How do Cubs balance bullpen experimentation, push for home-field advantage?
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How are the Cubs experimenting with their bullpen as the playoffs approach?
Me
and Grody. Vinny Rotino. Vinny, how you doing, man? Welcome back to the score.
I always love coming on here. I'm telling you, it feels like I'm getting another opportunity at the big league level, right? And I know you guys use that as a bump. I get a lot of flack for that. Radio stations in Wisconsin and they're saying, Why are you saying that you feel like you're in the big leagues when you go on the Chicago radio station? This is the big league, the big time.
You sir have just earned yourself some bears. I
don't know if I want any of those, right? I don't know if there's a thank
you or not. Midday, 10 a.m. to two on the score. And now the 2-2 pitch. Bouncing ball at first. This is gonna do it. Bush goes to Zephyrton. In time. Dubbs win the ball game. It goes three to one. The Cubs win it by a score of eight to four, and the Cubs start to congratulate one another on another victory and a series victory.
Got a little sweaty in the ninth inning, didn't it? Cubs still hold on to win. Eight four over the Braves is heard right here on 1043 the score. You are absolutely listening to Rahimi and Grody, and we are open for you. Some good text messages coming through. 312 6404 6767. We'll get to that ninth inning and some stuff that Craig Counsel said yesterday on the score in regards to the bullpen, but we've been trying to figure out what the comp is for PCA, whether A Cub, whether anybody in Major League Baseball, relative to mystery expectations, the the the power, the slug that PCA has shown that we didn't know that he necessarily had. Three one two, six forty four, sixty seven, sixty seven one, Leo that you pointed out was and it's it's an interesting one.
Going back to Sandberg, that'd be Ryan Sandberg. Oh yeah,
this is a text from six three oh yeah.
Correct, where he hit 15 home runs in his first 300 games plus. Not as dramatic as PCA, but the standard to show the power was never expected. That's pretty good. Now, the only difference I think with Ryan Sandberg is that Sandberg looked like a guy who could hit the ball out of the park.
What did Craig Counsell say about the risks of pushing relievers in high‑leverage situations?
Like Sandberg, big, strong dude, and was. Now I know he was a Hall of Fame. Fame second baseman, but this guy came up, he he was a third baseman, like their little secret, he was a third baseman for the Cubs in his first year and very good at third base. So he was a big stacked kind of guy who you looked at and said, Yeah, he could probably hit home runs in an era where you're told to hit line drives.
Uh eight one five says, not a true comp, more of a comment, but did we expect Arietta to put up the kind of numbers he did when he joined the Cubs, or did he well exceed expectations? That's a really good question. Because I knew they knew that Arietta was going to benefit from a change of scenery, but I didn't know if it were to this extent. And then uh six Rio, another six Rio, I would disagree that no one expected this from PCA. His first year in the minors, he had twenty home runs and forty six extra base hits, only over only four hundred and thirty two base hits. Yeah, but that's the minor leagues. Like Elohimenez bat at three seventy five in the minors at triple A. Like it doesn't mean it translates to the big league level in the same way.
way and given how PCA looked at the big league level, I think that's why this became such a surprise. Even earlier this season. Earlier this season he didn't look this way.
Yeah. And the questions were when he came out of the miners, can he hit? I mean, I remember talking to people, talking to guests on the score about Pete Carr Armstrong, and the scouting report was always the same. Oh, this guy is he's gonna be the best center fielder you've ever seen. He's gonna be the best center fielder the Cubs have once he's with the team. He could steal every base. Not sure about the hit tool. They've got to catch up a little bit. So the expectations just weren't there early on for the hit tool. Especially the slug.
Well, and even Jed Hoyer. Jed Hoyer said earlier in the season that we just have to accept that this is who he is. And he was talking about inconsistent hitting at that point.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How are the Cubs experimenting with their bullpen as the playoffs approach?
0:01–2:10
2
What did Craig Counsell say about the risks of pushing relievers in high‑leverage situations?
2:10–4:50
3
How does the potential loss of home‑field advantage affect the Cubs’ playoff strategy?
4:50–7:04
4
What factors are influencing the decision to use Ryan Zephyrjohn in the ninth inning?
7:04–9:56
5
How does the Cubs’ bullpen volatility compare to the consistency of their offense?
9:56–13:02
6
What role does weather (wind, temperature) play in Wrigley Field’s home‑field advantage?
13:02–15:03
Speakers
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