Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show — July 1, 2026

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

Live from Gallagher Way, Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed the Cubs' 9-7 win against the Padres on Tuesday and welcomed on general manager Carter Hawkins to discuss the state of the club as it has persevered through a string of injuries.

There is. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody, 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Ian Hap is joining us. Ian Cray weekend in Milwaukee with a blast of a series. finale was ridiculous. Your three-run homer on Saturday was fantastic. I want to go to the Miserowski game, and specifically, and a bat that you had in the sixth inning, he fires the pitch. I think it hits the knob of your bat. Here's the pitch to half. It's a foul that

hit the knob of the bat right near his hands. I thought it might have hit him in the hand, but it hit the bat, the knob. I want to know what that moment felt like when 100 hits the bat. Okay, I think there was 101 or 102. The one that hit your knob. It hit the knob of the bat. It hit the bat, the knob. Up and in one of those ones where you're trying to get out of the way of it,

I choke up a little bit and definitely with two strikes so the knob is more exposed. Luckily, and so it wasn't my hand. He's good, man. He's really good. He's really good. I'm sorry, Ian. We are 12 and laughing at the way Grotty phrased it. I don't know how you're being a professional about this.

Hit your knob. Sorry about that. You're on with us every week. I'm sorry, you're in on the joke. Whether or not you want to be, you just have to be a part of that moment. I usually do think in Beavis and Butthead terms, but I really honestly wasn't in that case. Baseball! Duh, da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

You did get your knob-it. Yeah, it's pure baseball guy. And credit to you for the professionalism in this conversation. Oh, my goodness. It hit the bat, the knob. The knob's more exposed. Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, the score. That's how you begin a show in front of comes fans and professionals and people who matter at Gallagher Way ahead of a very important game.

Really? against a really good team for charity. You know, that's how you do it, right? No. Oh, man. Oh, man. No. I was thinking the same thing. We're at this classy place, beautiful day.

The people, the towns people are starting to make their way through. We blast the radio station and they hear lob talk. I mean, here are these, the entire Salvation Army band here. They're here for a good cause. Good people are here. And here we are just being ridiculous and inappropriate. it's 10.07 in the morning. We're also here for a good cause, to be fair.

We are. Welcome to Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 to score. We are looking for a sweep today. It is a very hot day here at Gallagher Way, but we are happy to be with you. We're hanging on by a threat in some places because the wind is pretty strong. But in the meantime, we are very happy to be here getting you ready for the third game of this Cubs and Padres series, guys. I feel like we're going back to our roots. We've reconstructed our apartment.

here at Gallagher Way where we set up shop last year for the playoffs. Here we are with Cubs and Padres yet again. And here we are talking about once again a pleasant performance against this Padres team where it was a little stressful to watch in the beginning against with Matt Boyd when I saw that Tateau run. But as we see, Cubs turned out very victorious. It took every bit of the nine runs they scored to win this ball game. They needed all of them. But they came out on top yet again. And the offense is really putting together a solid body of work right now. This is the formula, guys. This is what it's going to take. And it's hard to believe we got over halfway through the season.

And the Cubs hadn't even hit four home runs in a game. But in this game, they go yard five times, so obviously a season high. But it was the types of home runs they were hitting that got me excited. When you look at the scrutiny that Alex Bregman and his five-year, $175 million contract has been under, and for just the second time all season, he hits a home run with people actually on base. And then you come to find out that not only was it only his second home run

with people on base this season, it's the first three-run homer this man has hit since last July. And that's when it clicked for me. I was like, oh, yeah, they probably need him to do more of that if he's going to be in the top third of the order. Also, PCA wrapping up just a glorious month with his 11th home run in June.

And so you take that, the Michael Bush, And of course, the team RBI leader, Dansby Swanson, strikes again twice. It's unbelievable and that both of those guys do it in the same inning, that they get it out of their system. There was, I was, I know that like this is like the cheesy thing to do, but there was something symbolic about these two guys who have had probably the worst season relative to expectations, Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman,

that these two guys that Swanson on a three-two count, in the second inning launches a 450-foot home run. Later on, as you said, Marshall, the three-run blast by Alex Bregman. And then in the fifth inning, Swanson goes 452. I know the wind was blowing out, but it felt like Swanson was letting some steam off. And I happened to have been at the game last night, and you could feel like the conversation, we were literally where we were sitting with the friends that I was with, literally having a conversation about Dansby Swanson when it was up to plate,

a very negative conversation, to be honest with you. And then the guy hits a home run. We're like, okay, let's do Regman now. So we put the hex on him. We were speaking negatively about him. He launches a three-run homer. So it's like the vibe was right last night at Wrigley with the wind blowing out. I mean, there were some no doubters.

And it's funny because we watched the wind in the game before. And we all said, we thought, say, Suzuki got robbed somehow with the wind and just that last it, bat that he had the game winner in the walkoff. but just some good hits, too, some good contact. Like, that would have been a base hit regardless in this wind. You know, that would have been one that would have scored some runs. So both of them just providing. And then, unfortunately, you know, they were up at 1.9 to 3 in this.

Yeah. And I got to tell you guys, first and foremost, I definitely, Matt Boyd comes back and he does a really good job. Five innings, eight hits, though, but only gives up three earned runs, the two home runs, that Tatise own run. When I saw that to start, I was like, oh boy. It's going to be like this. Okay, okay, he's getting back from injury. I just kind of have to understand that. Like, it's not going to be perfect.

He settles down. He ends up going five, and he worked for all of them. And then, unfortunately, for the Cubs on the other side, you know, we've talked about Javier Assad living on the edge. I think anybody on the mound was in that game last night just because of the circumstances with the weather. But you don't want to have to have all of those nine runs mean something, where you're suddenly in that, well, it wasn't sudden,

but you're in the same situation. Ryan Rawlinson has to go out there. Fortune turned quickly. Like, you thought this was easy, peasy at 9 to 3, and oh, no, it was not. I, though, I got to say, though, for the most part, I know this sounds crazy because Javier Assad gives up the three-run jack to our old friend Gavin Cheats last night.

I like the way Javier Assad pitched last night, especially he comes in at a deficit in the game in the sixth inning with two on, and nobody out. He gets out of that. had a clean seventh inning. He was going well in the eighth inning until it didn't against Gavin Sheets. So I know that's a big launch right there. But for the most part, and I was commenting to the people that we were with, I'm like, wow, he's really sticking with Assad. And I know that that is what he is capable of doing. I like the way he pitched last night. The fun part for me, guys, was understanding, okay, Javier Assad is not going to make it out of the eighth inning.

What is Craig Counsel going to do to get the last four outs in this game? And I was really like going through the roster because, you know, so many new guys. I was like, well, I wonder if he thinks this guy can close. I wonder if he thinks this guy. And at first I was like, is Tyler Ferguson going to come out here and get four outs? Is that the plan here? Or somebody else? Would they dare roll out Gavin Hollowell again? That was the thing. And I, I, we get

to the ninth inning, and he's back out there, and I'm like, okay, so is he going to just stay in or what's going to happen? And then when you see Ryan Rawlinson come out, he of starter fame from the Milwaukee Brewers series, I'm like, all right, they got their own little version of Grant Taylor. It's kind of cute the way they're rolling things out here. And Craig Counsel's pushing just the right buttons. And next thing you know, they won, what,

eight of nine, 18 or 14 of their last 18? It's gotten to a point now where your trust as a viewer has gone back up while during that 10-game losing streak, during that 7 and 22 stretch, the confidence was so far down. Well, that's it. You know, you're right, Marshall, the home run by Tatis previously and the weather or not was standing would have been debilitating. You know, you're saying to yourself, oh, no, like, here we go. And yeah, I joked about it with the situation with Matthew Boyd, you know, just wondering what Boyd's stuff is going to look like. But there were times where a one-run lead on this team seemed insurmountable.

And then we see the offense come through. Dansby Swanson with two home runs. I know it's going to be boom and bust with Danzby. It's boom and bust with the entire lineup, yada, yada, yada, except for PCA. And we'll get to him in a second. but all you need is for a little bit of that lineup, 7, 8, 9 to start hitting successfully,

not even dramatically, not even, you know, to some unrealistic expectation. All you need is for a little bit of that to happen. And suddenly this lineup, I feel like it's such a multiplier. You go from like those three guys hitting every now and then, and it makes, it exponentially raises the offensive firepower of this team. And we know it's there too. It's not like we haven't seen the hot streaks this year.

