Ivy Envy - Chicago Cubs Fan Podcast (UNOFFICIAL)

The Cubs go 2-5 in a 7-game road trip out west.  On this episode, we talk about the series in Colorado and Los Angeles.  While the Cubs lost 3 of 4 in LA, there were some positives to take away from the series.

The Cubs signed Craig Kimbrel! On this episode, we talk about this acquisition and share our thoughts on the strengthened bullpen. We also talk about the addition of CarGo. This is the time of year people start thinking about ways to strengthen a team before the trade deadline. We discuss what we think the Cubs need to do at the deadline.

This episode was recorded during Sunday's Cubs/Cardinals game.  In the episode, you'll hear us discuss the possibility of the Cubs signing Craig Kimbrel, umpiring, Yu Darvish, an exciting starting pitcher in Iowa, the Cubs' struggles with RISP, and much more.  

The Cubs have been experiencing a bit of a rough stretch and on this episode, we discuss some of the causes for the results in the second half of the month of May.  

On this episode, Kurt and Andy go Corey-free and talk about the Cubs first series loss since the beginning of April.  They also look forward to the upcoming home stand which features a Darvish-Arrieta matchup.

The Cubs continue their winning ways and we discuss some of the highlights of the last week.  

A red-hot Cardinals team came to Wrigley for the weekend and the Cubs swept them away.  I guess you could say the Cubs spanked and buried the Cardinals.  We share some thoughts on the series and where the Cubs stand, which is atop the division.  We also contemplate the validity of our early-season bullpen concerns.  The Marlins come to Wrigley for a four-game series, and we see this as a good opportunity to continue their winning ways.

The Cubs went to Seattle and took the two-game set, and now return to Chicago to face the Cardinals for the first time this season.  On this episode, we talk about a few things we saw in the Mariners series and then preview this weekend's series. 

This episode was recording during the Cubs' extra-inning win over the Diamondbacks.  We share a few thoughts on the D-backs series, preview the upcoming Mariners series, and answer about a dozen listener questions.  

The biggest test of the season came to Wrigley this week, and the Cubs beat the Dodgers two games to one.  On this episode, we talk about the series, and how the starting pitching held up.  Now that the season is four weeks old, we also look at some the players in the lineup who aren't producing as we'd expect.  We also talk about the players that have stepped up to help the offense produce at a near-record clip.  

The Cubs took two of three from the Diamondbacks, and the series was once again anchored by a pitching staff that has been unbelievably reliable since Jon Lester was injured.  We focus on the three starters in the Diamondbacks series, and also discuss some offensive performances.  We also preview the upcoming Dodgers series and give you some injury updates.  

Anchored by great starting pitching and some key offensive players, the Cubs went down to Miami and swept the Marlins.  On this episode, we talk about some of the individual performances and share how much stock we put into this sweep of a weaker team.  

On this, the 610th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we talk about the two games the Cubs played against the Angels this weekend.  In these two games, we saw some great pitching (Cole Hamels), some bad pitching (the bullpen on Saturday), and some in-between pitching (Kyle Hendricks).  We also talk about the catching situation now that Victor Caratini is out for a month or two.  This allows us the opportunity to fret over the lack of quality pitch-framing. We also preview the upcoming Marlins series.  

This episode was recorded during Thursday night's rubber-match between the Cubs and Pirates. On this episode, we start things off by talking about starting pitching. Between the Scary Stat segment, Jon Lester's injury, and Yu Darvish's outing, we have quite a bit of starting pitching to talk about. We are thoroughly enjoying Jason Heyward's production, though there are a few signs that the power he's displaying may not be "The New Heyward." We also preview the upcoming Angels series.

The Cubs opening road trip is finally over.  The Cubs managed to win one game in their weekend series with the Brewers.  Although the Cubs lost the series, in some ways, it felt like we had some positives to take away from it.  We talk about the current situation with the 2019 Cubs and preview the upcoming series with the Pirates at Wrigley.