way of saying, like, I'm not in any position to be mad or like or happy based on the playing time that these guys get in the world baseball classic. It's just provided that they do get, you know, two starts in the round robin, you know, they do get their eight or nine plate appearances in the round robin. It's just awesome that they're there bonding together, Bregman and PCA in particular. Yeah, because those two guys are going to be the difference maker if the Cubs win a hundred games, you know, and take that division and if they're as good as they can be, or you know, are we a team that needs some help with the trade deadline?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dude. I'm excited. Baseball is essentially here, and we get some uh some action with our guys this week. It's gonna be awesome to watch, awesome to see. We'll have full breakdowns too, leading up to any quarterfinal matches and what's been happening next Monday, obviously, with some of the pool play that is gonna be commenced over the weekend. So I'm looking forward to it, man. And yeah. Where where are the sites? Do you know where they're playing? Let me see. I got yeah, they're going to Texas, they got a couple games going on in Japan, Miami, Houston. I don't think our guys are gonna have to travel too far.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, that you gotta come, you know, most of the guys are in spring training, so we will we'll be in we'll be playing in America. I think it's in Miami, I think it's in Scottsdale, I think it's in Houston, Japan, Puerto Rico, I believe, is hosting as well.
SPEAKER_00That's correct.
U.S. Pitching, Tournament Hype, What’s Next
SPEAKER_02So San Juan. It's a better tournament than you know, it's not the World Cup, right? It's not the Olympics. We get that, you know. But it is a solid tournament, it is a fun tournament, and there are moments that come out of it. The electrician from Czechoslovakia that struck out Shohei Otani on three pitches last year, or you know, last time they got together. There's obviously the big moment of Shohei Otani striking out Mike Trout to win the gold medal, you know. Like it's it is cool that Major League Baseball is taking the time to put this together. But I'll also say I think it's pretty badass. If you look at the starting pitchers that have committed to the World Baseball Classic, if you go back just last year, Merrill Kelly, or last time they had it in 23, Merrill Kelly started, you know, in the championship game. Uh Adam Wainwright was on that staff, Lance Lynn, Nick Martinez. And then if you look ahead this year, it's like Paul Skeens and Tarek Scubel, who's only going to make one start against Great Britain, but it's like Tarek Scuble's like the best left-handed pitcher since Steve Carleton. Or like, I don't know how do you how do you even talk about how good Tarek Scuble is? Sorry, I just pissed off all the Clayton Kershaw fans, but Clayton Kershaw is on this roster too, and so is Logan Webb. So like it's just awesome. It's just awesome that you've seen some big name players come together and they want to wear the red, white, and blue. And the further we get away from like, well, it's an injury risk, and it's just like you're an injury risk in spring training anyway. So it's just kind of badass because last time they did this, a bunch of pitchers put their dicks in between their legs and said we're not going out and competing. Now you got guys like Paul Skins and Scoobyl and Logan Webb that are like, give us the ball, we want to go compete for our country. So that's badass.
SPEAKER_00It's easily the best world baseball classic team the U.S. has ever felt like fielded.
SPEAKER_02So next time we get together will be March 9th. Should be a special episode. I think Mahoney might have some scheduling conflicts. We might have a special guest step in for Mahoney, um, you know, working on the scheduling side of that thing. But as we get ready for next episode, we'll just have more looking ahead at like kind of season predictions. And of course, if you guys have questions, grab back. We're happy to dive into stuff as we start incorporating that as the season gets going. And again, just a sneak peek. We are going to two shows a week this year. I'm almost certain it's going to be Monday morning, Friday morning. Friday morning will be an interview with someone that I can record on the Wednesday or the Thursday of that week. So just keep your eyes peeled. There's more Monday morning cub show stuff coming. But it doesn't happen without Thirsty Vacaro and without you guys supporting us along the way. So I just want to say thank you guys very much for tuning in, and we look forward to seeing you guys next week.
SPEAKER_00Hell yeah. Have a great week, Carl, and have a great week, maniacs.