CLOSING TIME! | Building The Pen | Cubs Baseball Podcast

CLOSING TIME! | Building The Pen | Cubs Baseball Podcast

Cubs are in the hunt for a closer and some backend bullpen high leverage relievers. We’re going to talk about a guy whose name has popped up with a lot of teams, but the Cubs are definitely high on. And Ryan Hley, the former Cardinal. So, you Cardinals fans, there you go. Right. Former Cub Nick Birdie signed with the Mets. And how about Brad Keller? Is he coming back with the Cubs next year? Had a fantastic season. We’re going to get into all that right here on the Cubs baseball channel. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, hit the bell. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. I know we’re getting there, too. So, let’s go. [Music] [Applause] [Music] What everybody? MC Gillespie Cubs baseball channel and it is a pleasure to see you guys today and uh let’s talk a little bit of Cubs baseball. All right, Ryan Hley, we talked about him on the channel before, right? And he is definitely a a pitcher that the Cubs are interested in adding, right? And why wouldn’t they? I mean, you know him from his days with the Cardinals. Uh they added Monton and now you know what do they what’s the next move? I mean of all the guys on the saves leaderboard. Helley’s 103 are seventh most. Uh which is which is pretty crazy, right? And he’s a guy who could potentially go back to being a starter if maybe the Detroit Tigers according to the athletic uh were to sign the 31-year-old right-hander. But most teams look at him and they say, “Hey, you know what? We think that this guy is someone that can definitely do a lot to help us.” right now. He was traded last year and he went to the Mets and I don’t know what happened there but he went from a 267 erra and u just in his career right almost 300 innings and a almost what 29 plus% strikeout rate to a guy that was just getting battered uh throwing pitches that weren’t strikes. He had a 720 erra and and a 11.6 walk rate was not great and maybe one of the reasons why the Mets season turned out the way that he did, right? He also blew a handful of saves as well. So, you know, whether he starts, whether he relieves, closes games, he has the experience there. But it’s, you know, really weird kind of how things went. Now, the Cubs kind of have this deal where you look at them and they have the the, you know, the obviously the pitch clinic and all that stuff. And a lot of times they’ll figure out why a guy struggling and they’re very good at it. I think it’s one of the biggest strengths that the Cubs have. Tommy Hottie and and the entire pitching staff, and I don’t mean pitching staff as in guys that are on the staff, I mean pitching uh coaching staff have been just successful. And that’s one of the reasons why the Cubs have been so good and in contending for a postseason spot uh over the last, you know, four years. It seems like they find these guys. There’s a Drew Pomearance or Brad Keller every season. And the Cubs are going to have to figure out exactly what they’re doing with the bullpen. Are they bringing back Keller? Are they bringing back Pomerance? Are they bringing back Theelbar? Because a lot of teams in baseball are going to look at those pitchers and say, “Hey, we want that, too.” you know, and and so many games now are one out of the bullpen. So, you know, we’ll see what happens. It’s it’s definitely uh a like half the leagues wanting this guy. 15 teams have talked about Pelley and shown interest, but um could be a really good fit for the Cubs as they as they try to do that and and and build on their bullpen. Now, the other thing is what are they going to do with Brad Keller? And this is a a great example of what the Cubs are able to do when they they get these guys. And I I don’t know how they do it, right? Keller in 24 was 0 and4 with a 544 ERA and he was he pitched for the White Socks and the Red Sox and uh he had like a 457 erra in his last three seasons, right? Cubs get him. Uh they sign him to a one-year deal. It’s like uh $1 and a half million dollars. I remember spring training. I’m like, you know, what’s this guy? What are they going to do? You know, all the stuff that had to go with it. Had to make the team and everything. And all of a sudden, this guy just becomes like an elite reliever. 207 RA through 68 appearances during the season, 69 and two-thirds innings, had 75 strikeouts, and then the postseason he was great. Had a 159 RA in his five games. He pitched a ton and he was in those high leverage situations. So now the Cubs have to figure out what they’re going to do because this guy’s going to get paid, right? And he deserves it. So Carter Hawkins, who’s the Cubs GM, was uh you know talking to the Chicago Tribune in an article and and basically he’s like we’ll have we’ll see how it all plays out. Hard to say exactly where his market our market are going to be. You know, basically the same thing with Shota. Shota the Cubs had the option, right? the the the the the option would had been them picking up three years and it would have been what like 54 million and then Shota had one if if he would have picked it up you know it was going to be like I like 15 or I can’t remember the exact number you know what I mean and then they just they their market was here his market was here well then he went out and then took the qualifying offer and stayed and it turned out to be the three years we thought we were going to get with and I’ve said it and I’ll say it again And I know you guys, some of you guys hate it, some