It's not like we haven't seen two 10-game winning streaks. So you're absolutely right. You're not going to have the benefit of this. What I believe we have again today, the wind is blowing out. It's definitely blowing. Yeah. There is wind. If you see stuff just fly in on our Twitch stream, Twitch.com.

You know why. We're on YouTube there as well. So enjoy that. Yes. Yeah, we are here for, yeah, little violent wind blowups of papers violently. splashing throughout the area here at Gallagher Way. But that's just it. We have been waiting for it all year.

It feels like for just a few guys in the lineup to get hot or just not have awful, awful slumps, which has happened for a couple of these guys. And Marshall, I think you bring up a really good point with play the GM here or play Craig Counsel's decision with the bullpen. Because again, there's enough people contributing enough to make it work. Credit to Ryan Rawlinson for that save. He got his first of the year.

Congratulations. First career save for Ryan Rawlson. So, yeah, I didn't know who was going to be in that spot, but I was glad he'd come in, get the one out, get a save under your belt. And that's another high leverage situation he's now been a part of. Guys, we go back to the 18-game stretch, which has seen the Cubs.

Remember, they fell all the way down to 500. Now they're 10 games over 500 by winning 14 of those 18 games. Here's the thing. I don't think anyone expects someone to step up and be the next, I don't know, Kate Horton, or Ben Brown, where it's a revelatory thing that happens over the course of a season. You got what you got until the trade deadline, until moves are made to get you better starting pitching. The one thing that I think over this 18-game stretch, we have to say, okay, that's what I've been waiting for, is how they've produced with runners in scoring position.

They're hitting 274 over that stretch. That is top seven in baseball over that stretch. and also the OPS with runners in scoring position over the last 18 games, 926. That's fourth best in baseball. That'll work. That's it. You're absolutely correct. And it just speaks to what you talk about.

When this lineup is longer, we see, we breathe easier. You know, the four runs allowed by Javier Assad, for example, doesn't look as bad. You've got more opportunities for people to come in. You have run support. Things that make this team make sense. Yeah, that's so fun. last night, I was right with about seven rows behind the Cubs dug outside, a good view of Craig Counsel and Tommy Hadovi.

And watching them during Assad's last inning where he gives up the bomb and then he gives up the walk to the next guy. I think it was just watching. I'm like, man, I hope Assad can make it through this. And then when they knew he wasn't going to make it, both of them were like, take a step back and they're both like, oh, man. And I'm like, don't go out there, Craig. Don't go out there.

There goes Craig. Had to. Had to. It sucked. It actually sucked when with two outs in the ninth inning delayed gratification. Craig goes out there. Everybody's on their feet at Wrigley Field. He's like, wait a minute. I got one more pitching change to make. He is, as Lawrence has said many times, Lawrence says very well. Craig is managing his ass off right now. And it's like you could see all the stress and all the, this is what I got to do. This is what I have to do. And I think with Matt Shaw not being available to him, I'm still almost surprised that they gave them that much leech to play with the offense to the pitching staff saying,

hey, guys, here's a nine spot. See what you can do with this. And if you look at the bottom third of the order, four runs come from that. And I'm curious if you guys are okay with Ian Hap being all the way down in the seven hole now. Yeah. I mean, if he's comfortable with it and it's producing. And like we said, you know Ian Hap's hitting profile enough. And to think, I think where you,

if you have that performance there, that again, it lengthens the lineup. You know PCA is going to do something batting leadoff. I okay with this version of it as long as it holds. And today, I think, is a good example. Given the wind again, given what we're dealing with, I think it probably does, right? You're looking at a similar situation. Groats?

Absolutely. No, I mean, today's situation, too, by the way, looking forward to a Colin Ray Walker Bueller situation. Ray really good against Milwaukee and Toronto, so we'll see if they could pull it off here again today. Yeah, the Colin Ray piece of this is important. As we said, we are broadcasting live from Gallagher Way outside of Wrigley Field. We are here for Donation Day with the Salvation Army,

adult rehabilitation centers, and thrift stores. It's a wonderful cause. Bring your gently used clothing to donate right outside the ballpark. Donors receive a special Cubs, one per person while supplies last. We are here until 1245, followed by Zach Zainman's pregame show right here on 1043. The Score. This segment was brought to you by almost freeteeth.com.

Save on dental implants today. You can text and call us 312, 644, 67, 67 is our number. As I mentioned, we're on Twitch, Twitch.tv slash the Score Chicago. Same address on YouTube as well. Our crew out here helping us today. We've got our promotions, people. We've got Ray D.S. CS. Our intern Peter.

Ryan Porth is out here, too. Back at the station, we have Tyler Ferengold. Brandon Friar helps us out. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, Max Curtis, and Cody Westerlin. So next, we got some updates on that pitching picture. It's going to be hard for me to say. It's the right thing. Now, you all are welcome to try to say it as well, five times fast.

So we're trying to figure out who's going where. And we got updates from Jamison Tyone as well. So we will look into it all next on 104 3, the score. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. One ball and one strike to count on Merrill. Rolles and high leg kick and pitch. Merrill hits one in the air, shallow left coming in half. He's got it.

Cubs win. They hold on and beat the Padres in this slug best 9 to 7. And the Cubs have now won eight of their last nine. That's right. That is courtesy of Zach Zayman. It is 14 of 18 for the Cubs and my how things look different now. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score broadcasting live from Gallagher Way as we get you ready for this third game of the Cubs series against the Padres. The Cubs are now 48 and 38, a square 10 games above 500. Colin Ray is your starter today facing Walker Bueller. And this is a day where, I think we got a lot of pitching updates from Craig Council and company yesterday

to kind of get ready for what we might be able to see in the games ahead. That's a good sign. At least when we know that, for example, Marshall, we talked about it yesterday, guys on the show, Mark Roddy, about Drew Pomerance going to Iowa. We knew that Liam Hendricks was there as well and that Aaron Bummer was there. So these are some arms that can help this team. And then James and Tyron updates coming online too. I think the biggest question I have going forward because we also learned that Daniel

Palencia won't be back until after the Ulster break is he's just now starting to get ramped up is I'm so curious as to how Craig Counsel handles what's been a very volatile up and down bullpen and which buttons he decides to push given that sometimes it's just this is the guy who is available to me today, not necessarily a guy that I would even have on my roster if everybody was healthy. Jordan Wicks. Yeah, yes. I mean that so far

he did the right thing I know he did he did the right thing I know he did that guy you're absolutely right he was great even though he walked out with the base and he's forgiven for that to have gotten out of that jam was excellent but do you really think that Craig counsel in that moment wanted actively

was desirous of going to him in that predicament was left with no choice he is doing what he has to do you have an arm attached to your body how about you go out and try to throw you know and for all to talk about like managing pockets, for example. Pockets of the light up go out the window when you can't figure out who you've got with what you have left. Look at all this. Look at this mess on my computer,

Lela. It's a lot of red on your depth chart. Hobie Milner, Phil Maton, Riley, oh, Riley Martin, Edward Cabrera, James and Tyone, Ben Brown, Daniel Palencia, throw in a match shot. Let's do a position player while we're at it as well. But those are all of the guys that are actively on the injured list right now. So again, I'll say kind of what I said yesterday, too. Part of this is even though I'm making this big deal about Craig being super stressed about putting guys in that he has to put in, he's also, he also can't really fight with himself because he's just putting in the guys that he has to put in. So are they wrong decisions even right now? You know what I'm saying? Every decision is simply a decision. What we talked about yesterday when you said, who are you

more proud of the Cubs of the White Sox? I am plenty proud of the White Sox. I think you both know that. I think the listener knows that. We are too. knows that, but to understand how bad and how decimated the pitching staff has been this season for the Cubs and to somehow find themselves 10 games over 500 holding onto the second wildcard spot and not out of the question that they could somehow catch the Brewers because they're only five and a half games back. And I'm not even worried about that. As much as I am, the Cubs need to have main character energy. You took two out of three against Milwaukee. You did the job you were supposed to do, especially on the road. Check. Now you're you take to a,

out of three against the Padres, you have a chance for a sweep. Check. You know, these are the things that are important. Are you using enough of your arms when they're in the game to help extend your bullpen? You're trying. Did Matt Boyd get enough innings to get himself in a more comfortable place? I feel like that happened. So those are the things that I'm focused on right now. And, you know, in the Department of, aren't we all, here's what Craig Counsel had to say about his pitching situation. It was more like how the double-house. Yes, yes, and then the double header and things like that. So, yeah, I mean, we're a little bit day-to-day with our pitching.

