Chicago Cubs post COMEBACK WIN over Braves!

Chicago Cubs post COMEBACK WIN over Braves!

Fall is in the air. The temps are starting to cool. And did it feel a little bit like April today at Wrigley? You are Locked on Cubs. Your daily Chicago Cubs podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. You are Locked On Cubs, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Alongside Sam Olber, I’m Matt Cozy. Sam and I are lifelong fans taking our passion into discussion with you on all things Cubs. Today’s episode is presented by FanDuel. Football season is here. Visit the FanDuel app today and start planning your futures bets now. Roster updates later in the show. Top five team MVP candidates or really the team MVP candidates in general. And we start with Cubs Braves down 6-1 in the fifth inning. The Cubs storm back to beat the Braves 76 in 10 innings on Monday on a beautiful Labor Day at Wrigley Field. Labor Day is the final checkpoint of the year with the comeback win. The Cubs are now 79 and 59 as of recording time. Two and a half up on the Padres’s who are playing the Orioles for the first wildcard spot. And the Cubs are five and a half back. H of the Brewers for first place in the NL Central. Carson Kelly was big in this one. Aaron Savale, Brad Keller, Andrew Kitridge. Sam, where would you like to start as the Cubs really turned up a really fun win? Yeah, the beginning of the game was was an unmitigated uh disaster. Um, can I just say something about Pete’s defense? Sure. I know it’s amazing. There is an element though that we can’t quantify of how he impacts the other two guys because Matt, am I wrong? It seems like Tucker and Hap are just terrified of colliding with him and well, especially Tucker and and that ball that dropped today. And look, it was Tucker’s fault. It wasn’t Pete’s fault at all, but it just seems like the the the aggressiveness that Pete has like he either just has to be full go or they have to just have a conversation about that because like that ball needs to be caught and and well neither player talk during the play if I if I remember correctly. Yeah, I I don’t know if it’s a communication thing. I just think I think if you privately if you were friends with Tucker or you were friends with with Hap and they told you I bet you off the air they’d be like dude he’s amazing but when I’m go when I’m flying in the left center or I’m flying in the right center in Tucker’s case I am just I don’t know what’s happening and that’s all it takes for a little hesitation. Just a quick side note. I just wanted to point that out. Got it. Yeah. A little speck of fear. I think that would make sense. Um and it doesn’t take anything away from Pete. just something I think that can improve with communication. So, they let in two free runs for that, right? Um, Nico gets picked off on a three- 0 pitch at second base. Not sure the last time or if I’ve ever seen that happen. Yeah, that was that was bad. Um, and it was starting to feel there was some boobirds out for Rogers. Oh, he’s horrible, man. Yeah, I I don’t think he’s horrible, but but he was tonight. Um Well, he was today. That’s been Yeah. Uh uh there were some boobirds out and then it just felt like kind of a disaster and you know half hits a little homer um you know you you you feel like you have a little bit of life and I thought that Pete Bunt on that O2 pitch man on first two outs uh uh preceding Swanson’s two-run double you know you you and I have watched a lot of games together that’s when my my head came off the couch like oh okay oh we’ve got to go now we’ve got a real shot here and then Kelly hits the two-run home run. Um, nice to see him get going cuz his numbers have been slipping quickly and then of course he walks it off. But how about Aaron Savali? A masterful job by the Cubs, one of the Cubs newest acquisitions. They added him and Carlos Santana’s roster numbers 27 and 28 on on Monday. Uh Kelly just coming up clutch really all season, but uh Monday with the two-run homer in the eighth and won the game, walking it off there with a single in the 10th, which was, you know, really a double, but the box score it’s a single. Three innings, four Ks, too for Savali. And Savali was a big reason why they won the game. Yeah. Can’t win without can’t come back without the pen. His role is going to be to pitch out of the pen in bulk. And that’s exactly what happened Monday. three innings, one hit, no runs, no walks, four strikeouts. Really nice to see. Really nice to see from him. You know, Ray has a short start. He was inefficient on on Monday. Rogers comes in and and you think the the Cubs might be out of it and they turn the tables on all of us and uh it was it was really nice to see, really encouraging. Brad Keller with some turbulence in the ninth. He gets out of it. And Kitridge was was nearly dominant in the tenth. Man, he is really hit or miss, but when he’s on with a minute. Yeah. I mean, Ian Hap starting to heat up. Yeah. And Hap, three hits, Shaw, two hits. Sam Haps nine for his last 17. That’s red hot. Yeah. And we talked about it. I mean, and he had a couple bloops today. he’s due uh like like he he’s really hitting some poor luck a lot of the year. So, he’s starting to heat up. Um