Who will Craig Counsell include on the Chicago Cubs 26-Man roster? | CHGO Cubs Podcast

Corey and Jared discuss the latest news entering the final week of Chicago Cubs spring training. Who will round out the 26-man roster? What will the rotation look like? Who will get the first shot at bullpen innings?

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This is the chgo Cubs podcast presented by Blue Moon made brighter get Blue Moon delivered and see delivery options by visiting get. Bloon beer.com cgo celebrate responsibly Blue Moon Brewing Company Golden Colorado hello everyone and welcome to the Friday edition of the chgo Cubs podcast my name

Is Corey I am joined This Time by our good friend Jered whose work you can always find at all chg.com of course we are coming to you on Friday March 22nd Jared so next week we will we will not have this Friday edition the Chicago Cubs will have begun their season

Against the Texas Rangers can you believe that we are almost here finally finally we we’ll have a a an actual game that counts in the standings U to talk about and react to Yes uh I I am looking forward to it it does feel like it has

Kind of crept up on us a little bit um I I think you know especially I I was back in the studio this week with Luke and Cody and Ryan and you know a lot of the conversation’s like still kind of the same we we still are not positive about

Like the Cubs third base situation um we’ll talk a little bit about how Craig council is going to lay out the rotation initially he did kind of make that first announcement on Thursday obviously in light of the jamus and tyion injury situation but some other decisions made

So we’ll talk about that uh but yeah glad to ultimately be getting it underway and you know finally figuring out like can Christopher Morell plant his flag at third base is Michael Bush the the top prospect we want him to be at first base what does shoda imanaga

Look like on the mound and you know kind of at least move on from the questioning phase of all of this to you know watching these guys try and prove it out there yeah yeah it’s it is always nice when you you get to move from like talking about everything hypothetically

And sort of one wondering at certain things and just now all right let’s put this to the test let’s see how this works for you know for better for worse I’m we’re going to get some some pleasant surprises um but I’m sure we’ll get plenty of things that’ll go the

Other way too but yeah I agree I think third base is still a big question mark um but I in a way I kind of like the fact that Christopher Morell this has sort of become your job and if you can play decent defense and hit like we know

You can hit um there’s a good chance you’ll be the regular third baseman um I think the potential for Michael Bush is is pretty high U so I’m excited about that I’ve really liked what we’ve seen from imaga this spring so there’s some some bright spots for sure yeah I mean I

I I suppose so we’ll get into the rotation in a moment but I suppose it’s a good place to start um you know with some some spring training takeaways I know you were out in Arizona um so you know just getting some of your thoughts on that and as always the spring

Training takeaways are presented by our sponsor Factor you can use code chgo Cubs 50 to get 50% off your first Factor box and free wellness shots for life with any active subscription at Factor meals.com cdubs 50 so you know I know Ryan was out there for a little bit Cody was out

There for a little bit but then you kind of uh followed them a few weeks later and I know you you’ve talked about this a little bit but especially as we you know kind of wind down spring training some of the roster Cuts coming in you’re

Seeing guys you know kind of lined up in that that first rotation stint I’m curious um you know what after being there and seeing it you know if anything kind of change your perspective or guys you’re you really have your eye on I know you mentioned shoda um but just

Some some general takeaways a week away after you know having just been there and seeing all of that yeah so I was there um it was the 12th through the 15th so kind of right as we were just on the heels of the Jameson tyion news and so one of the

First things that I was talking to players and Council about was this rotation question because um we already knew that that fifth spot was going to be you know there was going to be a little bit of a battle for it um but then when tyion goes down at least for

Some amount of time now you have these two spots to fill so I talked to Jordan Wix about it talked to Drew Smiley about it um and you know Wix I think one of the most impressive things about him is for as little Major League experience as

The guy has he really carries himself like a guy who’s been around for a while um I asked him about like I said hey you know you were already sort of in the discussion for the fifth spot but now that there’s going to be two you you got to feel pretty pretty

Good about you know your position um um and he said you know I I came in this spring with certain things I wanted to work on stuck to my plan um not really like focusing too much on rotation battle stuff anything like that just like a very mature mindset and approach