That's just how we're treating it. But, yeah, we think we have a path kind of through the Monday off day here in St. Louis series. Again, on the scale of confidence meter, we're concerned, as we like to joke about with Craig Counsel saying last week, he sounded like they have an idea, but it doesn't sound like it's very clear as to how they're going to get from point A to be. A little bit day to day. Well, aren't we all?

I think the thing that's in his favor right now is clearly the schedule. They've got an off day tomorrow. They've got another off day on Monday. Anytime you can have a series kind of on an island where you don't have to worry about who's pitching the day before or who's pitching the day after, it helps. I mean, I'm assuming we're going to put some more respect on Bryce's name with an S. And he's going to get some bulk work. Yes, he's going to get some bulk work coming up.

But if you look at what the pitchers, have done the last time through the rotation. The four starters they have available to them right now, you can't really be mad at what has happened. No, and I mean, even think about David Peterson, what money in the bank that was, against Milwaukee no less.

So do you expect him to go more than five and two thirds his next time out? Can you? You know, is that a reasonable understanding? And what will Matthew Boyd doing is next? Because he literally has had 76 pitches in his first two outings that he's had. What he got right last night was probably something that they implored him to get right last night.

You can't walk four like he did in the performance previous to this on a night where the wind is blowing out. Look, you're going to give up some hits. They're going to whack the ball into the outfield. Right. But do not give them free passes on a night like this. So I feel like the Matthew Boyd, I don't want to say fragile because then people freak out. I think he's still hurt. But I do think that there's still a ramp up going on with Matthew Boyd.

I mean, I've felt that way since the World Baseball Classic. And it's no offense to Matthew Boyd. Weemer. He was coming off of his second. highest total in innings pitched in his career last year. That's relatively late in your career to come off that total. A lot of people talked about it with Edward Cabrera, too. You know, you keep an eye on how many innings you throw the year before. Now, also from Craig Counsel was the update on one of my favorites from the bullpen last year. He is the palm in what I like to call Kelpomflex,

which was Keller, Pomeranz, and Flexen. Here's Craig Counsel's update on Drew Pomerantz. Well, Pomerantz is pitched in AAA, so he reported there, he pitched on Sunday in Iowa. So, you know, that's certainly, we need options, essentially, so that's certainly an available option. I think the other two guys, Pomerantz, Aaron Bummers, another veteran major league that's with us, maybe a little farther to go. same thing i mean hendrickson balmer i would say a little farther yeah you know it's nice to hear him talking about people that we know too yeah oh true pomerets i know him what erin bummer i've heard i've heard of him

that's pretty cool man you're taking me back to the days when a baseball team is rebuilding and there's like nobody that you know on the team like yeah you look at the lineup is like oh yeah it's probably worse in basketball when you see a starting five and you're like the dale the dale swam cub so we were talking about the other day with nate sheer holts and David DeHasus. And you have absolutely no idea who's in the bullpen and who they have this like 45 years of service time.

Neil Ramirez and my guy, Justin Grimm, had to fight through some of those rebuilds. He was the guy that they would just put in every day and abuse his arm. They're like, sorry, we need you again. But it feels like Drew Pomerantz could be up sooner rather than later. He's already pitched in AAA. He's going to pitch some more AAA.

Maybe he makes, I don't know, a couple more appearances. The weekend? Maybe he's here? That's a good. question is what's the update on this hey i know just the person to ask about these things yeah carter hawkins at 11 yeah that's it in the meantime we also got some information on james and tyone and tyone also talked to the media as well so let's start with what kregg counsel had to say about the the timeline for tyone today was a good day you know i think the plan is for rehab start and then

and then i think the plan and then just where where are we sitting kind of as we get into the the last weekend before the break, essentially is the thought right now. He mentioned potentially this weekend for the rehab, started to say. Yeah, Sunday likely. Yeah. So that was his update, and then James and Tyone was also available yesterday to the media. So here's what he had to say. Excited about the idea for sure.

It's always nice to have, like, kind of a rough timeline just to look forward to. So when you're showing up and working, it's not like, I don't know, the end is far away. you just have kind of the light at the end of the tunnel. So for me to have like a target idea, a date, has brought me some excitement and just a little more urgency behind the work, maybe. But yeah, like I've responded really well to everything. The strength is there. The running is going well for someone who's slow.

And I thought like all the throwing's been pretty good. It feels like you just don't want him to rush it when he talks about urgent. Like, look, bro, bro, we're doing all right without you. We need you to be whole when you get back. Isn't it funny? every time James and Tyone talks, I feel like everything is always okay. Because everything always just sounds so good coming out of his mouth. He's so thoughtful and so specific.

It's like, oh, he's fine. He's good. He's as clear of a communicator as there is. He really is. And he is walking, like, positive energy. Dealing with him, like, in the clubhouse and stuff, he's always talking from a positive perspective, even if he's going through one of his troubled times, as we've seen him do from time to time, you know,

when he's giving up, I don't know, the most home runs of anybody before the All-Star break. And I think about him too in this Padre series just after the playoff series and what he was able to do. And it's a bummer. He doesn't get to pitch in this series today. Do you guys think that by the end of this year we will see this show to Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, James and Tyone and Ben Brown as the Cubs starting five? Will we ever actually see that? Or is this just the year that that's not going to happen?

And that it's just going to be about that? No. I'm going to say. No? I don't. You don't accept that it won't be that. I'm very skeptical that at the same time you're going to see those five guys. That you're skeptical about.

I'm skeptical on Ben Brown specifically because of the nature of the entry and how long he's going to be out. And also, the trade deadline is coming. I do believe they've done enough to earn the right to go get another arm. So somebody that isn't even in the Cubs organization is going to be a part of that five, in my opinion. Yeah, speaking of questions for Carter Hawkins, what's all this? We talked to the Mets for six weeks about David. Peterson talk. Well, well, well. Yeah, and what about Freddie Peralta?

Was there any talk mixed in with the six-week triumph of David Peterson? Was there any of that? These are the questions. Yeah, there's no way. You know that. It's not like, we're like, hey, we're only talking about one met and one met. What else is going on?

It's just a matter of how, whatever the response is said to you is said. Did you also talk to us about maybe, I don't know, Juan Soto? Is he available? You know what's funny is do you remember when the leaked messages came out from the cheating scandal where it wasn't the cheating of like on the field. It was the breaking into the database of the Astros and the Cardinals.

And that essentially that kind of is how it is. Hey, is Peek-Zan-Carlo stand available? You got to ask, shoot or shoot. Yes, shooters do shoot. That's kind of the other. Like, you just want to know what the price is. You know, you just, guys wheel and deal. act like you've never driven through a nice neighborhood.

You're like, oh, let me zillow that and see how much that costs. And you know what? Just because there's not a for sale sign on that house. It doesn't mean it ain't for sale. Well, it's not for sale to me because I don't have the cash to pull. I have a hard time believing that. Oh, you know something I don't know? Oh, multiple jobs, Marshall Harris.

Let's go. I'm going to ABC 7. Oh, no, I'm going to go do another play-by-play-play job for. I'm just trying to survive out here. Uh-huh. Yeah, the old. Oh, shucks Marshall Harris. Oh, shucks.

Aw shucks. Poor Marshall Harris. And then Ryan Ports talked about the all shucks, Terry Francona. I'm glad to see that's caught on. I'm glad to see that's a thing. All poor shucks. He's Marshall Harris. He thinks he's poor, but I don't think that's true. I think we have to have a scarcity mindset in our industry because if you notice, it's scarce. I'll put it very simply.