I’m gonna say something that’s going to surprise a lot of people. I I ever since he’s been ordered in the way he’s supposed to in the batting order, I I really have no problem with Dansby Swanson season. Uh I I know he’s been brutal with runners in scoring position, but but he’s hit the ball pretty well, man. He really has. He’s hit he’s hitting 250, you know. I mean, for him, especially with the way Wrigley is, he’s slugging. Um I I have no problem with the season that you’re getting out of Swanson. Um and that was a huge hit today. Huge. Uh you know, the the the the a everybody’s numbers right now are all coming down. Like I’m seeing some of these OPS’s, it’s unbelievable. Pete all of a sudden’s well below eight. Seiya is now below eight. Uh but um you know uh Swanson and Hap were hitting. Yeah. And uh Shaw with two more knocks one day. It it was uh it was nice to see. I was just so shocked by the the PCA bunt. Oh, it was a great play. And when Swanson follows it up to score two there. Yeah, that is a a a jump out of your seat moment and then two frames later, Kelly follows that up and it’s like, “All right, we’re going to stand the rest of the game type thing.” Um, you want to hear something crazy from this game? Dare I say Monday was a vibe changer? Go ahead. Yeah, I’m tired of that. I’m just glad they won. Great start to the month. No, go ahead. Do you know it was tied for their largest comeback win of the year. Go ahead. Down five. Was that uh Do you know the game? Yeah, I have it right here. Oh, well now I got to I got to get that. Uh yeah, we’ll some point get it. Yeah. Yeah. Was that the Arizona game? No. Oh. Um I’ll come back to that. Matt Shaw, his OPS, he’s got it up to 700 after the start. Yeah, it’s impressive. Isn’t that something? Yeah, I don’t think he’s gonna show up for me next segment in team MVP camp. No, no, that would be too much. But he’s a top 10 guy the year for sure. Well, he’s been there. How about this? He’s been their second half MVP. We could leave it there. Oh, that’s a good that’s a good call. Let’s just leave it there. Well, we can’t we can Cubs also 41 and 18 in games following a loss if you’re keeping track of that. And they’re and they play well at home. And I don’t know if you saw this nugget, uh, Sam, Carson Kelly was the first Cubs player to tie the game late with a homer and then later record the walk-off hit since this player in 2004, Moyes Saloo, Corey Patterson. Ah, man, I’m not doing it today, huh? Uh, Cubs have two more with the Braves. The return of the 640 starts now that we’re back in school. Speaking of April, 640 the next two nights. Shota Imanaga and Joey Wentz who has a 492 erra this year. A chance to win the series with one of your best guys in Shota on the bump. Yep. Coming up next. Also, this was their first Monday win since I was uh in attendance with uh my friend Kevin. It was their first Monday win since Memorial Day. Literally since Memorial Day. That’s right. I was there. Wait, are you serious? That was It was their first Monday win since Memorial Day. Yeah. You’re Are you’re you’re you’re serious? Yeah, it’s in my notes. They haven’t won a game on Monday since Memorial Day. Well, that’s what I have in my notes, but maybe it’s at Wrigley. Maybe there’s an asterk. Uh, but it’s their first at least their first Monday win at Wrigley since Memorial Day. When was Memorial Day? I mean, it’s the May 26th, oddly enough, the day after the answer to the other trivia question where they came back from five runs on the 25th of May against the Reds. Coming up next, you’re right. We have team MVP candidates for the Cubs. Stay tuned. Today’s episode is brought to you by Prize Picks, the daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. You and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right means cashing in. With Football Back, prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections, and you can turn your takes into real prizes, all in less than a minute. It’s quick, easy. It’s going to be your favorite way to follow along with football. What’s Caleb Williams going to do a week from this evening as we record? Pick more or less on his passing yards, his rushing touchdowns on Prize Picks. And the best part is even if one of your picks misses, Prize Picks invented the Flex Play, so you can still double your money. Download the Prize Picks app today and use code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $5 play. Prize picks. It’s good to be ready. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is almost here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer right now. New customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. The NFL season starts on Thursday. That’s just three days away, folks. Thursday night. Uh I’m going to go to the college ranks here. And I’m I just want to sound the bell. Trap alert. Trap alert. Trap alert. The Illinois Fighting Ali on Saturday early travel east to Durham, North Carolina to face the Duke Blue Devils. And right now on FanDuel, just a two and a half point favorite. My guard is up. