Nick Baumgardner

I don't even like saying 40 home runs because I want people to know how hard it is.

There's only been one player in the history of the Chicago Cubs as a left-hand hitter to hit 40 homers.

Billy Williams.

It's really hard to do.

No, I think that's fair.

Okay, so we're keeping our eye on Pete Armstrong.

What is storyline number two?

Storyline number two is what I believe is the strength of the Chicago Cubs.

And I think that's their starting pitching.

Because I think what they've been able to do is build depth.

And that was the thing that they didn't really have in 2025.

And when I look at the Cubs and how they're going to have success in their starting rotation, I think they're going to borrow from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now, the Dodgers have a little bit more high caliber talent, but the process is the same.

The Dodgers have all those guys, Shohei and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell, et cetera.

And you look at their roster and it's like, man, they have like eight, nine starting pitchers.

Who are you going to give the ball to?

And there's this idea of like, everybody doesn't have to make 30 starts.

So my mindset when I'm looking at the Cubs roster is like, okay,

The guy there's different tier.

So the 20 to let's call it 30 start tier to me, Jamison Tyone, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga.