Are the Chicago Cubs climbing back!?

[@Cubs0209]

Good to have you back Matt!! Thanks Sam for holding it down! Y’all are the best cubs podcast out there!

[@AlexScarbrough-nn8lt]

They really are I didn’t make it past 3 minutes for the other podcast CHGO for the Sunday recap lol

[@JeffreyStigman]

PCA breakout game! The offense is rolling! We can win 16 out of 20 after the break and never look back.

[@MINNESOTA_PTSD]

I come from the future to caution fans against such optimism…. I can’t share details about specific events as no one should know too much about their own future…. But the Cubs are going to look like 💩 to start the 2nd half 💯

[@JeffreyStigman]

@@MINNESOTA_PTSD What a beautiful pile of crap. Go Bears1

[@josephgnatek5984]

so nice to see pca doing well

[@edwardwilliams3185]

Welcome back Matt, I knew the Cubs have blown late leads a lot, but learning it happened 23 times was painful. Ow.

[@mr.bohner6819]

Welcome back Matt! Bullpen has cost us more than 2 games. Idc what the Pythagorean algorithm shits out. I watched this team everyday till right b4 July & this bullpen has cost this team at least 7 games. We should be better than the Cardinals record, secure in a Wild Card spot, and only a couple games back in the Division. 19 or 20 Blown Saves now & that does not only cost a team 2 games. When the offense struggled the bullpen helped them at first & then collapsed like they did in April when offense was great.. THE BULLPEN & JED HOYER LACK OF URGENCY TO HELP IT HAVE COST THIS TEAM 10 WINS THIS YEAR EASY.

[@MMAD-Rob]

Welcome back Matt!! Nice to have some positivity to discuss for our beloved cubbies!

[@carlyoung131]

Welcome back matt.

[@jasonlew8074]

Welcome back Matt and just glad the bats woke up yesterday.

[@miltonalbright1606]

That’s more like it guys hope too keep it up the old cubbie fan Milton

[@butlersbackmf9898]

welcome back matt

[@michaelhart730]

Glad to have you back Matt! Sam was brilliant as only he can be but the 2 of you together are gold! Best Cubs podcast by far and one of the best sports podcast period! Keep up the good work. Go Cubs!

[@VictorLopez-fq8ju]

I was at the beach today and out to watch Argentina game but saw the Cubs on the phone lol

[@jonvel812]

Hell of a surprise opening up the video and seeing Matt again!

[@Bebs28]

Has anyone ever compared your personalities to Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza? You guys are the Seinfeld of Sports Podcasts and I’m here for it!

[@mattlang8946]

The dynamic duo is back in action! Welcome back Matt

[@davidgoscha3036]

Bert and Ernie back together!

[@crayzeyezyoshi]

We need to stay positive and spread good energy to this team. Lol

[@chuckoak9027]

Welcome back Matt

[@aduncaroo]

Counsel finally puts Nico in the leadoff spot full time and all the sudden… 🤔 shocker

[@TheCreepedPig]

He's been in the leadoff spot for quite a while now?

[@aduncaroo]

@@TheCreepedPig yes since Tauchman went down. Check out his numbers since

[@TheCreepedPig]

@aduncaroo near the start of the season he was leading off for a while, but struggled so that's why tauchman started to lead off

[@aduncaroo]

@@TheCreepedPig actually Tauchman basically always led off against righties and Nico vs lefties since Counsel started

[@everetttauscher8377]

Thanks for the show guys! LET'S GO CUBS!!! ⚾️ ✌️💙🐻

[@chrisweidner4768]

Cardinals fan here. Well done. 6HRs in the visiting park is quite the beat down. Thinking there is a lot of “sports entertainment” in the game and that is a shame. Looking forward to the rest of the season. All the best to you, unless playing us.

[@michaelrichard8300]

What's up fellas!!! Welcome back Matt and when you were away the Cubs got hot!!! Ya know what I'm saying Matt. Michael Richard from the "BESTBANK" of New Orleans....WHO DAT!!!!!

[@JoshuaGoodman-jz3ce]

From Hammond my man glad to know I'm not the only one in Louisiana watching and loving the Cubs... WHO DAT baby

[@michaelrichard8300]

Yea you right...WHO DAT!!!!!

[@joshuaannas4421]

I’m glad the team had a good week, but games like Saturday night are going to continue and this club is going to finish right around .500 again. It’s a shame because you can see a decent squad there, but then the inability to put teams away just sucks. Great show as always guys, and always go Cubbies!

[@bradwatson8635]

Great show!

[@patrickstewart6090]

Yes Matt Sam’s been keeping it real

[@eduardoescalera6414]

1. Pete Crow Armstrong CF 2. Micheal Busch 1B 3. Seiya Suzuki RF 4. Nico Hoerner 2B 5. Ian Happ LF 6. Dansby Swanson SS 7. Miles Mastrobouni 3B 8. Miguel Amaya C 9. Christopher Morel DH This is the lineup we need out of the break

[@charlesdarwin180]

Brewer fan here. Glad to see your spirits are up. Just in time for Cub/Brewer series in Chicago after the all star break. Are you confident in Counsel being able to play better game tactics than Murphy?

