Another Monday means another MMCS and I’m seriously feeling very lucky and grateful to bring this to you guys because it’s a great show.
Mahoney’s segments and structure this week have never been tighter.
One thing I’d like to see more of is a better record going into the show either for the week or the month. And I’d like the starting pitching to be tighter and more consistent. But overall there’s really reason to crash your car off a cliff because the Cubs were 13-13 in June with the 24th best starting ERA. I’m challenging everyone this week to put your emotions behind you.
It’s not easy but worthwhile if you’re going to watch and follow 162 baseball games. Especially with an off day into a homestand that looks really favorable. I won’t be dragging myself down because we’re weak against lefties the last couple weeks against really good lefties.
And I’m certainly more open minded to Jed Hoyer than ever before. He’s been here 14 years and finally has a chance to rip at the deadline to build a playoff winner. Excuse me for taking that at face value and assuming Jed Hoyer is going to unload at the deadline for the moves necessary to improve the club. That’s quite literally the primary job responsibility and I choose to believe he’s the guy for the job.
And another thing.
Things could have gone a lot worse in June but the Cubs were #1 in MLB in the following categories: HR, stolen bases and bullpen ERA.
2 of the 3 most valuable offensive statistics and innings 6-9 – the Cubs were the best in baseball for an entire month.
So while I hate the inconsistency with starters, I’m just being honest and reasonable with you guys when I say there’s really no reason to freak out. We have a month to make trades. Another month to call up minor leaguers. And a whole bunch of breaks to come our way for no other reason than I think we’ve caught a raw deal overall in 2025. At least that’s how it feels. Like there’s a huge breakout coming.
That’s the emphasis of today’s show with a couple other noteworthy observations:
- Mahoney is ROLLING this week starting with a new segment where he gives out awards
- We’ve simplified the weekly recap into a pitch clock segment with more rapid fire talking points
- Ball or strike has never been better
- Sabermetrics for the Maniacs explains why it’s so easy to be positive about our future including basic analytics nobody’s talking about
- I break down starting pitching trade market
- Also a good healthy conversation about balancing minor league development with major league needs that should reflect favorably on the Cubs situation with Moises Ballesteros
And of course we talked about Goose at MSG this weekend because it’s Mahoney’s favorite thing in the entire world. Apparently one of the best concerts that venue has ever seen (allegedly) and they’ve never been tighter as a group (again, allegedly). So we talk about that because Mahoney loves Goose and that’s more than enough to warrant my interest.
Overall I’m scoring it an 8.4 show with room to improve but a lot of satisfaction about how it’s shaping up.
Check it out here: