Did Craig Counsell make the wrong move?

0:00Good morning, Bruce. How are you? Good morning, guys. And how quick would you want to get to a credit council mismanaging that game? And why did he do it? And the cups would have won if he would have gone earlier to the bullpen. Are we there yet? I thought you'd never ask. Thanks, Bruce. Eighth inning. Matthew Boyd goes to the mountain. Why? Because at that time, look, Matthew Boyd is to be trusted. I know he was having a very strong day. I felt like after seven, they could have called it a day, gone to your bullpen with a clean inning. I know Zephyr John got the five out save in Miami. He was a hot guy. You ride him, but I just felt like bringing him in when they did Matthew Boyd. That was an odd decision. I think it was a nod to his experience. What was your, how did you view it? Well, it's emblematic of what's going on with the cups and what's not perfect for them right now. And and the manager is impacted just like everybody else. There was a similar instance in the fifth inning last week when Peterson was

1:02trying to get out of the fifth inning and couldn't do it. That game went down the tube. So what you have is a bullpen that's not trusted. So when you have a bullpen that's not trusted by the manager and again, it's not like he doesn't like the guys. It's not like they're in the dog house that just haven't proved that they can get the jab done on a regular basis. And it's a problem. It's a problem for other teams. It's a problem for the cups right now because when you when you're working yourself toward postseason like the Cubs are and you know, there's there's no reason to think they're not going to be the number one or two seed in the in the playoffs as a wild card. The more important question is, who's your seventh eighth and ninth inning guys? Do you have power arms that you trust that you can get out the big hitters like Schwarber and Harper when you face them? That is that's the reality right now.

2:03They're they're they're going to get there. The question is can they can counsel build the the trust in that group? And can he build them up to believe in themselves and those roles? Guys like Polencia, guys like Zephyr John, they have to also the matter how many years of pro baseball they've been around? They have to believe in themselves going out there that they're the man they get it done. Bruce, how how do cup fans feel comfortable and feel go about what you're saying when there's not a truck. There's a mistrust there with Craig Council and his bull pin as you're trying to make a run for this wild card spot and and keep it wherever you're where you're at right now. Sinner in second behind the Phillies. How do you how do you feel comfortable moving forward? Like that just it should make confidence you can't right? Jared, Jared, you just don't right now and it's an imperfection of teams. I mean, you look at the white sacks right now and you go, okay, they're there.

3:08They have a three four game lead in the when the loss column, they are imperfect in their starting rotation. What is that going to look like in the playoffs? So these are imperfect problems, but they're good problems to have because you have two teams and especially with the Cubs that we're talking about right now. You have a team that plays great defense. You have a team that has had really good starting pitching and you have a team that hits home runs. Are those are those are important elements for for playoff teams that, you know, again, the finding, you know, getting getting Zephyr John, getting web, getting, um, polencia right and feeling good about themselves. That's the goal for the next two and a half weeks. I want to get to the socks in a moment, but I still with this Cubs, you're right about the bullpen getting it right, but it almost obscures the fact that I was really disappointed surprisingly. So that Clay Holmes didn't have it down in Florida.

4:10That was the, that was the day they're supposed to win. That was the game they're supposed to win. I don't, the Cubs are so inconsistent Bruce because it's odd and I described it this way earlier. They're a second place team that has World Series aspirations and he can't really laugh at that because they are good enough if they're hot to win it all because that's the way the lineup is constructed. And yet they're frustrating and inconsistent enough to be swept in three in, in the, in the first round. So I don't know what Cubs team to expect in October, even with all these concerns, but Clay Holmes was disappointing against the Marlins. Well, I mean, he'd been so good. Right. He's been almost perfect and you know, the sinker was just getting it. And you know, what can you say? Yeah. Again, when you look at the Cubs right now, Cup fans should be really happy where they're at. Okay. They're, they're not as good as the Brewers, but again, the Brewers haven't been playing the greatest baseball in the world. The good news going into this game tonight to try to win is they,

5:14they got into their bullpen pretty deep and their closer was anything but outstanding yesterday, right? Miguel, without those two great catches is the loser of that game. Or at the very best, it's a tie and you're going into, to the bottom of the night. So with all those things said, you know, again, it's, it's a wonderful game of imperfection. The Cubs are imperfect, but you have the luxury of a outstanding defense and you're watching one of the historic seasons in Cup Baseball and maybe in Major League Baseball, depending on how Pete Crowe I'm strong, ends it up tonight, though. They get a chance. Brewers to go up against the Miz again. How, how did they take advantage of that? And for Peterson tonight, how short is that leash going to be for him? Well, they beat him around pretty good last week, right? So I mean, that was probably the toughest start of the year for

6:18Mizrowski and the Cubs had a great plan. The mound slip rebrues the mound and the Miz, they were sea slipped on the mound. The poor mound wasn't manicured perfectly for him. Yeah, I was sad. Wasn't it? I mean, again, the brewers are not playing their best baseball and they're probably going to win a hundred games, right? That's that they have so many facets of the game that they play well. When we talk about the Cubs being the best defensive team in baseball, how far off is the Milwaukee, right? I mean, you saw, you saw Lerim do a Pete Crowe Armstrong yesterday and in that last inning there to take a run away. You saw Cheryl make a great play to end the game. So again, it's, it's a team. You should, you should enjoy these next two games because it's probably going to be repeated again sometime down the line in the early October.

