YOUTH MOVEMENT: Owen Caissie and Matt Shaw SPARK Chicago Cubs SWEEP

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Owen Caissie and Matt Shaw SPARK Chicago Cubs SWEEP

See what can happen when you have a little bit of life, a little bit of juice, a little bit of youth injected to your ball club. 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 Sam over and I’m a lifelong fan taking my passion into a discussion with you two wins today with you on all things Cubs. Thank you for being part of the show and making Locked on Cubs your first listen today. And the best way you can help us grow the show is to listen every day. Like the video and give us a comment below. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Had to go get my broom. I know it’s only a a two gamer and a double header, but anytime we could say sweep and Brewers in the same sentence, we’re celebrating it. And the Chicago Cubs today did just that. They swept the Brewers in a double header. Obviously, we’re going to talk about that. Um, some news and notes that I want to talk about. Some really interesting interviews today given by Kyle Tucker, Craig Counsel, and yes, Pat Murphy. Uh, we’re going to talk about those, but I want to start with the youth, with the youth movement. We’ve talked about it a lot on this show. I don’t care what the projections are. I don’t care what fan graphs, with all due respect to them, they’re fantastic site. What the projections are for Casey the rest of the year or or even Bayister versus a Kyle Tucker, whoever else a half. It’s not about that right now. this team was in a rut. Notice how I said was because maybe today will get them out of it. And when you’re in a rut in anything, you need to change, right? You you you need to change something. You know, a rut is you’re doing the same thing every time. I mean, think about it. You know, sometimes you’re in a rut. You go on a vacation or you you make a new friend. You you you just do something different to get yourself out of it, right? And that’s what this team needed to do. And they needed to do it far far sooner than when they did. But bringing up a guy like Casey, it gave him a jolt and and it’s it’s not like it’s not like, you know, when when John Lester talks about talked about Rizzo and Bryant in the World Series kind of like as a compliment, hey, they’re too young and dumb to know what’s going on and that actually helps them. That’s what youth brings you. They’re not worried about the slump. They don’t feel the pressure. They don’t care about the boobirds. They’re young kids. Think about how you were when you were 23 versus being 30. It’s just different. It’s a different mindset. You you you you’re just you have less nerves. You’re just going out there. You know, it’s a it’s a spirit. It’s an energy that’s brought to the team. Shaw’s giving it to you right now. Casey did the the the two biggest hits of this season. You could make the case or at least in the second half were by Bayister uh in Milwaukee and then Casey today against Milwaukee. So, um I just wanted to open the show with that. I feel energized by those guys. It’s just it’s a different look. You need a spark when you’re struggling as long as this team has. And unfortunately, that comes at the expense of Kyle Tucker getting benched. But it was time. It was time. And he shouldn’t be in the lineup tomorrow either. I know it’s Ms. Let these kids play. Let them see. Take them as far as you could take them. As far as they’ll take you. We know it’s not going to last forever. We know they’re going to hit a rough patch, but those are things to consider over 162. This isn’t 162 anymore. This is not a marathon anymore. This is a sprint to the finish line. And we all know that, you know, one or two guys get hot. Look at Carson Kelly in April. What if Casey gives you that from August on? We don’t know. Let the kids play. Let him spark you. Bring energy into this building. Uh it was Owen Casey in games one and two. He combined for four RBI’s, a home run, a huge hit early, which we’re going to talk about. And then Matt Shaw had a hit in the first game. He really should had a homer too that got knocked down by the win. Then a huge triple uh in the night cap that really I thought uh put a put an exclamation point on this on this win. He was pumped up. He was fired up and it got me going. I felt like Michael Jordan after that gamewinner against the Jazz. I was just doing the the fist pump, the MJ fist pump after he hit one I want to say uh what was that 97 game one against Utah after Carl Malone missed a couple free throws. So um let’s talk about these games. Let’s get into them because this is this is the best day for the Cubs in quite a long