Locked On Cubs - Daily Podcast On The Chicago Cubs

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! The Cubs won their game with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, and I briefly recapped that in the first segment. After looking ahead at their matchup today, which begins at 1:20 pm CST, I welcomed Locked On Cubs contributor Tom Usiak to the podcast. We chatted a little about a recent story he wrote on catcher Miguel Amaya (which you can read here), as well as other matters of the minors. In the final segment, I did the usual Around the NL Central and updated the standings. The Cardinals seem to be falling out of the division race, so is this going to be a two-team fight to the end between the Cubs and Brewers? It certainly seems that way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I welcomed Sean Sears to the podcast for Episode 96, and in the interest of keeping Locked On Cubs more regular he's going to be a more frequent contributor. We started out by talking about the Cubs' matchup with the Detroit Tigers, featuring Kyle Hendricks against Michael Fulmer at 1:20 pm CST. In the second segment, we turned to St. Louis and discussed John Mozeliak's unfortunate comments about Dexter Fowler. Finally, we briefly recapped what happened yesterday in the NL Central, what the standings are heading into action on Tuesday, and a look at how each of us expect the top three teams in the division will finish the year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs have scored 10 or more runs in four straight games, and amazingly, they're on a four-game winning streak. How about that? Included in the streak is a weekend sweep of the Minnesota Twins, which I recapped briefly in the first segment. In the second segment, I looked at a big international free agent signing (courtesy of Todd Johnson at Cubs Insider) and answered a few questions from the listeners. Is Albert Almora Jr. having the most underrated season thus far? Finally, I did the usual Around the NL Central segment and updated the standings. Things are finally starting to shake out how many of us thought they would. But will the Brewers stick with the Cubs all the way to the end? Could we see these two teams battling in the NLDS? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs beat the Dodgers in the finale of their road trip, finishing 2-2 in Los Angeles and 4-3 against the Dodgers overall this season. They broke out the lumber in the late innings after Clayton Kershaw left the game, dropping 10 runs on the Dodgers' bullpen. The Cubs return home today to take on the Minnesota Twins in a three-game set, and Mike Montgomery will start against Jose Berrios. Speaking of starting pitchers, the Cubs got some less-than-exciting news on Yu Darvish, which I discussed in the second segment. Could the team be looking at trading for a starting pitcher for a second-half push? If you think Jacob deGrom is headed to Chicago, I have some sad news for you: You're dreaming. I finished with the usual Around the NL Central segment to close things out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs finally won a game! It must've been related to the return of Locked On Cubs. Right? Anyway, they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers behind the left arm of Jon Lester and the hot bat of Javier Baez. After looking ahead to tonight's pitching matchup, I looked at the season Baez is having offensively and made a few comparisons to show just what kind of rare air we're talking about. Later in the segment, I looked at Brian Duensing and his performance this year. Spoiler alert: He has been really bad. In the final segment, I did the usual around the NL Central and updated the standings. Those Reds just keep sneaking up on the Pirates! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a brief hiatus (which I explain), I'm back with Episode 92 of Locked On Cubs. The Cubs have had a rough go of it lately, losing five straight games -- most of which were extremely winnable. Duane Underwood Jr. made his big league debut on Monday night, and overall he pitched pretty well against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough for win. The big news of the day was that Yu Darvish had a successful rehab start with the South Bend Cubs. By all accounts, he was commanding his pitches well and throwing strikes. But is everything good with Darvish? There may still be some gray clouds lingering over the Cubs' big-ticket free agent signing. In the final segment, I updated the standings and took a look at how the Cincinnati Reds have been doing lately. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs split their double-header on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers, setting up a rubber-match on Wednesday. Jon Lester will take on Ross Stripling at 1:20 pm CST, and that's the marquee matchup of the series. Both pitchers have been very good for their respective teams in 2018. I talked in depth about each guy in the second segment. Also in that segment, I took a deeper look at which Cubs players have a reasonable chance of making the All-Star team. Several Cubs have a strong case, but who might get left out in the cold when selections are made? The final segment featured the usual "Around the NL Central," with the updated standings as of the start of play on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After taking 2-of-3 with the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, rain and a power outage (how appropriate for this team) prevented the Cubs from even playing on Monday night. The game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was rescheduled for a double-header today, with the first game beginning at 12:05 pm CST. Tyler Chatwood will start in the day game, with Mike Montgomery starting in the evening game at 7:05 pm CST. I recently wrote about Montgomery for Bet Chicago, and you can read that story here. In the second segment, I talked a bit about some of the weird ways in which Joe Maddon is handling Pedro Strop this year. Also, could my biggest Cubs trade deadline target be off the table? What will they do now? In the final segment, I did a quick rundown of the NL Central and the (once again) first place Cubs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today is a mailbag episode, and oh boy was it necessary. Podcasting through a cold, I powered through the fact that the Cubs -- and the rest of the NL Central -- were off on Thursday. In the first segment, I previewed the weekend set with the St. Louis Cardinals that begins tonight. Jon Lester will face Michael Wacha. Later, I answered questions that included talk about MLB expansion, the backup catcher, and whether the Aroldis Chapman trade was worth it. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and email any questions or comments to lockedoncubs@gmail.com. I appreciate all the interaction, and if you sent along a question or topic idea that I didn't cover it's almost certainly because it's a topic I've hit on expans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs lost the finale of their series in Milwaukee, dropping 2-of-3 to the Brewers. It was a 1-0 shutout, their second day in a row not scoring any runs. Mike Montgomery was excellent, but the offense just didn't pick him up against Jhoulys Chacin and the Milwaukee bullpen. The Cubs will go to St. Louis to begin a series with the Cardinals on Friday. In the second segment, I tried to be fair to Joe Maddon while examining some of his decisions in that 1-0 loss. There were two key moments: Pulling Monty at 78 pitches, and not pinch-hitting Kris Bryant in the ninth inning. In the final segment, I looked around the NL Central and updated the standings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cubs lost the middle game of their three-game set in Milwaukee, 4-0. Chase Anderson was brilliant for the Brewers, throwing seven innings and allowing just one hit to the Cubs in the shutout. Tyler Chatwood only walked two batters, but he made a few other mistakes and was generally erratic. He allowed four runs in five innings, throwing 97 pitches in the loss. The Cubs will try to take the finale of the series today with Mike Montgomery on the mound. For the second segment, I took suggestions from the fans on what I should discuss. I touched on those topics, plus a look at how some former Cubs are doing. In the final segment, I did my usual "Around the NL Central" and updated the standings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm back after missing out on Monday due to some power problems at home. But the good news is that the Cubs keep winning, taking 2-of-3 with the Pirates and winning Game 1 of a three-game set in Milwaukee. The latter victory vaults the Cubs into first place for the first time by themselves since 4/30. Jose Quintana was solid, while the offense did just enough to get it into extra innings. They pushed across five runs to win 7-2 in 11 innings, including an Anthony Rizzo home run. What has happened to Kris Bryant lately? I'll talk about that briefly, as well as why the Cubs' latest surge in the standings is coming at just the right time. They can't afford to let the Brewers get away from them like they did last season. Also, how fun would a Cubs-Brewers or Cubs-Cardinals postseason series be in 2018? I finished out by updating the standings and noting which team currently has the best record in the National League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Arrieta returned to Wrigley Field this week, but that didn't stop the Cubs from taking two out of three games with the Philadelphia Phillies. Thanks to Jason Heyward's walk-off grand slam on Wednesday, the Cubs were in position to win the series with Tyler Chatwood on the mound on Thursday. Chatwood was wild once again, walking seven batters in 4 2/3 innings. But the Cubs pulled out a narrow 4-3 win. In the second segment, I did some fun with numbers. Anthony Rizzo has been hot, Kris Bryant's power has been turned off, and Ben Zobrist has been really good all year. Some of what the bullpen has done has been smoke and mirrors, however, and there are questions about whether the Cubs can continue to squeeze such great work out of their 'pen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things were looking dire for the Cubs on Wednesday, heading into the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 5-3. But notable late-inning hero Jason Heyward unloaded on left-handed reliever Adam Morgan, sending the fans home happy with a walk-off grand slam and a 7-3 win. Heyward has been really good since coming off the DL, and in the second segment I brought some key stats to note why he's a changed man in 2018. Can you imagine how good this offense could be if Heyward could even just be league-average at the plate? In the final segment, I brought up a very interesting stat in which the Cubs are now the very best in the National League.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nothing was going on with the Cubs on the diamond on Monday, but things were going on behind the scenes. It was the beginning of the MLB draft, and with the 26th pick the Cubs selected Stanford shortstop Nico Hoerner. I talked to a talent evaluator about what fans can expect from Hoerner as a prospect, and I passed on that knowledge in the first segment. In the second segment, I welcomed Kelly Wallace back to the podcast to help me answer a few questions from the fans. That ranged from the whereabouts of Eddie Butler to a little early trade deadline discussion. In the final segment, Kelly teased her new venture with Expanded Roster (click here for more info!) and I went into a little greater detail about my own thing with The Cloud City Chronicle.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices