Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Best of the Cubs: Amazing run continues

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

In the Best of the Cubs this week, Score baseball insider Bruce Levine joined the Spiegel & Holmes Show to discuss Chicago's four-game sweep of Cincinnati and its nine-game winning streak; and Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins joined the Mully & Haugh Show to explain how the team has persevered through injuries early in the season.

There is Bruce Levine on the hotline. Bruce, how are you this afternoon, my man? Good, Rami. Another exciting day here at Wrigley Field. Another exciting series. I can't remember two sweeps of seven-game series in a row, but nonetheless, that's what's happened at Riggly, nine in a row. It's just, you know, it's an amazing streak that they're on,

and it's all predicated, as you pointed out, by pitching. The hitting has come along. There's been games where they had to catch up, but it's all predicated on really good starting pitching all the way through. The Cubs deserve an awful lot of credit for that. So with that said, where would you like to go? Is what Shoda is doing? Is that surpassing any expectation that you had for him

after the way that his season ended last year? Well, I don't know about that. I mean, you know, if you think back to 2024, he was 15 and 4, He finished fifth in the Syyong Award voting. He was an all-star that year. This is pretty much the same picture that we saw then. I don't think it's a revelation of who he is rather than getting back to what he was

before he injured his hamstring last year. And that version of Shoda certainly was not helpful for him to be able to go out there and compete and for the Cubs to be able to win. You remember the very last game the season for the Cubs in 2025. He was rested. They were going to an elimination game,

and they had a pass because they had lost confidence in his ability to get out. So he has come a long way back to being the pitcher he was in 2024, and he's on his way to another All-Star game at this point. So with that being said, what has been the most surprising or impressive part, specifically with the pitching

staff, whether it's in the rotation, or the bullpen? What has raised the eyebrow, Bruce Levine, most from this pitching staff over this stretch? Well, Ramey, I think in a day of velocity that other than Cabrero, who throws the ball 97, this pitching staff gets it done with pitchability. They have outstanding breaking pitches. They have outstanding command and control. The difference in command and control is control is, you know, being able to throw in the zone.

is pinpointing where you want to throw it. This is a different type of pitching staff than we know in Major League Baseball right now. None of these guys are seeking velocity or 97 or 100. They're seeking getting outs. And it's really a throwback type rotation for the Chicago Cubs. You know, we exclude Cabrero, who's 97 with a change up that's 95. You know, the front office went out and did a great job of picking him up for, Casey in the off season, but the reality is that, you know, each guy, and, you know,

Boyd's going to be out for anywhere from four, most likely six weeks with this meniscus repair that he had today. But, you know, you look at all of them and you go, they just, they just give you six innings every time, sometimes seven, and they're at 100 pitches, and the team's in a position to win the game. So the bullpen load, you. even though there's been injuries to the bullpen, hasn't been as severe because of the fact that these guys have gone deep into games, deep being the 2026 version of deep, six innings, sometimes seven. And as I said to start the show, and I'm not breaking any news,

nine-game win streak now on the heels of a 10-game win streak. They've won 15 in a row at Wrigley Field. And as you pointed out in a tweet earlier today, the last time they had two streaks of 10 or more in a week, season was in 1935. And you thank Cubs Media Relations for that little tidbit. I heard Ron Cumer on the call today said that he can't remember a run or a stretch this impressive. And Ron's been around this team for a long time, including the 2016 World Series. Bruce, you've been around this team for a long time. Can you remember a stretch in your run covering this team as impressive as what we've seen

here in the last 22 where they won 19 of those games? I don't think so. I mean, the 2018 was superior, and they had a couple of streaks that were long, but as you mentioned about the earlier tweet, it's been since 1935 that they won 11 in a row and then 18 in a row in that season, or I'm sorry, 21 in a row, 11 and 21. 21 is the all-time Cub record for wins in a row during a baseball. season. So it is unique and I don't know, I don't know if the players are surprised. I think that counsel and the coaching staff front office are surprised that they've been able to do so much with so many injuries, so many pitching injuries along the way, losing Horton, losing Boyd now twice.

The news on steel that he won't be back if at all until late in the summer now. So many things that could have devastated them. And it hasn't. It's made him stronger. Guys have come up and replaced the injured pitchers like Thielbar and Hunter Harvey. You know, they've stepped in and done a great job. So, you know, and I left out that. Palencia was out for three weeks now back in there and having to come in in a blowout game and save that today.

