Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - 5 On It: Who impressed you more in Sox's 3-0 win over Cubs — Jose Urquidy or Braden Montgomery? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3. Number one. Who impressed you more in the White Sox 3-0 win over the Cubs?

Jose or Kiti or Brady-Montgomery? Bradie Montgomery is really impressive. I feel like I forget that it is his rookie campaign. He does things every day that makes me just impressed with how he plays baseball. You know, like he has veteran moves, whether it's a challenge call, whether it's, whether it's just like gutting somebody down like he did yesterday at third base with that fastball that we've talked about so much at 95 miles an hour. The guy just has a real combination of baseball IQ and ability that you cannot deny. But I'm sorry. It goes to Jose got his groove back, Urquite.

That was just a really impressive performance all the way around. And he talked about it, you know, still coming back from that surgery. He had in 2024, Tommy John, which he had previously in 2017. And it made me wonder, how long does it take for somebody to truly get healthy after Tommy John number two? And he just mowed batters down yesterday. There was no other way to put it. Six innings, eight strikeouts, a mere two hits. He had 68 pitches.

It was just an incredible performance. And one where I think the White Sox come away saying, thank God we got that guy. Thank goodness we traded for that guy. And Marshall, you said it. I don't know how he didn't make his case for a spot in the rotation after that. I mean, that was absolutely great.

So he saved an option potentially from happening, calling somebody up. He helped get the socks right on the pitching staff side. Jose Orkini, man. Just an incredible performance. So Jose Orkitti was absolutely fabulous. Anybody who can go up against the second high-scoring offensive baseball and throw six innings in which you face just one over the minimum,

that is to be more than noted. It's to be celebrated. You're absolutely right, Leila. They need to give him another chance. I think he's earned another bulk spot, if not an actual start, the next trip through the rotation as they have played nine of 16 straight days with games, and they are five and four in large part because of him. At the same time, I will say I was more impressed with Braden Montgomery because in a

one-nothing game, he made sure that there was separation. One, he made sure that there was not the chance for a tie game because in the sixth inning, when you see Tyrone Taylor get the double, one of just two hits, both Tyrone Taylor hits, off Cubs pitching in the game. and to erase him from the base pass. Now, part of that is on Taylor because he definitely leaned the wrong way on a line out from PCA to right field.

But for him to have that type of accuracy and that big of a moment, it could have easily been a one-one game with the heart of the Cubs order coming behind him and said it was two out, nobody on, which is ideal for a guy like Erkidi. He had his back as well as Sam Antinachi.

But then for Braid Montgomery to get two hits, match the Cubs total on the day, including a two-rowing. run double. Taylor's total, actually. Yeah, two hits. And yeah, Taylor's total, Cubs, however you want to put it.

I just think that Montgomery needs to be noted and while Orkidie may be a flash in the band, hoping he's not, by the way. If he is, he's a hot flash. I think Braden Montgomery, from his debut, you remember his debut, right, walk off home run to win the game, to this point

has been so instrumental in the White Sox being able to have the lead that they have in the A.L. and to appear to be headed towards the playoffs and perhaps even a division title. I got to give it to Montgomery on this one. I just, I like what he means for the White Sox going forward, not just in this series, but in the season and for many years beyond. Number two.

How badly is the Cubs infield defense missing shortstop Dansby Swanson? Yeah, this is in respect to what we saw yesterday. Ray and I just observing how many fielders choices there were, forceouts, instead of double plays. And what I found compelling was that there were more failed double plays in this game than there were Cubs hits. That's not supposed to happen. First of all, you're supposed to have a few of each more than two and more than, I want to say, were there four? There were at least four failed double plays. That count sounds right to me. Yeah, I mean, I want to say five, but I feel like that's probably exaggerating given there's only nine endings in a baseball game,

but it was probably four failed double plays, and that's just outrageous. And, you know, especially with a groundball pitcher on the mound like Clay Holmes, you just want better defensive positioning as well. You can't shift, but you can certainly understand where a ball is likely to be when a guy hits his spots. And I think there were pace issues. I know Nico, you know, has some adjusting to do at shortstop.

