The Chicago Cubs Are FADING….. FAST!

The Chicago Cubs Are FADING….. FAST!

Hey, listen. Sometimes you got to tip your cap to the strikeout machine. Zack Latell the one two to Tucker three. Cubs lose again. You are Locked on Cubs, your daily Chicago Cubs podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. You are Locked On Cubs, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day alongside Sam Olber and Matt Cozy. Sam and I are lifelong fans taking our passion into discussion with you and all things Cubs. Today’s episode is presented by our great partners at Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use promo code locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. The Cubs have no control of their own baseball team right now. Uh Jed Hoyer spoke before Tuesday’s game. We get to his comments along with other news and notes later. We also continue to reflect on the struggles of the offense and maybe the expected ones as well. And we start with the Cubs losing to the Reds 5-1 on Tuesday night. Cubs are now four games out of first place in the NL Central. And with that, I would like to move on from tracking the division standings for now and shift to the wild card where the Cubs are currently in the top spot. The Mets are a half game back in the second spot. Padres’s three and a half in the third spot. And the Reds five and a half back as the first team out. Sam Shota was excellent, but the offense again stalled. Andrew Kitridge allowed four runs in his third appearance with his new team. And the Cubs have lost five out of their last eight. Before I This This could be a tough tough one for me. Um, before I get into my stuff, uh, want to publicly thank you for those wondering. Sam, aren’t you usually solo right now? Been dealing with some stuff. So, Matt’s Matt’s helping me, uh, uh, tagging along, uh, on these shows the last and I appreciate you being on here. And that’s going to pretty much end all positivity. Uh, this team is doing it again. Last year, May and June, offensive collapse. September of 23, a total teamwide collapse. They give their president of baseball operations an extension before the deadline. Things were trending. This organization is not is not proactive. They don’t anticipate. They’re reactive. And Jed goes, “All right, we we we did what we could do.” And I get it. Trust me, for all those out there, I get it. It was going to be tough to get a pitcher. They’d get another hitter, which we’ll talk about. Do something else because the way it was going, it wasn’t good. And they’re just satisfied with, hey, we’ve built an 85 win club. If we outperform expectations, we get to 90. We underperform, we’re an 83 win team. Let’s just be good enough every single year and see what happens. And it’s happening right now. And um the regression has come. It’s lifeless. It’s pathetic. It’s it’s unbelievably brutal to watch. Every time Kyle Tucker comes to the plate, I went to the kitchen to go get something, go make something, uh clean some dishes, whatever it is, so I don’t have to watch him hit right now because at the end of the day, at the end of the day, he was brought in here to avoid these team long stretches. And right now, he’s the biggest culprit of the stretch. injury or not, then I yell them. Talked about that yesterday. But this team, Matt, uh they got their work cut out for him on Wednesday to avoid a sweep. Uh this game today, Matt Shaw continues to be their best hitter in the second half, which is u great for him, but also just tells you where things are at. Um I’m really really concerned right now, and I think this team needs a shakeup and a spark tomorrow. Well, I have some proposals later in the show for that. I figure those guys that I’m going to propose would meet the team in St. Louis, but yeah, I suppose they could get over here for the the maton. Well, nothing’s going to happen tomorrow. You know that. I just, you know, right? I guess I took you too literally. But yes, they do need to uh four hits. They do need to move some things around prior to at least Friday’s uh contest. This is like a bad dream. Okay. I want to wake up as soon as possible. Uh, you know, I’m sleeping through the night pretty good right now. You know, Bennett’s eight weeks old today and he’s starting to pretty much just wake up one time in the night. I wake up about four. The Cubs The Cubs make me wake up about three, four times in the night just based on their play. Uh, five out of their last eight they’ve they’ve taken the L. eight, nine since the break and they’re just an average team, Sam, since they beat the Reds on June 1st. Everything has changed since then. You could really go back that far and they’ve caused all this worry the last 17 games. all this all this fatalism really. You know, we’re it’s one thing to look at the wild card and say, “Okay, the Brewers are 30 and N since June 19th and and 44 and whatever 16 44 and 16 and 16, you know, the last 60, but but the the the the bar is being