So just a lot of great things have happened. and counsel was asked if he expected this type of play to continue, and he basically said, no. You know, it's just like, it's not going to be like this all year. Very few teams have ever done that. Even the 1906 Cubs probably had a streak of some losses when they won 116 games, and that's the record along with the Seattle Mariners of 2001. But, you know, it's still May.

So there's an awful lot of things going on, and they've just started to play in their division. They played one series with Pittsburgh. Now they've made a nice early season statement against Cincinnati, sweeping them four in a row and putting them back and making them think a little bit about who they are after they lost their closer to injury for the next two months. This has been a really devastating series, I think, for the Reds. Romney McLaugh in for Spiegel and Holmes here on the score this afternoon, Bruce Levine, my guest who of course covers the Cubs for us here at the score. Another thing I saw on your timeline today, Ian Haps on Base Street now at 28 games,

has he told you or anybody in the media if or what he's doing differently this year that's taken his offense to yet even a higher level than what we've seen previously and what's been a pretty good career for Ian Hap? Well, he is a free agent, you know, Romney. That helps. I mean, I don't think you can, I don't think Ian can turn it on and off like that. He's just been a really good player for a long time. But there's a significance to the type of player he's been.

And you look at this team. And it's more, it's more now more about Ian, you know, with on-base percentage of being at the top right now, walks, the Cubs are first or second in. baseball. It's a very patient team. So when they're not hitting, they're setting up innings early by taking walks and being patient, making the pitcher throw a lot of pitches. I think that's more Ian Hap-like. That's what his career has been about. So the early power numbers have been surprising, you know, with nine home runs. You know, he's on pace to probably hit 40 home runs. I don't know if that's going to continue. But, you know, I think Ian Hap's been a really underrated

good player for the Cubs during his career. He's never been a quote-unquote superstar player, but he's made himself into a gold glove left fielder. He made himself into an outfielder after being an infielder during his college career. He's shown patience from both sides of the plate. He's made himself into a better right-handed hitter when he was pretty much an automatic out the first couple of years right-handed in his swing. So he's settled. just made himself into an outstanding player and going to be remembered as one of the best players of the Cubs, even though he's not a superstar. Bruce, you brought up Craig Counsel a few times already here in this interview.

You just talked about how underrated Ian Hap has been. I think the job that Craig Counsel is doing this year has been underrated or flown under the radar a little bit. When you talk about all the injuries and just the way that he's been able to push all the right buttons and pull all the right strings for this team and play the part that he's played in, as we said, a 10-game win streak and 9-game win streak, 19 wins in their last 22. He's, I mean, I think still a lot of baseball left to play this summer, obviously, but I think he's doing his best job of managing since taking over for the Chicago Cubs. Let's start at the top.

Hoyer & Hawkins has given him a really good team, the best team since he's been here, right? And a product of that has been getting the bullpen and Tommy Haudivian those people getting the very best out of their bullpen guys last year and starting to show that again this year. But also how counsel and the coaches have used the bench. Okay. That has been, to me, the siding factor because it's not the conventional way, Rami, that you use a bench. In his case, he's got Bios Stiros and Shaw, young players, that are better against the other-handed type pitcher. So Biosteros, the left-handed hitter is better against right-handed pitching.

Shaw is better against left-handers. So he's made that a platoon, but not in the sense only of game-to-game, but in-game decisions of moving Biosteros out in the fourth or fifth inning, moving Shaw out in the fourth or fifth inning. If he sees the matchups the rest of the way, and that at bat is essential to trying to win the game right there. So the mastery of how he's used these guys and how they've all been producing. And then you look at the Michael Conforto situation, four for nine off the bench, two game winning hits, one, a game winner the other, a walkoff. You saw his production today. he's been, you know, reinventing himself, going back to being a better player.

So all this usage of the bench, which was not a very big part of the Cubs the last two years, they had to replace a lot of their bench players over the last two years within the season. You saw changes all the time last year. You saw Bertie and Bruhan released during the year. that was their main bench guys, you know, and eventually Castro came on and was purchased from Detroit, and he was a part of it. But just the way that they've used the extra guys and done this use of the DH, it's just been, it's worked to perfection. Give the players credit for getting the job done.