This isn't really an issue with Nico Horner as much as it is. I think Martinez is a speed, too, at times, just understanding what speed it takes to turn. around and throw the ball over to first. So I'm hoping that that gets ironed out a little bit more effectively, especially when you have a guy like Holmes on the mound. Here's the reality. The Cubs don't know when they're getting Danesby Swanson back for certain, and whether that

will be in the regular season or postseason if they last that long to allow him to return. Nico Horner, I think he's an above-average shortstop. I think it's more about the chemistry between him and Pedro O'Mears and getting that down. And that's probably going to take some getting used to. It's going to take some time. And I don't know how much time the Cubs have. That's what the issue becomes. I think the rest of this week is going to be a tell

because the Cubs head out west. They'll face Seattle, followed by Arizona. Two teams very much, even though the Mariners are seven games under 500, they're only two and a half games out of a playoff spot. And we know the bottom of the AAL wild card standings is volatile, to say the least. Or it's just there. It's all there and it's just no matter of who kind of gets out of it. But my point is all those teams are playing harder than they normally would be if they were out of it per se.

And I think they need to get it together and quickly because when you have the Braves playing the Brewers over the weekend, you're not going to have many better spots besides the seven head-to-head matchups you have left to maybe gain some ground if the Braves play at the level that they've been playing all season. So I think it's just a matter of can they get the Kevin? chemistry down between Pedro Ramirez and between, obviously, you look at Nico Horner, but also Matt Shaw's coming back. They've made a change in adding heirs to the roster now. There's other guys involved, and it's not going to be as clockworked as it has been all season long with Horner and with Swanson.

Number three. This is five on it at a 104 through the score with Layla Rahimi and Marshall Harris. Here's question number three. What's your biggest takeaway from? the reports that came out of the Bears joint practice with the Bengals? I think my biggest takeaway might be who was in at left tackle during the two-minute drill. And reportedly, it sounds like that was Theo Benedet. So if that's the case, is that who we can expect to say in at left tackle, perhaps, to start on Saturday?

And the left tackle position is not going to be one where guys get time off to rest. That's obviously a position of evaluation. So is it Theo to start? Is it possibly Braxton Jones, even though I know we're still trying to figure out his health? How's Jedrick Wills doing? How's Karan Amagaji doing? So again, I point back to left tackle and understanding like Caleb Williams, okay, throw an interception. The whole point was to not be as afraid of throwing interceptions last season.

I think that carries over to this one. That doesn't bother me. But you better know who your left tackle is in these scenarios, at least to start. I'm looking at some video right now. Yes? It's going to concern one Laylorah Rihimi because the Caleb Williams interception. It was batted at the line of scrimmage by Dexter Lawrence. This was a problem last year.

I know that's one of the main things you harped on. Like you can't be having balls batted because tips and overthrows, got to have those. And this qualifies in the tips category. We did see a lot of batted balls at the line of scrimmage. You remember one named Max Crosby? he seems like he might have a future in this league. Remember him doing that as well? And just how many times on the left side guys would come in and try to bat a ball down or two or three?

Number four. Yesterday ESPN's Adam Schaefter reported that two-time Pro Bowl defense tackle Vita Vea and the Buccaneers have agreed to terms on a one-year extension for $30 million. The Bears were reportedly among the teams that had interest and called the bucks about Vaya. So the question is, on a scale of 1 to 10 on the disappointment meter, trademark, where would you rate your level of disappointment

that a trade sending Vita Vaya to the Bears never materialized? Look, you may want Vita Vaya. You have wanted so many other guys that you've heard. I think... Why not, though?

People who follow the Bears. Why not? Well, because money. That's why not. Because cap. that's why not. I don't mean cap isn't someone's lying or not telling the truth. No, this is actually the opposite.

Salary cap. The truth is out there in terms of how much you're allowed to spend on a yearly basis. And I understand you can restructure. You can rework deals. But clearly the Bears have picked a lane. And that lane is offense. Offense, offense, and more offense. As in resources tied to the offense.

As in you already made your investment in the defense. Now make those investments. Pay off. Remember, every investment you make, this is monetarily speaking now, in the stock market. Every breath you take. We're going to go with the previous version, not the updated version of that particular song. That is not even updated anymore. That's just the slightly newer version. Well, I'm just saying I make sure people are clear on who I'm not aligned with as we take those lyrics. look, for the Bears

and for the Bears fans and for media following and critiquing the Bears, there comes a point when you have to understand the disappointment meter is really about being a realistic meter. And it was never realistic that the Bears are going to add someone who just signed a one-year $30 million deal. How are you going to make that money work? Let me give you a hint.

You weren't. Make that money. And so that's why on the disappointment Meater. Ain't no way you can fake that money. For the first time ever, I'm going to go with the negative. It's a negative one. Wow.

It's a negative one on the disappointment meter. At no point did I think the bears were getting Vita Vaya. At no point. I didn't either because of the $30 million, which the bears have like $5 of open cap space right now. But here's the thing. The disappointment meter for me is higher. It's at like a six because of the sack total and his numbers last season. So Vita Vaya had 34 total tackles in four and a half sacks starting all 17 games for the Buccaneers last season.