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day to everyone who celebrates, especially to those of you who realize how much $1.4 million was worth the first time he got it compared to how much it's worth now. Do you remember Wheel of Fortune when one of the options was annuity? I remember one of the options was a freaking $25 gift certificate to service merchandise. Hell yes, service merchandise. But like there wasn't annuity, and I was like, the annuity seems good, because then you have money always coming in. And that was practical child, Lela, and her logical thoughts.

And then she chose journalism, which is just about poverty. But journalism's about poverty. Keep listening for your chance to win two general admission tickets to Moen-Umfries-Maggie at Hunter Pavilion on August 15th provided by Ravinia. For tickets and more info, visit ravinia.org. And up to this, Cubs talk, as I yell at Gallagher Way and people turn around. You scared that guy. We're sorry. We're sorry.

We're trying to control her. No, no, we talk about sports on this show, and that means all the sports. And the White Sox did something that they hadn't done in many weeks. So we will get to that next. Rahimi Harris and Groot. Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio. Wide ball in the center. Peter's coming in and that's going to do it. White Sox will wrap up game two and will win this series against the Orioles. The first road series win since the start of May in San Diego.

Loving how this White Sox team is looking right now. That call courtesy of John Shiffin on CHSN. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody and Shrift Dog is right. Is that his nickname? No, I just made it up and he's probably bothered that I just made it up. And not because of him being bothered, but of me creating a bad nickname. John Shiffin was correct, though. This is the first road series win for the White Sox since beating the Padres may first through the third.

So that's several weeks. Marshall, you've talked about the importance of the socks winning on the road. if they want to really capitalize on this early window they've created. And I did love that both teams in town had nine runs. Your son was absent nine times. But the White Sox just dispose of the Orioles yesterday early and then just added to the lead. And that's how you take advantage of a series against a team that's faltering a bit. The crooked number thing is a real thing for the White Sox.

In the third inning, they come up. first seven guys get on base and I'll score because Colson Montgomery, I don't know where the ball landed because I couldn't see it on the screen, 440 feet on Utah. Yes, it went to Utah Street. So guys, listen to the crowd because there's the background noise in this. I want us to all listen because I think we all watching this had the same verbal, audible reaction when we heard this.

Take a listen. Colson Montgomery, back it goes. Get out! That one on to Utah Street. Colson Montgomery, a two-run shot here in this third inning. And the socks retake the lead. That was the most no doubt of no-doubters. But when he hit that, I said the same thing.

I was like, oh. Like, I know it takes a little bit to play it again. Tyler, let me know. Baby T. Let me know when you can ramp up our audio again to play it again. But that was, didn't you think the same thing? When you saw that, I was like, oh. I was like, so Colson Montgomery had not had as much power in the last few games,

like just hitting bombs and just masses like he did last year. They weren't that egregious. And so to see him do it was one thing, but I think the bigger thing is, you really understand how valuable Colson Montgomery is, and people want to knock him for his 221 batting average. I get that. But the threat of power is real, and understand this, that's the second straight day.

And the 13th time this season that he has delivered the go-ahead, B. Celebrity walking by. Ron Cumber is here. Ron Comer from the Cubs Radio broadcast booth. The dog. That's the dog. He's Coom Dog.

He is a dog. He is. I'm sorry, John. I just, it came out of my mouth. I don't know what he has. Dog sounds good after anybody's name. No, John. No.

Colson Dog doesn't sound as good. I'm going to stop you right there, Groie. Coles dog. You wait again, Marshall. Well, but look. But look. Curses. With the Colson Montgomery thing,

I think it's important to note that even with a low batting average, he's come up with so many timely hits. That's 13 times this season. out of 45 wins that he has had the go-ahead RBI. He did it a night ago in game two of the series. He does it here. And after that, everyone just followed suit because it was a two-run single by Jacob Gonzalez,

then a three-run bomb from Junior Perez. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, how about that? The bottom of the lineup coming through yesterday. He's a character in this season. Could we be that far away from another Rico Nishita, another round of him? They're like characters, right?

They pop in like, oh! And it's like Newman on Seinfeld. pops up every once in a while. You know, how far are we away? And is Jacob Gonzalez good or what? Oh, I'm about to tell you about Jacob. Is he good or not? I'm doing this.

It's like the Austin Booker thing. Is he good or not? Thank you, Tyler. Thank you for isolating. Like, I'm telling you, when I heard, I was like, I had the same reaction. I love it with the crowd. Has the exact same noise you do. Honestly, it's the greatest, oh, since, because then this is perfect,

since the dunk over Dragich by Derek Rose, watching the bench. of Phoenix where they were like, oh, like, they couldn't, like, watch the bench on that place. That's my favorite thing. Those players on Phoenix were all like, oh, God, like, they couldn't sit still because of the Derek Rose Dunnett, to quote Will Venable, it was majestic. Did you know that that is the third home run by the White Sox to go to Utah since Adam Dunn? That's the first since Adam Dunn. September 8th, 2013.

Who knew how to put a hurt on a ball when he got one? and then it kind of sounded like that when you would see him get every bit of it. I just, I crack up and stuff like that because I was like, oh, the crowd had the same reaction. What's crazy is Montgomery might end up being, you know, the six-hole hitter when Munataka Murray-Comic comes back because that's just the way it lays out.

I don't know where they're going to put him. And to answer Grotie's question about Jacob Gonzalez. Is he good? Yes, and here's how I know he's good. Because when he wasn't hitting, the White Sox weren't winning. He didn't get a hit on that road trip. They went one in five. since then the man's been on fire.

He's over 500 on base percentage. He's got 12 RBI over his last six games. The only player in baseball with more RBI's than that over that stretch is Junior Camerre. So think about where he is on the Pantheon of getting it done. He's hitting 500 with runners in scoring position this season. And when he drives in a run, the White Sox are 7 and 0 this year. He just looks like he's figuring it out at the plate. And you know, to that end, I am not ready to call what I think is Coles

and Montgomery is a hitter. I'm not there yet. I want to end this season with a body of work where you at least have a season and a half to be able to say, I feel better about who I think you are as a hitter. So I'm still not ready to have a clear opinion. But you're not denying the power, right? Absolutely. That's established. What are you trying to establish 21 homers? I'm not going to say, oh, he's this person yet or oh, he's this person yet. I'm not. Oh, no, I'm just talking about where he would hit in a fully healthy

White Sox line because everybody else is so good. When you're talking about the batting average versus the home run numbers, it doesn't bother me. Oh, no, it doesn't bother me either because I think the threat of power is, same thing with Munataka Murakami. The threat of power is something that can sustain a lineup. Who's going to have more homers at the end of the season, Montgomery or Mutatakamarkami? Oh, good question, Grotie. It depends on health, right? Let me help you as you pat yourself on the back.

Like, in this scenario, when is Moon A coming back? Yeah, it depends on the health. That's a great question. When is he coming back? Who's helpful? I think he has to come back before he also if the White Sox hit like this. Yeah, yeah.

That's the beautiful thing. Yeah, you've got to rush them. The Sox go for the sweep today. They have scored 44 runs in their past five games. We are live from Gallagher Way, and we are awaiting a conversation with the Cubs general manager, Carter Hawkins. Grady, don't forgive me to run me my money from last night because you took the oil.

I don't remember this at all. I don't. We made a minute. Ray's got to document it, and I think notarized also. The records that both teams won, so Cubs now 10 games over 500. That has nothing to do with our individual bet about. So while Marshall and Grady fight over the dollar, we'll hear from Carter Hawkins coming up next. We got a lot of questions for him.

So we will discuss that. The dollar has been presented. One sweaty dollar for you. On the score. The 2-0 delivery. Bregman swings. It's a high-fly ball deep left. Taylor back at the wall.

Gone. Three-run, home run, Alex Bredman. seventh of the year. And the Cubs now up five to one over the Padres here in the second. Second home run in the inning for the Cubs. Danesby with a bomb to center and now Bregman gets one

and he hooks this ball and hits it a long way to straight left. And now you know why the pitching coach was going out there. You walk guys in this environment that we have here tonight at Wrigley with that wind blowing out Bregman didn't miss this one. No, he did not.

