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Chapter 1: What led to the Cubs demoting Moises Ballesteros?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. I love being here. Middays 10-2 on 104.3 The Score. Fastball strike three called. By Esteros out on strikes. It just seems like a lot of the Cubs hitters not picking up the pitches from Webb today.
I think, you know, they're all looking for one pitch and they're getting the opposite. Webb has been very good today.
That's from game three right there. Cubs. Got to figure something out. Got to continue to move pieces in order to get it right. It's a puzzle. And hopefully sending Moises Ballesteros down to AAA will allow things to do just that. And if you're looking for some Cubs action, of course, today, Cubs begin their home series against the Blue Jays. Pre-game coverage begins at 1245.
That's when Marshall Harris and I are out of here. Pat and Ron got the call. Again, first pitch at 120 right here on 104.3. The score in the Northwestern Medicine. Cubs Radio Network. So Moises Bisteros goes down. This is a guy who was supposed to be their Mune Murakami.
Let's not get carried away. He's not going to hit 40 bombs. Was he not supposed to? No. What was he supposed to hit? I think he's supposed to be a guy who can hit you between 15 and 25 home runs, but hit 300. Be a strong contact hitter.
25 homers is what most people thought Murakami was going to be at. 25 to 35. Don't tell me everybody thought Murakami was going to hit 50 because then he would have got signed by somebody else. He would have got signed by someone else if everyone anticipated it.
Before the season started. What did I say, Ray? Tell them what I said. Yeah. Tell them I had Murakami and Colson Montgomery combining for 75 home runs. Yeah.
And 40 for Murakami, right? Yeah.
40 for Murakami. Listen. Listen.
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Chapter 2: How did Ballesteros perform before his demotion?
We can agree he needs every day at bats to get it. Two, he's been playing catcher more than some people thought he'd be playing catcher. Now he can play catcher every day, refine those skills and come back, not just as a quote unquote DH, almost emergency catcher, but a guy who can actually play catcher in the big leagues and provide a plus bat there.
Yeah. I mean, you're looking at the catcher situation for the Chicago Cubs. It was one that was supposed to be solidified, but you know, as it goes in baseball and sports, sometimes, you know, you got to deal with that. Now, Did Seah get sent down for a second when he was struggling? No, he was hurt. He was hurt. Because I remember after the adjustment to Seah, there was a little bit of a dip.
And I just couldn't remember if he got sent down.
No, he got platooned a little bit.
Okay.
You're talking about his first year? Yeah. Early in his career, in his major league career, he got platooned a little bit.
Okay.
They need Seiya because Seiya is a guy who we saw even at the end of the last season and before that first half of the season when we thought, you know, this guy probably has a good case of being an all-star even though he didn't make it. Seiya can get hot and he can carry you same as the manner that Pete Crow Armstrong has been able to do in the month of June with his eight home runs. Yeah.
That's why Isaiah's got to play either DH or right field, and Moises didn't have anywhere to play. Matt Shaw, I like him being back in the lineup. I think it took too long to get him back in the lineup after he came off the injured list, but I like what he's done, and honestly, I think he should be higher in the order. Speaking of, we have a lineup today, Gabe.
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Chapter 3: What adjustments did Ballesteros need to make at the plate?
No, I can do two things at once. I promise you that. I do this every single day. And here's the thing. I hear what you're saying. Listen, I get it. When a guy's cold, you want to do it. But in baseball, something that you know very well, sometimes you got to give a guy some confidence by putting him in the proper position. Hey, Gabe, guess who looked up the numbers? Oh, geez. What is it? Lifetime.
Two for 17. What?
You were saying? He's trying to give him some confidence. Hey, he's got one home run, okay?
Maybe today will be the day he gets his second home run. Two for 17. Hold on. What's his batting average in day games?
Two for 17 with eight strikeouts lifetime. Maybe he's been raking up. Fridays. A 405 OPS lifetime. His on-base percentage is actually lower than his batting average against Kevin Gosman. 118 batting average, 111 OB.
You asked for this. So you want the Cubs to trade Alex Bregman and put Matt Shaw back at their base?
No! No, I just want them to move Alex Bregman to a less damaging spot in the lineup.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of Ballesteros's demotion for the Cubs?
Is that too much to ask? Again, the last time they played, they scored seven runs in an inning, right? Alex Bregman did his job. He got a walk. That's cool. You could do that in the sixth hole. That's cool. Guess who was the only Cub who didn't get a hit in that game that they won? Alex Bregman. Yeah. Okay. He had two walks, though.
Chapter 5: How does the Cubs' catcher situation affect their lineup?
All right.
And a sack fly. Seeing the ball well. And a sacrifice fly. It's worthy of the two hole when you're making the pitcher throw more pitches in the two spot. I don't disagree with that. You know?
I don't disagree with that. But... Move them down. There's better hitters.
All right, what's your ideal lineup then?
Chapter 6: What are the expectations for Seiya Suzuki's performance?
PCA 1, who's 2? Matt Shaw. Matt Shaw? Okay. No, no, I don't want to hear the keyboard clicking over there.
You hate that I'm out here just giving you straight facts. You can't argue with facts, big guy. You can't. He's got a four-game hitting streak. Two for four last time out. One for three. Two for four. One for one. Like, he's done his job. Matt Shaw, right? Roll with the hot hand. That's all I'm asking Craig Council to do.
Roll with the hot hand. And I'll say this. In the idea of what Marshall was talking about with Moises Ballesteros, where did Matt Shaw come from? They sent him down. He got some opportunities to hit. Now he came up here and he's hitting.
Ha!
Because you do think it's a great idea that Ballesteros is going down, right?
Yes, I'm good with that. Get him fully acclimated as a catcher, improve him, make him better, and then obviously every day at-bats. You don't have to worry about, hey, am I going to be pinch-hitting this game? I don't think that's where he needs to be right now in his development.
Well, you're not the only one. Ron Coomer, he was on with David Hall and Stacey Dales earlier this morning, and he actually broke down the reasoning for why Moises Ballesteros being sent down to Iowa is a good thing.
It'll be important, but at the end of the day, David, he had a couple things going on. The league saw right away that he could hit. Even in spring training with all the scouts there, they recognized his ability to hit. So then they started out throwing him soft in a lot of off-speed stuff, and he hit.
Then that changed to throwing him pitches out of the zone up, basically hard stuff up, and seeing if he would chase it. And he did. And he kept chasing it. And he had a hard time laying off the high fastball. So then they kept going higher. And instead of it being a fly ball, now it's a punch out because now he's trying to catch up to that.
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Chapter 7: How does the Cubs' offensive strategy impact their chances?
Can Team USA make it two straight victories against Australia? We'll discuss the game and get you up to date on all things you need to know. He's Marshall Harris. I'm Gabe Ramirez. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody right here on 104.3 The Score.