Cade Horton led SOLID SEASON for Chicago Cubs pitching

Cade Horton led SOLID SEASON for Chicago Cubs pitching

Down the stretch, the backbone of this team was what? Run prevention led by their starting rotation and bullpen. Go Cubs. 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 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 brought to you by FanDuel. 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. Download the FanDuel app today. To close out the show, we’re going to reveal the inaugural locked on Cubs awards voting. We’re going to explain the process, the percentage of the votes, and the candidates that we’re going to vote for. That’s player and pitcher of the year. The Google form is ready to go. Uh we’ll explain more later in the show, but the link to that form is in this episode description. And uh before that, it’s all about pitching. Cubs bullpen later. Cubs rotation right now. Who finished eighth in baseball and rotation erra? I didn’t know this until today. I looked it up. Eighth in erra. Sam first in whip, first in walks per nine. Wow. Eighth in hits per nine. Then it starts trending weirdly like 19th in Ks per nine or something like that. 23rd in homers per nine. 19th is kind fourth to last. 27th in K’s per nine. That’s a fascinating fascinating uh uh combination of statistics because to me if I’m thinking like that right you know what that screams out right there right away to yours truly Samuel J Olber a really really good defense and and some park factor stuff because if you’re first in whip which is walks and hits per innings pitched and you are fourth to last and strikeouts. That means you better be keeping the ball in the park with some wind help and you better have a fantastic defense behind you. And those two things were the case. A and I think right there is a reason why Jed has to upgrade at the position uh a position group if you will because I’m not sure that’s sustainable I unless Wrigley’s going to play you know like Candlestick Park for the rest of time. Oh, that’s a good reference. Thank you. Yeah, and and I I know that we’ve we’ve talked about this before, but and we’re going to again, I I think in a couple weeks we should address the hitters nightmare and the the pitcher paradise that is Wrigley Field. Yep. But these numbers overall are are really really solid. Um yeah, we we identified this in the Dylan CE episode. Yeah, they need to diversify the the array of of talent they have in the rotation and and it’s time now to to add someone who not only throws hard but strikes people out. But you have a group of five here. Yeah. Who who really stepped up. You know, Justin Steel makes four starts. Uh and and really there there’s way way more questions than answers and and there was some already with with him even there. Matthew Boyd stepped up in a in a dramatic way. You know, they they never replaced steel with a transaction, but Colin Ray basically did that internally. Cade Horton did that and then some internally. And then you got the two veterans, Jameson Tyion and Shot Managa, uh, who who may have pitched his final year with the Cubs. We’ll we’ll see. But a stable group, you know, Ben Ben Brown made 15 starts. Javier Assad made seven and that was it. It was It was only seven guys. They’ve done that like two, three years in a row now where only like seven or eight dudes make starts. They’re It’s a healthy group. It’s a durable group. Uh yeah, it was just steel and the openers accounted for for the rest of the start. So, um you know, they at times they really carried the team. Boyd was tremendous almost all season long. Uh I I thought he was he’s up there when you’re voting for for for awards. Uh Cade Horton took what was a massive question after the deadline and answered it himself with his right arm. Uh Imanaga was up and down, but people forget he did have a pretty good run there before the end of the year. J Mo, same up down, but then once he came back towards the end of the year, absolutely rock solid. Um, the Ben Brown experiment continues to not work. Uh, and I’m just going to leave that there. I don’t think we have to get into details of it. It just just seems like it’s really hard for him to put in consistent good outings. Uh Colin Ray was just I mean if I had 10 bucks for every time I came on these airwaves in front of this microphone and this camera lens and said what more can you say about Colin Ray, you know, I’d have like a hundred extra bucks. Uh he did you did it about 10 times. Yeah, I did about 10 times. Uh you know that was easy math. Yeah. Yeah. Easy math which is good. Um yeah, it was a good group. It was a group that pitched the conditions. It was a group that I thought outside of the two the first two games in Milwaukee delivered when they needed to deliver. Uh we’ll never forget JO’s e uh efforts at game three against the Padres’s. Yeah. And um yeah, I I I you know, I don’t know if we do are we grading them each individually or do you want to grade the whole position group? I feel like the latter is a bit is a bit overgeneralizing it. Yeah, I I you know, we it’s uh we could make that decision live on the air. I I I would be more for the latter, but I also think it get kind of fun uh doing it individual by individual with with the five guys that made the most starts. Yeah. Why? Well, or you could do it your way and I could do it mine. I did want to point this out before we get to grades in the second half. So from July 18th on, they were second in baseball in ERA. Only three and a half runs per game. Unbelievable. Crazy, right? Literally unbelievable. Uh Cade Horton, I I’ll start with him then. Okay. Do you want to start with him, please? Well, based on this stat line, a 103 RA in 12 starts after the break, including eight when he gave up no runs, I’d give him an A. Yeah. And it’s it’s he’s probably in the A+ range if if if he doesn’t get hurt at the end of the year. Let’s do it. A+. All right. Let’s give him an A+. 