They're the ones that have to do it. But the coaches and council have done a superlative job. Bruce, you had some breaking news earlier today as the Cubs get ready to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that World Series championship team on July 18th. And we'll see yet another evolution of Riggly Field to commemorate not just that team, but all three Cubs World Series team. Yeah, Gallagher Way is going to have an arc entry and it's going to celebrate the World Championship teams of the Chicago Cubs of 1907, 1908. in 2016, and it's just going to be a big archway as you enter the Westgate of Gallagher Way. There'll be, you know, a celebration arch there. And then this will culminate with the opening of that on July 18th,

where they celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 World Championship Cubs. So it's going to be fun to watch this and see that celebration. and, you know, the Cubs have, you know, try to do something a little differently instead of putting up a statue this time to commemorate those three teams. They're going to do it with this arch and this Chicago championship gate that they're opening on the west end of it. So that should be fun. And, you know, again, going to the ballpark here is going like to six flags over this, you know,

when you start 18 and 5 at home, I mean, nothing could be. be better. So it's been a quite an enjoyable trip for Cub fans. Yeah, it's going to be weird when they will eventually lose a game at Wrigley Field and to not hear Go Cubs Go Blair through the PA system out there at Wrigley Field. It's going to feel weird. Rami, before you let me go, you know, we do a post-game interview every time they win here at Wrigley Field and we give out, you know, Chicago Cuts certificates, which is the greatest steakhouse in Chicago. I'm running out of them, you know. I mean, We can't keep in them because all these in a row have really impacted. And all these guys love going to Chicago cut.

It's such a great place. And, you know, even though they're millionaires and they make a lot of money, they always look forward to going to Chicago cut with those certificates. So good times out here. That is Bruce Levine, of course, covering the Cubs for us right here on The Score. And you can find his work at the scorechicago.com, as well as across all the shows on these airwaves. And always appreciate the time.

Bruce, have yourself a great day, my man. You as well, Rami. Thanks. Carter, good morning. How are you? Doing well, fellas. How are you guys doing? Doing well. Yeah, we're doing great. But then we're not walking off wins every night for a living. Holy cow, it's been absolutely amazing to watch the Cubs do it again and again and again.

And I guess today will be four in a row. Who knows? Yeah, I mean, that's fine by us. Anyway, we can get them. But, yeah, it's been pretty bananas. But, yeah, there's no quitting this team and made a lot of great plays. And it kept us in ball games and I've been able to get over the top of the end. So, yeah, it's been fun for us.

And obviously fun for the fan base. Yes, it does seem like it's been magical the last three nights especially. But what a run you guys are on. Best start since 2016. and most of the news has been good, but not all of it. Yesterday, bad news, Matthew Boyd, the injury to the meniscus, the surgery that I guess is planned. What can you tell us about the range of possible outcomes in terms of how long he could be out? Yeah, you know, obviously a surprise to all of us, not something we were expecting yesterday morning

and not something the Matt was expecting. You know, we had a surgery this morning went well with our doctors here in Chicago. that's good. That's kind of the first step, and now we get into the recovery stage. I mean, I think there's a really good chance that that's contributing in a meaningful level here, you know, relatively soon. It's not going to be this month. But, you know, with endosectomies, you can get back relatively soon, and I know he's motivated to do so and, you know, looking, you know, probably, you know, in the month-type range. But, you know, I think there's a good chance that will help us out here down the road.

So we know there's nothing you can do about, Kate. Horton. We're hopeful that in a few more weeks, Justin Steele gets looked at again, and maybe he can start going again. How are you guys approaching all of these pitching injuries? Yeah, with optimism, but they're trying to be realistic, too. You know, these rehabs are very rarely linear. You know, obviously, you know, with Justin, you know, we had a step back, a pretty significant step back. And, you know, now he's, you know, having to kind of start over a little bit. And, you know, that's something that you prepare for. That's why you bring on depth during the off season. That's why you're bringing on depth during the season. You know, same thing with