lowered and lowered. Oh, they could just make the playoffs. What? What? What’s happened? It’s pitiful what’s happening. And the bottom of the first inning was a prime example. That’s it. That was the game. A Bush single, a half walk, and and John Shambi. Oh, here we go. Things are going to turn. Tucker strikeout. PCA strikeout. Willie Castro strikeout. Zack Latell strikeouts and swings and misses tonight were both season highs for him. No, I have it. Here, let me interrupt you. Uh, this is from Matt Wilks, uh, Twitter. Heck of a Red’s debut for Zack Latell. His eight strikeouts, 16 swings and misses, both season highs. Most strikeouts in a game since May of 24. Any hits? Most swings and misses in a game since September of 24. So, uh, this team couldn’t beat Prairie Ridge on the north side of Crystal Lake right now. Um, the the first inning felt like the game because Absolutely. They’re just broken offensively. They’re just That’s what it is. They’re just broken. And it remind you know, the end of 2018 uh um you know, the the end of 2020, this is such a common theme. And you know, I don’t I I I I think that they have to they’re one of the biggest stories in the sport right now and for all the wrong reasons, especially Tucker. Well, and and and we’re going to talk about this in a second, but like the Tucker part of it is not their fault. That’s that’s that can’t happen from him. And and they have to figure that out unless they’re making him play hurt for some reason. But you knew you were getting out performances. Seya Suzuki has a a a fouryear track record of who he is and and and and Michael Bush is who he is. So I just I don’t know, Matt. I I really feel like they they they made their bed with this. I mean, they just they’re sitting on their hands and and and waiting for things to happen instead of making things happen. And I think that they’re going to have to make a change. They’re going to have to do something because if they continue to just as Jed said, as Jed said today, you know, hey, some guys right now aren’t hitting. Hopefully they hopefully they they start hitting soon. If they continue to have that mindset, um they will be out of the playoffs. Let’s talk about a couple things maybe that they can do. Uh coming up next, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Day Hugh. And so is this hat I’m wearing. For sports fans like me, this one hits the mark. Game Day Hugh makes clean no logo gear with team inspired colors for every pro and college fan base. It’s all about letting your colors speak for you. No giant logos, just smart, versatile styles that work on game day on the course or anywhere in between. This marooned hat I got sent to me by Game Day Hugh is actually the colors of the school I teach at. Excited to rock it this fall on football Friday nights in the booth there as I do PA announcing at my school. Excited about that. And Game Day Hugh sent me a golf glove in Cubs colors. This is their split shade glove made for the golf course or the perfect gift for the fan who has everything golf related. Right now you can get 15% off with code MLB15 at gamedayhw.com. That’s gamedayhwhe.com. Let your colors talk because colors speak louder than words. Gamedayhw.com code MLB15. We’re back here on locked on Cubs. Matt, look. Jed always talks about outperforming expectations and you got the ultimate. This is the ultimate outperforming expectations. Bush uh for a while. say Pete, if Pete Crow Armstrong goes 0 for his next 30, he still outperformed expectations going into this year. Wow. Carson Kelly, uh, uh, you know, Nico maybe even a little bit, whatever it is. So, if you’re going to expect to outperform expectations, don’t you also have to plan and anticipate that at some point Bush is going to hit a funk because he’s not a 900 plus OPS hitter? We have four years of evidence that says Sei Suzuki is not a 900 OPS hitter. So, I I guess my first question would be, shouldn’t the Cubs not be surprised that this offense is regressing outside of Tucker? Yes. And they should have taken measures within the the the lines of play to try to upend some of this and and actually play play baseball. You can’t out slug everybody all the time. You can’t out pitch everybody all the time and you need to turn your flaws into opportunities with with some of your your guys who who do have better bat-to ball skills, whatever it is. The one of the main things that I’m frustrated by right now is actually a little bit I think underrated is the her leading off against lefties thing. He’s the the most clutch player on the team. Why is he leading off? Well, yeah. Well, I now now I’m getting You said that’s in three for three, four years. Getting deja vu from like early 2023 and I don’t want that. Right. Right. And and but yes, I they should have prepared for it. What what Hoyer especially said Tuesday before the game, Sam, was was discouraging. Yeah. And and the part about Oh, they’ll get hot again. Yeah. Right. You know, we