97%. Yeah. Let’s give him an A+. Okay. Uh I agree. I agree with that. Matthew Boyd is an A minus in my mind. How about you? It’s It feels cruel to put a minus on it considering what he was expected to do. Uh, but it wasn’t pretty towards the end of the campaign. Um, I’m still going to give Matthew Boyd a solid A. Okay. Uh, Colin Ray is a is is very similar for me. It’s an A minus for me. I would say A minus. Yeah, because you got to remember, you got to put expectations into this, you know, like what were you expected to get out of them versus what you got out of them. This is regular season grades, although it’s it’s up to us. Uh well, yeah, I I I I’m putting JO’s start. That that elevated him a whole grade to me. Well, I’m going to give J Mo a B+. What about you? A B plus. And I’d give Shota Managa a flat C. Um he was a C pitcher this year. All right. And and I mean, were you thinking to go lower? I was going to give him a C++. Okay. But but again, I’ll go C++. Okay. All right. Sounds good. So, we’ve differed a little bit the last two shows. I mean, but we haven’t like there hasn’t been one player we’ve been more than a half of a grade. No, it’s not been major. No. You know, it’s not like you’re coming out giving a guy a D and I’m giving him a B. You know, that would be something where I we’d have to re-evaluate this program. Well, and I I do every day. All right. Coming up next, uh we have uh as Oti probably hits another homer. We’re going to review the uh at what time of the day, by the way. Jeez. I mean, he might hit nine homers and strike out 25. Sam, I think at this point there’s only one player that’s ahead of him. Michael Jordan. Yeah, I This guy is Jordan in baseball, Cle. Yeah. Well, I would argue uh Lionel Messi, but that’s for a different show. Coming up next, the bullpen. Please stay tuned. Today’s episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, the NBA, or both, there’s no better way to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats. And if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup. And you could play anywhere. Prize Picks operates, including California, Texas, and Georgia. Plus, they have the new stacks feature, which is a game changer. You can now pick more. for example, on Steph Curry’s points, threes, and assists in the same lineup with the new stacks uh feature. And download the prize picks app today. 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 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Shout out to the everydayers. And you could become a locked down cubs every day by joining us for every episode throughout the week. And especially if you are an everydayer, uh, please make sure to vote in our awards, which we’re going to reveal next segments. All right, Cubs bullpen this year, 11th in bullpen erra. Uh, so a little bit above mid pack there, first, third or so. Uh again, the walks, the limiting the walks, uh big theme with this team. Fourth in whip and the bullpen was first in walks per nine, too. Yep. Uh 13th in hits per nine, 20th in homers, and then a few more strikeouts in the starters. 21st in Ks per nine. How about this stat, Sam? From May 1st to the end of the first half on July 13th, this group was first in ERA in baseball at 2.94. And I remember it that way, too. They were dominant. It’s so refreshing to to hear the walks per nine stat because that’s what you do when you’re playing at a park that doesn’t give up a lot of hits and a lot of homers. If you don’t walk people, you’re going to have success. So, that’s a great job. Um, I’ll evaluate the bullpen in two ways. Uh, uh, the first way is the fact that we talked all year about how important it was to get this right out of spring training so you didn’t lose a bunch of games in April that you shouldn’t. They got that wrong again. Uh, yeah. First, what was it? 15 games were rough. Haj, Presley, Morgan, these type of guys were hurting you early in the year. Merryweather. Now, in fairness to Jed, in fairness to Craig, those were the guys that were pitching the best. It’s just this bullpen thing seems to just be a a a roll of the dice. They got it fixed quickly. Palencia moving to to to closer was a big part of the middle of the season stability. Brad Keller was what I would describe, what you would describe, what we would all describe as a relief ace. U he was just outstanding basically all year long. uh the acquisition of a guy like Caleb Theelbar went under the radar. He was really steady. Drew Pomearance really good. And then they they they took what was starting to look like a promising group heading into October. Added to that with Andrew Kitridge who got the two biggest outs of the season uh again or no the three biggest no two biggest outs of the season against the Padres’s uh uh in game three at Wrigley Field. And and it it was a good group and you could see why. Hey, hey, why did this team win 92 and the last two years they won 83? Well, they had longer spurts of