About it and Craig counsil said the same thing when when he was asked about that just said you know this Jordan Wix has you know the demeanor of somebody who’s a veteran even though he only made Seven starts last year so that was was uh that

Was really good to see um when I talked to Drew Smiley he you know now he has the actual veteran experience so asking him about the rotation the bullpen you know he’s been there done that and and his words were and I thought now given

The news that we we got um on Thursday like he said I know I have a job it’s just a question of what my role will be so you know and he’s going into the bullpen I think that’s the right decision for him at this stage in his

Career and so we’ve we’ve got now those those fourth and fifth spots figured out at least for you know the first couple of trips through the rotation it’s going to depend on what happens with tyion and how quickly he’s able to come back right so we’ve you know obviously uh alluded to

That um but it the you know report on Thursday uh was Javier Assad Jordan wicks in the Cubs rotation so along of course with Justin steel Kyle Hendricks sha imanaga he is not you know Justin steal will start on opening day uh but beyond have like the official order I’m

Sure they’ll kind of play that by year with how guys uh finish their camp and and how everybody’s feeling um but you know one love the attitude from Drew Smiley I think you have to appreciate that um you know a guy that has played a lot of different roles and of course had

Uh an interest you know a tale of two seasons uh last year you know made some good starts made some horrible starts and then was one of uh you know the Cub’s best relievers down the stretch which they desperately needed and actually didn’t really get enough of um

You know as it turned out down the stretch and I know Brendan has been particularly intrigued like Drew Smiley looks a little different um you know he was in those he was at Drive Line like doing some of those videos and I think his repertoire might look a little

Different so that’s definitely something to keep an eye on as he was a guy who was very effective out of the pen and as we kind of see how Craig Council utilizes these guys out of the pen uh you know but in particular I’m very very glad to

See the young guys getting this opportunity um I I know there was there was some discussion I saw on Twitter on on Thursday just kind of the debate of do we think that this is how David Ross would have done things like or would Drew smiley and I don’t know right but

At the end of the day I’m glad that they’re getting the opportunity I think they both earned it last year and you know one of the things with this team that I think from a roster bilding standpoint has been maybe a little frustrating is the apprehension at times

To really figure out what some of these young guys have and I know these two got a pretty Long Leash last year but people were very upset when Assad was skipped uh that last you know series of the year when Marcus strowman tried to come come

Back and that didn’t work very well and not that we’re retiga that decision but at least to start the season I’m glad that you know the these guys have an opportunity to go out there and kind of make it difficult at least when tyone comes back or if other things change to

Not keep letting them start for this team and I I hope that’s the situation we end up in yeah because you know when when tyion tyion comes back there will come at some point where they’re going to need one of those guys to come back into the rotation you know

Yeah in an Ideal World you’ve got your five guys and those are the five guys that start all season long but we all know it never works out that way so if I I yeah I like that they’re getting this opportunity early in the season so when the need

Arises at some point down the road you you’re going to have somebody who is just coming back into the rotation as opposed to introducing them into that role where they haven’t been before it is going to be interesting to see when the time does come which of the two gets moved to the

Bullpen and a lot of that I’m sure might depend on how they perform as starters in you know in April like I’m sure Council hasn’t really even thought about that right at this point like let’s see how these guys actually do um but that’ll be an interesting thing to to

Just keep an eye out for when the time comes yeah and I I think it also you know is going to be interesting you know of course this is year two of a four-year contract for Jameson tyone and I think you know we all knew that last

Year the kind of mechanical stuff very difficult to get ironed out in the middle of the season when you’re kind of already going and have to pitch every fifth day um it it does present one of those interesting situations though because from the fan bases perspective

Uh which when when you and I are doing this show I can occupy that space and and you can more cleanly occupy the uh unbias space whereas when it’s me and Brendan we just Veer straight off into that side um but you know I think it presents one of those situations where

The fan base if Javier Assad and Jordan Wix look good the the tolerance for Jameson screwing around and I hope that’s not the case I I I believe that you know hopefully he’s got some of that ironed out and can get back to the picture we saw in New York but you know