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. Shout out to the Everydayers. You can become a locked on Cubs every day or by joining us every episode throughout the week. Make sure you’re subscribed to Lockdown Cubs. That way you don’t miss any of the great Cubs content we’ve got for you, including the Cubs post with Joe George live after the final out of every game. All right, team MVP candidates for the Cubs with 24 games remaining. Sam, how would you like to go about this? I have uh one, two, three, four, five, six, seven names in front of me plus a position group. Uh I think they’re pretty clear, but but I’m excited to to to discuss this with you. Yeah. So, what are you what are you asking me? Like like my top five? Yeah, because I I have I have uh five here that I think are pretty clear. Uh but uh there’s also I have eight total candidates here. Do you have a an MVP choice that you’ve picked? Uh, do I have someone in mind that would win the team MVP? If it if it was voted on at this very moment. Yeah, I do. All right. Um, okay. Let’s let let’s I I have we folks, we don’t I have no idea who he has, so I’m just going to say I’ll say it on the count of three then. Who should win? No, no, let’s do that last. Okay. Okay. Um, let’s let’s go through candidates first. Uh, do you have Tucker as a candidate? I do. Okay. And you’re five. Yeah, I do. I do. Okay. Pete. Pete’s in there. Yeah. Okay. Um, Matthew Boyd has to be in there. He’s in there. And then I have one more that I I have a top four and then I have four on the outside. Is Brad Keller in there? He is. Yeah, he is. Yeah, he he should be. Yeah. And then I have four I have three more names at a position group. Um, do you have Kade in your eight? Yes, I do. Okay, good. Wow, you’re Wow, we’re really tracking right now. So, two more individuals plus a position group. Oh, got it. You know, Matt knows me so well. He knows that the position group thing didn’t hit me just until then. Now I know what he means. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, two more individuals. Um, I don’t think you have Suzuki. No. No. Sorry to laugh. Yeah, I don’t think you do. No. Um, I’m going to say I’m going to say you have Bush in there. Nope. No. Okay. Okay. I’m going to go one of your favorite players. Nico her is in there. Yeah, he’s in there. He should be. He’s one of the top 30 players in baseball this year. Um, and last but not least, yeah, it’s got to be another reliever. That’s correct. Uh, it’s either Palencia or Theo Theelbar. Yeah. Which which one? Thebar. That’s correct. Very good. I I have some numbers on all these these brothers. And also shout out to the catching trio of Kelly Maguire and Amaya. Wow. After the catcher position since we took over the show was basically an automatic out. All right. Uh listen to this 78 game stretch for Kyle Tucker from late March to late June. Okay. In that 78 games, he slashed 300, 403, 556, OPS of 960, 17 homers, 16 doubles, four triples, 19 steels. How about this 90game stretch from midappril to August the 1st for Pete Crow Armstrong? 287 average, 27 homers, 27 dubs, four triples, 23 steals. Uh entire season, Horners hitting 289, Gold Glove defense, uh 23 steals for good measure. Let’s break down these offensive guys first and then get to the the pitchers because there’s four of them. It ebbed and flowed. You know, PCA was a major an NL MVP candidate at one point August 1st. So was Tucker. Uh they still might get top 10 votes. I don’t know. Uh but man, what a what those pockets are not like, oh, a good month here, a good month there. Half the season or more. And uh you know, when they when they were on, they were on, man. Yeah, those two guys have to be on there because of the stretches that you brought up. Exactly. The Pete thing is is is worrying me now. Uh well, yeah, he’s he’s down. He Let me find this. I mean, well Well, it entering Monday, he’s hitting 155 his last 27 games. Well, in August, he was one of the worst hitters in baseball. Um, right. It’s just you could just We don’t need stats. You could just say it like that. um you know and um it’s concerning but but it doesn’t take away all the great that he’s done. Ex that’s exactly right. All right, let’s get to the pitchers. And by the way, by war, did you know Nicoer is top 30 in in war? Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of that stat. I know, but just wanted to point it out. Well, and and Pete’s what, second, third? Uh he’s Well, he’s like ninth now. All right. Really? Uh, yeah, I think so. Oh, okay. Okay. So, listen to this 10 start stretch for Matthew Boyd from late May to late July. Two months. He allowed eight runs in 63 and a third innings, folks. Wow. Uh, that’s incredible. Brad Keller from late April and early July allowed one run in 30 innings. Caleb Felbar from midappril to mid June allowed one run in 21 innings. And since the all-star break, Cade Horton has allowed only four runs in eight starts. And on the season in 98 and 2/3, 2.92 erra, that’s all the MVP candidates for the Man, I don’t think we could choose one now. I It’s that time. Uh uh there’s a reason for this, right? We’re not choosing one now. No, it’s it’s and and you know what? We shouldn’t choose one at the end of September either when the season ends. But that’s not how the MVP works. Yeah, we’re doing a team MVP, right? So So we’re going to have different rules. Yeah, we