of you guys love it. I’m glad SH is back. I think the Cubs need more starting pitching. They need more help in the bullpen. And they’ve said that they’re going to be aggressive in the free agent um in a pitching pool. You know what you want is you want to have as many good options out of the bullpen as you can possibly get. How many Kellers and Pomerants and, you know, and and and guys that you really can trust can you have? Pelley. I mean, I don’t know. But but the bottom line is that that last year the bullpen gave Craig Council some options. The year before that, it felt like the there was an A squad and a B squad, you know. So, what what you hope is you get a couple of these guys that are in your minor league system that that you develop in to like a Valencia, you know, a guy that you bring along. You know, maybe you you go and you find a Pomerance who was a former firstrounder, dealt with an injury, came back, you got him at the right time, he was in the minor leagues, boom, turn him into something. And then, you know, some of these other guys like like Kelsley, I I got this feeling like they get him, they put him in that pitch thing, they figure out whatever the magic they do is, and they do that maybe amongst the best in baseball, too, when I when I really think about it. and you know, we’ll kind of find out what this all looks like at the end, but you hope that you have a bunch of options out there. Now, uh Nick Birdie signed with the Mets. I don’t know that the Cubs were going to bring Birdie back. It’s a minor league deal. Um he he threw six well five innings for the Red Sox last season. Um pitched with the Yankees, the Cubs, and the Pirates. the uh this guy was um on the 2019 Pirates opening day roster, but then you know he got kind of beaten beat around had a 935 erra and um had some some injury issues. um you know fought his way back and the Cubs got him back to the big leagues. What was it at 23? They selected him from the Padres’s in the rule five draft and then he pitched three games for the Cubs on the IIL of May had the uh emergency appendecttomy which by the way I had one of those two and let me tell you I almost died from it. So, I’m not putting that down as a bad as a easy thing to deal with, right? He ended up going on the 60-day IIL and then went uh became a free agent. Cubs took him off the 40man roster, right? But, um, yeah, I don’t know if I could have pitched after having my appendecttomy. It’s terrible. So, you know, he’s had he’s had a lot of injury issues, but uh you know, and I don’t I don’t know that the Cubs were even really serious about about him, but another team that’s going to try to get to the get the guy that they potentially think could could be a helper and then, you know, do something with them. So, that’s where we are today, guys. Avenue D, MC Nation, that is our web three home. That’s where we’re going to have our store. That’s where we’re going to congregate. We’re giving away uh cash prizes. is we basically pick games. It’s all free. Like get on there and like who’s going to win this football game or who’s going to win this or is this guy going to sign with us? Just have a little fun and um we’ll give away swag hats. There’s our logo right there. Boom. Uh have that on some hats and some shirts and some other stuff. So uh make sure that you’re a part of it. And also please like and subscribe to the channel. Appreciate all of you guys for being here and thinking about uh today was looking at Cubs convention. considering maybe doing some shows from up there. Would love to see if I do. So, get in the comments section. Tell me what you think. Would you guys come and hang out? Do you want would you wanna uh be part of the show, you know, maybe get you guys to ask some questions, but I’m thinking the set it would be cool to get the set up there. I haven’t been there since I was uh you know, the guy that that did the panels at the Cubs convention. So, I’d love to come back and and uh and and do the show up there if I could can make it work in my schedule. So, anyway, like, subscribe, thumbs up. Happy Thanksgiving and uh we’ll do it again uh tomorrow, man. Why not, right? You you want you want uh Thanksgiving episodes. I know you do. Hey, by the way, we’re brought to you by Severeville, Tennessee. Visit severeville.com. That’s in the Smoky Mountains where the bears talk. When you head to the Smoky Mountains, it’s only natural to visit Severeville. Even we had to check it out. And we’ve been here our whole lives. Experience the adventure of a lifetime. I’m king of the world. Even you can get a bird’s eye view of the Smokies. You’re going down, Billy. Wa! Your smokers start here. [Music] [Music]

The Cubs Baseball Channel proud to partner with AveD! Follow the link to join Mick Nation. This includes interactive games, contacts and prizes!
https://www.aved.ai/mick-nation

This Episode:
– Ryan Helsley on the Cubs’ radar
– Cubs GM Talks Brad Keller Free Agency
– Nick Burdi Signs With the Mets

If you’re new to the Cubs Baseball Channel don’t miss anything and join! Like and subscribe here! https://www.youtube.com/@cubsbaseballchannel

Mick Gillispie has covered the Chicago Cubs since 2007 and has been a fan of the team since the 1984 season. He has broadcasted spring training games or been heard on Cubs.com, MLB.com, 670 The Score, WGN, CSN-Chicago and Marquee Sports Network. He is an award winning play-by-play voice for the Tennessee Smokies Cubs Double-A Affiliate. He has also hosted many forums over the years at Cubs Convention including Down on The Farm