Now, by no means is that a career year for Vita Vaya, but here's the issue. That would tie him for third on sacks in 2025 on the Bears because Austin Booker was third with four and a half behind Montes, what, with 10, and Javon Dexter was six. So as you can imagine selfishly for me, I'm like, oh, things look a lot. better when you consider the team total sack number was 35. Four and a half is statistically significant in that scenario, meaning Vita Veyer's numbers would greatly have improved the bear's sack total. So, yeah, I'm slightly disappointed and I understand why they were interested, but they couldn't afford 30 million.

What's the number then? I said like six. Six. Okay, so here's the thing. It ain't even about the sacks to me. It's about last time I checked, the bears weren't stopping the run all that well, right? do can do a lot of stuff in the middle of your. You're right about that. He would immediately be the best

interior defender on the team. So that just, yeah, and you're still not disappointed though? No, because I understand reality. Again, the realistic meter, it's that's what I want to replace this with because it's negative on the, I can't be disappointed in something that I never thought

was a possibility. That's just how I operate from a brain standpoint, the way I think, analytically speaking. It was never a problem. Because it was never going to happen. I mean, I kind of, I don't know, man. Because this is just the last and a long line of players that we thought,

oh, that guy would look good on the bears. When the bears are as paltry as they have been on their defensive line, that's edge or interior. Yeah. Everybody seems like, that's a guy you should get. That's a guy you should get. That's the problem. The reason we're interested in everybody is because everybody would probably be an upgrade.

Yep. Yeah. Do I need to say the quiet part of all? out, I guess I do. And I don't know if you don't, if you disagree, show me. Show me that it's, it's not an upgrade. Show me your wins above replacement. Number five.

Because you didn't last year. Today is National Radio Day. Happy National Radio Day to everyone who celebrates. So I ask you guys, what is one of your most memorable moments in your radio careers? I think for me, it was probably how I got started. started in the business, just calling into the Dallas Cowboys postgame show as a teenager. And then my mom found out that there was a scholarship that the Dallas Mavericks were giving in the name of the late Mark Holtz, who was a broadcaster for them. And I did not know that this was common practice.

It just seemed like a good idea because I was also a musician at the time I was playing in my school's orchestra, which fed into the University of North Texas, which was one of the best music schools in the country. So they always had this practice of you put your best work on a cassette at the time and then you submit it for your chair seating. And I'm like, well, maybe I should just do the same and like submit my best calls because I recorded them all thinking it was a good idea. Not knowing that this was the practice. There was no way for me to know at the time. Your first resume rule is you calling into a Dallas station. I submitted a cassette tape of like four or five of my best calls new to do that somehow. somehow. I'm not even kidding.

And I think I based it off of like the idea of what I did for orchestra and then mailed it with an essay. And I did not realize that I was doing at the time what was common practice. Cassette tape. And that's what got me the scholarship, which ultimately got me an internship before I even officially started college. Congratulations on all that. I love this answer because I just learned something new I did not know about Layla Rahimi and her radio journey. My story is similar. First time I was ever paid to do anything on the radio. Freshman year in college, Mississippi State University,

there was a school in town that needed a play-by-play announcer. And I'd gone through the student newspaper, the student radio station, I'd gone everywhere. Hey, can I help out? Can I volunteer? Like, whatever. I just trying to get my foot in the door. And the guy at the student radio station called me back two days later.

I thought he was calling me because someone had not shown up or whatever. He was like, no, actually there's a commercial radio. station in town that needs someone to do play-by-play for their high school football games. Have you done play-by-play? I said, no, but I would love to do it. And this is why I always tell people, play-by-play was my first love. And so this school, Starkville Academy, this was two days before their first game. I had just enough time to call the coach, try to find out. Remember, the internet did not exist.

That's how old I am. The internet did not exist. Mine did, but it was like in your heart on geo-cities and dial-up and stuff. Yeah, like, oh, I guess technically it existed, but he didn't. exist in like a Google world. Like this is still very much dial up internet. Ask Jeeves didn't happen until like 2003 or four, I think. Yeah, this, for reference, this

was 1996, just so people know what year it was. And so I go to this school not knowing anything about the school, because I'm from Alabama, and it turns out that this was a academy of the academy systems, which are separate from the public schools because there's this thing called White

Flight in Mississippi. And so I end up going to the school with my little calm unit that I had never used before. And it was nothing but white people in the ground. I see white people. And not only did I see white people, guess what? They had eyes. So they saw me. And they were like, what is this dude doing here?