I I sometimes I look forward to those debates if they happen I don’t want him to struggle but they’re they’re fun to watch people panic over and if if Wix and Assad look good and tyone comes back and looks even a smidge like that guy we

Saw last year it’s it’s going to rile the fan base up a little bit and in a way like that’s that is kind of what you want to have happen where you want them to make that a really hard decision um because yeah getting tyion back to even

Sort of like the the average of what he’s been as a pitcher in his career is going to be a huge step forward from where he was last year yeah um and he’s going to end up looking like hey that’s your bounceback player of the team if if

That’s what happens um but I think you’re right like for everybody and especially the fans the guy that they really want to see prove it is Jameson tyion like you we’ve got you for a four-year contract here that first year was really pretty rough there you you

Know you alluded to that game in New York in particular where he looked really really great um there were some bright spots but like that was a that was a rough rough season for him so it it would be pretty in a way kind of nice

Like I want Craig counil and Tommy HBY to really have to struggle with what are we gonna do because both Wix and Assad looked good what happens with tyion because yeah I think the in a way the leash for tyion with the fans that leash might might actually be the shortest

Yeah and you know I think we ended up on tyone almost inadvertently but I I think you know he does represent it would be so important it’s it’s easy to say like oh if he was good it would be so important of course it would but for him

To just be more of a reliable kind of anchor for this rotation is so important for the depth and the kind of Burden it would take off of guys that you you don’t really you don’t know if you can count on you know we we liked what we

Saw from Jordan Wix we liked what we saw from Javier Assad and I’m very excited to see them get this opportunity but we don’t really know what to expect from them necessarily Kyle Hendrick looked a lot more like himself as the season went on and he was recovering um you know

After the shoulder injury and stuff but he’s up there in age and you know dealing with those kind of lingering shoulder things is is always kind of a question mark and then of course you have a guy coming over uh from the mpb in shoda who has looked really good in

The spring he’s racking up the strikeouts um and you know of course it’s not Apples to Apples uh but you know you saw in yamamoto’s first start there’s an adjustment period when you’re coming to a brand new league it doesn’t matter what country you know if you’re coming from Japan Korea Mexico anywhere

That is not Major League Baseball there might be an adjustment period and sometimes that goes the other way guys don’t know how to look at you and you’re just you’re mowing guys down because they’re unfamiliar with you too so lot of question marks and so if Jameson

Tyone could just be the person in the Cub signed not even the best version of that like that would kind of take a lot of weight off of everybody else and I think in addition to that you know we saw as the season wore on last year that

Justin steel was often in a situation where if he did not Pitch like a guy that could have won the Sai Young One the Cubs weren’t going to win the game and two you couldn’t necessarily rely on anybody else to do that so it put a lot

Of pressure on him so I think you know because of the Youth and the unproven nature of some of these guys like you really when he is healthy you really need Jameson tyion to at least just be stable right like at least know what we’re getting every fifth day whereas

Last year for so much of that I mean on an inning to ining basis you didn’t know where that fastball was going to go or what kind of command he would have or or anything like that so it does I think really represent um you know obviously a

Pretty crucial thing and and it does also extend to how we talked about how we feel like the Cubs have some good depth as far as their starters are concerned this is going to be a a good test of that you know if those guys look

Good and then tion can come back healthy you feel a lot more confident in hey if we ever need a six man or a guy gets hurt or a guy needs a rest you know so this is going to shine uh this is going to shine some light on that um we will

Talk about everything and more when we come back uh but want to hit our first ad break here uh Jared from our sponsor Factor well Corey I’m actually excited to talk about Factor because my wife and I are we are factor people we we get a

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It’s that easy all right Jared so we are back on Thursday we got some more Cuts uh from the Cubs roster these are you know going to keep rolling in obviously you’ve got to get it uh dwindled down the Cubs still have a a little bit on

There and I think you know they they they will likely take this probably as close as they can with some of the injuries guys are battling and some of the question marks of you know who may or may not be available on on opening day they’ve got some 40 man