we’ll get the st we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll get hot again. and you know the offense and the team itself. But but you’re right, you know, Seiya has had these stretches. U a lot of these guys were out performing their baseball card as as one of these stretches every year. Well, absolutely. Hap has 40 of them a year. Well, listen, some fiery, you know, fiery fiery quotes uh from from the Cubs manager after this one. Craig Council quote Yeah. The name of the game is to square the ball up and get on base. We’re just in a little little rut right now. We’re not doing it. A little a little rut. No. No. End quote. That makes me want to run through a wall. That’s inspiring. Um, you need He looks bored in the dugout. Sometimes you need a guy to flip a table. Sometimes you need a guy to light a fire. People can laugh at me all you want. Works for the Brewers. They’d beat the 27 Yankees. They’d have they’d have Babe Ruth and Lou Garrick so confused they’d just be butting the ball back to the mound. Um, all right. So, what do you think? They face a lefty tomorrow. It’s unlikely, but but I haven’t and I haven’t looked ahead to the Cardinal series. Don’t you think they got to make a move, get Casey up here or Bayister to just inject some life? Hey, tell have the tough conversation with Ian Hap. It’s not that tough. Hey, you’re a part-timer right now. You’re you’re it’s part-time production. Or you say, “Hey, Kyle, if whatever is happening right now, we don’t have a chance with with you performing like this. I need a 10day reset. We’re going to bring up Bayister. You’re going to the IIEL. We’ll call it the finger. Maybe it is the finger. You need a reset mentally right now.” Whatever it is, is that is that something you think’s possible? I really think I I do think there is a chance that that happens. Especially with Tucker to the IIL because they can’t look at themselves with a straight face and go, “Oh, we’re going to play Tucker for the five games against the Brewers at Wrigley and he’s going to be 75 85%.” And if they do, it’s it’s it’s inappropriate. It’s it’s absolutely wild if they do that. So, he’d have to hit the IIL basically Wednesday or Thursday or I I guess Friday at the latest uh to be back for for at least some of the Brewers series. There’s four names that I think would be candidates to come up here that the two are really clear. Byos and Casey. Yep. And then two uh more down the the page, but one has been good against lefties this year. one we keep hearing about, but all he really does is hit, and that’s Kevin Alcantra and Jonathan Long, respectively. So, you really have four names there, but I I think at the very least, uh, we should see Bayister meet the team in St. Louis. And I do want to put this out there almost 15 minutes in. Yeah. Why does this just have to be a position player? I understand the offense is broken, but at some point an effective and healthy pitching prospect should be helping the major league team and maybe not the the doublea Knoxville Smokies. That’s really what I would like to see Friday is Bayeros to beat the team in St. Louis and Jackson Wiggins. Yeah, I think they need a shakeup. Um, my my one shakeup suggestion makes absolutely no sense on paper, but I don’t manage I don’t do things on paper. I I I like to use a little bit of feel. Um, and that is Wait, what was that? Feel fee. No, no. Feel with an F. Feel feel. Yeah. something that that this that this organization doesn’t usually do a whole lot of that this organization lacks. I’m tired of watching guys who don’t know how to lead off lead off. Michael Bush isn’t a leadoff hitter. Ever since he’s gone to the leadoff spot versus righties, it doesn’t work. Just give the keys to Pete and just say, “Hey, I don’t care what you do. Just go. This team needs your energy right now.” Right? This team needs your your personality, your charisma. I don’t care about your on base right now, whatever. This team needs a guy to jolt. They they need a jolt. Uh not going to happen versus a lefty, but I would just have Pete lead off, send Hap to the 78 hole or or buy a steros and go from there. Just this team needs energy. It’s so it’s just it reminds me so much of the last couple years and and and the most inexcusable the most inexcusable part of this baseball game. They struck out 10 times. This was not this is not a strikeout Reds group that you faced. Uh took her three times one looking. Latel, Ashcraft, Mole, and Santillian. I mean, this is they had four base hits. I mean, I’d like to think they could sneak in like a one- nothing or 2-1 win Wednesday, but I I it’s unlikely. I’m getting Candelario vibes from Castro, by the way. Yeah. Why is it that now three straight would it be August is the plural form? August. Why? Why August now three in a row the month of August? Yeah. It’s just a a rough feeling. Yeah. Well, you know, it should be a great time of year. Pedes came in here. He didn’t hit. Candle and and and Castro got off