And they were like, why is he going up to the press box? And why is he setting up shop? And it was kind of a terrifying moment, to be honest. but the headmaster of the school because you know headmaster not the fact that it's a headmaster but principal. I just thought there was a term in movies. He comes up to me

He comes up to me. I was one of them public schools. He introduces himself. I tell him who I am and why I'm there and he's like okay and he if you need anything let me know and he was like the kindest most gracious guy some of the people in the stands were not and I was terrible to be fair but I got better as the season goes on. I did it for three straight years. And they got used to me being there, I guess. And I even got a couple of compliments

by the end of like year two. And that's how I got my start in the radio business. But I was absolutely terrified. And sometimes you just got to be uncomfortable. Somebody told me in football, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. And years before I heard it from an NFL head coach, I lived it. But the sad part is you had to still suffer so other people could learn to just be comfortable with you existing doing your job. You know what? The greater good was served, but it was still at a price you had to pay. Look, I paid kind of a social tariffifying price, but at the same time, I also got

paid 50 bucks a game. Who's laughing now to do something I would have done for free? That part. Also, do you know how much 50 bucks was back in 1996? Do you know we could buy with $50 back in 1990s? Two tanks of gas for one, maybe three. That is absolutely true. Yeah.

Three. Honda Accord. Hell yeah. Oh, we didn't have time for you guys. I think we should talk about you guys at 145. Did we have a 145 plan? Oh, we have a great thing at 145 scheduled, which is a bull's player has not learned his lesson. A current bull's player? A current bull's player has not learned his lesson.

He had a big lesson that he should have learned last season, and he clearly didn't learn it. All right. Well, if we have time, let's get to you guys. too during our show because I feel like that's fair and just. As we all are in, this as a team. Happy National Radio Day, everyone. Vinnie Doober, who's now the Cubs writer for the Sun-Times, is next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Write this down, guys, as a segment idea.

It's going to be called, Don't Be an Idiot with Marshall Harris. I'm not an idiot. Midday's 10 to 2. Don't be an idiot. On 104-3, the score. And the 0-2 pitch. Strike three called and the ball game is over. The White Sox beat the Cubs.

Three to nothing in the series finale. So Taylor gets to save. The Cubs won the first two, but the socks prevailed today, Ron, and they split the season six game package. Each team with three win. Each team with three. That is the great pet. Hughes and Ron Cumer on the call in the Northwestern Medicine Cubs, radio network. We go to our hotline now, and that is where we find a man who represents

Cross Town as much as anybody else. Vinnie Duber. He is at Vinny Duber on X. He is now the Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. He's also covered the White Sox as a writer for the Sun-Times for CHDO. I worked at NBC Sport Chicago. Vinny, this is, you're it. You're like the writer who represents Cross Town. Wow, I like that. I didn't even think of it that way, but that's good. I'll take that, I think. Okay. So that said, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this before because that would have been better timing by me. We're happy to have you on, by the way. And congrats on the job.

Like, while I'm here, I'm just going to get everything out of the way. Thank you. I appreciate it. It's going great. It's great to, you know, still be doing this in my hometown. I'm loving it. Vinny, tell us, because this is how I feel about it. I thought this year's crosstown was not only epic, but the best I can remember just because of the way it impacted both teams who are,

clearly still playing for something this late in the season. How do you feel about all time, all time, excuse me, pantheons of crosstown and how this one compares? Yeah, I mean, I think if you take the whole, you know, the whole season series, it's got to be right up there, right? I mean, the finishes have just been tremendous. I think you go back and there are just so many great finishes and great games that you can count. You know, you can probably make a whole, a whole day's worth of talk radio trying to figure out what are the best cross-down games ever.

And it's funny, I was talking with Colley yesterday and saying, you know, the guys in the room don't really get super hyped for this, the players, because they're not from Chicago, right? The vast majority of them didn't grow up here. But those of us who did, like, this is the series every summer that you circle on the regular season calendar. And it has had those games that, like, a rivalry is defined by, right? although certainly the on-field dramatic, you know, fights with Michael Barrett and A.J. Prisinski. You had Ozzie kicking Giovanni Soto's mask, all of that stuff, to go along with walk-off home runs a plenty and dueling no-hit bids and all of that stuff. So, I mean, while it doesn't seem like a rivalry because they're not even in the same league when you think about it that way, it totally does to the fans because of all that's happened.