Stuff they’re going to have to clear up eventually um that those decisions will obviously affect and the the first one you know is one that I think I I know the chat when I was in the studio on um Wednesday with the guys was was asking

About David bod and David bod just sort of seems like one of those guys if he could get paid for spring training he would be a billionaire over these last few years um and you know he he’s not a guy that I’m I’m clamoring for I think

I’m much more interested you know if the third base situation or DH situation isn’t clear and someone like Garrick Cooper uh than I am David bod um but I I guess I’m just curious your perspective surprised at all with the uncertainty at third base two of those depth options

Dealing with some injuries Patrick wisdom a back Nick Madrigal um is what is it a hamstring I I forget hamstring yeah hamstring um you know that that David bod not not getting a crack here again I I’m not I’m not disappointed necessarily but um you know just

Interesting that a guy who can play Third Base as you’re trying to figure this out is is one of these early cuts when they still have about you know I think nine more guys to cut yeah it is kind of surprising on one hand because because of his major leue

Experience I mean David bod spent was in the majors long enough to get himself a a contract right um and I think gave I just actually while I was in Arizona um I I heard a fan say to David bod you know something best home run ever or

Something like that you know shouting him out for that Grand Slam against the Nationals in 2018 um in August of that season so like you know now in 2024 can be in a way kind of easy to forget that like this guy was a major leager for a

While um but I think part of the part of what is going on here is he’s not on the 40 man so in order to bring him to the major league roster it means you have to make a 40 Man move right um and so it is sort somewhat surprising

Because you like you mentioned you’ve got magical down you’ve got wisdom down um and so now you’re really leaning on Morell to play Third Base on a full-time basis or close to full-time basis so there was a part of me when I saw the wisdom news that I thought like you know

They might have to make a a roster move and get bod on the 40 man so that they can they can bring him up um but part of the reason why I think that they didn’t is you’ve got miles Master bony who we really I think saw especially toward the

End of last season is is a very very solid utility player um a very good guy to have on your bench and available um is probably a maybe a better hitter than he gets credit for um flexible on defense you can Short Stop Third Base so

Having Master bony there I think is a factor into that decision but there’s also the fact that Michael Bush who even though he’s sort of slated to be their their first baseman he can play third as well right and now that they do have Cody Bellinger there might be days where

You see Bush move over to third Bellinger at first um and and those kinds of things to help cover you know for some of those needs at third depending on you know whatever pitching matchups guys needing a day off stuff like that so with all of that in mind I

Guess I can kind of see why all right I guess why bod’s not getting a shot yeah this despite the fact that I think he he could be a decent back up third baseman if you need him to be yeah and you know they they still haven’t made the

Decision uh you know on who’s replacing KB Killian on the 40 man so that one’s still looming and yeah I think you know ultimately they’re going to take some of this down to the wire you know Garrett Cooper as I mentioned is a guy you would

Have to add you know same thing um and you know he’s he’s got a couple homers I think he’s got you know an eight something Ops so far in Spring whatever you want to put into that is up to you but the guy hits lefties and you know as

They kind of Comb this roster down in this last week you know I I I think they’re they’re being very careful about when they make these decisions and they’re going to have to wait and see you know who’s beginning the season on the injured list how long of a stint on

The injured list is that going to be um and they’re you know clearly still working through some of that they’re gonna have to make decisions on madal wisdom tyone and figure out how long they plan to be without those guys um but yeah David bod Daniel Palencia also

Down on thir I know a guy that you know I think um people had kind of hoped to see more of last year at least like some better performances of but a guy that you know again is still a very interesting pitcher and as time goes on

Hopefully can uh help this team out um and at least be part of that pitching depth but you know when I was in the studio on Wednesday I I I I was saying like I I I feel like at this point I have appealed to Authority a lot on

Craig Council I just like listening to him talk and I just kind of trust him um but one of the things we talked about on Wednesday and and you know these types of things are are part of that as well is you’re dealing with these kind of confusing injury timelines and managing

Rookies and and stuff like that this is going to be uh an interesting this a test of your chops here for for Craig Council and you know he certainly dealt with that in Milwaukee you know there are times he won a lot of games with a roster that not many people would have

