I hate to beat a dead horse with my TPX but I would be a sucker if I didn’t remind you guys that there’s a brand new Monday Morning Cubs Show with the legendary Tim Mahoney out now for your listening pleasure.
You can get it on spotify via the link above or you can check out apple podcasts here. Either one works just fine.
Interesting enough, Mahoney and I nail the lineup Counsell used yesterday perfectly during our segments on the right lineup. We talked extensively about Ian Happ in the leadoff spot and switching PCA to 4 with Swanny 5 and Busch 6 and Nico 7 with Shaw 8 while the catching bounces back. And we walked through exactly why that makes sense right now with everything we’re seeing from the group. Then Counsell goes out last night and drops the exact same lineup 1-8 which is arguably my proudest moment in the history of the show. Mahoney and I worked through that together and we get rewarded by being 100% dead on balls accurate.
Another thing we talked about was comparing 2016 to 2025 but only doing it through May. Otherwise you’re kinda crazy to even talk about the postseason considering there’s a World Series at the end of the 2016 run. So out of respect to that, I think we have to first say that any type of conversation around 2016 comparisons is blasphemous until the Cubs win another World Series.
But if we restrict it to the first third of the season… if we frame the comparison to before June… if we can be sensible people then it’s a worth conversation.
Notably – we’re playing with house money this year and it’s a lot more fun than the burden of expectation that comes off an NLCS appearance.
And certainly we’ll be in the same position if this Cubs team makes a failed run this year. No doubt next year will be laden with expectations and angst.
But for now it’s a lot of fun because it’s been a solid 8 years since we had a really good team and a full 10 years before we were surprised by the success.
So in that context, this year is certainly different and a lot of fun. The offense is historically good. The defense is predictably outstanding. And the starting pitching is good enough if not comparatively underwhelming. But most important is that it’s a lot of fun and as Mahoney explains this week, you feel like you can’t miss a game.
Even as I type this a full 12 hours before first pitch tonight, I can’t wait to watch the boys play. I’m legitimately eager for something to happen which usually starts to fade as you get closer to 40. Most things are a burden at this stage of life and the fact it’s the complete opposite for watching our major league baseball team is a sincere gift.
There’s a bunch of other worthy nuggets in the episode, like why Palencia’s mechanics prevent him from throwing a decent secondary pitch. And why we just need to commit to PCA as our cleanup hitter for the next month and how to get the #1 righty starter nobody is talking about.
A lot of good stuff for any honest Cubs fan.
By all means please check it out