time. So, uh, game one, obviously vibes weren’t great after yesterday. Felt like the rain out was was definitely going to at least do the Cubs a little bit of favor from the momentum standpoint, and it did. Uh, they they they they came out early. I want to say it was the the first inning. Uh, Owen Casey came to the plate uh off Colin Patrick, bases loaded, and um, you know, you’re thinking to yourself, “Ah, here we go. Oh, we’re going to waste another opportunity. PCA had a runner on third, less than two outs, didn’t get the job done. We’re going to waste it. We’re going to waste it. And Owen Casey gets that base hit to right field. That’s what got the day going. That base hit right there was huge. It was the biggest hit maybe of the entire day. Uh it it just got the crowd going. It got everybody kind of feeling like, oh, okay. And then with Matthew Boyd on the mound, you felt like that was going to be enough. But, you know, Boyd wasn’t great again versus this Brewers team. five and a third, four earn. Um they were really pesky, especially in game one. Lot of hits, a lot of really good at bats for them. Um and then Willie Castro, I’ve kind of uh cracked some jokes about him left-handed. Well, who’s laughing now? You are, Willie. A three-run home run to give a the Cubs a five nothing lead. Five nothing became 54. And then guess who came to the plate to make it 6-4 and give you that muchneeded insurance run? Owen Casey again. Uh and the Cubs were able to close it out. got a little bit dicey late. Uh Palencia walked a guy uh gave up a hit, but he got a big double play ball to get the uh to get the save and and get the win. And and that right there, that almost felt like just such a sigh of relief because we were all just kind of thinking after game one and the way things were headed, oh man, I mean, I just hope they get one, maybe they can get two. And then you just you get one early and it it it really felt like it it changed the complexion of the field. felt, you know, game two felt like a game that was really winnable. And listen, you know, rain delays are no stranger to helping Cubs. No rain in general. And I I really I I know this sounds crazy and people will probably laugh, but I’m not sure the Cubs win Monday night with the way thing with the way it was going if that game was played. So So maybe maybe that rain out maybe we’ll be talking about that rain out uh uh for a while. Uh some other highlights from game one. I I thought Sei had a good day. He walked twice, scored twice. Pete had a had another two-h hit day, which was good to see. Um, unfortunately, he continues to get thrown out stealing, which is just it’s it’s becoming a problem because it’s such it’s such a huge part of his game. I’d like to see him in the offseason get more dynamic and more consistent in that. Um, thought Ian Hap hit a ball that should have left the park. It was a double. Uh, Matt Shaw, a ball that should have left the park, was caught at the walls. listening to Pat Hughes during that call and he did his whole bad shot. It’s a lie drive deep left center field. This ball’s got a chance and it’s caught. I never hear him do that. He never misses those. That’s how much the wind uh impacted that. And then and then you got to shout out the bullpen. Um Brad Keller came in, he did okay. Uh but Caleb Theobbar was excellent, Drew Pomearance was excellent, and Daniel Palencia uh got the job done. So, the Cubs came in, they took care of business uh uh in game one, which was huge. Uh let’s talk about what happened in game two, coming up next. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands. That’s exactly where Game Time comes in. It’s the easiest way to grab last minute tickets without the stress. With the money you save on tickets, you can splurge on food, drinks, merch, or even invite a bigger group to come with you. Game time makes it possible. Game time makes buying tickets fast and simple. Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to first pitch, and they’ve got incredible last minute deals, clear seat views, and a lowest price guarantee that takes the worry out of buying. Folks, I’ve used Game Time twice in the last five days. Uh late Friday night, decided to go to the Cubs uh the Cubs game against the Pirates. Boom. Logged right on Game Time. Got a seat. Shout out to my buddy Jordan. Sat with him, watched the game, watched the Cubs win. And then tomorrow, it’s my buddy’s birthday. I wasn’t sure if I could make it, if I could go until literally about 20 minutes ago. Um, hopped up on the phone, boom, game time. Got the ticket. All set. All done. That easy. So, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code lockdown MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem code L O C K E D O N ML LB for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. We are back here on Locked On Cubs and game two featured Jameson Tyion versus Brandon Woodruff. I had a little bit of optimism heading into this series cuz I just felt like with Woodruff, he was due. Um, like I’ve watched him pitch a lot. I watch a lot of Brewers games. He’s pitching awesome. Um, I just didn’t think he was pitching as awesome as his erra showed. Um, now he wasn’t bad today. Four and a third, five hits, three earn, and a couple of those I think or I think one of them came after he left the game, but it just felt like the Cubs were all over him uh early. They had an opportunity to score in the first, but Michael Bush couldn’t get to third base on a weird deflected ball on a half hit. PCA, who who did not have a good game too with the plate, uh couldn’t get the job done. And and you felt like they left some opportunities out there. Um but but they came back in the second, scored a couple, and you know, big hits from from a lot of guys. Casey again with an RBI single. Uh a big hit from Nicoer. Uh Bush had a big hit uh into the corner to score a run. I I I I I thought it was a really good solid offensive effort today. Um you know, they I I wish they they probably could have scored a couple more runs. They weren’t great with runners in scoring position, but it was a it was a very good offensive effort. It it was a very good offensive effort. And and you’re starting to see some signs, right? Bush is starting to show so show signs. Hap is starting to show signs. I thought Seya I thought Sey and Pete didn’t have good game twos, but they’re starting to show signs and that’s all you could ask. And then the youth movement like we talked about. Casey with a big hit. I would have loved to see him stay in there in the fifth and face Ashby. Set it in the moment. I get it. Turner’s the better matchup later in the game. Absolutely. But in the fifth, let the kid go. Let him swing it. He’s hot. There’s no metric for confidence. There’s no metric for a guy with momentum. There’s no metric for a guy feeling good. Uh thought Dan be had a good day at the plate in game two. He to rock it off the wall. I thought that ball was going to leave the yard. Shaw’s triple we talked about. But the one guy you really got to credit to if you’re going to give a a player of the game out for game two. You got to give it to J Mo. Uh his his first start in quite a while. Um we talked about it when the conditions are right like tonight at home. JMO could be really effective, but that’s a really tough lineup. Uh a lineup that doesn’t really rely a lot on slugs. So the wind blowing in, it’s not as big of a of an advantage as it would be typically because these guys, they don’t hit a lot of fly balls. They hit line drives and J Mo had a really difficult first inning. Threw a ton of pitcher pitches. Was lucky to get out of it with one. And then you’re thinking to yourself, oh man, like we really need a deep outing. We didn’t get a deep outing out of Boyd. We didn’t get a deep outing out of Cade. And he really grinded through and gave you a quality six innings, which I’m sure Craig Council and the rest of the Cubs pitchers really appreciated. I I I thought he was magnificent uh in this game. And you know uh uh uh when you hear things like veteran outing, when you hear things like, “Hey, that was a veteran effort.” That’s what you’re talking about. Uh he knew he needed to go deep. He he knew the Cubs needed a really good good performance and um he got that. I thought the play of this game though was uh when Rogers was on the mound, Cubs were up a few runs. I think I think it was a three-run game. I think it was 4-1 at the time. And I believe it was the top of the seventh and uh Sal Felic hit a line drive to right field with runners on the corners and one out. And Willie Castro who had himself a day. Welcome to the Cubs. Willie Castro with an absolute hose of a throw to get uh whoever was trying to score uh at home there. I think it was Terraang that he got at the plate. I mean it was I I tweeted out it reminded me of of a Roberto Clemen type throw. I mean he was close. It wasn’t like he was super far, but he threw that straight on a line. And it just seemed like uh on on Tuesday at Wrigley, the Cubs made the plays. The Cubs made the big plays, not the Brewers. The Brewers made some mistakes. The Cubs didn’t make a ton of them. And um that was the difference in the baseball game. And uh I uh I give the Cubs a lot of credit. And uh I have a little bit of juice. I have a little bit of of energy uh right now. So, on Wednesday, a game like I just said that I will be at. It’s the toughest matchup