And this year with the Caro walk-off earlier in the year, with PCA doing what he did, and Bregman's walkoffs this week, yeah, I think you've got to count this whole series, the whole six games, as probably the best ever. Yeah, Vinnie, I mean, we can't ask for much more, especially with both teams squarely in playoff convention or contention with the Cubs and White Sox. But the other thing, too, is I feel like every question you had about each team was exposed in some way over the six-game set, even in this last three-game series.

For example, we knew the Sox's pitching needs were dire, you know, and how they had to manage their bullpen, how they had to manage their own. openers. Jose Orquitty comes out and is a revelation. The Cubs on the other side, we know their offense hasn't always produced at times with timely hitting. That was a good example yesterday. We see Pekyro Armstrong making an MVP case in two games. It was really a microcosm of everything that you know to be true about these two teams. Yeah, you're not wrong. Absolutely. I mean, I think you look at where they stand and what's ahead of them. And, you know, you've got the Cubs who are one of the best teams in baseball, you know, kind of just.

based on their win-loss record. They look like one of the top contenders, depending on how far you want to go down that list for the World Series. And yet they're still stuck in second place in their own division, right? Well, you got the White Sox in first place where everything, you know, for lack of a better term, is kind of gravy right now, with how the expectations weren't so high for them at the beginning of the season. And now you've got, you know, a team that's in great playoff position

and that if the standings, you know, kind of shake out the way they might, they can have a first round by. you know, come, come October with how weak the American League is. So you're absolutely right. If you look on the Cubs side of things, though, you've got PCA being that MVP presence. And how about Alex Bregman stepping up kind of and kind of awakening here in the late summer? You know, he was a guy who everybody was focused on early because he wasn't producing at that, you know, huge superstar level that his contract that he got in the winter maybe says that he should be doing.

But now since the All-Star break, he has been doing that. and he's had some huge moments. He obviously had that game-tying home run down to their last strike. You know, a couple weeks back, he had the three-homer game. Now he's got the walk off to beat the White Sox. You know, he's kind of been that guy lately. And even yesterday in the game where nothing was happening for the Cubs offensively, the defense was still there.

And he was at the center of it. He was making one great play after another. So I think he's a guy that you look at and maybe go along with PCA. Wow, these could be two October stars, right? two guys who are going to really step up in the playoffs and could make the difference, not just specifically for the Cubs, but in baseball as a whole, depending on how long they go. Exciting to think about, of course, remember how good Sey Suzuki was last year at the end of the season, going into the postseason as well, Vinnie Duber.

The Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, joining us on Rahimi Harris and Grody and Vinny. I'm so intrigued by Clay Holmes because as much as Craig Counsel talks about out-getters, this guy seems like he's not just a quote-unquote out-getter. He's a guy who can make a difference at the top of the rotation. Is there any doubt in your mind that Craig Counsel envisions him as that after he goes five and a third giving up just one run against the White Sox, even though the strikeouts haven't been there as a cub. If the defense is there, he should be pretty effective.

Yeah, I mean, you saw yesterday what kind of what he's capable of doing. Obviously, he was even better over the weekend against St. Louis. but from a statistical standpoint. But what he did yesterday was kind of exactly what they wanted to do. Put the ball on the ground. Let your three gold glovers on the infield pick it up, obviously. Dancy Swanson's on the aisle right now. He'll be out a few weeks.

But when he comes back, you've got Horner at second. Swanson at short, Bregman at third, those guys can kind of pick it with the best of him. Michael Bushman pretty good over at first base, too. So just put the ball on the ground. And Clay Holmes was talking yesterday about how this defense allows him to be just have the utmost confidence in just generating a ground ball, right? He's like, oh, sometimes, you know, if you're a ground ball guy like I am, you get a guy on, you get one or two guys, you know, in scoring position, and you're like, well, I don't

want to give up a ground ball because what could happen, it could sneak through, it could be a hit, it could be a run, it could be the game. Well, when you got these guys playing defense behind him, the chances of just it being an out go way, way up, and I think that Clay Holmes is that kind of guy. You've got another one in David Peterson, who they got. and also in the trade with the Metsu is that kind of guy. They've got some options in terms of pitching, in terms of top of the rotation pitching.

They've been thrilled with what Shoda Imanaga has done, even though he's given up almost as many home runs as anybody in baseball. And then you've got Matt Boyd, who has kind of quietly returned to that all-star form that he was last year. So I think they're going to have several top of the rotation options. But yeah, Clay Holmes looked really good yesterday. And remember, this is a guy who just two years ago pitched in every game of the World Series as the Yankees, you know, All-Star Closer.

