Matt Shaw just FLIPPED THE MOMENTUM for the Chicago Cubs

Matt Shaw just FLIPPED THE MOMENTUM for the Chicago Cubs

This might be it. The Cubs momentum has shifted. Let’s go. 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. I’m Matt Cozy. I am a lifelong fan taking my passion into discussion with you on all things Cubs. Sam was at the Cubs game tonight with my cousin, Sam’s best friend, Nick Cozy. Happy birthday to Nick. Nick, a major uh reason for this show’s success. Today’s episode is presented by FiveHour Energy. Enter for a chance to win a dream golf trip for two to any golf tournament in the United States. Visit 5hwin.com for full rules and entry. No purchase necessary. It does exclude the Masters. Ends October 31st of this year. There is breaking news about Kyle Tucker that we will review later in the show. Also later, I explain why the Cubs have the right mix in the bullpen. And we go more in depth on Matt Shaw because we also start with Matt Shaw who might have completely changed the momentum of the 2025 Cubs. The Cubs won 4-3 over the Brewers on Wednesday. They’ve won three out of four against their rival with one game to play this week. And they have also clinched the season series. Cubs are now 73 and 54 on the season and will be at least two games ahead of the Padres’s for the first wildcard spot. Cubs are five and a half now ahead of the Mets. Six of the Reds in the bottom of the third inning. Runners on first and second, no outs. Matt Shaw stepped to the plates against Brewers pitcher Jacob Miserowski who had already walked the previous two batters. Shaw got the bunt sign O. He got it again 2-1 and fouled off a pitch both times. Foul bunted. Eventually the count gets to 32 and he fouls off four straight pitches before drawing a walk. The atbat totaled 11 pitches. 11 pitches. This is the type of atbat that dictates the the tenor of a game. And that is exactly what happened on Wednesday because five pitches later to Michael Bush, he laced a bases clearing double to left center. The Cubs took a 3-1 lead. They never looked back. Uh Colin Ray went five and two/3 innings. Three hits, two runs, five walks, three strikeouts. The Brewers had the bases loaded with one out in the second, but only scored one run. and Felbar, Keller, and Palencia closed the game out of the bullpen. For good measure, Shaw added a solo home run in the eighth, which was critical because Daniel Palencia had trouble in the ninth inning. Uh, still believe in him, the bullpen mix, like we’ll get to later. Uh, but it was it was definitely a drama-filled ninth inning. Brewers had the bases loaded. I mean, they got they tallied one run. Eventually, the bases were loaded, but uh Valencia was able to limit the damage and and they come out with a what’s a big win. Things feel different right now. A lot of that has to do with Shaw. A lot of that has to do with starting pitching this week and the bullpen, you know, being able to hold serve. This series is quickly becoming a possible turning point in the big picture of the 2025 season. That that’s where I’m at now. And they were absolutely blanked on on Monday. Got shelled, shut out. The rain comes and since then they’re three and 0. Uh more on Shaw later and on the bullpen, but this was an emotional win uh for for for me. Um I thought the the way the game played out carried a lot of meaning. You get the bases loaded and no outs that early in the game. If you want to win the game against a division rival, then you need to cash in that opportunity. And and that’s exactly what they did. And that was good to see. And that was because of Matt Shaw. And then Michael Bush comes through. He’s ahead in the count. He laces that double. They could win four out of five on Thursday. That’s a major story. They’ve already won three out of four. That might be a major story already. It it might not even matter what what happens on on Thursday. To get four out of five, I think does allow you to dream big again about the season. This is a game of trends. If they win four out of five against the best team in the sport, that changes the story of what the season could be. You start to imagine what it could be. You start to plot out the postseason path. you start to imagine them winning the wildcard series and and taking three of five like they will at least do this week against the Brewers. I know there’s 30 plus games left, but that’s what that would do. And you might be thinking that already. I I think I am. These three games may have just flipped everything. But if they win Thursday, you’re you’re definitely there. There’s no reaching that needs to be done. That happened. Shot Imanaga will take the ball in that one. Quinn Pster for the Brewers. Imanaga enters sporting a 306 RA in 103 innings. Prester has put together a solid year following the Brewers trading with the Red Sox for him in April. Uh Prister, who attended Northwest Suburban Kerry Grove, has a 348 erra in 100 frames. The Cubs are 34 and3 when Imanaga pitches since he debuted last year. As of this recording, FanDuel has the Cubs as minus 142 favorites. That’s a 1:20 p.m. Central Standard Time uh start. And if this week already wasn’t a major opportunity, uh they could continue that on on Thursday. And it may have already happened because of of what Matt Shaw did, what the rotation has done this week and and the bullpen uh being able to mitigate a couple of