That is Ron Cooper, Zach Zademan on the call, the Cubs Radio Network. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 104 through the score live from Gallagher way, and we are happy to be joined by the Cubs general manager. Carter Hawkins is here, and during our conversations with Carter Hawkins, we remind you about pause Chicago's mission to build no-kill communities and overpopulation of homeless animals and transform animal welfare. Visit pausechicago.org for more information. Salvation Army is here.

We've got a wonderful cause going on there where you can give your gently used clothing and pause Chicago. So good vibes all around ahead of what we hope to see, Carter, is a serious sweep today. Yeah, absolutely. And to add on to those good vibes this morning, we celebrated our 100th Cubs Scholar, which is

a program that our Cubs charities does and allowed us to, or allows kids in Chicago to go to college and otherwise wouldn't have that opportunity. So, yeah, a lot of good vibes and be even better vibes if we can take a win today. Carter, be honest with us. Just be transparent. If I gave you the list of all the players who are on the injured list right now for your team,

would you expect to be in a situation where you've won eight out of nine and 14 out of 18? The odds were definitely stacked against us. I'll put it that way. I mean, I think we've all realized in this game that you just don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, both in terms of injuries but also in terms of performance. And then our guys have stepped up and taken care of opportunities here in the recent term. And hopefully we just continue to put ourselves in position to win baseball games like we have the last couple days. Carter, obviously, everybody wants to know what are you guys going to do about the injured pitchers,

both in the bullpen and starting. You guys have begun that process with the signing of the trade for David Peterson, which obviously for one game looks pretty good. Can we assume that there are more conversations that continue to go on as it pertains to, let's just say, starting pitching specifically? Yeah, I mean, I think these things aren't binary. They're not off and on. We don't flip a switch.

You know, I think counts mentioned it, and you probably was understating it. You know, the Peterson conversation has been going on since, you know, April, right? And there's other conversations like that that are constantly in the hopper, whether it's for starting pitching or whether it's, you know, for all different types of trades. So the short story is like, yeah, we're talking about how to help our team, how to help our organization towards our goals, you know, every single day. You know, when those things actually come to fruition is a combination of, you know, our needs, their needs. and just where the different teams are, the further away from the deadline that you are, the more teams are considering their alternatives

and more teams are considering their alternatives, the bigger margin of a win they want for a trade, which just means it's less likely that trades are going to happen, but they do happen. And, you know, we're just going to make sure that we're in a position to make those trades or make those deals in whatever form they may come at any point. Well, it's fun that we at least get to talk about a deal

that's already done, Carter, in the win for Peterson. So you're talking to the Mets for several weeks, You guys are all familiar with each other. How does that go down? What are some of the processes that happens when this is something that you all had been working on for quite some time? Because that's not something a lot of people know. Is that a conversation can be ongoing like this and then ends up happening weeks later? You were working the phones regarding trying to get some pitching help.

Yeah, absolutely. And it's, you know, I think the other misconception is, you know, these things are very much team efforts. You know, so, you know, Jared Banner was actually leading our negotiations for this, one of our assistant GMs, leading our negotiations for this particular trade. He has a really good relationship with Andy Green over in New York. But there's a team effort in those different types of conversations. We split up teams based on our relationships. So those things are just happening constantly.

We're just constantly getting information. Their pitchers get hurt. Our pitchers get hurt. You know, our prospects end up doing something. Their prospects end up doing something. And that just changes the dynamic on a day-to-day basis until, you know, there's one day where, you know, we're kind of saying, all right, we're heels in the sand.

This is where we are. and if there's overlap with that team, then you get a deal done. We often say that, and the thing just falls apart, right? And vice versa, the team will say, this is where we are. We're not moving off of this, and the deal falls apart, and maybe you come back to it a month later. Maybe you never come back to it. But these things are just there just happening constantly,

and then in concert with, you know, we've got the draft coming up, when the international is always going, and we're getting ready for all these different things with the major league club on a day-to-day basis. Who's pitching tomorrow? TBD. You know who's pitching Saturday? Yeah, exactly.

Right, exactly. No, seriously. Yeah, yeah. Yes, I do. But so it's this constant, just trying to make sure we're always in a position to make decisions. I also like that you shouted out Jared Banner because Pete Quiro Armstrong did too. You know, he got a lot of credit. After the extension, he mentioned him in the relationship that was there from the Mets as part of how that relationship kind of came to fruition.

So that's a really good insight as to how the personnel does help matter. these situations. No doubt. Jay B's been a huge part of all of our success over the last several years. You know, was our farm director when I first came in and inherited him, so to speak. He had been the farm director in New York, but he's really been involved in all facets of our operation, including pro-acquisition, really involved in the Major League Club, just a real, awesome part of our organization. So glad we have them. Carter Hawkins, Cubs, General Manager, joining us here live from Gallagher way here on Rahimi, Harris, and Grotie. You mentioned the draft is coming up, and we've been all trying to figure out

what are all these teams going to do as things kind of change. NIL money is involved. A lot of things are different now. I am curious about the track record that you guys have, though. Specifically, when you talk about post the fifth round, the draft spending changes, and you guys have spent very little on pitchers, is that a strategic choice year over year,

or is that something that you guys have just kind of been stuck with once you get to that point of the draft? How do you guys see that as an organization? Yeah, I mean, if you look at the cumulative amount of money we spend on pitchers, it's pretty average. Now, we haven't done as well with drafting pitchers we have as drafting position players and the aggregate yet. You know, there's still a lot of stories that have yet to be fully told. But that's definitely a focus for ours is how can we better be better at selecting, you know, not just position players, but also pitchers. And how can we better at developing those players as well?

It's really a team effort. You know, if you don't select well, you develop well, it doesn't matter. If you don't develop well and you select well, it doesn't matter. You've got to have both of those things working together. That's been a big focus of ours, and certainly an area that we have room to approve. But in terms of a strategy, our strategy is really just try to get the most wins out of the draft. And oftentimes that ends up being a position player. Oftentimes that ends up being a pitcher.

But we're not going in with this one thing that we're looking for because when you start doing that, you start to leak wins. And that's okay to make that decision once. But if you make that decision 100 times, now you've leaked 100 wins or less than that. So it is a case-by-case scenario then? 100%. You set your goal, right? So, like, our goal is to get the most wins out of the draft. Wins.

It doesn't matter if the wins come from pitching. Doesn't matter if the wins come from position players. And then it's how do we put our draft together with all the signing bonuses, our pool, how good we think these players are going to be to help achieve that goal. And, you know, oftentimes you end up with a pitcher. Oftentimes you end up with position player. We have been objectively more successful with our position player selections. But that doesn't mean we're not going to continue to try to take pitchers and improve on those selections

and their development because it's a team effort kind of as I was talking about. That is Carter Hawkins right there, the GM of the Cubs, Rahimi Harrison Grotty. We are at Gallagher Way right now, getting ready for Cubs and Padres. You could smell the hot dogs in the air. I just got a big... Thanks, Grotty. Yeah, yeah, just got a big... Now I'm hungry.

We've got food coming out here as well. I have a financial question as well, because you guys obviously did a lot of spending with the extensions that you gave out, with the signing of Alex Bragman. You guys poured some money into this. Does that affect financially where you guys are in terms of the trades that you have to make or would be desirous of making?

In other words, do you have to be more careful because of the money that you guys already poured into this year's team? I would say first off, we always want to be smart with our decisions. We're going to be profligate by any means. But on the other hand, Tom, whenever we needed resources, he's been there for us. So that's just not our concern. Certainly that doesn't mean we're going to go add $100 million to our payroll, the deadline. I think if there's a good move, it's good for our franchise and good for the current and future state of the Cubs, I think the resources will be there for it.