could do we could count a playoff series. You want to wait till the wild card series or so? I want to wait till the season’s over. Okay. But for entertainment purposes, on the count of three, who say your MVP first and last name? I don’t know. All right. Okay. One, two, three. Three. Matthew Boyd. Yeah. Okay. I mean, it’s so hard. It’s so hard to pick him because he’s lost six. The Cubs have lost six of his last seven starts, but where would they be without this dude? Out of the playoffs. Yeah. I don’t know about that, but yeah, it’ll be Yeah. Well, wait a second. If if Matthew Boyd didn’t pitch like this, you think they’d be in the wild card? Maybe like the third spot. I don’t know. You I don’t know how that works. Is he worth like eight wins? Right. You know, but I hear what you’re saying. Um it’s not Willie Castro who’s gonna play a lot less now that Alcantra is here. Did you see Santana’s pinch hit AB? I do. All right, let’s get to some of these new guys. Not with a good one either. How PCA especially might be impacted. I don’t know if you caught that, Sam from Jet Hoyer before the game. He he had a pretty uh some some newsy uh notes there. So, yeah, let’s get to all this. This is all following the Cubs big 76 win on Monday. Stay tuned. This episode is brought to you by Upside. Hey, locked on Cubs fans, are you still paying full price for gas? Stop leaving money behind. Get real cash back every time you fill up with the free Upside app. Simply download the free upside app in the App Store or Google Play right now and start earning cash at the pump today. Use my limited time promo code season to get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fillup. You can make up to $300 a year just from buying the gas you already needed. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but it’s totally legit. Real people are getting paid just to make their daily commutes, and you can, too. Plus, you can cash out anytime to your bank account, PayPal, or an e gift card for Amazon and other brands. Don’t let this offer drive on buy. Download the free upside app now using my limited time promo code season for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus. That’s promo code season. Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. Locked on wants to hear from you. They’ve put together a survey to learn more about their listeners and make your favorite podcast even better. This is your chance to tell Locked On what you like, what you don’t, and answer question about advertising. Go to lockdown cubs locked on podcast.com/servey to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of 10 $100 Amazon gift cards. Again, that’s locked onpodcast.comservey. lockedonpodcast.comservey. You can also find the link in this episode description. Carlos Santana and Aaron Savale both played Monday. They were added as the 27th and 28th players as rosters expanded Monday. Also, Owen Casey was swapped out for Kevin Alcantra, who Jed Hoyer said before Monday’s game will start sometimes uh against lefties. Uh and he also hinted that Pete Crow Armstrong will be uh the person Alcantra will be spelling and down the stretch of the year he’s going to PCA is going to get more days off. Thought that was interesting. I I think that limits Willie Castro’s role. Uh Craig Councel felt uh did say the Cubs felt Casey was better suited right now starting every day at Triple After only playing sparingly the last few weeks. Uh Porter Hodgej still on the team for now and Council also said Santana will get some starts at first when a lefty is on the mound and Savale will continue to give innings in bulk out of the pen which he did a fine job of that on Monday. All right, Sam, what do you what are your takeaways from the the latest roster shuffling, the new additions, including Alcantra, who may start Tuesday night against Joey Wentz? Yeah. Well, uh nice relief for me because last Friday I was just absolutely bombarded uh on Twitter when I suggested it might be time for a small platoon for for for PCA with some lefty. That’s exactly what’s happening. And um so I could just take a quick lap on that uh for the people that No, no, no. It’s it’s just for the people that they do the same to you, you know, that just uh you know, they’re not that nice sometimes. Um Sure. You know, we make mistakes plenty of them. Um yeah, I think it’s okay to change also your viewpoints over the 162. Go ahead. Yeah. And and I don’t think um not a whole lot. Look, I I’ll say this. This team has a lot of depth now. Uh I mean, you feel good. There’s a lot of profession just like on the not like just like uh young players either. No, it’s a it’s a good roster. It’s a I I last night as I you know was struggling to sleep which has become a norm. I was contemplating just how to evaluate this season so far because as I’ve told you many times 90 win seasons they’re just not a common place for this franchise. 