Border, like certainly expecting him back, but, you know, not taking that for granted. And, you know, not, you know, trying to find every arm that we possibly can that can help us get better. So it's a constant process. It's why while these wins are fun, that's a, pretty short celebration and then a few minutes later you're back to thinking about the next move and that's kind of our job and just you know glad that we can we can kind of be down in the in the trenches while everybody else can celebrate it Carter just to follow up on the Matthew board surgery this morning if you will the um you said four weeks was the estimate does that suggest then was it a trimming rather than it wasn't out of four repair right not correct yeah but it's not four weeks that would be that would be way

way quicker. I'm thinking it's, you know, it's more than a month for sure. And then we're going to kind of figure it out from there. But it was not a four-repair. It was more of a trimming. So we're optimistic on the, a quicker timeline. We have been having conversations this morning about what possibilities you have, who could step in, who takes over, I believe his first start, Matthew's first start missed will be tomorrow and what you would do and how you would fill that spot

we talked a bit about Ben Brown and his usage he's now kind of an important piece of the bullpen how careful do you have to be about a guy that at one point looked like a starter now looks

needed in the bullpen can you yo yo-yo a guy back and forth do you have to be very careful about that? What what happens with Ben Brown in terms of this starting rotation? Yeah, you have to be smart and you have to be deliberate

but I think if you look at a guy like Dan you can see that we've consistently had some longer outings, you know, over the course of the last month and then that was by design to where if we needed to have even longer outings than that we weren't starting from scratch

so we're deliberate about having some flexibility there so it's not necessarily a yo-yo as much as a slow build up or slow build down. So he'll be a guy that potentially could have to get more out in the particular game than he had in his previous roles before some of these injuries. You know, Javi Assad similarly will be another guy. Yeah, guys like Jordan Wicks coming off the IL down in Iowa and continue to look on the waiver wires, the designated guys. Any early season trades, you know, we'll be, you know, definitely beating the Bush is trying to figure out any way we can help support this.

team and doesn't mean it's going to happen quick, but it's definitely something that we're going to be working on from now until August 1st. Talking with Cubs general manager, Carter Hawkins, here on the score. So Iowa has already given or produced 13 pitchers that have pitched for the Cubs this year, and you've used a lot because of the injuries. And I just wonder, one that hasn't been here, and I'm not sure what his status is, Jackson Wiggins gets a lot of attention. What's his health status and what is the possibility that he might be?

able to help this year? Yeah, his rehabs and positive. I think he's got a live BP this weekend, so we're getting closer to getting them back in games. Obviously, he's got electric stuff. You know, he's the type of guy that looks like a major league pitcher. We just got to get the consistency of performance

once he's healthy, and then obviously the consistency of help. So he's definitely a guy that's on the radar, but not somebody that we're writing in ink. And, you know, I think our step one here is just get him healthy. And then step two is figure out if he can help us. But, you know, hopefully that'll be a good problem to have if we had to figure out a way to get him into our, you know, our rotation or our bullpen at some point down the line.

Who currently right now is the best pitcher you have available in Iowa? It's a great question. You know, you don't want to rank them out necessarily, but, you know, you've got guys on the roster. You know, you're Ethan Roberts is, you're Gavin Hollowell. You got guys like Jordan Wicks. I'm probably leaving some guys out. You know, you're Luke Little's, you know, that are ready to come up. you know, the depth that we need to have. You've got guys like Trent Thornton that we brought up for last night. You know, you got guys like Ryan Rollisand that has been, you know, just nails. You know, it's really been a next man up type mentality.

These guys have come up and done really well and then filled the spot. So I can guarantee you that, you know, there's guys that are in Iowa right now. They're going to help us win more baseball games and their guys that are not in Iowa right now. They're going to help us win more baseball games. And, you know, our job is, you know, no matter what the fanfare is of those guys, to make sure that they're optimized once they get up here and put us in position. You mentioned the trade deadline, and it seems like every year it gets a little bit earlier in the season that we start talking about the trade deadline.

And yet this season, it seems like it might be something that you explore sooner rather than later because of the health and the injuries that you've incurred. What is the trick there? And when do you know when you want to jump the market, and how tricky is that for you guys to navigate and just wonder how that all unfolds? Yeah, I mean, I think you're right. The media definitely talks about it earlier every year. I would say, you know, on the industry side, you know,

we're talking about trades pretty consistently, so that hasn't changed. And you jump to market when you feel like you have good value. And the other team feel like they have good value. It's harder to do that far away from a deadline. It's harder to do that when you've got so many teams that are still in the next. You know, so it's unlikely that there would be a significant move this time of year. But that doesn't mean we're not talking about it. It doesn't mean we're not

making sure to have, you know, every line in the water we possibly can. So it's, it's part of it. It's, you know, it's, you know, unfortunately, a slow trickle this time of year, but it's definitely going on. You know, I hate to even ask this question, but I wonder what would have happened had you not made the decision you made on Shota Imanaga. I mean, you know, he didn't pitch in the playoffs last year, we weren't certain whether you were going to bring them back or not. The contract was so complicated. And now you look at it and you're like, oh my gosh, what would have happened if Shoda wasn't here? I mean, he's been, he's been sensational. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, you think about the hundreds of decisions, right? The players that we could have traded away at the

deadline last year, the players that, you know, we ended up bringing on, the draft picks we'd make, international signs that we make. You know, there's just so many 100, maybe thousands of decisions that lead to a team, but, you know, what you try to do is make sure that each individual decision is one that you can hide and hang your hat on, that you feel really good about.

And we felt really good about, you know, show to him and AGO on, you know, on the QO type deal and felt like this is a pitcher that it's worth, you know, worth that deal in a vacuum and, you know, made that decision as such. And certainly that's one of the ones that have paid off thus far. So, Carter,

much has been made about the bench and how improve it is this year as opposed to last season and Michael Conforto coming through with the other night a walkoff homer and his pinch hitting prowess has been great and I just look at the reserves that you have and curious the decision to bring back Nikki Lopez who's a very popular guy in the clubhouse. Nico Horner talked about him being a big part of the chemistry and camaraderie of this team. What went into the thought process of bringing him back and what value does he provide? Yeah, I mean, a lot of value in Naperville guys, for sure. So that definitely gets a boost in our forecasting systems.

So all the high school kids down there, he keep working hard and he got a chance. But no, he understands his role. He can play multiple positions. He can run the bases. He can play smart baseball for us. And, you know, he supports his teammates. And, you know, in a role like that, you have to have that. You know, he's not complaining about not getting starts.

You know, he's just here to help the baseball. team win in any way he possibly can, and I think God's feet off of that. You know, we were talking again this morning about Pete Crow Armstrong and the home run yesterday, and obviously a great decision to sign him when you did. Maybe Nico Horner is already outplaying his contract. I mean, do you ever look at stuff like that and say, wow, we handled that really well. and when Nico is doing what he's doing, it feels like, I know this is a strange thing to say,

but he has outplayed that contract. Yeah, I mean, obviously we feel very strongly about Nico. And I think at a general level, you know, when you give someone that amount of money, you're looking for someone with the underlying traits that a guy like Nico has, you know, it's not just as he worth the dollars, but also, you know, do you trust that he's going to put himself in a position?

to be the best version of themselves and help others be the best versions of themselves. As corny as that sounds, it's real. And when you make a gesture like a contract like that, whatever that player represents, everybody knows that's what you believe in and we believe in what Nico is all about. So from that perspective, we felt really good at the front end of the deal. I mean, I think the interesting thing is, by definition, every deal we make, when we make it,

we feel like it's a good deal. some of them do not work out right some of them do work out we're hopeful that we're on the side of the house here right or more of them are working out than the alternative and so you don't really end up looking at deals you know six months later three years later and be like wow we're awesome on that one you really just are looking back and saying hey at the time of the deal what do we know or not know to potentially improve our process and you know it's certainly you know that's not the sexiest way to talk about about deal making but that's that's kind of what we're doing and definitely with Nico, we'll look back a few years from now and go, all right,

like what do we know at the time of the deal that helped us make a decision that worked out well or didn't work out well? You know, Carter, the rash of arm injuries isn't confined to the Cubs. It's throughout baseball and it creates an ongoing conversation about what to do about it. And I'm not sure that there ever is a good answer. And I think the answer tends to change or shift depending on everyone's personal experience or whatever their team's going through. What is being done, do you think, or how is this conversation?

