Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Ryan Dempster talks Tom Ricketts' high expectations for Cubs
17 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What are Tom Ricketts' expectations for the Cubs in 2026?
The score! Ryan Dempster. Two and two. The fastball away. Not the location he wanted, but it worked out as Fielder swung and missed. Seven Ks for Dempster. Efficient, much more like the Ryan Dempster that we've seen all season long. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Struck him out, four punch-outs here in the fifth inning.
I mean, get rid of an old, aging pitcher for a guy who can finally help your team. It seems like it makes sense. If you ask me, I don't know how much of a genius that SD cat is. Eight for 14 in this series, Paul. That's as hot as you can get. You mentioned it. Go ahead. If your coffee is lukewarm in the clubhouse, put it on Pete Crowe's lap, and it will be scalding hot.
With Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. I reckon I left a good footprint on how to drink. I know that.
This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And that is a fantastic introduction to our guest, Ryan Dempster. the former Cub from 2004 to 2012, two-time All-Star, World Series champion, purveyor of humor and music and the like, and he joins us on our Circus Sports Illinois hotline.
Download the Circus Sports app today and cage the elephant in the introduction for you there, Ryan, just to get ready for this weekend's Endings Fest. How are you?
I'm doing great, and that was one heck of... I can't... I forgot I said half that stuff.
Ha ha ha!
Doesn't that suck? That's our daily basis.
You blacked out. I thought he got way too much credit anyway, so it's great.
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Chapter 2: How did Ryan Dempster's career influence his views on team performance?
Yeah, I do. I think that there's a common ground in the middle, and I think that it leans towards more what we saw in the first half. I mean, this has always been the talk of him. He's been doing this since he was 12 with Team USA. You know, I just think, A, defensively, he's as good as he gets. He's a gold-glover.
No doubt.
That's one of the best, if not the best, center fielder in the game. What he can do on the base pass, you know, maybe there's not 40 home runs every year, but I think 40 stolen bases a year is something very realistic.
I think what you learn from talking to guys and being around guys is sometimes when they get into that home run zone where they're just hitting a ton of home runs and they're not pure home run hitters like Aaron Judge or Pete Alonzo or these guys, is that all of a sudden you start to swing for the home run because you've just hit a bunch. Like, oh, man, I hit 12 this month. Cool, here I go.
And it becomes something that all of a sudden you get out of your swing and then you lose your swing and then you're trying to find it and you're being, you know, let me take a pitch. Oh, that pitch is right down the middle. Oh, let me go ahead and be aggressive.
It's like you just get caught in that hamster wheel, and I think he got caught there for a little bit in August, you know, July and August, and I think he got out of it, and this is a guy who's determined to be great. I think chasing greatness is a really important thing that more guys should aspire to, and I think that he learned a lot last year.
I think he's full-on ready to go again this year, and he's just a special kid. He's a special player, and I think the possibility of what he's able to do I think will just continue to grow as he matures. He's still a young ball player, especially when you look at at-bats and miles and all that kind of stuff on his career so far. I think he's potentially a guy every year that could be 30-30.
Does he have a 40-40 in him? Sure, but to put expectations on a guy I think is unfair, and I think we're just going to continue to see a great version of Pete Cromsham.
We're talking to Ryan Dempster, the host of Intentional Talk on MLB Network, former Cub for many years. And Ryan, I think you're on to something, and Mark has talked about this too, we've talked about it on the air, where there are times when because PCA is such a good bad ball hitter,
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Chapter 3: What adjustments did Pete Crow-Armstrong make to improve his game?
just that comfort in himself and say, okay. And I think that's where he got to towards the end of the season and, you know, and in September. And, you know, like, listen, you're not going to hit 50. Just because you have 30 at the break doesn't mean you're hitting 50. And it's about good quality at-bats. And Pete learned all this stuff.
And talking with him, I know he's determined to just be the best version of himself. And when we see that, he is a bad ball hitter. And that's fine. When you're locked in, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., bad ball hitter. Like, I threw a slider in the dirt that bounced in the other batter's box, and he pulled it for a base hit in the hole in the Olympic Stadium.
So, like, you can be a bad ball hitter and be successful, but when you're struggling, that's where you have to get back. And I just think, you know... This is a kid who put so much work in, and he's going to be perfectly fine this year, and I expect him to be back in center field at the All-Star game and having that kind of quality season again.