I think on paper. Uh Colin Ray versus uh Jacob Misarowski. Um it’s it’s going to be a really tough one. Misarowski is coming off of a you know a a bad start. um his first start off the IIL, I think he only went a few against the Reds and he was all over the place and it wasn’t very good at all uh by him, but um you know, my concern would be well, he’s he’s going to bounce back. He’s not going to have two in a row like that. And and Colin Ray’s done a nice job and it should be a pretty cool evening from everything that I’ve seen. So hopefully um you know it’ll be one of those one of those days where Ray can just kind of spray the ball all all over the yard, but if it finds gloves and and maybe the Cubs can get Mizarowski out of there early, maybe after you know maybe has 75 pitches that comes after four a and they can go to work because you know when when you start looking ahead now, right, I’m still not looking at division standings. I’m not into that at all right now, but I I talked about it going in. The goal of this series would have been I it would really give this team, I think, a lift if they could win this series and win the season series against the Brewers. And now they have two chances to do it, right? Uh uh sweeping this double header means they got to win one of these next two games, whether it’s uh uh Miserowski versus uh Ry or or the Thursday matchup, which I believe is Pri uh versus Immanaga. Um, you know, obviously Thursday feels like the better matchup, but now that you’ve now that you’ve swept, now that that you’ve won two out of three, now you got to get one of these two. Not then you have a little bit of momentum, right? You come home against Pittsburgh, you take two out of three. Then you you could find a way to win three out of five. You know, it’s not it’s not the best thing in the world, but it’s a solid hey, that’s a five and three home stand and and against the best team in baseball that hasn’t lost probably hasn’t lost two games in a row since Sammy Sosa man right field for the Cubs. And and then and then you go to to Anaheim with some momentum for the first time maybe since the Boston Red Sox series. You have the opportunity to get some momentum. And um I I think you got to play the young kids. I think you got to play Casey. I think you got to play him. Uh, we’re going to talk about this Tucker situation here in a bit. I know Mizarowski is probably not the greatest matchup. Let these kids take you as far as they could take you. Casey Shaw, I wish Bayisteros were up uh as well, but you know, g give them a chance. Give them a chance to continue to do um what what what they can do. As far as the the pitching situation, um a lot of roster moves were made. I I they called up Cosgrove for the first game, then sent him down as they called up Tyone. Jordan Wix is up as well as the was up as the 27th man. I don’t know what they’re going to do with that tomorrow. I think they need to keep Wix or somebody on the roster. Maybe Ben Brown because he hasn’t pitched since Sunday, can go again on Wednesday. They need somebody available to give them length uh tomorrow or or Thursday if they need it because, you know, they they’ve had to use a lot of arms. And and the one guy that I I really think deserves a shout out, speaking of a lot of arms, is Andrew Kitrich. I mean, he’s lit he’s literally pitched he pitched Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. I mean, he’s thrown four of the last five days. Big saves, big escapes, high leverage stuff. Um, give Jed credit for that one. And I know he had a little bit of a hiccup there uh with one bad outing, but Kitridge has just taken the ball and been huge for the Cubs uh during the stretch cuz you know how Craig is with burning bullpen and he he doesn’t have a choice right now with all these games um in in a lot of days. So amazing day for the Cubs, amazing series, uh excuse me, amazing sweep. And now if they could win one more of these next two games, you really feel like maybe the tide can turn a little bit. But that tide will probably be turning without Kyle Tucker. We’re going to talk about his interviews, a little bit of counsel, a little bit of Murphy, all that coming up next. Welcome back to Locked On Cubs. And it was a weird morning of interviews uh from from the Cubs brass and even from from Pat Murphy as well. Um, let’s start with Kyle Tucker. I’m not a big interview guy. Like, like I I think we could overvalue that, especially for a guy with Tucker’s personality. He’s pretty even keeled, pretty introverted. I don’t have any quotes from the interview because the quotes don’t really do anything justice, but I I would recommend you go watch that interview. Uh, the Kyle Tucker on