Okay, so I always say, like, if I've thought about it or we've thought about it, you guys have thought about it. I feel that way when it comes to just putting the fake GM hat on. And you mentioned the conversations with the Mets regarding David Peterson. Obviously, we're also wondering about Freddie Peralta. Who? We see what the Mets have done. We understand we all have a familiarity with him having been in the division. Are there conversations like that that go on where you do try to get a side-d-

discussion and on somebody like that who is also on the team. And if you can tell us anything about him in specific, that would be great. Yeah, we'll talk about him specifically. But I will say that, you know, as we said before, the amount of players that get brought up in trade conversations is so much more than gets released publicly, obviously, to the point where probably every single player that's worth assault is brought up, you know, whether it's, you know, with guys with us and our guys with other teams, you know, as we're tracking our conversations, we're basically tagging the players in our system as we're talking about them. And I think if you pulled that list at the end of the deadline,

you know, you have 70% of our roster that gets mentioned. So, you know, when you see the, you know, this player mentioned in conversations, it's like, that doesn't really mean anything. That's just somebody decided to tweet that day. Now, some of those become serious, obviously, but most of them don't. So, you know, to say whether a guy came up or not is so irrelevant. You know, it's really like, are we close to a deal on that guy? And that's not something we're going to share.

I would love to see your guys' reactions when you see stuff out there that you guys are not putting out there and you guys are reading it just like us. You're like, where the hell did that come from? And some of those are test balloons too. You know that. Yeah, my best strategy, just don't read it. Don't listen to it. You can't avoid that, though. Of course we can avoid that.

People don't bring it up to you, though. Like, whether it's not even colleagues, but like family friends, whatever. My dad every once while will ask me about something. That is true. Can't stop the parents. Yeah. Can't stop the parents. He gets to feel like, I'm going to pick up his call, right?

He's, you know, about the 30, you ask how the kids are, does all the things he's supposed to do as a father. And he said, don't tell me about this Peterson guy. That is so funny because... So that's our formula. We've got to get to my dad. That's because all his buddies are asking him. You know that that's what's going on.

Exactly. Ask your son this. That's probably right. Carter, when you look at where you are right now, you mentioned pitch-wise, you do know who's going to pitch that, or you can't share that with us, who's going to pitch Saturday?

Whether it's in bulk or... I'll let Counts announce that one. Okay. But you guys know who our pitchers are, and it's going to be one of those guys. We can figure it out. Got it, got it. One of the guys that's already up. That's what I heard.

Well, I mean, there's been a lot of discussion, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And with James and Tyone, he spoke yesterday, and I'm just curious. Like, is there a chance he pitches for the Cubs before the All-Star break? It's possible, right? He has a rehab outing coming up this weekend, most likely in AAA. You know, we'll see where that goes with him, how he's feeling after that. We'll see where our position is, you know, towards that.

I mean, once he does a rehab outing, theoretically he could throw in a, in a big league game as well. But we also want to put him in the best position for success. And the question I wanted to ask about is you guys, we're looking very barren just a couple of weeks ago at the AAA level. And now we see guys like Liam Hendricks and Aaron Bummer, Drew Pomerantz, who of course Cubs fans are very familiar with. Is it just a situation now where you're just trying to get as many arms in front of you as possible

to see who could possibly help the team? Is it, am I oversimplifying it when I say it like that? Almost, but not really. I mean, it's, we're looking for guys that, you know, can help raise our level at the major leagues. And, you know, part of that is bringing in a bulk of guys that can do that and get a lot of shots on goal. But certainly you want to bring in guys that you think have a legitimate opportunity to raise our level. And, you know, those three names you mentioned are guys that have had a lot of success in their career, so everyone knows them. But there's also guys that, you know, aren't as name recognized that potentially could help us out a lot.

You see a guy like Tyler Ferguson last night. You know, heck, he's unbelievable from the right side here in the last couple of games. Ryan Rawlinson. Nobody was really excited about the Ryan Rawlinson trade that we made, you know, this off season. But every year, some of those guys that come up and compete, it's interesting. Every year in spring training, we basically say, look, like, here's the eight-man bullpen coming out of camp. It will not be the same eight-man bullpen. We'll talk to the, you know, all 60 guys in the room and say, look, like, there's a lot of guys here that are going to, you know, to Iowa that are going to be impacting our club. At no point did we think that it was going to be this eight-man bullpen, right? But we just don't know. And so just every day we have to make great decisions about how to acquire players, how to optimize those guys when they get up to the big leagues. You're seeing some of that happen with the Ferguson's and the Rollsons of the world most recently, but we're just going to have to continue to do it because, you know,

headwinds will hit us again and we'll just have to overcome those challenges when they come at us. Bryce Wilson doing what he did against Milwaukee. And then Jordan Wicks. Yeah, Trent Thornton. You know, these are not guys that people were super excited about. Yeah. We were excited to bring them on in the same way that we're excited about J. Speck and double A, right? It's just, you know, there's guys that, you know, are going to help us that no one out here knows about.

And, you know, even I couldn't predict. But we just try to make everybody as good as we possibly can. Well, I think Jordan Wicks is a good example because we saw what happened against St. Louis, for example. And we knew that was going to change what happened to him on the big league level. And then to bring him back up and to have that high pressure situation to have the faith in him to be able to call on him and have that performance. You know, what do you think that says about him and how you guys evaluate him from here on now? Yeah, I mean, it was a short outing, so hard to take a lot from it, other than, other than, you know, he came up and he met the moment. Jordan is a talented pitcher.

Jordan is going to have a long major league career if he continues to put the work in, to have that long major league career. He's gotten punched in the face several times, you know, with us recently. He's shown that he can have success in the major leagues, you know, two years ago was a really good major league starter. that's in there. I really hope it's with us. I really hope that we're able to give him the opportunities and he's able to meet those opportunities like he did the other day. But he's kind of at that inflection point in his career. And I have a lot of belief that he's a guy that can help us for a long time. And it's on both he and us to make sure that happens. The bullpen, Carter, when you look at it right now, I don't expect the same guys that are there now to be there at the end of the season necessarily.

I'm curious as to if the bringing guys in the way you have just recently, we talked about the guys in AAA, is that a better solution from your standpoint than trying to make a trade at the deadline because you have other needs, mainly starting pitching? Just a different solution. You know, we only have so many prospects. You know, we only have, you know, so many roster spots. And, you know, certainly we will navigate the trade landscape.

And if there's guys out there from trade that we can bring in, that, you know, we feel like the cost is right. We'll do that if guys in AAA are actually better than the trade. guys that we could bring in from a trade standpoint, we certainly would do that because the cost is low. So it's just continuing to just try to identify what's the best decision for the Cubs at the time and looking at all those different avenues. I know that's kind of a wish-washy answer, but it's the real aspect of how we go about it. Wait, so you were going to say something about Freddie Peralta? Did we cut you off? No, it was not. Okay. She said he can. I want him to make sure.

Not about any particular pitcher. Sorry to be, sorry to be so hopeful. But that is a good example of, okay, here's a rental situation, highly paid for by previous team. We'll take the scenario, not necessarily the individual. You know it's probably going to be a lot of prospect capital. Is that something that you all are entertaining, just that concept? I think we're going to entertain any concept. We're not in a position where we can dictate what direction we're going in right now. I mean, heck, we were 10 days ago, you know, this guy was falling.

And 10 days from now, who knows what we're going to be. We're focused on winning a baseball game today and trying to get through. this game today. When we get to, you know, closer to the deadline and depending on where we are positioned as a club, you know, we're going to make the best decision for the Cubs, that is a scenario where that's the best thing for us, depending on the cost, depending on how we, you know, feel about particular pitchers or particular position players or whatever's out there from a rental perspective. But to say that one is definitively going to happen over the other right now would be pretty foolish. Yeah. Thank you for that. I think really indicative of the,

you use the phraseology, the sky is falling. And, and we echo that. No doubt about it. Because we have been on the roller coaster on this show. PCA is symbolic of that because the sky was falling for him earlier in the season. It's like after the bad second half last year. Is this the best you've seen PCA? And do you think this is the sustainable PCA? I mean, it's pretty incredible. I think there's more in there, which is wild to say.