Ah, Olympic Stadium. Always good to hear about that cavernous stadium where you can... What did you say? What did you call it?
The Stade Olympique. That's what they would always say when you take that train out there to a boisterous crowd of 800 people. What do you call it? Upazelas and Yuppie trying to distract us while we're playing.
That's hilarious.
Scott is stadium in French.
I just remember, you remember the umpire Dutch Rennert by any chance, Ryan Dempster? Do you remember?
I know the name, yeah.
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Chapter 4: Why is consistency important for young players like Pete Crow-Armstrong?
Got to talk pitching with you a little bit here, Ryan. And here is my question. With all these arms, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Justin Steele, Tyone, Shota Imanaga, Who do you think, by the end of this year, we will have called the Cubs ace in this starting rotation?
I'm going to say Kate Horton. This kid's special, man. I watched it. I mean, A, work ethic, determination, studying college. We would have been talking about maybe another round of the playoffs if Kate had been able to not have the injury bug bite him there a little bit. This kid's got swing and miss stuff, electric stuff, different slider than we see in the game.
I think he's one of the bright arms around baseball, not just with the Cubs. So, yeah, I think, you know, and his ability to sit on the bench with a guy like Matthew Boyd and have Jamison Tyone talk to him about pitching. These are veteran guys who, you know, have been in his shoes before and they're now veteran guys and just, you know, putting their knowledge on him.
I just think he's got the ability to be next level good. And we saw so many flashes of that last year, consistent stretches of that. And I think it just continues to build off that.
We're talking to Ryan Dempster, as we mentioned. And I guess I have to, I mentioned that I would say this, so I've got to do it. Your fellow Canadian, Celine Dion, you know the song, it's coming back to me now. Are you familiar?
So when Tom Ricketts... I only karaoke that once a week, Leah.
You do not. You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding. Because if not, we would all support you.
Once a week, but I have karaoke'd it.
See, I knew you would know. So when when Tom Ricketts said we need to win more World Series and he said that so declaratively, I thought I heard the song. I heard it's all coming back to me now. And then it all came together. But I say that to say. See, now we've got it if Ryan wants to karaoke.
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Chapter 5: How do injuries impact a player's development and performance?
And that should be the standard, and I'm glad that Tom talked about that because I know how much he wants to win, and he wants to do it year in, year out. Like, listen, not everybody's going to be the Dodgers and good for them. Like, they spend the money, and they're setting the standard standards, getting players and developing a winning culture.
People are like, the big bad Dodgers, the big bad Dodgers. 2012 Major League Baseball was paying their payroll in April.
Wasn't that long ago.
Yeah, it wasn't that long ago. It's not like this has been going on for 25 years. We see ebbs and flows of different teams doing this, where they're kind of the powerhouse for a little bit. I think it's time that the Cubs got back to being in that conversation. I think Tom said that, means it, and we see it.
Going out there and getting a guy like Alex Bregman, going out there and making a trade for a Cabrera, going out there and signing guys, stacking a bullpen so we have a ton of arms. That's what you need. You need good players, you need depth, you need pitching, and I think the Cubs have all of those things.
And as long as you're putting yourself in a top five, top seven payroll every year, you're at least making the commitment to your fans and to your players that we're out here to win. And now you open the door, like say all of a sudden you're in first place at the trading deadline, and you've got an opportunity to acquire somebody that might cost you some money.
There's not a doubt in my mind that Tom and Rick's family and front office are going to be like, yeah, let's go get them because we want to win. And it's really awesome to hear, and I hope that it's something that just is the gold standard in Chicago, that every year it's about making the playoffs and trying to compete for a World Series. And it's just really great to hear him speaking that way.
Ryan, thank you for saying that. And then also, before we let you go, we have to talk about this ridiculously good lineup for Innings Fest that's going on in Tempe. Friday, it's Mumford & Sons, Goo Goo Dolls, Mildsmith, Group Love, Peach Pit, OK Go, Mercy Playground. Saturday, 21 Pilots, Cage the Elephant, Lord, You're on the Fray.
Dashboard Confessionals, Silver Sun Pickups, Blink-182s on Sunday with Sublime and Public Enemy, Big Boy, Bowling for Soup, Eve Six. This is a hell of a lineup, even for Innings Fest. This might be your best one yet.
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