Now he's a starter, and he's been doing it for two years now, mostly with the Mets, now a little bit with the Cubs, and he's been doing it really well. We're talking to Vinnie Duber. He is the Chicago Cubs B-Writer for the Sun-Times, joining us on our hotline on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And Vinny, what were your takeaways from what we saw out of Kevin Gossman, having to leave early, you know, the other big pitching trade acquisition the Cubs had and just, I know Craig counsel hasn't really put a timeline on it yet.

It's something that they will watch, but having that hand cramp, I could see that popping up again if it did already once, knowing the few starts that he's had with the Cubs already this season. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't look good because of what came before it, too, with that kind of clunker start against the nationals who, you know, by the way, are the best, the best offensive team in baseball. But still, you don't want your big trade deadline acquisition given up six runs to anybody, but it means that two in a row now he's not even able to make it out of the fifth inning.

I think it being a cramp makes it not so much to worry about. Obviously, I'm no doctor or anything like that, but it doesn't seem like that kind of thing that is a long-term issue. Obviously, though, like you said, maybe it does pop up again, and he said it has happened to him before, but usually only when he's really deep into games, when he goes up over 100 pitches. By that point in a game, you would hope if you're the Cubs,

he's already made a pretty huge impact on what you're trying to do that day. So I think the main thing, though, to keep an eye on is you don't want the kind of non-cramping results to keep popping up like they have in the last two outings. I mean, he was excellent against the Royals in his Cub's debut, but then in that game in D.C., he's unable to make it out of that inning. He gives up a lot of two out hits and two out runs. That was the case again with those, you'll remember the other night, the three straight singles that produced, I believe it was the four.

first White Sox run of that game. Those were all with two out. So it's that kind of thing, that's shutting down an inning, but that's the kind of thing that you don't want popping up again. Kevin Gousman, at least the Cubs described him as a guy who's kind of been through it all. You know, he's a long-time veteran in this league. He pitched in the World Series last year. They don't think that you can really throw anything at him that's going to fluster him,

but he needs to deliver. There's no doubt about it. He was the kind of headlining piece of the trade deadline hall for the Cubs for Jed Hoyer's front office. They envisioned him as being a guy who could. We'll see how it shakes out. Like I said, there's a lot of, you know, good options to choose from, but a guy who could start game one of a playoff series. So that's what they need him to be. They've seen him do that already once. They need to see him do it a, you know, a little bit more consistently going forward. Vinnie, before we like you, I'm really curious as to your thoughts on these arms that are

slowly ramping up. We know Daniel Palencia will be back with the team tomorrow as they begin that West Coast trip in Seattle. But other names such as Shelby, uh, Shelby, or Justin Steele, Ben Brown. Like, what are your expectations for any of these other guys that were kind of waiting to see what happens actually gets back with the team for this stretch run? I think Ben Brown is kind of the one to keep an eye on just because of what he was able to do and how effective he was at the beginning of the year as a starter. He's most likely, in fact, I don't think it's even going to happen to be a starter again this season.

He would be a bullpen option for them. but what a bullpen option that could be, given how good he was earlier in the year. But Palencia has missed so much time. He's only pitched, what, 16 in some innings this year? I don't know how right out of the gate he's going to be able to be that guy who we saw glimpses of last year when he was throwing a million miles an hour and striking everybody out. The same might go for Shelby Miller, who has been really effective out of the bullpen in his more recent career. But he has, you know, he's missed so much time.

what is that going to look like? Is he going to be able to go out there regularly, right, down the stretcher? Is he going to need a little bit more time between outings to kind of, you know, let his recovery breathe a little bit more? So we're going to see what happens with those guys, but I do think Ben Brown is maybe the guy, you know, at least keep an eye on as, hey, come playoff time. This could be kind of an unexpected bullpen weapon for a team that's been without him for so long this year. And then just looking ahead, Vinny, to the Seattle series coming up,

notable is obviously the Brewers taking them down by the tune of 22 to nothing. Seattle comes back with a win yesterday, but this is one of those where there are winnable games to help the Cubs try to make up some ground or at least solidify playoff seating.

Yeah, it's so, it's so strange. I mean, they've got plenty of time left, but it just seems like the Brewers just never take their foot off the gas. They never lose almost, it seems like. And, you know, the Cubs, they had a stretch there a bit. I think the the brewers got swept on the West Coast fairly recently, and the Cubs made up a little

bit of ground. They were as close as they'd been since May, and then, you know, they haven't kind of kept it going in that direction. So you're right, winnable games. They've got to do it. But I mean, really, when you look at this Cubs team, almost every game out there should be a winnable game, not in that you expect them in a baseball season to win every day, but they are one of the best teams in baseball. They're a team that not too long ago swept to the Dodgers, with the exception of those brewers who they, you know, can't seem to catch right now, they would stack up nicely against pretty much any team out there. And so that's what they want to do.