tenser, more tensionfilled situations. Uh, for sure. Coming up next, I’ll get into more of the season and the big picture and why Matt Shaw, he wasn’t playing like he is. I think the the the the story of the year uh and certainly the the tone the attitude around around the season especially this month. It would be a lot worse if Matt Shaw wasn’t playing like this. We explain why 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 locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com. Code lockdown MLB for half off your first year. Shout out to the everydayers. And you could become a Locked on Cubs Everydayer by joining us for every episode throughout the week. The season never went off the rails. Uh they the Cubs have been firmly in the postseason mix the the whole year. They’ve literally been in a playoff spot since the 10th game. Uh they’ve now won three in a row and are 10 and nine this month. I’ve been tracking their record since July 20th when they dropped the series finale to the Red Sox because if you remember they opened the second half with two nice wins then hit hit this thud and they entered the the the double header Tuesday 11 and 15 since July 20th. Now that’s below average. Well, now they’re 14 and 15 since July 20th, 10 and N in August. 14 and 15 since July 20th. They’ve been average for a while, sure, but they’ve never been in any kind of jeopardy. I think the eye test hasn’t helped, but just purely off the standings and their ability to to stay afloat in times of of struggle. Uh it’s it’s never gotten to the point where it’s like, uh oh, here we go. It’s disappointing how they’ve played and they’ve had an inability to stack wins. When was the last time they won three in a row? But they’ve never gone off the rails by any means. Which is why this week is a page turner. And if Matt Shaw wasn’t playing like he is he has been, I do think they they would be in jeopardy. I think Shaw offensively is the key to all of this. Well, come on, Matt. You can’t have a key in the lineup if you average three runs a game for a month or more. Yeah, you can. There’s nine spots. They’ve still won 14 of 29 games. Shaw has been their best hitter this whole period of time. since they returned from the All-Star break following an episode, which we did and we in which we speculated, hey, do they send Shaw to De Moine again? The Cubs third baseman has been their best player, at least their best hitter, right? He’s still he’s holding it down defensively for the most part. Uh although the metrics don’t say so really. They don’t really like him. Uh, but since the All-Star break, Shaw is hitting .302, nine home runs, five doubles, and a triple. He has been their best hitter. And consider for a moment instead of 302, if he was still hitting 202, which actually is giving him too much credit because he was below 200 at a time on the season, the Cubs would be in serious jeopardy. then they would be. But because of how he’s done, they’re not. Are there other factors, namely starting pitching, the area which uh was most discussed at the trade deadline? Yeah, that the starters have been excellent. They’ve been top three in baseball this month. The bullpen’s been top 10, but Matt Shaw has saved the offense. and as a byproduct has limited the damage during this stretch in which yeah, we’ve been disappointed at inability to stack wins. But now it it sure looks like uh we might have a snowball effect here. I I think Shaw should remain in the bottom third of the order. He should be there every day, uh, save for an off day or two, playing third base, batting seventh, eighth, or ninth. I could see a path where he hits ninth on a on a the rest of the year and on a team that makes a deep run and the Cubs lineup has been predicated on a clear core of players. Whether you like the that term or not, they do have a clear core. Just meaning that they have multiple dudes who have proven their worth in the major leagues that entering the 2025 season, these players had had a clear resume. Now whether that was a resume that you enjoy more times than not is is up to you but they did have that Tucker Sea Horner Swanson. You can add Bush in there if you want but it was Pete in the first half and now Matt Shawn the second as major reasons why the Cubs have won 73 of 127. How do they win 73 games out of 127 with just 30 plus left because of these types of stories? If Matt Shaw doesn’t step up like this, they’re in deep trouble. If Pete Crow Armstrong doesn’t step up like he did the first three months of the year, maybe even I would say three and a half months, then even imagining a specialness to the year probably doesn’t happen. And I use the word probably uh you know just to to have a tendency to be conservative. But on March 18th when the season opened the Cubs overunder win total was 86 and a half. They’re on pace for 90 plus wins. Craig Councel late September last year called out the organization. Hey, we should be shooting for 90 plus win seasons. Right now, they’re on pace to do that. They’re on pace to beat their overunder win total by well more than a series worth of games, maybe two or three series worth, right? If it’s 86 and a half, they win 93, right? They beat that by by almost six wins. Over six wins, actually. almost seven at that point. And Shaw’s rise, especially after getting demoted in April and then to continuing to scuffle when he returned, he’s been one of the biggest stories of the season. He might have flipped momentum this week for sure, but in terms of the grand scope of the year, he is now becoming a top five story for me. Pete’s emergence, Shaw’s emergence, Matthew Boyd, right? You have a couple other unsung heroes in there. Brad Keller would be high on the list in that type of category. But Matt Shaw, for good reason, has become a a major storyline and it’s really really cool to see. And sometimes the best trades are the ones you you don’t make. In 17 games since joining the Mariners, Au Heno Suarez is hitting 141. 