[@joanshortall7333]

I was in agreement with you on the 4th inning bases loaded Morel DP. I knew that was it

[@dave-pm9bu]

It's time for Morel to move on...either he's not listening or he's not being instructed properly....Morel needs to hear another voice

[@omartapia8608]

I'm predicting 41-23 rest of the way

[@liveanddieinchicagoliveand7074]

😂 flip flopping fan base 😂 cubs issue haven't gone away this stil isn't a good team y'all hyping y'all self up for nothing this is mediocre team

[@Aetnaboy73]

Sucks we let that one get away last night.

[@josephhall657]

Rock and a hard place for Jed. This team is not good enough to spend on and if you sell heavy you are screwing yourself. But if he doesn't do enough then he will be called out for not seeing it through. Rumor is they are looking into trading for Jansen from Tor. Seeing it is a expiring deal I don't know if the logic is sound. If it is a sign and extend deal then sure. Get that and then it might be worth a quality prospect like Alcatara. If it is a rental Davis is a ideal swap as it frees up a 40 man.slot and gives a kid who is not going anywhere as a Cub a opertunity. So in this I would rather give up Alcatara as locking down a starting catcher impacts the future for a team that lacks impact talent at that position

[@bradscialabba1055]

We can make some moves for the future that might help in the 2nd half. A Catcher / 3rd baseman and young controlled BP arms. We have plenty to trade

[@dave-pm9bu]

Mood would have been different if Cubs had lost that last game...rest up heal up have a better second half...Go Cubs!

[@drummusicinc4027]

Go cubs

[@michaelbingham6907]

Have a good break! 😊

[@sni6941]

This is expected by what Jed is doing, trading veteran good bullpen arms for young assets. So you end up with young untested bullpen. This season he is going to rebuild phase 2 which is trying to win with young arms now and that’s what you get : inconsistent results.

[@fr0103]

7 wins out of 10 games isn't good enough, but we're still cheering our Cubbies on to the very last game! 😍🥰

[@youarethecreator1]

M A T T IS B A C K ! ! !

[@chrisanthony7552]

Get the Wild Card and then get hot. They have the starting pitching. Just need clutch hitting and decent relief.

[@josephgnatek5984]

porter hodge needed to have a bad game just like all the other cubs have....welcome to the 2024 cubs

[@kevintwomey713]

Hey guys the Cubbies are finally winning! Let’s move away from the bad clutch vibes…it’s much better since July 4th!

[@KaviBisarya]

Ian Happ is the GOAT in everything

[@thejazzman210]

They got a combined 19 games left with the Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, and D'backs, 13 of which is at home. 6-2 before the break is nice, but they're a long way from climbing out of the hole they've dug for themselves. If they're serious about winning now, they've GOT to get a closer at the deadline. If they don't get a closer you can forget it. IF they get a closer? I'm figuring going 40-24 in the last 64 games will get them a wildcard spot. That's definitesly doable IF they get a closer.

[@jjrivera9756]

If they buy anything, they need to upgrade at catcher and a bullpen arm. That’s it. If it works great, if not, they are who we thought they were.

[@annetteurbanik3001]

Should have taken 3 out of 4, but I guess we’ll take the split. Have to.

[@jasonlew8074]

Matt and you know the third game loss, a one run lead is not going to cut it. The game was loss when they were not able to score early on. Runners on the corners, Seiya strikes out and of course Morel hits an inning ending double play with bases loaded.

[@justinnoceda2115]

PCA is a born star just took a minute to get bat going he's gotta start hitting fastball better both homeruns came off curve balls or off sorry pitches but nonetheless it's great to see

[@sni6941]

So if this is part of the rebuild, we know now that Cubs have good SP and long relievers, what we don’t have is good 8th inning guys and a legit closer. On offense, we have a bunch of good players but no real top superstars, we have good defensive players but not clutch hitters. So in the future I would go for those two directions for improvements: trade/sign/develop a legit closer and a superstar bat. Probably need 30-50m to get 2-3 of those guys next off season and then we will be legit next season!

[@gregthegroove]

We need a legit closer at the deadline and a power bat but where and who’s going to lose playing time? If the Cubs simply won 60% of the blown saves, Cubs would be a 58 win team and in first place +3 games.

[@tomrockhill8634]

As much as I've piled on them, they've got one of the easiest schedules down the stretch 🤷

[@TaylorReynolds-v5z]

What City in Michigan you guys going to be in?