to that good start. You know, he had a good game or two. One game. Okay. Stop with the good start. He went two for two on Saturday, then he ended up two for four. Okay. Just enough. Yeah. No. Well, that was hard. And I And I have to he and now and then they parade him out every game at a new position. Well, Candelario like he’s well feral in that spring training game 10 years ago. Please. Well, Candelario uh had that great week and everyone sounds a good thing. I don’t think he got a hit afterwards. Yeah, he got three hits after. So, um No. And well, and another really uh smooth move from Jed with Kitridge today. Um first of all, oh, he looked awful. I don’t know how the the hitter doesn’t pick up what he’s throwing because he takes the he takes it out of the glove so early, but it did seem like the Reds knew what was coming um tonight. I’m not too excited about Rogers either. Can I be honest? I mean, speaking of the trade deadline, the Cubs traded for uh Michael Sarroa and we’re not sure when we will see him again. Let’s talk about that unmitigated fiasco coming up next. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. You ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth, guys. You know, for me, it’s about cooking or lack thereof. Uh, I use way too many delivery food services. I I I order out too much. It wasn’t until I started using Monarch, how much I was spending, and how much I could be saving. So, take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown MLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com code locked on MLB for half off your first year. Last night, uh, Michael Sarroa made his Cubs debut. It was shortlived. He got injured in the second inning with what the Cubs are calling, uh, a right shoulder injury, shoulder soreness. The official update from Craig Council uh, just came out six minutes ago. He will be shut down for 7 to 10 days and then will be re-evaluated afterwards. I have no idea what that means. I don’t know if that means he shut down. Does he then just start playing catch? Um, for those that don’t know, it came out uh pretty late last night as I was struggling to sleep and reading about it that um well, Michael Sroka his his velocity was down and at the end of July, I want to say July 29th, just for a piece of mind, he got an MRI, which obviously came back clean. But, you know, there were some red flags attached to this and um this was really the big starting pitching move the Cubs made because it’s the only one that they made. Um and Jed Hoyer uh uh spoke the uh this afternoon uh and I’m quoting here. We knew the velocity was trending down. Jed Hoyer, president of baseball operations said, “We talked through that extensively. given the market, giving the asking price, we felt like it was a good bet to make. Right now, it’s not looking like a good bet.” End quote. Matt, well, and his injury history was actually not too much of a topic of conversation when the news broke, when they acquired him. It was really his his lack of being an impact talent. And then you throw his injury history in there and now you do play a little bit of revisionist history of why did they even take this chance? No, he’s not like Matthew Boyd. Craig Councel, stop comparing Sroa to Boyd. It’s not a fair comparison. I I understand Boyd has an injury history, but but his it’s not like his VO was dropping and and they had all these concerns. No. Soka the last month has has really dropped in in not only production but but the under the hood metrics as well. And for for that to be their lone pitching acquisition and for him to make it literally two innings uh is now another part of this list in in August here that that’s resulting in in in the the bad dream scenario. And uh it would it’d be one thing to go light on on the deadline um but but now you basically traded for no starting pitcher. Can you predict injury? No. Uh but it just seems like it was a perfect storm of factors and and uh you know Jed Jed really will need to wear this one because it was it was poor. You’re being too kind. Um it doesn’t matter if it’s revisionist history or not. If you’re gonna if you know you have a need and and you barely address that need and the dude you barely address that need with is coming with concerns and he gets hurt two innings in it is inexcusable and it is a bad look even if you couldn’t predict it right he should have been the second guy they got yeah at the very least but but this is a business based on results and I know that bothers a lot of analytic people because you could hit the ball hard and and it finds a glove. But at the end of the day, you’re judged on results. Nobody remembers how many lucky wins you have. Nobody remembers how unlucky you are. At the end of the year, you go, “Did you make the playoffs? How many wins did you get? And did you win a world championship?” That’s nobody’s going to look back in in 50 years and go, “Man, that Rangers team that beat the Diamondbacks, they were never the same since that wasn’t Well, they won their World Series, you know.” Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don’t care what the process was. It was already a bad deadline. You can’t miss like that. And I don’t know. I’m I’m not a doctor. Um, which I think I’ve made clear many times on this very program. But it doesn’t sound good. Just doesn’t. I My my hope would be September, maybe out of the bullpen. Uh but it I’m not counting on anything from him. Yeah, I’m not counting on anything either. I moved on from Sroa and that’s really sad. Um that’s really Sroa. Mike Mike gone. Uh council spoke to some stuff there was asked if Ben Brown’s going to be the logical replacement right now until Assad and Tyion come back. He said possibly, but then cited the the off days. There’s a lot of off days. So maybe he goes fourman, but I got to tell you, Sha’s a different dude on four days versus five days. And and so I I I’d rather see them piece together something instead of um rushing him back. And um Assad, Ben Brown is going to give a lot of innings. And then Assad and Tyone will be back, you know, hopefully in a couple weeks. I I would expect to to see them, you know, you’ll see them in the Brewer series. Yeah, a couple weeks is a good target for Yeah, the Brewers series. Great target. I think Assad’s going to make that’s that’s really going to Can’t wait to rush over. Uh hey, the Brewers are all right. We got Tyion and Assad back. Well, Assad’s probably going to make two more starts at Triple A. Tyion is going to make it one, maybe two more. Uh yeah, Ben Brown’s going to need to give big innings again down the stretch here. Oh, excellent news. Colin Ray isn’t going anywhere. They’re still going to have to closely monitor Horton and Boyd and really Emanaga, too. So, it’s really all coming up roses right now in the north side when it comes to all all aspects of their team. And uh and yeah, no, Assad against uh Peralta will be fun. Last thing, um, council did have a little comment I thought was interesting today when asked about Tucker’s ground ball rate and he kind of just said half sarcastically, “Well, you can’t hit the ball in the air right now at Wrigley.” Um, how much how much do you attribute the Cubs struggles again this year lately? Uh, just the way Wrigley’s played to the wind and is it something? something now you really it’s two years in a row that this park plays like one of the biggest parks in baseball. Uh for this year I I feel like it’s it’s more it’s milder. It’s a milder contributing factor. I agree to to really this offensive uh volcano, if you will, the volcano of nothingness that they’ve produced the last few weeks. Uh, but with that being said, now two years of evidence piled up that the park is going to play like it has, which is way bigger than than it sits there on Clark and Addison. Then why why aren’t they doubling down more of station to station stuff, contact speed, uh, uh, going first to third, playing hit and run, playing run and hit the baseball, hit them where they ain’t, and should they acquire players this winter who could do that? Yes. And and and and and maybe have a manager that believes in it, too. Man, hard to believe. So So you mean to tell me that he spent that many years with that org, but he he just kind of was lukewarm on it, then he leaves. He’s like, “Oh, let’s hit it out of the park.” Well, no. They they hit a lot of homers with him. You know, those were yell at years and things like that. Listen, all I could say about Craig is and and I don’t think I I I I And he only managed seven or eight innings there, by the way. I I have the same opinion on Craig. I think he’s a fine manager, just not what we expected. But same thing with the Jed Seroka thing. You can’t just sit here and ignore the fact that the Brewers the Brewers have won 44 of 60 games without him and last year won 93 games. I mean, how much impact was he really having on that club and that organization? It’s a fair It’s a fair question, Matt. It is. U So that’s that. Well, that’s gonna do it, I believe. Yeah, that’s it. That’s it, Matt. and uh Morton and Abbott on Wednesday. We’ll be back Wednesday evening. You get swept, it gets real serious. Wow. This is Locked On Cubs, part of the Locked On podcast network. It might be nine out by September for your second list. What’s What would the math be behind that? Well, if what if the Brewers Oh, nine out of the division, you mean? Yeah. Out of the division. Yeah. Okay. The Brewers come in here, take four out of five. Get local analysis on a national scale and MLB game night on the lockown MLB channel on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. He’s Sam over. I’m Matt Cozy. This is Lock Cubs. Oh no.

Another lifeless and uninspiring effort from the Cubs “vaunted” offense Tuesday night. Matt and Sam talk about what is going on and discuss some potential fixes. Plus, a Michael Soroka update.

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