Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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Rahimi Harrison-Grody. 10-2 on 104.3 The Score.
Nick Friedel here on Rahimi Harrison-Grody. By how things have changed since the last time we talked to you, Nick.
Layla, I mean, a couple hours after we talked last time, it went from, yeah, Matt Lloyd's the guy, Matt Lloyd's the guy, to Bryson. What? Who?
Who? Who the f*** is that guy? The question I want answered is, okay, what direction are you going with as far as a head coach?
There are always retread coaches, and I know at least there's a faction of this fan base that would love to see Tibbs back and thinks that it could work again. Personally, knowing both sides and knowing the way things ended, and even more, Marshall, knowing what they need right now, I don't think that's the right thing. What do you think, huh?
Hmm?
Can we work this out or not? Okay. Jack?
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Chapter 2: What changes have occurred since the last discussion with Nick Friedel?
Rarely does spinning the block work out for either party. That's just my personal experience as far as breakups go.
That's why I'm like, to me, it was absurd. Like, the idea is absurd. I love Tibbs. I do. I am pro-Tibbs. But, you know, it very much was a breakup, and you know this.
So is this a breakup quitting?
Oh, Layla, I am well-versed in breakups.
Aren't we all? Aren't we all at this point in our lives?
I think that's why, specific to this topic, I'm sitting here going, I don't know, y'all.
Are you breaking up with me? Are we going out? You're breaking up with me, aren't you?
Do you want me to break up with you?
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Chapter 3: What direction are the Cubs considering for their head coach?
That's what you want. I don't even know what you're talking about.
Okay, fine, break up. All right, we're broken up.
Oh, man. At some point, aren't we all Jerry Seinfeld in that scenario? This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on a Tuesday, 104.3 The Score. And we come to you talking ahead of a Cubs and Braves series that certainly looks like the matchup of two of the best teams in baseball right now. American League, I'm not talking to you.
everybody's 19 and 20 or something in the AL so it's it's definitely Cubs and Braves and we were talking in our pre-show meeting today about Colin Ray taking the hill facing off against Grant Holmes and Marshall you had a a usage question for Colin Ray that I thought that on both sides of town we were past the idea of the opener but I think you make a decent case
Well, look, Layla, you have to understand something. This Cubs team has chosen that they're very good here to start the season, one of the best records in all of baseball. And one of the reasons is Craig Council has expertly been able to navigate being short starters, whether it's Matthew Boyd, whether it's the delayed return of Justin Steele, whether it's Kate Horton being out for the season.
And one of the things he's had to employ is this idea that Colin Ray is more than just a swing guy. Colin Ray has had himself quite the run with the Cubs over the last two years. He'll be getting the start tonight. And you go back to last year and understand that even though he was supposed to be in the bullpen, Out of his 32 appearances, 27 of them were starts.
And then this year, now he's up to five games started out of eight appearances. One of those was in a bulk roll against the Philadelphia Phillies, in which Craig Council kind of got this whole thing started. When you talk about their 20-5 stretch, because he used an opener.
Going up against the best offense in baseball from a run scored from a batting average perspective, it would make sense to me if Craig Council had chosen that route, and he might be making a mistake by not using an opener in this one. Understanding that his outings have been solid, right? He hasn't given up more than three runs except for one time.
And that one time was against the Dodgers, another elite offense. Now you're going up against another elite offense. I think to help them stretch out what they get from their bulk out-getter, that's what we'll call them because that's what Craig Council likes to say, putting an opener here might soften things because that top of the order is quite dangerous if you're the Atlanta Braves.
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Chapter 4: How do the Cubs and Braves compare in terms of performance?
Especially in Atlanta.
Okay. I'm all ears. So if the Cubs sweep the series, or let's see. If they sweep the series, that's a different discussion.
If they sweep the series, party time. Like we're getting coffee or something.
They take two out of three. What does it mean?
I think what it means is they've shown you again that they can be consistent. Number one, that would show that they break out of their little shutout slumps that they had for two games.
Very needed.
You know, that they were due, especially if you look at who might perform. Like, say, for example, you know, Alex Bregman, whose hitting has not been ideal to this point. You know, he's got like a 233, 328, 333 slash line, three home runs. 91 weighted runs created plus that's below league average. Okay, so if he starts to have a better series, you're looking at this thing differently as a whole.
If Colin Ray goes out there and goes six innings, hell, I'll give him five. Go out there and show me five innings of... Three-run ball in Atlanta? I'll take that. So if they take two out of three and you see some real progress, if you see another consistent start out of Shota Imanaga, what if you see a good start out of Ben Brown?
Then doesn't that help bolster what you may think about this team after the stretch they just went on?
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Chapter 5: What challenges do the Cubs face against the Braves?
Away at Buffalo, they got that new stadium they built.
Yeah.
Away Carolina, who I think really showed a challenge for the Rams in the playoffs. And then there's that Seattle game. Guys, I might just chalk up the Seattle one like Jacob DeGrom against the Rangers on Sunday. So seven.
So you're at a seven. Let me tell you why I'm at a nine. Because I know that's a big number when you're talking about a scale of zero to ten. I think the schedule is the baked-in regression.
Chapter 6: Who needs to step up for the Cubs to win the series?
I think it's very difficult... to say, hey, we're going to come up with as much success as you came up with last year. Remember, they had a playoff win. No team in the last 10 years, 10 seasons, has had the most difficult schedule and ended up with a playoff win.
Just has not happened in the last 10 seasons.
So when you take that into account and you understand that even if Caleb Williams takes his step, I'm still looking at the defensive line. Even if you coach him up, I don't see the talent there that is requisite for... them to be that much better against stopping the run and getting to the passer. You hit the nail on the head when you talked about division play.
If they can come out of division play three and three, maybe I'll rethink this, but it's hard for me to see them winning 11 games and getting a playoff win based on their schedule being the most difficult.
Chapter 7: How do injuries impact the White Sox's performance this season?
And when I say most difficult, I do understand that some of the teams that were good last year won't be as good, but also some of the teams who weren't as good last year will be better this year.
Or at least healthier.
Exactly.
Take that into account.
So I take all of that and say, yeah, my worry is at a nine because I think they can be better than they were last year and still only win nine or ten games. I'm going to put it at a six here, and it is nice to be talking about the pitfalls of winning as opposed to all the things that the Bears have to do because they sucked the previous year.
So it kind of was rough having the 25th pick in the first round. Been a while since then. Now you have a tough strength of schedule. have to anticipate regression on the team in terms of how many turnovers they were going to force.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of the upcoming MLB draft for the White Sox?
Some of those last second miracle wins that the Bears had last year. You have to count that in and then just taking the quick look at the schedule as Ray laid out for us, there's really not... There's maybe two gimme's on the whole, like, just right now looking at it. Which one are the gimme's? The Jets? The Jets and the Saints, I guess. 6-11.
You saw how good the Saints were at the end of last year, right? They got better. A lot better. So, I mean, I don't know if that actually carries over.
Falcons, how much are they? Like, Falcons were up and down. They were 8-9. I thought they were up for a little bit.
Yeah.
Then they were down.
Dolphins? Dolphins maybe? Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins.
Dolphins.
Dolphins.
Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins.
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