Expected him to or probably a lot of other managers could not have but you know as you were laying out that that sort of scenario with Cody Bellinger playing first base and maybe Michael Bush moving or who’s dhing GNA be a lot of moving pieces for for Craig counil

There’s a a good set of guys who are going to be you know Dansby is going to be your shortstop every day for 162 unless somebody convinces him to take a rest a single time you have to talk into it is what right yeah you have to beg

Him to sit down for two days uh Nico’s going to be at second you know you’re catching situation at least for now pretty clear hap Suzuki Bellinger talkman you know those are your outfielders but there’s definitely going to be a lot of playing time that is up

For grabs which at times is exciting because it gives those guys an opportunity to you know hey Michael Bush you want to be the first baseman for the Chicago Cubs for the next however many years it’s right there for you Christopher Morell you want to be in everyday third basem like it is

Your position to lose but it it’s going to be fascinating to me to see Council work in this and kind of what the leash is on on a lot of those things because if the team comes out the gate and is competitive that’s going to put a lot of

Pressure on those situations um you know to hey you kind of have to perform we can’t give you whatever that leash might be because we’re we’re trying to stay in this playoff race and maybe somebody else could be a better option for us and I have a feeling that this division is

Is going to be a tight one so there’s a pretty good chance they’re going to be in that sort of a position where where they have to be having those conversations with guys about like Hey we’re yeah we’re in a division race here

So we need you to we need you to be able to rely on you we need you to perform um because I don’t think there’s a runaway favorite in the division right now uh probably what three teams at least yeah maybe four that you really could look at is they’re they’re

All going to be kind of bunched up I mean I know we’ve all spent some time looking at um standings projections from baseball perspectus and fan graphs and stuff and those are you know we know all the caveats for those but one of the things you notice when you look at them

Is that division’s expected expected to be real tight so um yeah you’re right like that’s in a way it’s exciting like hey Michael Bush you could be our guy Christopher Morell you could be our guy but this is in a in a some sense sort of

A Prove It season like you have the chance to earn this spot and then keep it um which is yeah is pretty exciting but there’s a lot on the line in the year where you expect to be competitive when it’s it’s in contrast to last year

But similar in a way that last year you kind of had the leash for older guys and in some cases that leash was much too long um as some of us have talked about a lot uh but you know eventually they did have to make those decisions because

They found themselves playing for their season and then it turned into well these are the guys that saved the season so they’re playing every day this is of course not um you know a sort of for free basically Eric Hosmer or an aging Trey Mancini or Tucker barnhard but the

Situation sort of mirrors itself in a way in that it does raise the question of like okay what is the leash on Christopher Morel like how long if he’s hitting let’s assume he’s hitting like we know he can if the Fielding doesn’t catch up how long what does that leash

Look like you know do you put up with that for a month do you put up with it for two months same with Michael Bush a big-time Prospect who one of the everybody understood why the Dodgers did it but one of the things that a lot of

The prospect writers and things that you know people that really believed in Michael Bush um you know were not happy about I guess was that he didn’t really get that much of a fair shake with LA which again was understandable from their perspective but that’s a tough

Question to answer if Cody Bellinger is the same guy he was last year or better and Ian hap is having another great season and SE Suzuki is that guy you saw for the last two months of last year and this team looks like they are definitely

A threat to win a bad division how soon do you make those changes and then the question becomes changes for who like in some of these positions the depth isn’t that great so are you relying on some of these guys who you feel can give you at

Least like a baseline kind of production do you try some of these other guys in the miners and see who can catch fire it’s a particularly interesting situation do you change things completely does PCA come up and now Cody Bellinger is your first baseman every day things like that there this it’s

It’s sort of a fascinating situation that they’ve laid out for themselves and one that I was really hoping they would avoid uh but you know we’re a week away so here we are yeah um and you you’ve already like taken us there because that’s where my

Mind went to you know let’s Michael Bush first because um there is a pretty easy to Envision scenario where P Armstrong comes up he’s your center fielder Cody Bellinger gets moved to first base um now P Armstrong comes with his own his own questions yes um I I it’s been