What more is there in there for what you're saying? I think the lefties. I think there's more in there because PCA thinks there's more in there. Right? Like I'm not going to put a cap on how good anybody can be. by any means, whether that's a player, whether that's a staff member. What I'll say, though, is, you know, look, like, it has been a roller coaster of a season on paper. It has not felt that way in the clubhouse as much. We have a really professional

group that knows their talent. You know, certainly the injuries and those types of things, you know, those are gut punches, but their process has continued to generally be the same. We've adjusted where we needed to adjust. Counts does such a great job of just making sure that every day feels like the season. Like that's just today is the day that we're focused on. And so yes, like totally understands the noise around the club when we play the way we've been playing. But in terms of internally, it's, it doesn't feel that way quite as much. And I think that's why we've been able to come out of some of these holes. Another genuine question before we let you go. Carter Hawkins, Cubs, general manager, joining us here on Rahimi and Harris and Grody here at

Gallagher Way. Which one of these injuries was the biggest, I can't believe this? For me, it was the Hobie Milner Appendectomy because I was like, what? I've had this like an inordinate amount of appendectomies in my career. Oh. It feels like, yeah. It's like once every other year it happens. I'm like, how often are guys kids? Like I have no family members that have had appendectomies.

And it just keep on that. So that I'm not quite sure about. Core muscle strains. Pifflexers. Yeah, something in the Gatorade maybe. I don't know. So that one hit you harder than, I don't know, like earlier the season when Matthew Boyt's playing with his kids.

I like Kate Horton. I mean, the Kate Horton. The one that hurts the most, right? It's a young pitcher that you just have so much hope for that year. His story is he's got many chapters left, but that was a gut punch. The other ones, it's kind of like, I mean, we can't control for Matt Boy picking his kid up. Like, we've all heard ourselves picking our kids up, or at least those of a certain age. And yeah, that was, you just shake your head on that one.

But at the end of the day, like, you get punched and you get back up and you go, what are we going to do about it? And that's our jobs. That's the jobs with the guys down at the clubhouse. This is jobs for Jed me, J.B., others upstairs, and if we do that well, day over day, we got a chance. Getting older is a constant threat to your meniscus. That's all I've learned. Like every other sentence is, better not be the meniscus.

That's all I've learned. Carter, thank you so much for your insight and your perspective. This has been great. Carter Hawkins, as we want to remind you during our conversations with Carter, we remind you about Paul Chicago's mission to build no-kill communities and over-population of hopeless animals and transform animals. welfare. Visit pausechicago.org, a wonderful organization for more information. Carter, thanks again. Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate it. That is Carter Hawkins, live with us from Gallagher Way, and he is correct.

The vibes are high because there are good causes abound. We are live from Gallagher Way outside of Wrigley Field, and for donation day with the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Centers and thrift stores, bring your gently used clothing to donate right outside the ballpark. Donors receive a special Cubs pin. It is a PCA pin that we got, and it's It's really cool. Sick. One per person, wild supplies last. I love some flair, and I love the Salvation Army.

We are here until 1245, followed by Zach Zadman's pregame show right here on 104 through the score. Let's react to what we heard out of Carter Hawkins. Also, Bruce Levine has checked in with us and has some fresh clubhouse interview with Alex Bregman. I just saw him walk by. He didn't even look at us. Well, he was in the zone. I guess so. Yeah, I mean, Bruce is on the loose, man.

He's out here reporting for you. Bruce is on the loose. So we're going to listen to what Bruce gathered in the clubhouse. And we'll also react to what Carter had to say he was very informative. We'll do it all next. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score. We are back here from Gallagher Way on 1043 The Score. And it is a fun crowd out here at Gallagher Way.

We have a very patient and intent group of people listening to our station right now. They're standing at attention. And I admire your heat talk. tolerance and also you're listening. So, oh, yeah, I know you guys are standing under the shade, but still, just a great crowd here to listen to the show and get ready for what should be a great game between the Cubs and the Padres for this third and final game of the series. Just talk to Carter Hawkins, really informative.

We've got to figure out how to get Carter Hawkins in studio for our next conversation. I feel like when he's in person, he usually, those are his times to shine when he comes to interview questions because he answered a lot for us today. Highly engaging and highly genuine in his approach and the reality of what this season has been so far for the Cubs, a team that is in the playoff picture clearly, but not at the health level that anyone is necessarily comfortable with. I did like hearing that the resources will be there because this team has spent this year. Obviously, like we talked about with the extensions and Alex Bregman and Cabrera, like they have poured resources into this team

and to hear him say that the Cubs would have to be within reason. They're not going to go crazy but they will be able to add that's always important to get that part of the way and it's pretty clear to me the way Carter Hawkins was talking that they are considering every single possible scenario in terms of getting help on the way, especially with pitching. A big piece of it too was, and I don't know why this hadn't come to me earlier,

But the reason, when he talked about how sometimes a prospect that you want to mention in the trade or you want to include in the trade doesn't do what they're supposed to be doing, that's innately why you see more action at the deadline, too, is because people don't have time to wait, and then you have motivated sellers and buyers so the deal gets done faster. That's why the Peterson conversation is so compelling is because, okay, well, if it took you guys weeks, you know, why did it take weeks? what was the correct exchange for the contracts there and what worked. So anytime we can get some insight into how the sausage is made, so to speak, that just helps us understand where they're at in all of this. And looking at the Peterson thing specifically, I think it is a blueprint. Because guess what, guys, any time a trade happens, weeks usually have gone up to leading. And whether that's a formal discussion weeks ago or, hey, I checked in on this guy back in spring training.

and now I'm just following up. That's how he explained the conversations go, and that's how I've always heard that baseball, specifically trade conversations go. It's checking in with the team and understanding, hey, at some point, some of these teams will no longer consider themselves buyers or even non-sellers at the deadline.

You get close to the deadline, maybe two weeks out, that's when the conversations become more real. I also like to know who's involved. You know when he mentions Jared Banner, for example. You want to know who's one of the guys who get some of these deals done. where are the relationships with the teams. That'll help us understand who they are most likely to deal with,

come trade deadline or whatever else. I'm shooting my shot when it comes to asking about Peralta, that's for sure. And it's because they do the same thing. So all of that is really helpful information to understanding where they are in this process. I think also part of why it took the six weeks to get the deal done with David Peterson is the Mets had to be looking at it like, we think we're ready to start selling off our team, but we're not quite sure. Obviously, the Cubs sweeping the Mets probably had something to do with clinching.

And obviously their manager gets fired after that. But I think that that probably was part of it. But I can't. I bet, Leila, I bet there were, I don't know this for a fact, and this is just me surmising. There had to have been Freddie Peralta conversations. Oh, yeah. And I know Carter Hawkins can't. He made it clear that he can't talk about it right now.

But maybe that's part of what it was. there was a pivot that occurred that Freddie Peralta was initially, because it was Bruce Levine who put that out there initially, and the Cubs seemed to back him off of it right after. So I do believe that there had to have been something going on, maybe even just an ask. Do you know what? Well, the other part of this, too, is that June 1st part of Bruce's tweet

that he talked about where they had a kind of a deadline that they had set for themselves as to who they thought this team was going to be before they decided to sell. I think that part of it was also very valid. It feels like they didn't really decide until they played the Cubs. That's what it feels like. Because immediately thereafter, the manager gets fired along the way. A starting pitcher gets traded.

And David Peterson, and a lot of teams will have decided probably by July 15th. And then another round of teams by August 1st. Yeah, another round. Because he put it up just the way we talk about it. A week ago, the sky was falling. Before that, the Cubs had two 10-game winning streaks. How are the Cubs 10 games over 500 right now? They're 10 games over 500 because they're hitting with runners in scoring position.

That's the short answer. Over the last 18 games, they are 14 and 4, and they are hitting 274 with runners in scoring position, which is way better than what they were hitting before then. And the 926 OPS, fourth best in the bigs in that time. It's amazing how fast it happened. That is absolutely the reason. But it felt like hell. Like we're talking about, are they going to free fall?

You know what I mean? Just a few weeks back, you get a little bit hot, and it's exactly what they needed. even amongst all the pitching injuries. I'm reminded of Ron Coomber, too, because he walked by earlier, and we love talking to Coom too. He said hi. Bruce didn't. Yeah, okay. Well, we, Bruce, that hurt me.

Okay, for one thing, Coom talked about how when a team isn't producing offensively, how flat a game feels, how hopeless it can feel. And right as rain, he, you know, when the offense is hitting, you always feel like you've got a chance, and that's what we're seeing right now. And then additionally, Bruce said hi to a, in reporting form.

