5 On It: Who's the most valuable relief pitcher in Chicago?

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Rahimi & Grote Show 22 min 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 19 days ago

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What is the opening “Five on It” segment and who are the hosts?

Mark Grote 0:03

It's time for five on it. Rahimi and Croody bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3 Discord.

Mark Grody 0:12

Number one.

How do Leila and Mark rate the Cubs’ West‑Coast road trip on the disappointment meter?

Mark Grody 0:13

On a scale of one to ten on the disappointment meter trademark, where would you rate the Cubs two and four West Coast Road Trip?

Mark Grote 0:21

Oh my, I believe it or not, it's not gonna be as high as maybe people would expect. I'm gonna say I'm toggling between four and five. I would say I'll put it at a five because there were some jarring losses. It sucks when you get walked off. It sucks that Jacob Webb had a four two lead with two outs in the ninth inning in one of those games and and he blows it. The whole Daniel Palencia thing was bad for sure in the Arizona series. However, the starting pitching has been pretty good. Clay Holmes, seven shutout innings against the Diamondbacks. Kevin Gossman gave us exactly what we needed to see. And that was seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits after the weird White Sox experience and the bad experience against Washington.

Mark Grote 1:05

So that was good stuff to see. And then I can't just glaze past the fact that the Cubs did have a game. In which they beat the Seattle Mariners 19-2. And Ian Hap hit a grand slam. And Pedro Ramirez hit a grand slam, albeit against the backup catcher in the game.

Why is White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters’ 2026 season considered historic?

Mark Grote 1:22

It does still count as a grand slam. So there were still concerns, and we'll even get more into that in our next segment for sure. But on the overall, when you look at the big picture, I'm not as concerned because starting pitching is just So important and it thrived. I didn't even mention the guy that I have predicted to be the opening day starter for the postseason, assuming the Cubs get there. That's Matthew Boyd, who was very good l yesterday. Six innings, allowing one run, the Jordan Lawler Homer. That sucked. But it was really good to see him get back on track after a couple of weird experiences for Matthew Boyd.

Vinny Rotino 1:59

I also agree with this. I think once again the Aro Arizona series is as frustrating as they come because you had three excellent starting pitching performances and we were waiting to see if Matthew Boyd was gonna get back on track. I was a little more skeptical. You you Remain steadfast and look what happened. That he did. Unfortunately, a two to nothing ballgame lost you the game. Two runs lost you the game because you struggled offensively and managed only two hits. Balk or not. That is bad. And then the fact of the matter is they lost three games in this six-game road trip via walk-off, which is even more concerning when you consider that they did invest in their bullpen. to try to h shore that up for a significant NLCS at least run.

Vinny Rotino 2:46

So I am higher on the disappointment meter. I'm at like a seven and a half or an eight. Because these are two series where you could have really picked up some ground on the brewers. You don't always have to make it about the head-to-heads.

Who do the hosts think is the most valuable relief pitcher in Chicago right now?

Vinny Rotino 2:59

If you pick up ground in other places, you can increase your lead or at least decrease theirs. And there were times where, like, for example, we talked about this, they were close to being able to pick up a game on them because of the Mets the other night. So that's what makes it so frustrating, and I think frankly, so disappointing. You you are not in a position. You're still chasing. You you need to make sure that you utilize your starting pitching performances out of these guys when they're good. That's why you invested in Zephyr John. That's why you wanted to make sure Palency was back.

Mark Grote 3:30

Zephyr John put yeah, but

Vinny Rotino 3:32

Yes, Zephyron. Hurricane Zephyron has had some issues on the mound as well. And so that's that's where I sit with this. And they are so streaky at times, where yeah, they'll give you nineteen runs, they'll give you seven runs, but then they'll turn around and give you zero and only two hits in a ball game. And if that's a three game playoff series like what we saw with the Diamondbacks, what happens? This is a national league we're dealing with. Yeah.

Mark Grody 4:00

Number two White Sox center fielder Tristan Peters is the only player in MLB history to earn six RBI in a game, get on base five times in a game, have five straight games with the home run, hit for the cycle, hit a grand slam, and hit a walk-off home run all in one season.