Talked to death the the number of plate appearances last year we don’t judge anything he did at the plate last year that’s not really telling us anything but we know defensively what he’s capable of he more than showed that in his brief stint in the majors so um

There there’s that scenario where if Michael Bush who also there’s reason to wonder like is the bat Really Gonna fully translate to the major leagues we don’t really know that yet yeah um and so that’s a big question for him and he needs to to prove that um and so you can

See kind of the the path if Michael Bush doesn’t look like he’s either not working out or maybe not quite ready to be a full-time full-time player um they’ve got a scenario where they can cover for that uh the other side of the infield with Christopher Morell I think

One of the things I’ll be most curious to follow over the first several weeks of the season is can the bat cover enough for defensively what you’re probably going to get um and and where is that line because I think we’re you kind of have to be a little gracious

With him about the defense at third but how much how much can you allow that before that becomes like hey your your defense is out is negatively outweighing what you provide with the bat so yeah yeah we love the way you hit but you’re costing us runs and extra bases and and

Things like that at third base and so we got to go back to looking at you as as a DH or something along those lines so that’s the one thing I think through April maybe into early May I’ll be paying a lot of attention to is just where’s the where’s the balance with

Morale between what he gives you at the plate and what he gives you with the glove yeah and so want to hit our our second ad break here but you know was thinking about the Michael Bush thing and of course it it it’s not the same scenario because they did bring in those

Veterans that that kind of uh you know maybe they wanted to at least try or give some Runway to but you know you look at uh what Matt mvis did in Triple A and through that career and he got 99 plate appearances last year he looked

Bad right you had a 46 WRC plus like I’m not I’m not you know excusing that but it it does sort of just illustrate like the time for guys to prove stuff if the team needs s answers is not often that long and now they traded a lot for

Michael Bush they did not do that for Matt mvis so I would think especially again without that sort of Veteran you know backup to try or or give the first Runway to whatever it is I I expect it to be much longer but it’s just sort of

The most recent example we have of a guy who killed it in the miners at first base and after 99 plate appearances it was like Hey you’re not ready for this we got to try some other stuff because we don’t have the time for this we have

To figure something out and that can’t just be letting you figure things out you know in in perpetuity so having you yeah having you flounder at the plate and and honestly um the fact that they traded for a first base Prospect in the off season it tells us a lot about where

They think right mous is yeah and again right that he’s not getting that chance again yes right right right because otherwise maybe you’re you would have gone into spring training thinking of him is in the way that we are with Michael Bush so um he he in my

Mind is is a little deeper on the depth chart is at first Bas for sure yeah uh all right we’ll hit our second ad break here uh Jared why don’t you tell us about our wonderful sponsors at Blue Moon Man um you know as the weather

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1963 all right ched uh as we kind of begin to wrap up our our Friday edition here um kind of I I I did want to ask I know we alluded to it uh earlier and of course you know the the Dodgers and Padres starting things a bit earlier um

And you know I I I’ve I’ve always said and you know you want to be careful like just because a guy is coming over from the same league or the same country they’re they’re not the same player they’re not the same person it doesn’t really work that way um but not even

Just on shoda but you know watching Yamamoto kind of get a a rude welcome to the major leagues out you know after an inning against the Padres giving up several runs not just Sha but but anybody that that jumps out to you as you know maybe someone you’re looking at

Like not worried about having a rough start but just as we kind of start the season um you know someone you’re you’re looking to and and checking on how they might kick things off and and shake the rust off of of The Long Winter and the

Spring are we talking League wide or we we just the cups just the Cubs okay um I like that question because I did um I was up Wednesday and Thursday morning at 5: am watching some Dodgers and Padres um and saw the Yamamoto start on Thursday morning and you know and

There’s there’s a lot of factors at play there but yeah he definitely didn’t look so hot um and so yeah when I think about the Cubs I think you mentioned them earlier and it’s it’s a in a way it’s a weird guy to mention because he’s a veteran but I am I really

Am curious to see what Kyle Hendrick looks like because last year he was coming back from the shoulder stuff he looked pretty good but um there are still you know he’s he’ll be what 34 I think this year um I’m off the top of my head

