Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Cubs leaving runners in scoring position continues to get worse
17 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Cubs' recent game against the Rockies?
We are absolutely live. Rahimi Harris and Grody on 104.3 The Score. Yeah, our buddy Manu Raju from CNN who was on with us yesterday had the opportunity to throw out one of the first pitches out at Wrigley Field yesterday with him and his beautiful family. And then... And our friend Manu doesn't get back here very often, so it's a big special day. They're all wearing their fresh Cubs gear.
And then Manu got to see what we've all been living through right there, live in front of his face. The Rockies beating the Cubs last night 5-2, and it's the same old stuff. Cubs 0-8 with runners in scoring position as they were just kind of shut down in that game. Marshall, what is happening, my friend?
Not much. Not much is happening. That's the problem with the Cubs at Wrigley. You know, it's been since May 8th, the last time the Cubs won two games in a row at home. I want you to really think about that, because they had a 15-game winning streak at Wrigley earlier this season, but they haven't won back-to-back games there since May 8th.
I hate that these type of statistics are starting to pile up. Like the 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Like the fact that they're 3 for 39 over their last three games in that capacity and are hitting 077 if you need that. They are also hitting 145 over the past 11. 12 for 83 with runners in scoring position. And again, just a classic 0 for 8 last night.
So these dumb statistics are popping up left and right, and I hate it. I hate it. Let's get back to the stats where every time Ian Happ hits a home run, he passes another ex-Cub on the list of all-time homers. I like that trajectory better than the things that we're seeing in Cubs games, which is the same thing every day. Every day is exactly the same.
I have a word for that. Again. You said it yesterday.
Again. Again. You wanted them to win again, though. You didn't want this again, though.
No, no, no. You have to come up with a way to have something that is sustainable. And right now, the Cubs... They've won three of their last five games, but the way they've won the three games in and of itself is unsustainable if you want to go to the playoffs in the National League.
It is. It is. You're not going to get away with that kind of stuff. You're just not.
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Chapter 2: Why are the Cubs struggling with runners in scoring position?
Just move him down. It's not that hard. I mean, do something.
I mean, you can't bench everybody because it seems like right now the most desired target, I don't know if it's even Alex Bregman, it's probably Dansby Swanson right now in terms of who's a guy that needs the next two-day break. Our guy Ian Happ got the treatment. He got the two-day break, right? He inhabited, and he's been better since. I know that he is imperfect in all of this as well.
But it's rough out there. And Edward Cabrera and Phil Maton again. Listen...
When it comes to the Cubs last night and understanding, because I think at one point you said you believed they could score more runs, right? I think I asked that question in the group chat.
I think, oh, last night you're talking about. What I said, or at least what I was trying to get across was, yeah, you asked when they were down, I guess it was 5-2, right? Yeah, and I was like, can they even score six runs? Can they score six runs? I said, this feels like another weird night, just the way I was feeling watching the game. And so I said, yes.
But my only backup for it was, it feels like a weird night. I had no good reason to think, oh, this guy hits well against that guy. I did not have a good argument.
The Cubs have done a good job in this one thing. they have psychologically conditioned you, the fan, to believe that they can just walk it off. Because when you've got 21 wins at home and nine of them are by walk-off, it's never really over, right? And so in your mind, you were thinking, well, the Rockies have the worst bullpen in all of baseball.
Certainly they could scratch a little something together. What was that number again? 0 for 8 with runners in score position from last night?
That is correct, and a bullpen that took over in the fifth inning and was flawless.
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Chapter 3: What statistics highlight the Cubs' offensive issues?
You literally, and Craig Council talked about this after the game last night, You were able to get the starting pitcher out yet again. They've done a good job of working the starting pitcher in most of these games in June, in which they have a losing record against all teams that have losing records.
You've been able to get the starter out and work on middle relief, but it's the lack of ability to produce against middle relief that's really got them in this pickle.
It is a pickle. And how about the starting pitcher for the Rockies last night, Ryan Feltner, who goes four and two-thirds, as just indicated, gives up the two runs, six hits, and seven strikeouts. He had 100 pitches. 100 pitches in the game. So Cubs are working some counts.
They're making him sweat a little bit, but maybe not taking wax at the right pitches at the right times, which might lead us into... Some really good audio that we have, and it came from the Marquee Sports Network. The Cubs broadcast from last night was definitely telling some truths. And there was Jason Kipnis last night.
who is obviously on the depth chart of analysts at Marquee Sports Network. He doesn't seem to do a lot over there, and he's always been fine when I've seen him. I think last year was the first year that he started doing the analysis. He might have done some the previous year as well. I'd have to get that timeline right.
But what I can tell you about watching Jason Kipnis in the past was I thought he was pretty conservative. I thought he was team-friendly, all of that, which you can understand if you're somebody that's just doing it so intermittently. You're not going to come in and be the one with the big opinions and make waves. So I thought he was pretty passive in some of his analysis in the past.
And then all of a suddenā Last night, Jason Kipnis, and you should know this too, and maybe you don't, he is from around here, grew up in Northbrook, went to Glenbrook North. He is a Cubs fan, and I think that he was talking from that perspective and maybe the perspective of he's been away from baseball just a little bit now.
But Jason Kipnis did not hold back on the Cubs' offensive struggles on the marquee postgame show following this Cubs loss last night.
You want them to be swinging at strikes and pitches they can handle. That's just a great pitcher's pitch right there, but it's like, is there an approach? Is there a team approach? All these are off-speed pitches with before two strikes. Why are we not hunting fastballs a little bit more and putting good swings on stuff on fastballs early in the count?
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Chapter 4: How have recent player performances impacted the Cubs' success?
A hitter's meeting. You heard him say, somebody needs to stop. speak up, and then he gets into some of the mechanics with not missing your pitch, and that's a way to oversimplify it probably, that the Cubs are not doing anything with the good pitches that they get.
And one other thing, Marshall, too, that I'll bring up in all this, and I heard Molly and I having a great conversation this morning with Bruce Levine about it, and that is that a lot, I think Bruce brought it up, that a lot of these guys, a lot of Cubs, a lot of players throughout baseball, it's not unique to the Cubs, have their own swing coaches, right?
which obviously you could have a coach, you could have a tutor, if you will, and then have the uniformity of what the Cubs organization is doing hitting coach-wise. But you would have to imagine that sometimes that does clash a little bit, and maybe it is lacking some uniformity at the moment.
I felt like Bruce pushed back on that a little bit just because they've invited those swing coaches to Wrigley and to work out with the Cubs. It seems like they want to make sure that there's not too many voices for an individual hitter. And that, hey, what are you telling them? Okay, well, we're telling them this. Okay, let's make sure we have a uniform message to a certain point.
Because a lot of people who play sports, they get individual coaching. And they have an AAU coach or off-season coach for their club sport. And they have the high school coach. And usually you get similar messages because those people all know each other in these communities.
Now, it's a little different with the highest level of Major League Baseball where maybe a guy like Dansby Swanson has his own swing coach. A guy like Ian Happ. Guys who have been doing this for a long time. Alex Bregman. And if there's six different swing coaches, yes, to your point, I think they should all be on the same page.
But it didn't sound like there are these super diverse ideas and I'm being told to do it a completely different way than what your swing coach told you to do. Just make sure. Yeah, I think that's why they invite them in, right?
Yeah, over-communicate, as we like to say here.
Oh, we definitely say that here. Let me over-communicate. Do we over-communicate, though? Well, no, because I'm about to tell people something. 217, that's the number. Take that with you. That is what the Cubs are batting with runners in scoring position this season. It is dead last in Major League Baseball.
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