going at the league level in the commissioner's office or what the game can do can the sport do anything throughout it to try to reduce these injuries to address the problem that is becoming an epidemic yeah it's it's a it's a big conversation you know i know the commissioner's office you know had a large study done um i think it was last year um that it's really tried to bring together a lot of the research and and you know the unfortunate and real part about it is the research isn't conclusive outside of the fact that pitcher injuries continue to increase. Players continue to throw harder. They continue to

make themselves susceptible to injury more often. And the incentive structure of our game is definitely geared towards throwing the ball harder, getting more swinging miss. And as long as that's helping teams win more, teams

are going to seek that out more. And when the teams seek that out more, players are going to seek that out more. So it's about changing the incentive structure to some extent, which is a really really, really hard thing to do in a system like baseball that's as big as baseball. But it's certainly something that we're continuing to think about. And the challenging part is even when you really do everything you possibly can to mitigate injuries, they're still going to happen.

You know, they're still up. You're really just minimized the odds, but you can still get unlucky in different times. You know, a guy can pick up his kid one morning and twist the wrong way. Ouch. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, so, I mean, look, like, I know you're talking more specifically on the arm injuries, and I think that's definitely where a lot of the focus is, and, you know, I can guarantee you that I spend a solid, solid 10% of my day over the last six weeks trying to figure out the

answer to that, or just trying to get better at that, I guess I should say, and we'll keep on working that for the rest of my career, I imagine. I'm curious, you know, you guys are kind of having a special season. There's no way around it, and there are a lot of different reason for that. But when you go through a mental list of them, where does the development of Moises Ballesteros fit? How important has that been? And obviously he's becoming a more important piece of the lineup with every one that's put together. Yeah, I mean, the offensive talent of Moises is unmistakable.

And so that has been really encouraging and definitely helps balance out our our lineup and having a left hand and bat like that. It's helped bounce out our lineup and, you know, your point, why are we having success early in the year here? I mean, our offense has been really, really good, and our defense has been outstanding.

Right. And our picture just stepped up, but, you know, I think that's, you know, we're making good for our baseball players plays. We're not getting games away. When you win one-one, one-run baseball games, like we have the last several nights, like you can't make many mistakes. And we definitely minimize that.

But also the ability to hit a three-run home run, like Moises helps too. We'll need a lot more of that. And he's been awesome. It's consistent approach, and it's been awesome to watch just how the fans have really gravitated towards them. And, yeah, I'm looking forward to watching Mo Baller for years to come. Of the many options you're forced to consider now with all of the injuries to the starting

rotation, is Kyle right among them? Is he healthy? Is he on his way back? Is he a possibility later in the season? Yeah, so Kyle's down in Arizona, you know, working through some injury rehab. he's had some shoulder issues just over the last several years. And she had a little bit of a setback last week, actually. So I wouldn't expect him in the near term,

but certainly somebody that, you know, amongst some of the other names that I brought up is a guy that's in our system currently that potentially could see later in the year. I'm curious, Carter, just as a general idea of this season in baseball, what has been your takeaway from the ABS system? Do you feel like it should, take over? Do you like the way it's used right now? What is it like when you see a guy,

oh, he was too late to challenge that call or he accidentally hit his head. He's got to, he's got to accept that he's going to strike out here. How do you look at? I think the entertainer value is outstanding. I've enjoyed it from that perspective. I think for just fun things to watch at a game. Yeah, I'm all in. I think one of my takeaways is just how unbelievable umpires are like to be able to make the call that they're making you know to be able to see that they're you know getting calls right that are you know a millimeter two millimeters that's pretty wild um especially with how hard guys throw and how much stuff moves um so that that's interesting in terms of like strategy and affecting the overall outcome of the game

like yeah a little bit but like i think it's relatively minimal i think i look at it more as it's just really good entertainment value. I would have some concerns if we were talking about going full ABS. I think that would change some of the just way the game is played, how catchers catch, who you put behind the plate,

those types of things. You know, you could theoretically just have a big sumo wrestler back there. They could just stop every ball. It's a concept. Yeah, exactly. So, but hey, look, you know, I think we

we've got to be open to progress. The league has done a great job of being open to new ideas and new rules and trying things and taking some risk. And it's definitely paid off here with a better brand than baseball, which isn't fun to watch. Thanks so much, Carter. Thanks, Carter. Great catching up with you.

Good luck on the quest to find pitching. Absolutely. I appreciate it, guys.