I’m not even looking that up so somebody can tell me if I’m wrong but but yeah I right yeah look at that all right um but uh yeah but with the shoulder stuff because like that that can you know that can come and go sometimes and so as when

We talk about the rotation we don’t really ever he he has not come up I think because we’ve been so so focused on who’s going to take those last two spots Jameson tion’s injury and it can make it sound like we’re just assuming that Kyle Hendrick is going to be your

Number two number three and all is going to be fine but I think everybody knows that’s not necessarily guaranteed um he could struggle he could you know there’s there’s there are reasons to really want to keep a close eye on how he looks I got to see him

Pitch uh at spring training against Cleveland um and it was funny afterwards we kind of joked with him and said hey was that the most important game against Cleveland you’ve ever pitched uh and he’s like yeah forget game seven it was all about today so um that’s kind of a a

Funny moment with him but but yeah I think that’s the guy who as we make a couple trips through the rotation in April I want to see how how Hendricks looks how about you Cory yeah that’s that’s fair you know I mean yeah I think you know shoda is certainly an obvious

One you like to see you know how kind of that that whiff rate carries over um you know in particular I was watching a video um I think of Todd Frasier from maybe a couple weeks ago where he was sort of saying like I’m looking at yamamoto’s fastball and I I’m I’m not

Sure I’m I’m loving it and I’m thinking at least as he makes the adjustment it’s going to get hit which you know obviously seemed a little preent from one Todd Frasier once called the most exciting third basement in in Chicago uh while Chris Bryant was still here if if

You know you know on that one um but so I’m curious how that plays you know and I know Brendan has talked a good bit about how um you know shoda is going to have to rethink how maybe how he uses his fast ball in particular

Versus how he used it over in the mpb um but you know keeping on you know someone that Brendan’s talked about you he’s been watching all these YouTube videos of Dansby Swanson um and how he has tried to adjust his swing and and specifically how he’s working his back

Leg on some of those breaking balls that we we saw him struggle with especially on the outer portion of the Zone last year and especially down the stretch you know we heard from Dansby a lot on the frustrations he had about not producing as much um on the offensive side you

Know in that last stretch of the season I think especially in August um and you know so I’m not sure how significant these changes are I mean obviously I’ve watched the videos but as far as what gets carried over from the spring to what he takes into the season and um

What he keeps working on but you know anytime a guy makes even a minor adjustment a minor adjustment for a professional athlete especially in the game of baseball is always a major adjustment so I’m I’m curious what that looks like and you know I think he put a

Lot of pressure on himself with the contract and wanting to be that leader and you know I’m not all of a sudden thinking oh maybe he’s going to be a 140 WRC plus kind of guy right like no but I I am curious I I feel like um you know

Good portion of the fan base wants to see him hit more and and be you know more more of uh a a middle-of thee order guy than I think he should be or the Cub should be relying on him to be but you know with all these question marks at

Certain positions and they didn’t really go and and add you know too much certainty to this lineup the the pressure is still going to fall on Dansby a little bit whether that’s right or wrong to perform at the plate so I’m I’m curious how that looks you know you

You always have guys who don’t perform as well in the cold and stuff like that and you you have a guy coming in making some some adjustments to how he’s trying to handle certain pitches I’m I’m curious to see if that pays off and you know if he does look better against some

Of that breaking stuff and and if that affects his Approach at the plate at all and ultimately just what we see from him so I I I wouldn’t say which direction I’m expecting I kind of expect him to be the hitter he’s always been which is the

Perspective I had last year uh but you never know so I’m I’m I’m definitely curious about that yeah because there’s always you know guy comes in under his circumstances you’re you’re the big free agent signing You’re you know you’re the Short Stops you’re immediately kind of the centerpiece of the defense and

Expected to be you know somewhere in the middle of of the batting order um so the expectations are high because of that because of the contract you’re adjusting to a new city new environment so um yeah that’s another one who really worth keeping an eye on how does how does look

At the plate because it’s easy like you can take for granted what he does on defense so much so that you don’t it’s almost like you don’t even notice it and then you turn your focus to oh hey he’s not hitting as well as we thought he was