7:20If they're playing themselves, each other in the division series. And Bruce switching to the white socks, socks fans should enjoy where they are. You did the math over the weekend when we talked on inside the clubhouse. Now there's a really even closer because they took care of business. And as they enjoyed their day off, they get ready for a three game series against the pirates at the rate beginning tonight. They've got Sean Burke on the mound. How would you assess where the socks are at? And after that bullpen outing, you've got to feel very good. Number one, just about how many arms you have to choose from if you're well vulnerable. But secondly, Hagen Smith is a problem for left handed hitters, especially. And he has been everything they had hoped he would be. Well, the one thing that is really going right that isn't going right for the cubs with the white socks is those power arms and the bullpen. You just mentioned one of them Smith is, you know, nobody expected him to be this dominant force coming out of the bullpen in September, right?

8:20He's been most of the year in the minor leagues and everybody kind of looked at him as a starting pitcher. Right now he's as dominant as anybody can be from the left side. Then you throw it in with Taylor. You know, Taylor's giving up a couple of home runs here and there. But you'll love what he does, newcom home. So I mean, it's, it's our really, really outstanding bullpen. And to say, well, they don't have enough to get to the world series because they don't have enough starting pitching. That may be true. I mean, I heard Jim Bowden and MLB network say on Sunday that the white socks are not going to get into the playoffs. Okay, that's their net. Yeah, yeah, they're not good enough. He said they're not good enough and Cleveland will overtake them in the division. So, you know, experts out there, you know, quasi experts, uh, they, they're still not convinced the, the white socks after 145 games are the team that they've shown to be all your loss.

9:23Bruce, isn't it crazy that we're sitting here talking about what's the bigger story than this team went in the central or just proven that they actually are, are built for October? It's kind of crazy. Yeah. And really is. We look at the American, you know, guys that was going over run score. Realize the, the, the white sacks and the twins are the only two teams in the top 10 in Major League baseball and run scored. The American League, they just don't score runs. And, and that's worked to the white sacks benefit because they've scored the most. They have the great bullpen at the end and, and they want an awful lot of games. You think back a year ago to a team that lost the most one run games in baseball, now you're watching the bullpen dominate and win all these games at the end. It's, it's really fun to watch. And, you know, you watching the 25, 35,000 white sacks fans coming out there every night and enjoying it. Every, every player I've talked to over the weekend just, just told me, you

10:26know, they understand. And again, you got 15 rookies, right? 15 guys that made their, their first appearance in Major League baseball with the white sacks is sure. They said they understand who the white sacks fans are, what they mean to them. And it's, it's been the, the extra of the 10th man out there, it has been, and, and it's just been a fun year baseball to, to start denying the white sacks now because they, what, what are they? Five and five in the last 10. You know, you're not paying attention, you're not paying attention to the American league. The fact that the white sacks are one of the top three or four teams in the along those lines, 1.7 million fans have walked through the turnstyles at the rate 24,394 is the average attendance per game. Bruce, before that you go, we got a minute left. We talked about this Saturday and inside the clubhouse when the news broke, Justin Ischbia released renderings of a proposed new ballpark called the rail yards in the South Loop opposite the 78 up across the, away from the new

11:31Chicago Fire Stadium that is going up. There's been pushback in Bridgeport. That is something that's going to take shape. And obviously we're going to hear from a lot of people on both sides of the equation. How did you view the announcement and where does this headed? Well, I think it's headed in a great place. And David, you and I talked about a Jared, David and I talked about the fact that because the white socks as an organization are being viewed differently, once the bearers decide where they're going to be and it's certainly not going to be in the city of Chicago, but once that money is directed, the tax money, whatever they're getting from the state of Illinois, that's when, that's when the Ischbia and the white socks and Jerry Rinesdorf can look at getting help for a stadium, even though they're going to pay for a lot of it themselves. And this, this side seems to be the best case possible because it's still the south side white socks, right?

12:31It might not be Bridgeport and that's unfortunate. I mean, it's been there for, you know, since, since 1910, but the reality of it still being the south side white socks, I think should be appealing to everybody outside of Bridgeport and Canaryville and, and in that direct area. But it's a win-win right now with the way the white sacks organization is going, the winning the way that Chris gets and his people have built this team. So I think this is the right time. Great stuff, Bruce. Appreciate your time. We'll talk to you tomorrow. All right, guys, have a great day.