really good offense and their bullpen wasn’t dreadful for like two straight months. It was dreadful for like a half of a month. And um that that right there it changes a lot of games. Matteo, well, I I want to start with Brad Keller as you as you’ve you know pointed out relief ace which we’ve used before. He had the one blow up outing. It was either the second to last or the last game of the half at Yankee Stadium. They still won the game, but that was like pretty much his only rough outing. He had won against the Cardinals at Wrigley. Um Okay. I think it was the day I did the watch along with Steel actually. Uh Okay. But in the first half, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that was I think Yeah, it was like the 5th of July. Okay. All right. So actually two two times in this close in within a week of each other then that was it. Wow. And and his numbers prove it. You know a 207 erra in 68 games. How do you get there? You’re dominant for for long stretches. And really this forsome of Palencia, Keller, Theelbar, and Pomerance to me Sam one of the best relief groups the Cubs have had in years. Wow. I would have to I would have to do more digging. But if you put up your top four relievers, which should you know a a good if you have first of all they had five relievers who were good, not just four when you add in Kit Kitridge, but four or five relievers who are good to me is a good number. Like that that that’s, you know, that’s half of the bullpen. Mhm. Um it’s it’s uh I I do I understand the the uh validity that’s not the right word. The volatile nature of of bullpens. No, it’s good. I can I’m going to teach that to my English class tomorrow. That that difference and your analogy with with field goal kickers. Yeah. But it does give me pause that only Palencia might be back of this group. Yeah, I I I don’t I would like to see at least one of them come back. I don’t think that’s the case. I think they’re going to bring some somebody back. Theelbar or something like that. Does Theobbar or Pomearance really want to go to another team and cash in uh their year or will they will they take more of a team friendly deal to stay another year? I don’t know. Keller. I mean, if you’re if you think Keller’s getting eight million a year, then, you know, I wish him the best of luck. Um, well, and see with those guys though, Theelbar and Pomerance, I mean, they’re pushing 40. I don’t think Jed’s going to call them, respectfully. Oh, he’ll call. Really? Yeah. Especially with with Pomerance and and Well, Pomerance is like 36. Him and Council have that relationship. He threw the ball well. One of those guys will be on the team. You could mark that down. Well, yeah, he would get a huge pay bump, don’t get me wrong, Pomerance, but uh yeah, hoping maybe it is with the Cubs. Yeah, Keller’s going to be pricey. Uh, you know, teams like the Angels love to sign Brad Kellers after great years. Uh, you know, do the Mets pony up for someone like him, especially if Edwin Diaz leaves. Um and and Kitridge ended up being a solid veteran pickup at the deadline. The only one of the four trades that had real impact uh saved for Willie Castro’s uh assist in right field that one game in August. Um but uh yeah, good good bullpen group this year. Uh some other notables here. First of all, Chris Flexon didn’t allow a run in his first 21 and a3’s innings. And I know some of it was against uh you know, maybe you would call it garbage time or cleanup time, but Flex and having a zero RA for that long was, you know, it was it was notable at least at the time. And like you already mentioned, Sam, struggle this year for for Presley, Hajj, Merryweather. I don’t think Brazier really ever did anything. uh Pearson project that failed. Uh Little didn’t do anything, Robert. So, you know, it was some es and flows, but really another solid year. I would give the bullpen as a whole. Okay. Yeah, I I acknowledge that. I acknowledge that. Also, Aaron Savale in 13 innings in the final month, no walks. Savale flexing, great points by you. all the other names that you mentioned wasn’t great. I’d like to throw in that Taylor Rogers didn’t work out well. Well, he didn’t. Um, with all things considered, Sarroa, Matt, I got to Man, I I feel like I’m I feel like I’m uh being overly generous. I I got to go A minus 90 flat on this group. I I think it’s an I think they did a really good job. I think it’s an A minus group. But I think without them down the stretch when this offense didn’t get a base hit for about a month and a half, I they really carried them and helped them win. Remember last year they lost so many games where it was like three too late they were winning and we go like, “Oh, well the offense needed to add more.” Well, they had a really similar stretch where the offense did add more, but they won mostly those games because the bullpen did their job. A and most importantly, most importantly, the bullpen held down their playoff wins. Wow. And that’s, you know, they won four playoff games and and all four the bullpen played a huge role. They didn’t lose any games because of their bullpen. So, I got to go a minus. I I think I and please remember this because I always get on the bullpen. Uh remember this next year when we’re like six and seven and the bullpen’s blown eight of the first 13 or something, you know, just just remember I I I gave this pen its flowers. And not to mention uh 2023, the bullpen was like uh like a horror movie. Yeah. Especially down the stretch. All right, I’m going to give for those reasons I’m going to give the you listed I I would bump it up just a tad to a 93. Uh which I believe is a flat A. it was when I was in school. Coming up next, uh we go to uh player and pitcher of the year. Uh re reveal the candidates and and and what the voting process going to be like. Stay tuned. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and so are the Bulls. Only the Bulls. And there’s no better place to get into the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push like the Bulls did last night against a Hawks team that I’m a big fan of in terms of their ability, talent. Bulls trailed a lot of that game. They made a late push in the fourth quarter. You could have taken them live uh uh and and and they won that ball game and they’re three and 0 for the first time um since I don’t know, but I’ll probably just guess like 2011. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Make sure you’re subscribed to Locked On Cubs on your preferred audio platform or YouTube. That way, you don’t miss any of the great Cubs content we got for you. Yeah, I believe I heard that today a three and0 start for the Bulls 2021, I believe, is what I heard, but uh don’t quote me on that. All right. Uh locked on Cubs awards voting. We’re going to accept responses through uh Tuesday of next week, Tuesday, November 4th. The link to the form is in the episode description, and we’ll promote this at the top of shows. um really through through Tuesday of next week. Then uh there’s going to be three votes for each of these categories. They’re all going to be worth the same percentage. One-third Matt, one third Sam, one-third you. And uh this is also a way to say thank you for being an everydayer of the show. And Sam, would you like to start with pitcher or player of the year? Wait, I let I just want to clarify. So you say one-third one-ird. each person. Oh, the the it’s going to be combined oneird. Got it. Got it. To present to who wins the award to present to present the audience. So, the audience as a whole is one-third and you and I are each oneird. Uh let’s start with pitcher since we’re doing a pitcher show today. All right. I got So, there’s three names for each of them. Uh pitcher of the year, you have these three options to vote. Uh, no particular order. First one, Matthew Boyd. I himo 321 erra 109 whip, 154 strikeouts, 31 starts. Uh, he’s the first candidate for pitcher of the year. Another candidate, Brad Keller. 207 RA, 096 whip, 75 strikeouts in 68 games. And the third gentleman is Kate Horton, 267 erra, 109 whip, 97 strikeouts, and 23 uh ball games there. Terrific. That’s going to be a tough one. That’s terrifically done. Thank you. And player of the year, Nicoer. 297 average, 29 dubs, 29 steals, 17 defensive runs saved. Pete Crow Armstrong, 31 home runs, 37 doubles, 35 steels, 15 uh DRS and Michael Bush. 34 homers, 25 doubles, 90 runs batted in OPS of 866. Uh for me, that’s not going to be as tough as the pitchers, but uh still three good candidates. Well, I must be missing something. Are we Are you supposed to write in Cubs late edition Billy Hamilton? Did he ever make the He never played. I thought he was going to pinch run late. See if they can give a spark. No, no writins. Uh, we’re learning from the athletic. Yeah. All right. Um, yeah. I mean, do you want me to share my picks? I wait, right? Yeah. No, you gotta wait. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I already know them. Um, the pit the pitching one is very difficult. Oh yeah. Um I don’t think there’s a wrong answer really at all, but for the pitching one, I genuinely think that who like it’s you could convince me it’s a tie. Yeah, thankfully we have three people voting so it won’t be. But it’s it it’s Boyd’s totality of work versus Cade’s unbelievable quality in a shorter amount of time versus Brad Keller coming out of nowhere and and making this bullpen a tremendous asset to this team. I mean I mean case is there. Uh, and on the offensive side, I mean, just since I’m making cases, it’s the electricity of Pete versus just two absolute solid consistent stalwarts, if you will, uh, for this baseball team. Um, that that helped lead the way. So, no wrong answers uh, uh, in this exercise. All right. Really looking forward to seeing those votes flow in. you have until uh Tuesday of next week, but uh vote right now as we close up shop uh for for today. Uh remember, three episodes in a row, both of us, and then a couple solos in a row. Uh more hot stove, but internal hot stove. Uh the Imanaga decision dilemma is next. Oh, I can’t wait. And then our last player review series player who had I mean is roller coaster is that too too much of an exaggeration. Excited to hear about Matt Shaw later this week. I’m excited to hear about you. I I’m hoping to learn something from this Imanaga episode. Uh because you know I’m thoroughly confused at his contract situation. Yeah. No, we’ll definitely clean some of that up. This is Locked On Cubs, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. For your second listen, find Locked On MLB Game Night every game every night until a World Series champion is crowned, which could be Wednesday night. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night on Locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. He’s Sam Olber. I’m Matt Cozy. This is Locked on Cubs.

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