Going to what’s up with that so um yeah yeah Swanson I think also worth keeping a close eye yeah and I mean I’m not a guy that I’m I’m worried about but a guy that I’m excited to see you know in terms of how he enters the this year is

Of course you know our opening day starter Justin steel uh just from the perspective of you know we had him coming into last year after that stretch the year before where he had certainly looked like a a a big-time guy but he you know hadn’t spent the whole season

At that level and you know in the rotation and just that was coming into last year now coming into this year this is a guy who was very much in that Sai Young race up until the last couple weeks handful of starts of the season and you know just with his attitude and

And the type of person he is I’m very excited to watch Justin steel opening day starter the man in this rotation and a guy who if I were a betting man uh you know is is kind of pissed off he didn’t finish off that SI young campaign and

What that looks like for him kind of taking the mound and and going zero to 60 here on opening day yeah yes the uh sa Young revenge tour sure we call it that yeah I think Cody would like that yeah yeah yeah let’s take it let’s go with it yeah so I

Yeah I mean I’m I’m very much looking forward to that um you know as as I you know you and I aren’t aren’t always in the studio or on the shows uh and you know we’ll of course be a part of the coverage as the season unfolds but you

Know since next Friday obviously we’re not going to have a standard Friday edition I don’t believe as the Cubs season has going to beun underway do want to remind you all on Thursday uh opening day we do have a watch party at Country Club in Wrigleyville that is

Where we had our postgame or our pregame show um on opening day last year uh it’s a great time free to come if you’d like uh visit all chgo the events page we just asked that you RSVP so we know how many people kind of to expect and we can

Kind of let the bar know how many people to expect and and what’s going to be going on but we would love to see you a fun environment to watch the game but but to to finish off Jared I just kind of want to you know you were just in

Spring training we’re less than a week away as as you and I are airing this episode what do you think man what what are you feeling optimistic pessimistic or are you kind of in that spot hey the division’s up for grabs and it might come down to the last day

Again yeah I mean I’m I’m normally pretty optimistic that’s just I tend to tend to air that way but I do feel like this division’s up for grabs would buckle up because we could be in in store for yeah last week of the Season thing things coming right down to the

Wire there’s just too many teams Cincinnati St Louis even Milwaukee um and the Cubs all bunched up together so I think it’s up for grabs we’ll see what happens yeah I think I’m about in that same place which as I keep saying is the only thing I ask them not to do

Basically um I I if the division is projected for 84 wins all I asked was that they were the sure person to bet on for that and I remember I think you we talked about this before and I’m fairly certain you you said build a roster

That’s at least good for 90 wins if I’m remembering right I sounds like something I would have said yeah because you know and look like if you had built a roster for 90 wins you’re projected to win this division by several games a fairly decent margin so we’ll see yeah I

Mean I I I I remain in my feelings about that but um I’m looking forward to it I think their roster definitely as we’ve all talked about is better set up at the beginning of this season than it was at the beginning of last season and I I

Know it’s not where we all wanted to kind of rest our head at night but I am very excited for the new manager I think that that is going to play a really significant role and that’s not to you know throw any shade at David Ross but I

Think Craig council is really good at his job and he’s been given a lot of chess pieces that he has to figure out here and I I think is genuinely the best person in baseball or at least one of them to be given such a puzzle and and

Try to figure it out so I’m looking forward to that as I said uh we would love to see you here’s the graphic real quick uh before we sign off that is not the right graphic that’s the takeovers we’d love to have you at the takeovers

During the season uh I was hoping that was going to be our our opening day graphic anyway all.com visit the events page we’ll see you at Country Club uh for opening night as always check out all chg.com to read all of Jared’s wonderful work our guy Ryan herrera’s wonderful work the team

Will be with you setting up next week getting you ready those final days of spring training and then like I said we will be with you uh for a live postgame show after the Cubs and Rangers open up the season next week baseball is here we

Appreciate you joining us uh here on the Cho Cubs podcast we appreciate all your support for chdo we will talk to you again soon and as always go Cubs we all sitting like the mayor