95 win seasons are are a cause for major celebrations. It’s a great It’s been a great season. The Cubs might do both, but the vibe is just, you know, maybe Monday it helps. And I just I think it comes down to just like I think everything comes down to expectations. That’s what really drives reactions, right? If you go into the year and you know, the White Socks are a good example. I bet you a lot of White Socks fans are pretty pleased with this season. They 50 wins, right? But but you know what I mean? and and April and May were so electric. It it felt like there were superstars being born. I was getting texts about PCA being the biggest star since dot dot dot. And it just it just felt like it was all just, you know, like an all like an 85 Bears type takeover for a couple months and then it just really fell flat. And I think because of that, you know, the vibes aren’t where they are supposed to be. And then of course the Brewers that that they played a huge part in the vibe of it. Right. Right. Um because the Cubs bad stretches weren’t as bad as it felt, but it always is going to feel worse when the team you’re chasing, you know, won 19 of 20 every other 20 games. Um well, you put it really well the other day and of course no one uh Don’t compliment me. Well, I didn’t hear it anywhere else, but I’m sure someone will steal it because other shows steal our stuff all the time. Uh, it’s like the Brewers started 34 and0. Yeah. And they got beat today. And I I want to close the show. Yeah. Look, the ro you know how I am with roster stuff. It’s not It’s But no, it’s important to be reflective about the season. I I like I like the roster right now. I think it’s really deep. I’m a little concerned about Palencia. That’s where I’m at roster-wise right now. Okay. I I’d like to ask you a question. All right. Is there a number that sticks out in your mind that this division lead has to get to where you think it’s going to get real interesting? Uh, three. That’s the number. Yeah, because that’s a series worth of games. It’s three. Three. Three and a half. Um Oh, I don’t I don’t like halves. I’ll go with three. I do because we got the tiebreaker. So, if we’re down Okay. Well, then good point. I stand corrected. You know, so if we’re down three, guess what? We’re really only out two and a half out. Wow. I guess my point there is both teams are going to play the same number of games. But yeah. No, I I know. Like right now, right now they’re five and a half back, but you can’t really employ the tiebreaker there, I guess. Technically, because you you have to wait till we get on the same track. Um, right. Speaking of tiebreers. Oh, no. Go ahead. Yeah, just just, you know, two more games with Philly for them coming up. They got a road who are going for the one seed still. They got a trip in Texas coming up. Um, you know, they got to go to San Diego. That’s interesting. For sure. I’d love to see Skines get the ball in one of these. Crushed them last time. Yeah. And he and and as a competitor, he should want to see them a third time for sure. He’s been hit twice. Get in the ball and let him see him a third time. The other thing that I’m sure will be stolen now, uh, is, uh, speaking of tiebreers, uh, tiebreers for the wild card are a head-to-head record is number one, right? But in the Cubs and Padres’s instance in which they went three and three this year, Yeah. it goes to your strength of schedule, division record. Oh, division. So, how the Cubs did against the Central and how the Padres’s did against the West. Do we have any info on that for San Diego? Well, I could get it pretty quick. Yeah, because our division record isn’t great. Uh, let’s see what we got here. Uh, well, I don’t have that right now. Yeah, I’ll I’ll look into that. I’ll look into that for the next show. I could probably find it. Um, I just I don’t think we have it. Like I I I don’t think our record’s very good. Um, but Oh, I got it right here, Sam. Yeah. Uh, Cubs are uh against the division 24 and 18. Not great. Padres’s, you’re not going to believe this. 24 and 18. I’m going to have some homework to do. Oh boy. Uh because I believe the third tiebreaker. So, it’s head-to-head one. Uh, division record two, I believe. Three then would be National League record. Oh, and we’re we’re better. We’re better than that. And so, uh, let me let me check that out if I can. That is Well, I’d have to do a lot of manual math here. No, no, don’t do that right now. Um, all right. So, we got to take care of business against Pittsburgh. Wow. That’s That’s a fascinating breaking news in a way right there. Fun stuff. Fun stuff. Yeah. Yeah. All right. This is Locked On Cubs, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. For your second listen, check out the allnew College Football Kickoff Show. It’s another big moment for Locked On. College Football Fans. Locked on and Fire TV present College Football Kickoff. Your ultimate college football weekly preview. Drake Tol of Locked On Big 12 leads the conversation alongside two-time AP Coach of the Year Gary Patterson. former college star Jesse Holly and Locked On’s local experts. A college football preview only Locked On can do. Catch college football kickoff every Thursday throughout the year only on Fire TV. All right, we’ll be back after Cubs Braves. Get it down to three. Get it down to three. He’s Sam Olber. I’m Matt Cozy. This is Locked on Cubs. Go Cubs.

Cubs/Braves recap, Top 5 candidates for Cubs MVP, and roster roles for the rest of the season.

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