They want to be consistent. They want to play their kind of baseball over the course of this next month and a half. They don't want that streakiness that kind of define them in the beginning of the season. They have the ability to do it. Now it's just on them to go do it. Well, Vinnie, thank you so much for taking the time. Again, big congratulations on the gig with the Sun-Times. and we have a texter who's texting us saying they know your parents,

and they're very happy for you as well. Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'm glad that I'm glad that the Chicagoland area is enjoying things, and thanks a lot, Leila. I appreciate the congrats. Thanks, Vinnie. Thank you, Vinnie. That is Vinnie Dober.

You can check him out with the Chicago Sun Times, writing, covering the Cubs, as he did for Crosstown. He will cover Seattle coming up shortly. Next, right here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, we need to get back to some of the audio that we've heard from Bears' joint practice in Cincinnati. Caleb Williams in the accuracy discussion came up. Ben Johnson was asked about it. It's worth a listen.

We'll discuss next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. I love being here. Middays 10 to 2 on 104 3, the score. My limit maybe 75, 80, you know, passes, but I end up getting to 100 or 90 or whatever because it's not where I wanted the ball to be. So, you know, next rep, next rep, next rep. And being able to mentally put myself in that position, being able to mentally put myself in those positions like games on the line.

Let's go make this play. Let's go, you know, put the ball as accurate needs to beat. That's Caleb Williams talking about the finer points of improving his completion percentage, which we know is a big goal of the Bears this season. This is Rahimi Harrison Grosy on 1043 to score. And we heard a lot about joint practices with Cincinnati. We will get an update at the top of the hour from Chris Emma. He is there. And in the meantime, we heard from Ben Johnson.

He spoke this morning and was asked about Caleb Williams' accuracy as it compares to the expectation. Well, it's trending upward. And that's really what we want to see is it continued to get better. I thought I just told them this morning. I thought the last two days, even though it was abbreviated practice yesterday, they were really good. And so Red Zone was a big emphasis for us. Last year, we got a few good reps of that yesterday. I think he's shown significant strides there.

He's taking a lot of pride in where he's putting the ball throughout practice. You see it early on in our warm-up periods to routes on air, and it's translating over to the team periods as well. And yet he still hasn't lost that stinger of being aggressive and trying to push the limits a little bit. And so I think that's healthy, particularly in practice, just seeing how tight a windows we can fit these things into. And there's a good, delicate balance,

and we're doing our normal day off, player day off meetings and able to assess what we previously put on tape. And, you know, that's where a day like yesterday was so good because there's a few things that we talked about the last player day off that showed up yesterday that gets you excited as a coach. And so he's making significant strides each and every day. Okay, so that reminds me, Marshall, of the warm up that we saw. You know the video before the preseason game at Soldier Field.

You remember seeing Caleb Williams out there, Roman Dunezay. I think that kind of speaks to this that Ben Johnson was talking about. There was a lot going on before the game in addition to the actual game itself that didn't have the quarterback. I love that we want the aggression. And I say we, like you and me and Ben Johnson. And Caleb Williams obviously does. And remember, there was a point where we're like, hey, man, it's okay if you throw an interception, if you're being aggressive and trying to throw it, I don't know, down the feet.

yield. I love listening to that sound from yesterday and understanding that this happened today. Jeremy Rouch of Fox 19 in Cincinnati says, unbelievable play by Caleb Williams in the Red Zone 11 versus 11. Dexter Lawrence beat the double team. He had a hand in his face. Williams threw a laser that whizzed over Jordan Battle's head to Colston Love on the end zone, an impossible completion. And he made it. First of all, if it was an impossible completion, you couldn't have made it. It was a tough completion. Not impossible because clearly Caleb Williams made it possible.

I'm not going to, yes, but I'm not going to harp on humans using descriptive words when machines are trying to take over. I'll let him cook. That's fair, actually. That is probably the most salient point I've heard today from anyone in this area. It's the most salient point I'm going to make in years. So we'll just go with that for now. It's a scary point. Take that machines.

Yes. I have seen the Terminator. I would encourage you all to see the Terminator and all the movies that came after. I got fresh water right here. it's Lake Michigan. Pack a lunch. You can't. You can't eat.

Also, The Matrix is a good watch as well. I worry people got ideas from these movies and not the other way around. I just think they were prescient. That's all. That's all. But when you're not creative, you have to find other creativity from other people and steal it. Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm not done because Caleb Williams needs to keep doing what he's doing.

And Ben Johnson needs to keep coaching him to do what he wants him to do to get this offense to be the quote unquote best highest score. record-breaking offense in the league. That is the goal, not to mention the goal is to win. But if you do that, you'll have a much better chance of winning. Also, I really think this is a case where we need to keep in mind, progress and perfection are two different things. Yes.

You can strive for 70. You can point to the people who do it in the national football. One of them comes from your quarterback class and almost got MVP. Also made the Super Bowl. But at the same time, I think we have to understand what progress looks like, both when we're watching it, just play to play on the field, but then also how it's going to reflect in the scoreboard. When we hear Ben Johnson talk about starting quicker and Caleb Williams talking about starting faster, well, that involves making some of these completions that we didn't see previously. If you're up to 64, which would be a big jump. From 58 to 64, yeah, that would be six points.

So if you're up to that, if you're up to 63, we'll say five. Okay, how's that? Yeah. If you're up to 63, still seven away from 70. But think about the difference that we'll make day to day for the bears breathing easier in games. And then also successful drives that lead to touchdowns earlier in games. So once you consider that, 70 might be the indicator of an MVP type of season for him. But in the meantime, progress has to be the goal here because perfection, I think, is,

is the end game, and you can envision it. But we would be very happy. I think watching games, the teams would be easier if we're seeing him complete to even that rate. And that's just a couple of made passes here and there. Is it a couple screen passes? I know the screen game is still something they're really working on. That keys in for me.

But this is doable in a way that I think really would make a big difference in games. And I don't know that we're really understanding it fully as to how. that would play out until we actually see it happen. Eight teams last year scored more than 27 points per game. The Bears were the ninth ranked scoring offense last year at 25.9. And I know there's plenty of times we've looked at it and understood, hey, if that completion percentage goes up, whether it's four, five, six percentage points, that's points that are going to be on the board as well.

And if you want to be the best team that you can be next year, especially knowing that your defense is certainly in flux from just a who's available standpoint. The offense has to be that much more consistent because those are the knowns. You do know pretty much everything on this offense outside of a couple of things, one being the center position and what kind of chemistry there will be or lack of chemistry to start the season. We expect it to get better always. And then left tackle who's going to be available, how healthy they'll be, and how effective they'll be. but I like their chances of being better on offense than I do on defense because of everything we've heard Ben Johnson say Caleb Williams say and the fact that they're on the same page.

The thing that concerns me about left tackle is I don't want half the field being taken away again every other play. It wasn't every other play last year. It just felt like it. But I don't want half the field being taken away again on so many plays. Or I feel like he immediately is flushed out of the pocket, has to roll right, make something happen. And yeah, he can throw downfield and across his body.

There's no doubt about that in my mind. but schematically, I would like all of the field to be available for him. So that way he's able to make the ideal plays there. Yeah, I'm both run plays and not just throwing it back across to the left side for a screen pass or something like that. You want to be able to use the entire field. Well, and also we've heard from Antoine Randall L, for example, from J.T. Barrett about not tiring out your players too. You know, everybody's young right now. You can still do this in the fourth quarter.

You get to be Joe Flacco's age and thinks look a little different. Yeah, that's also a mobility issue for Caleb Williams. If he's as effective mobility-wise then as he is now, he'll have had a pretty good run in Chicago. Right. But I think at some point, you know, you have to marry your physical skill with your schematic skill. And that has to happen, I think, earlier rather than later to help add yours to your career. Caleb's just like the rest of us. He's got the physical tools now in his prime.

And he's trying to make that last while the mental catches. up, just like all of us. Like, we all get to a point where like, dang, I wish I knew what I know now back then when I was in my physical prime at my peak. Right. I mean... Now I'm washed. You withstood injury.

What are you talking about? Yes. Yes. I survived. You are healthier now than you were a couple years ago. Again, guys, not thriving over here. We are surviving. But the point is like, even now compared to two years ago, you're in a much healthier

spot physically. Yes, that is absolutely true. So that, that defeats your theory right there. It doesn't defeat the theory, though. I still wish I had the same that I had in my late 20s, early 30s. Youth is wasted on the young. It is. Cherish it, Caleb Williams.

And in the meantime, I think two or three more passes in a first half, things change remarkably. On a first drive, things change remarkably. I'm not even asking for the drive. I'm just asking for a half. How's that? I'll take the quarter. Baby steps, friends, baby steps. Let's get a report from Chris Emma.

He is in Cincinnati. He watched the joint practices. He'll be next with us on the score.