141. And Matt Shaw uh is not only holding it down, but he’s he’s been one of the best players in baseball now for for over a month. All right, we get to breaking Kyle Tucker news. Literally, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers in the closing innings of the Cubs 4-3 win on Wednesday put out a report about Tucker. Uh so Matt Cozy will read to you uh next segment and a little bit of a readaloud of Jesse’s report. Also uh diving into the bullpen mix as well. Stay tuned. Today’s episode is brought to you by FiveHour Energy Transfusion. This grape, ginger, and lime flavored shot brings the iconic taste of the golf course favorite to a non-alcoholic boost. Perfect for sinking birdies or making great memories with friends. It’s a hole-in-one for your energy game. Whether you’re out on the course or just need a little extra push to power through your day, five hour energy transfusion delivers the clubhouse flavor you love without ever leaving the green. Think about the wildest shot you’ve ever made. Was it a total fluke or a well-calulated miracle? Golf is all about good times with good people and good flavors. The grape ginger lime flavor of 5hour energy transfusion gives you the best parts of your clubhouse goto without leaving the course or chasing down the bev card. Now you can amp up the fun even more. Just buy snap and enter for a chance to win a dream golf trip for two to any golf tournament in the US of A. Tee up that trip. Visit 5hin.com for full rules and entry. No purchase necessary. It does exclude the masters. Ends October 31st. Go ahead with fivehour energy transfusion today. All right, we do have breaking Kyle Tucker news. This is from ESPN’s Jesse Rogers who reports that Kyle Tucker was diagnosed in June with a hairline fracture in his right hand. He wanted to keep playing for the then first place Cubs, but chose against an IIL stint. uh since then and I’m getting a lot of help here from Jesse’s report in the moment here as I’m recording. Uh as we know since since then uh Tucker’s numbers have have gone down a lot. Uh we had an episode earlier this week titled the downfall of Kyle Tucker with the Chicago Cubs and that’s exactly what’s happened. And unfortunately it does seem like that’s happened because he played hurt at least played for a little while hurt and that had after effects which Jed Hoyer has hinted at. Craig Councel has hinted at even Brewers manager Pat Murphy hinted at it uh on the Cubs flagship radio station Tuesday 670 the score. He said he thinks Tucker’s hurt. Uh, now Jesse Rogers is confirming that. Um, really the the the larger part of this story that we’ll need to unpack for our next episode is, okay, he has a slight he he fractures his hand. But then Jesse gets into paragraph three that, you know, after saying, “Okay, no to the Iel st. Let’s play through it.” The Cubs did more imaging a couple weeks later because the original X-ray was negative, but then the second route of imaging shows the slight fracture. Okay. Then there’s more tests done two weeks after that and it showed the injury was healing but still affecting him. And by that point, certainly by the 4th of July, beginning to to compensate or favor or whatever terminology you want to use, it changed his whole swing and his mechanics are out of whack. And it’s had this this just this massive turn of events for his year, maybe his only year with the Cubs. and they made the decision earlier this week to finally sit him. He’s a healthy scratch though. Uh they haven’t put him on the IIL, at least not yet. But at this point, you wonder, is it more mental than physical? You know, it does seem like the hand is healed, but the damage is done because he was playing with a hairline fracture. And so what happens next is anybody’s guess, but I think the goal would be, okay, you sit Thursday as well. what’s happening behind the scenes these last couple of days to not only take a breather, reset mentally, clear your head, but getting in the lab. How how can I get my swing in a place where it’s better that if Tucker’s in the lineup Friday in Anaheim against the Angels, has his swing improved to at that point? have his mechanics gotten sharper and then you hope for the snowball the other way that at some point this weekend he gets a big hit. He’s putting the ball in the air. He’s he’s hitting line drives and the rest is history because this has been a debilitating pocket for him. You know, it’s not just 10 games or anything like that. It’s it’s approaching uh where he’s hitting like a pitcher. It’s approaching, you know, a high a high amount of of game play and uh so we’ll follow up on that uh next episode. All right, a couple notes here on the current Cubs bullpen. Palencia, Keller, Theobar, Pomerance, Kitridge, Rogers, Brazier, and Brown is the current pen. Uh