Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
White Sox's offense keeps rolling & Ian Happ talks Cubs' struggles (Hour 2)
26 May 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids.
0-2. Popped up. Colson Montgomery is calling for it. Ball game. On this Memorial Day, the White Sox come back home to Chicago and get a 3-1 win to start this series.
That courtesy of CHSN. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody, and your Chicago White Sox are 27-26 after they took down the Twins 3-1. And don't look now, but he did it again. Mune Murakami with yet another home run. Mark Grody, Sarah Langs, our friend, had this stat to share. Would you like to hear the names that he is now among in their first 53 career Major League Baseball games?
I would love to.
These are some dudes with some incredible seasons that are a part of this list.
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Chapter 2: What recent achievements highlight the White Sox's offense?
2017, Cody Bellinger had 22. Mune's got 18, just so you're aware. 2015-16, Gary Sanchez had 20.
I remember.
I don't think you remember 1930 Wally Berger, but he had 20. 2019 Yordan Alvarez had 19.
He's so scary.
He really is. He's a threat at the plate.
Frightening man.
A slugger, if you will.
I will.
2017-2018 Reese Hoskins had 19. 2014 Jose Abreu. 19 home runs through 53 games, his first 53. 2026, you've got Mune at 18. 2025, Colson Montgomery with 18. And then 1986-87, Mark McGuire with 18. That is a list. And more so, most importantly, that is an indication of some tremendous years when you consider the seasons that are mentioned in that list.
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Chapter 3: How has Mune Murakami performed in his first MLB season?
And so he treats the home crowd to a home run right away. One thing that's weird is
he doesn't always talk to the the media have you noticed that like he sometimes his availability is scattered yeah are you allowed to do that as a rookie now he did say that yesterday he didn't talk like i guess i give him credit for this because he did homer and he wanted to give riku nishida all he wanted it to be his day his fellow countrymen was getting all the credit and i suppose that was a nice thing but in general come on man you're a rookie you gotta talk you gotta talk you
You got to talk when you've got 18 home runs to your name in 53 games. We want to hear from you. Yeah, among the major league leaders, actually. And I did love when we were watching the games yesterday on the group thread. Not to be outdone. Yeah, Drew Romo coming through as well. You were thrilled to see that home run.
He doesn't stop, man. Like... I always think with these guys, and maybe I was guilty with Michael Conforto as well, that when you get one good thing out of them, you're like, okay, that's it. We're not going to see this continue to be like that. But all of a sudden, Drew Romo has, what, five home runs this year? It's a big two-run blast yesterday. That was the difference in the game.
It made it 3-1, and the Sox won the game 3-1. So we said it before. Winning teams get these weird contributions, and that's exactly what's going on with the White Sox. And Nishida was example number one yesterday.
So entering Monday, the White Sox had scored 48.1% of their runs via the home run. That was good for second in Major League Baseball. See, that's the thing. I hear that if your team has guys who can hit balls out of the park, then that's going to help you win games.
Go on. Yeah.
I mean, big if true. I'm just not sure. But once again, not only do they get contributions from hitting, keep in mind the final was 3-1, and Anthony Kaye was a big reason for that. He lets the one home run get loose out of Brooks Lee, but other than that is able to stay the course. Six innings for Anthony Kaye, who is now 4-1 on the season.
Only one earned run gave up five hits on a day where the ball was alive. On the south side, temperature warmed up, and that's what we saw. We saw an exciting game where I think anything you thought could happen at the plate if you're watching these hitters, only one walk, five strikeouts. His ERA is now under four at 396, and what a body of work he's putting together this season.
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Chapter 4: What insights does Ian Happ provide about the Cubs' current struggles?
We know he can hit home runs. Love to see the double. That's clutch hitting. And you know how I feel about doubles as a whole. I feel like that's a better indication of hitters rather than the feast and famine. So that's an indication of the power. You know, Andrew Benantini contributes with the double there as well. He's having a very solid year.
He's acting accordingly. You know what I mean?
Chapter 5: What factors contribute to the Cubs' nine-game losing streak?
It's like these kids are all going to do it, man. Old man Ben Attendee needs to do what he has been doing.
Well, and at that point, Mark, on Friday, that was the ninth win for the White Sox out of 12 games. So, okay, yeah. Drop two to the Giants. See if I care, you know? And then you come back at home, and what do you do? When you come back to home, your job is to win the first game of your series at home, right? That's all you can do on that day.
And to do that against the Twins, I know the Twins aren't as good as they used to be. But there's something still about sticking it to the Twins where they only get one run on a day like that where the ball's hopping.
Yeah, and this is the start of what, I think, 10-game stretch against the American League Central. I mean, this is an opportunity, and they've already done it. They're 6-2 the White Sox this year against the Central. They are 4-0 against the Central at home. They will rematch with the Twins tonight. Looks like a Sean Burke, Joe Ryan pitching situation.