on Marquee. It it was different. It was different than just the classic introverted evened Kyle Tucker. This is somebody that’s very upset. Um very and I don’t know if he’s upset because he got benched or if he’s just upset because he’s struggling, but this is somebody that is really going through it. And um I know there’s been a lot of debate about is booing him the right move or not. And to be honest with you, and I know this is a copout, I don’t have an answer to that. I I I don’t However people, as long as they’re appropriate, I don’t have an issue with it. Um, you’re allowed to fan the way you want to fan. People pay a lot of money to get into these baseball games and to watch this team. They invest a lot of time. And so, if they feel like somebody’s not performing up to standard, which he isn’t, and and and they let him know about it, I don’t have a huge problem with it. I think the case against it is is that he is so far not himself right now that I just don’t think any negative reinforcements I don’t think it’s going to help anything I if anything it hurts it but I definitely don’t think it helps. Um so I know that’s kind of answering both ways there. I don’t have a problem with people doing it. if I were there, I probably wouldn’t just because um you even though I did on Twitter. Uh just because I just think I like watching him today, it’s somebody that just needs a break from baseball, man. Just needs a break. And I I I know we’ve talked about this, so I don’t want to regurgitate it too much, but I know that, you know, a lot of people say, “Hey, man, you don’t get a break from work when you’re doing badly.” Well, when your most important employee is struggling, you know, sometimes you take some PTO, right? you take some time and and I just think with w with with with Tucker, he needs some time. Um mechanically, mentally, he needs some time. I really hope he’s not back in the lineup. First of all, I don’t think it would be doing him any favors to put him back in the lineup against Mizowski. Anyway, um if it were up to me, I would have iled him. I’ve said that many times. I I think he should be ielled. I think Bisteros should be up and the Cubs should be mixing and matching with Casey. Bysteros, Hap, uh, PCA, and Seiya, you know what I mean? Just just mix and match. Hap, to his credit, is showing signs of heating up. So, maybe that’s not an option anymore. Um, but I I I think Tucker should be on the injured list. I don’t want to see him pinch run. I don’t want to see him pinch hit for a while. Maybe they wait and he comes back in in in Anaheim uh against the Angels. A much more kind of easy environment to play in. Uh but but he just sounded man just just his quotes. He was kind of chomping on his gum in the microphone and was just kind of like everything just kind of felt like look, it’s just really bad right now. I don’t know what to tell you. Like that that’s what it felt like. He didn’t say that, but that’s just what it felt like. I can’t describe it, but it was just it was a somber um to use my partner Matt Kosy’s uh uh phrasing of it over text. It was a weird interview. Um Council on the other hand was weird, but in like a good way. Uh Council was, you know, he he was he was, “Hey, bring on these challenges. Let’s go, man.” He used the word man a lot here. This is baseball, man. We’re not scared, man. Let’s go, man. It was kind of weird. It it was it was one of the more energetic council interviews I’ve seen. And you know, I’m not going to go crazy and say that’s why they won today, but it did seem like a little bit of a different personality from him. Um, but but positive like, hey, like this is it. Like this is these are the hands that we’ve been dealt. We still got a chance to make the playoffs. Making the playoffs isn’t easy. This is all me paraphrasing. Um, because none of this was really quotable. You have to like watch it. It was just different. Um, but let’s go. Let’s go. And and and and I appreciated that. I appreciated that that interview. As far as Murphy goes, um this guy, man, Pat Murphy, he reminds me so much of how I am in sports when I’m winning. I never will take any of the credit. I will always present as an underdog and just, hey, well, you were great. These guys are great. You know what? Oh, what can I do? I just got lucky with that one. Um, let me let me give you a quote from from him to Jesse Rogers before the series. Uh, this is a quote talking about who you know who’s the favorite, who’s the underdog in this series. Quote, “They have all stars, MVP candidates, veterans, gold glove winners, world champions. What don’t they have? They’re not the underdogs. Trust me.” End quote. They were nine games up or eight games