not sure about Brazier if he would make a playoff roster right now. He’s the only one in here whose spot would be up in the air if he even makes it that far to begin with. The Cubs will likely make more roster moves this weekend and Brazier is someone who could get the boot unless they someone unless they send someone with options to AAA. Uh but really the rest of the group including Brown and we’ll break down all the rest of that group then. Uh, I I’ll tell you this. If the Cubs make the playoffs, they do have the makings of a good bullpen mix for the playoffs. Whether it’s a matchup, an arm slot, a certain pocket or inning of the game, this is a good bullpen, and that’s despite some some recent turbulence from Valencia, including Wednesday. Uh, but Palencia and Keller throw 98 plus with nasty movement. field bar straight over the top with the loopy curve ball. Sneaky fast ball vloance has that classic three quarter slot. Kitridge working through that that long pause that he has as he delivers the pitch and for him it’s it’s mostly about his mix, but shoot his VO has been trending well too. Rogers more of a low arm slot. Brown may be a wild card here, but I’ve always believed three batters for him would be something to explore with, you know, fast ball, curveball. Um, and relievers are vital in the playoffs. At least they they have been. Uh, bullpen usage spiked last year thanks to multiple teams, including the world champion basically using two or three starting pitchers. But the Cubs mix, I do think, translates here. And the bullpen currently ranks 10th in baseball and erra. And for a two plus month stretch earlier this year, they were first in erra and actually first by a lot. So, um, a lot of encouraging signs, uh, from the bullpen as we are going to close out the show calling Sam Olber and getting a report from his experience at Wrigley tonight celebrating Nick Kosy’s birthday. Can you hear me? I’m in the garage. Yeah, I can hear you. Does it need to be uh long? Uh is this Sam Olber of Locked on Cubs? Uh yeah. Yeah. Samber, locked on Cubs co-host here. Yeah, this is Matt Cozy on the other line. Go ahead. Quick report from the massive win on the north side. On my way back from Wrigley. Um totally different vibes than Saturday afternoon. The place was filled. The place was rocking. Um, obviously, uh, you guys know how I am. When Ray was walking the stadium with the wind blowing in, I started to get really irritated, but then Mizowski did. And Bush had a playoff always felt like four runs was going to be what they needed. And then, I mean, what can you say about Matt Shaw? And I was behind Casey and Wright. um that play that he made, I think it was to lead off the eighth inning, that diving catch. I mean, I thought that ball was going to drop. Great atmosphere, great time, night and day from Saturday, just how quickly things could change. Matthew, yes. Uh wow, what a great report. No surprise there. And uh stacking wins is what we’ve wanted. you know, the the season has never been in jeopardy, per se, but but it’s been a disappointing stretch here, and I do think this week has already uh changed a lot of that, don’t you? Yeah, I’d like to say publicly I had a disappointing burger. Um, it was the only negative part of the night. Um, but yeah, look, I it felt great. I was at the Did it look like on TV off the bat that Contraras ball was ticketed for right field? Yeah, it did. I was uh I got emotional when her completed the catch. I uh Yeah, I I was it was just it was a great game. Yeah, it was it was a really well played baseball game. And now you’ve taken the series, you’ve taken the season series which is which has got to do wonders for your confidence. And now you have an opportunity tomorrow with what what I would assume good pitching conditions again because the wind hasn’t blown out here since the the late 90s. Uh Imanaga versus Prister. Um Cubs have seen a lot of Pierers. show pitches well in these conditions. A lot of lefties on Milwaukee to neutralize. What an opportunity to take four out of five. And if they do do that, it’s going to be it’s gonna be a different club that lands in Anaheim. All right. Well, it is uh only a 30 minute show, Sam. So, thank you so much for joining the show tonight. All right. Well, thanks for having me. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re still happy. Absolutely. Thank you, Sam Olber. Happy birthday to Nick Cozy as well. Yeah. All right. Sounds good. Okay. That’s Sam Olber, co-host of Locked On Cubs, and he was at the game tonight. We will be back after Thursday’s Cubs Brewers, game five of a fivegame series and the last game between the two teams, uh, at least in the regular season this year. This is Lockdown Cubs, part of the lockdown podcast network. Your team every day for your second listen. Check out the allnew Locked on MLB game night. Every game, every night, all season long. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night on the Lock on MLB channel on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. I’m Matt Cozy and this is Locked on Cubs. Chris Jacobs. Shout out to Matt Cozy and Sam, host of my favorite podcast, Locked On Cubs.

The Cubs got another BIG WIN as Matt Shaw continues to play well. Plus: Why the bullpen might have the right mix for the postseason and breaking news about Kyle Tucker.

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