Joe Ryan, who we all want to know, how did you not get traded by the Twins yet?
Yeah, yeah, he's still there.
Wait a second.
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Chapter 6: How do players maintain focus during challenging slumps?
They're getting rid of everybody.
Twins are kind of like this. They're what, 26 and 28 now? So the Twins have kind of been like the White Sox right around 500 and Joe Ryan 3-3 with a 3-0-2. Burke with a 4-0-8 ERA right now. But the Sox so far have been really good against their division. They've got a chance to really express some dominance in the division. Unfortunately... Cleveland does not appear on their upcoming schedule.
I believe it's Detroit and then the Twins again on the road in these 10 games. So it is Cleveland that you've got to get on.
Well, and Cleveland has separated themselves a bit from the rest of the pack. They're good. They're three and a half games ahead of the Sox. Now they're 32-24. And frankly, they were a team that really made some hay once... The Tigers had it in hand. You remember that was electric for them in September last year, just trying to make that run to get into the playoffs.
But that's not even, I'm still not at the point yet where I, I know this is Memorial Day, so the standings coming to play now, but I'm still not to a point yet with these White Sox where that's my goal. It's how are they putting together these nice patterns? You know, Anthony Kaye is an excellent example.
What starts are you stringing together to show me that you can be a different version and a reliable version of yourself? Mune, how are you mixing in doubles into your game when we know you can walk and hit a home run? Sam Antonacci, can you take that same energy level day in and day out? And he's proven it so far. How does Colson Montgomery fit in? How does Miguel Vargas fit into this?
And when you see them come away with a 3-1 win, pitching does enough. Sir Anthony Dominguez picks up yet another save.
Yes, he did.
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Chapter 7: What strategies are discussed for improving team performance?
And then we also see, what is the environment you're giving a guy like Riku Nishida to be able to play in? And then he comes out and he plays in right field, and this guy shows everybody why he made a major league roster.
Yeah. Yeah, I love what you're saying because I agree. I expressed this a little bit on Saturday about the White Sox. I think they're legit. I think that they're a 500 team. I'm not saying that they're a good to great team at this point, but I'm still more interested in the development of this team. And I get it. They're about winning now. I understand.
They've gotten to a point where they think they've got their core and they're about winning and they've got an opportunity to get into the playoffs. And maybe it's the trauma of three straight 100 lost seasons, but I'm still kind of more interested in development. This is how crazy it's been. You mentioned Sir Anthony Dominguez. Picked up his 11th save yesterday.
Grant Taylor, by the way, the bullpen was great. Grant Taylor, Brian Hudson, Sir Anthony Dominguez combined for zero runs and three hits in the game.
Literally all you can ask for outside of the three hits, which I will take.
It's a dream for Venable, right? You look really good when you're Will Venable and you make those moves and they're golden. But Sir Anthony Dominguez, his 11th save. Layla, that's the most saves by a White Sox reliever since 2022. They have not had more... Liam Hendricks, exactly. 37 saves back in 2022. That's how new all of this is. You didn't have a consequential closer.
And that was one of the first somewhat surprising moves that the White Sox made in the offseason. We're all like, what do they do?
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Chapter 8: How does Ian Happ view the balance between hitting mechanics and game strategy?
Oh, they just want to flip them, right? I don't know. Maybe they wanted a closer. And you got good stuff, like I said, from Grant Taylor yesterday. And you had Grant Taylor saving a game on the road in the ninth inning. So there's a lot of interesting parts for the White Sox right now.
You're right. And when you see it be put together in this way, and Nishida, man, I... That was a gamer, looked like a veteran move with that outfield assist he had in the fourth inning. Charges at the ball, looks like he'd been out there all his life in that at bat. Charges at the ball, makes a laser overthrow to home plate and to get the outfield assist and seven put outs in his debut.
Unbelievable.
ball he's an 11th round pick of the white socks in 2023 fast as all hell he's 5'6 150 or something like that all the personality in the world and unique because he actually played college ball at oregon as born in japan lived in japan but then decided to go to american college and was drafted out of there and i think that's unprecedented actually for a japanese player to have been drafted out of college
Well, and the joke was that this originally started as a hobby for him. You know, it's not like he was set out to be this major league ball player. And I know that's kind of a foreign concept when you consider how kids are treated, you know, when they start playing expensive travel ball here. And I'm not saying the kids feel that way. Sometimes it's the parents. You all know.
But at the same time, here he is getting his chance, and he's in this system in this team right now where, hey, you're at home, you're coming up, get out there, play right field, and oh, by the way, make some things happen. And he did make a play. He had a play of consequence, as we like to say, preventing a run from scoring. and then also was able to just do the job well.
You know, we saw some circuitous pass to the ball, even yesterday by the Cubs, for example. PCA had one where I felt like the route was a little strange. Jim Chase even mentioned it on the air.
Hold on.
It was the one where he darted to, like, we're looking at the screen, he darts to the left, so that's his right by the bullpen.
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