00:00How about this Cubs team on a heater, huh?
00:0210 straight.
00:02What's going on in the Windy City there at Wrigley?
00:06Yeah, and what's really interesting about the dynamic of this Cubs team,
00:09and yes, they have played the Mets, they have played the Phillies,
00:12but last night they took it to the Dodgers, right?
00:15Like, they're beaten.
00:16They came back and won against a really good bullpen and a really good team,
00:19and ultimately it's been the offense that's just been on fire.
00:23So many great players in this lineup that are hitting really well,
00:26and that is also including, you know,
00:28Picro Armstrong, who's been terrible up to this point,
00:31it hasn't mattered.
00:32Everybody else is kind of picking up the slack,
00:34and from that standpoint, my question, my biggest question with the Cubs
00:38is even when they get Matt Boyd back in the fold,
00:41I don't feel like he's a true number one.
00:42I think Shota's really good, but outside of, you know, just Shota, honestly,
00:47I don't know where the elite pitching is.
00:49I don't think it actually exists on this team right now.
00:51Edward Cabrera, very good number two, has the upside as number one,
00:55but I don't think he's kind of cemented himself just yet,
00:58a very young talent, and from that standpoint,
01:00this lineup is going to carry this team.
01:02However far they go, right now, everything looks great
01:06because they are scoring runs.
01:07What happens when they do get into that offensive lull
01:10or experience injuries?
01:12I think that's when we're going to truly figure out
01:14how good this Cubs team is.
01:16You know, I want to go to the National League East here.
01:19I want to make this comment about, you know, the Braves,
01:21and, you know, back in the day I was friends with John Sheerholtz,
01:24the guy who was the architect of building those great Bobby Cox teams,
01:28and, you know, they built it with pitching
01:30and they built it with great defensive baseball teams.
01:33They're 19-8.
01:35Are they getting back to that formula a little bit
01:37where they're getting starting pitching again
01:39and they're playing good defense?
01:41Because it surely looks like that way.
01:42Have they been a surprise to you, too, at 19-8?
01:46You know, when coming into the season for the Braves,
01:49my biggest question mark for them was the rotation.
01:52And last year it was the rotation as well
01:54where we saw Bryce Elder, you know, fall off a cliff.
01:57A.J. Smith-Shavar went down with an injury.
01:59They had a lot of things going wrong,
02:01whether it was the bullpen or the starting rotation.
02:04Now it feels a little bit more centered.
02:06I still have a lot of questions in that regard,
02:08especially with the rotation side of things.
02:10But that lineup with a lot of young players
02:12and just their cemented stars, Matt Olsen, Ronald Acuna Jr.,
02:16those guys rising to the occasion,
02:18that's kind of where, you know, again,
02:20kind of like we were just talking about with the Cubs,
02:22the lineup is going to carry this team as far as they go,
02:25however far they go.
02:26And the pitching is that kind of X-factor element
02:29that can actually truly turn them into a contender.
02:32They do have pieces in the minors that, you know,
02:34if they are in contention, if they are rolling,
02:36they can kind of patchwork some things together at the deadline,
02:39which is so important with these types of teams.
02:41But at the same time,
02:43I think you just kind of look at this lineup and say,
02:45hey, take the team total over.
02:47That's a good bet right now.
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