up, whatever it was going into the series, the hottest team in baseball, right? And then he said something like about Casey after the game. That’s a prospect right there. You know, what is he about 612 and he could really hit was making some funny comments. He he he is just a you you just know the type of guy he is. He’s a real real real intense competitor. And then he was on 670, I think Tuesday, um talking about the council hire and how he there was a time where he thought he might be going uh to the Cubs quickly until he realized that the Brewers wanted him and then he just complimented council and said, “Hey, they made the right hire. Council’s special.” You know, just all of these like, you know what I’m talking about? Like just complimenting them. You know, we’re we’re just the the pluckucky underdog brewers out here doing the best we can, but you know, deep down he’s just keeping his guys hungry. He’s just firing them up. It’s a motivational tactic and I got to tell you, I love it. I love it. You know, sometimes is it a bit much? Sure. But I love it. I I love the mind game in baseball and um I respect it. I respect it. A couple other nuggets here. Uh a after probably the best day for the Cubs since I don’t know when. Talked about Tyion, Cosgrove, Wix. Uh we’ll see what the Cubs do uh uh with that. A lot more talk here lately about the Wrigley win. Marquee put up some really good stuff that that since July, uh, it’s the 27th most runs in any ballpark, which is just crazy because when you think July and August and Wrigley, it’s always was like, hey, Aramis Ramirez is going to survive in April. Um, and once you survive April, May, you know, June, July, and August at Wrigley, you’re going to crush the ball. It’s just not like that anymore. I don’t know exactly what it is, but but it just seems like to me your only chance is to get one up in the left center. It’s just right center. It’s just torture over there. It’s just torture. I remember that ball Gunnar Henderson hit a couple weeks ago, that homer off a fieldbar. I thought he hit that ball in like the 15th row. It barely got out. And here here’s a stat that they that they talked about today that was actually really interesting. At Wrigley Field this year, there has been one home run by a righty to right field, opposite field. One, and that was by Sea Suzuki. One opposite field home run by a righty the entire season at Wrigley Field. It’s just, you know, it’s never been a great park for lefties to pull. If you’re going to be a lefty hitter and hit homers, you want to go left center. Uh, but there’s a reason why nobody’s hit 40 home runs from the left side since Billy Williams because it’s just it’s getting worse. I mean, you just hit these balls. I mean, Ian hit a couple balls, 105, 107, die at the track. Uh, Pete hit a ball a few weeks ago, 107, 25 degrees. That’s an automatic homer. It didn’t even bounce off the wall. Bounced off the track at right center. Uh, right center is really just the dead alley uh at Wrigley Field right now. And that proves it. just one home run from a righty opposite field at Wrigley Field. But all in all, guys, it was a tremendous day. I hope I hope you guys had like a cathartic scream or or fist bump or something. Whoever you’re watching the game with, that was just like to me when that final out when Kitridge got that final out, it was just like, “All right, you know, something like that. Let’s go. We got life.” and and that’s a lot more than than we could say uh where things were yesterday. So, next two games, Ms. Priest, see if this offense could could take some momentum, carry it over, give themselves a chance, do the little things, find a way to win one of these two games. Obviously, if you win both, it’s incredible. But even if you could just find a way to win one, win the season series against what’s probably going to be a 100ish win Brewers team, um gives you a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum heading into this final stretch. Maybe, just maybe, we could put this rut and long bad stretch uh behind us. Thank you so much for checking out this edition of Locked On Cubs. You give us 30 minutes, we’ll give you all things Cubs with a laugh or two along the way. Be sure to hit subscribe on YouTube. Smash the like button for the algorithm. Leave a fivestar review on Apple, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcast. I’m Sam Olber, and this is Locked on Cubs. Let’s go.

The Cubs needed a lift and they got it on Tuesday from their young players. Owen Caissie and Matt Shaw gave this team much needed life and Sam discusses it all + some news and notes from a busy and great day of Cubs Baseball.
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