[@connorjerkatis72]

opinion on what we will give up for the blue jays catcher

[@jordancrosno9711]

Anything

[@sni6941]

I will be ok to trade 2-3 from this list: Cody / Tailon / Happ / Morel / Suzuki / Neris (there are other people that don’t have much trade value) , and still not hurt the team too deep. But would give the Cubs a lot of financial power to sign 2-3 superstars next season to lead their young players and along with good veterans to really compete.

[@larryelisco]

Would Counsell have considered using Steele in relief today?

[@popsmoke99]

Bellinger was holding this team back....? They erupted after he bowed out. Chemistry improved as well.

[@billboyd5310]

How many blown saves? We don't blow even half of them, and we're leading the division! Off-season failure!

[@Rondomino47]

Aside from the occasional moonshot, Morel continued to be a rally killer with his GIDP with bases loaded and strikeout with a man on third. Shouldn't he be down in AAA for a spell?

[@lukezahari779]

Anything below

[@franciscosantiago9032]

Sam.. no disrespect, but here we go again with the "this team needs a star player " argument.. No they dont!!. they need to get it together(as they showed this past week). Let me give you a nugget to sorta disprove your comment. For 5 years the Angels had the biggest star(s) in the game/world in Othani and the 2nd best star (as many say) in Mike Trout..they also added Rendon which at that time was a Star with Washington and everyone thought the Angels would decimate their competition with those 3.. the Angels in all those 5 years did not even finish at or above .500 even though Othani had MVP season.

[@samolbur8893]

The angles had no supporting cast. The Cubs are the perfect team for a Star and vice versa. The Angels are one of the wort orgs in baseball and couldn't put supporting talent around their stars. The Cubs either need someone to perform like a star or they have to go get one. World Series champs have Stars.

[@Croberts4159]

We all booed Happ for his poor performance early on but hopefully he just continues to hit at this level

[@kevinloeffler7909]

If this is a "mediocre" division and the Cubs are 12-21 in the division, maybe the Cubs are worse than mediocre?

[@dave-pm9bu]

We are behind the 8 ball in all tiebreaker they may hurt them later on

[@cbe5739]

Well whatever the Cubs do this off season . C L O S E R.🤣

[@jasonlew8074]

Hayden will open the second half in Triple AAA

[@connorjerkatis72]

ANYTHING

[@chicagodude8888]

Until they acquire a reliable high leverage pen arm this team’s going nowhere.

[@nicholascampbell7334]

The Cubs need to trade away Morel. He’s a DH only and Suzuki should be a DH only too. Trade him to the Rockies or something where he could excel and get Diaz and a reliever for him under the condition Diaz signs an extension.

[@thomasmiller8364]

I see Matt is back, since 2 losses. LOL

[@MarkBallard-u7p]

Sam was pouting like a 3 year old

[@johnmaskovich561]

Interesting the team starts hitting once billinger is out of the line up 🤔 they need to try and trade the selfish player for a catcher, just saying 🤓

[@josephhall657]

Right now it is no and nowhere close. Jed is becoming more incompetent as the year continues. Sending Biggie down was a.bone.Jeded.move. You have a guy that can hit 100 at the knees and put a hook over the plate? You run with it until the wheels fall off. So no at this point and depending on Jed to make moves that help are futile. We have seen more poor results vs good results and if this was a true big market mentality Jed would never been hired.

[@garytomas7132]

Listen i said this before this is a sub .500 team. Hoyer needs to go. We need to be sellers and hope this bozo front office gets some good future pieces back. One week of above average baseball doesnt mean squat.

[@kenwoodard4288]

Please No more Miles. Bote is a good golve and superior bat to Miles. I don't understand.

[@NOBlinders]

Morel is too undependable and Sam is right he needs to learn to the right field.

[@redmanr5522]

Chicago has two worst teams right now, Cubs- worst team in the NL Central, albeit best of the worst in divisions. White Sox- worst team in all of MLB.

[@redmanr5522]

fortunately the Cubs are in the division with the smallest gap, NL Central is the only division with all teams being less than 10 games behind the best team.

[@MINNESOTA_PTSD]

*NO*

[@XCal1bur23]

You have got to give up on touting "run differential". It is one of the most meaningless stats in baseball. Just stop it.

[@rsjmd]

Do you want to rationalize that opinion, please. Do you think goal differential is meaningless in hockey. Really, I'm not trying to dispute, just would like your reasoning at arriving at such a conclusion/thanks.

[@XCal1bur23]

​@@rsjmdoh yeah, no problemo. In baseball, as was the case with the Cubs last season, a dozen or so blowout games in your favor can artificially inflate your run differential stat. Mediocre teams, as we have been for the last couple of years, can look pretty good if you're only looking at run differential. In hockey, for instance, games are much lower scoring and there are half as many games in a season, so a high goal differential is actually a strong indicator of performance. Even more so in football. In baseball, it is meaningless and team performance is better measured by a number of other statistics. Things like batting average with runners in scoring position and runs allowed after the 6th inning.