Because Bruce texted me information and he said that Alex Bregman met with the media this morning. So I want to play this for you guys since we've got a little time here. It's a follow-up to what happened regarding him talking about not running to first as fast as

we would have liked to have seen on Sunday against the Brewers. Is it important to you people to know what your work ethics like, what your desire is what the person you are. It's important for you have other people know that. No, not really.

Just, no, not really. I want to win baseball games and yeah, I'm going to do what it takes to win and help the team win. Listen, I would expect nothing less than that answer from Alex Bregman because Alex Bregman, at the end of the day, even if he is a declining player offensively, he stands on business. He's never missed the playoffs. That's why he can talk with that level of confidence, because all he knows is success as far as regular season. I help teams get to the playoffs. Check my bio. Google me if you have my baseball reference page exists. And I understand he is underwhelming as an offensive player this season. And he may not be as good as he was in the

first half of last year. Remember, he went through injuries, and he may not be the best player on this team. He may not be the second or the third or the fourth best player on this team, but if he helps them get to the playoffs and have success in the postseason, he's doing his job. Well, also, let's be honest, like, in terms of having to deal with what he is dealing with here, and that is obviously criticism, he's dealt with a whole lot worse in his career in terms of having to deal with a cheating scandal in the Houston Astros in those days. So he is dealt with heat in his career. And others, what I'm trying to say is this ain't nothing compared to what this guy has already had to deal with in his career. Well, and in Boston with the whole Raphael Devers

saw that. Yes. So I, having worked in both markets, the day to day here is more than Houston. I can confidently say that. But not Boston. But that's where I was going to go. Is the, what happened regarding Raphael Devers is a whole other ball of wax. But I don't even question the authenticity behind what he says. He's not doing his job for us. He's doing his job for himself and he does a good job at his job to be redundant, but that certainly is the case. Join me this Friday as I lead Budweiser Celebration Road Show to commemorate America's pastime and 250th birthday with your chance or giving stuff away to win tickets to see the Cubs and Cardinals on Saturday night at Wrigley Field. I'll be at five locations, five with a chance to win tickets at each stop along the way,

with Billy Go Tavern at Navy Pier at 5, then Crossroads Bar and Grill on West Madison at 540. Oh, my goodness. Then the Rabbit Hall at North Wells at 620. Rabbit Hall is right across the street from Happy Camper. Oh, yeah. And then the Reveler on North Damon at 7, and we finish up at Gaslight on North Clark at 740.

So come out to drink Fresh Budweiser. Register for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Cubs Cardinals on Saturday night, courtesy of Budweiser, official beer of the Chicago Cubs. I love that the Hattie B's has entered the building. Marshall was in our pre-show meeting, and we got everything done, and then he goes, is Hattie B's open yet? And then he walks over there.

Like, you were, that was the most professional march over to Hattie B's. And I thought, oh, he's getting food already, but no. It's very simple, guys. One of the items on the menu piqued my interest, the bacon cheddar grits. You know, I'm from Alabama. I'm a grits connoisseur. And so they have bacon cheddar grits on the menu. And I say, hey, can you make sure that that is in the drop?

And my friend Monty over there, the manager over there, he's like, yeah, I got you. He's where you from? I told him I was from Huntsville, Alabama. He's like, you know, the third busiest Hattie Bees in the country is in Huntsville, Alabama? We just opened it up. I was down there to open up the store in December. I was like, oh, I didn't know that. But now I do.

I'll take my parents here when I go next weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. Grits and facts? Yes. You got grits and facts. Yeah, that's usually why I do. I mean, that's how you do it. Not necessarily in that order. So thanks to Hattie Bees for delivering us some of their delicious, authentic Nashville hot chicken.

It is that good. Born in Nashville, bred it in Wrigleyville, now open. Right, we can see it across our way here at 3649 North Clark Street, serving your favorite southern dishes. Go classic with Bowden or keep it easy like me with the tenders. Nice and easy now. Pair it with their delicious pettico mac and cheese, the collard greens, which I love. And we're getting ready to try the cheese grits. And Russ Dorsey is here for the party as well.

Sons out guns out for Russ, so we will get his baseball thoughts coming up next. Russell Dorsey, National MLB Insider for Yahoo Sports. Oh, he's fine. He doesn't need the attention. Russell will be fine. You're probably right. We're going to have a conversation about some mediums when he gets in here. I tell you that. Host of the Relay with Russ Dorsey podcast.

Jacob Mizorowski is now must-see TV in Major League Baseball. And I think the thing to me when watching him on a nightly basis, he's gone from novelty of, oh, he throws a hundred, three miles an hour to in a year's time. It's very short is now one of the best pitchers in the world. Insider and analysts for MLB Network and Friday night baseball on Apple TV. I think adding some veteran starting pitching, a guy in their rotations that doesn't have to be a frontline started, but a guy that's a serviceable veteran pitcher who has experience to help take some of that pressure off some of the young guys in that rotation so that it can really make a serious push for the else's

Russell Dorsey on 1043 the score the score this is a day is made for us because we're outside we're at Gallagher way we're in the baseball scene here and Russ rolls up our MLB insider for Yahoo Sports MLB network Friday night baseball and Apple TV host of the relay with Russ Dorsey podcast where you can get on any of your podcast horses, and he's sons out guns out today. Sleeveless Russ has entered the building. This might be the longest time I've had since being on with you guys

where I didn't go sleeveless shirt. Like, this is the first one of the year. I thought you had turned over a new leaf and you just like, you know what, I'm going to leave my guns at home? For the most part, yeah. It's just like T-shirts, mostly, hoodies sometimes when it was cold,

but like... Here you are devolving. I'm melting today and this week. So it felt... appropriate to bring out the sleeveless. If not now, then when? Facts. I don't know that any of it helps.

Like, when it's this hot? I mean, I know, like, if you put on, like, long sleeves and all that. And it's, like, hot and muggy. Yeah, there's just not a lot you could do about it. But Mark, like we talked about in the open, it helps get him a little more attention on. Yeah, yeah. Hey, that's, that's, I'm just glad he's wearing the shirt. We're wearing clothes.

That's all. That's all I ask. You're right, gross. That's all I ask. Do you have to work to? Are you going to the game? I'm not. I'm here just for you guys.

Wow. You have been working on some projects. I know you covered baseball yesterday. Yeah, yeah. What can you tell us about just what you're working on? What are some natural Rusty-Bassey baseball questions that you have right now? In general? Yeah.

Or about the Chicago Cugs? I mean, either way, just where you're led. This is like a story brainstorming session with you in a way. We've done a lot of Cubs today. We talked about the socks as well. But when you're out here, what is, what are you working on that you can tell us about. So one that I've been working on recently coming out next week is

I'm writing about Jacob Mizorowski and kind of the process and how the Milwaukee Brewers found him. He was kind of a guy that wasn't on too many people's radar and had this crazy growth spur turns into this guy that throws over 100 miles an hour and all of a sudden

bursts onto the scene. So really wanted to figure out the process of how the Brewers' scouting department, amateur scouting department, went about finding him. As a guy who didn't pitch his senior year in high school because of COVID, had an injury, his freshman year at his Juko, Crowder College in Missouri. So yeah, that's one that I'm working on. Also, I'm really interested

about this year's trade deadline for a couple of different reasons. We've talked at Nauseem about how bad the American League is this year and the lack of space between teams. But I think also when you look at the National League this year, The teams are better, but the teams are also very close together in that regard too. Talking to people around baseball, this could very well be one of those years where the deadline is a dud. Where because there are so many teams that are in it, because there are so many teams that can honestly say, well, we're only four and a half games back on August 3rd when the deadline is,

you might just have teams to say, no, we're not going to move these pieces that otherwise, if we were seven or eight games back. The Red Sox are five and a half out right now. That's the, and surging. Tigers are the best scenario in this case. Two weeks ago, we're putting the last rights on the Tigers, and now the Tigers have a realistic shot as anybody with the best pitcher in the world in Terrick's school.

But they're going to move to school, right? I would, because I don't, I think you have to be honest about, are you just taking advantage of a, down year in the American League. And you have to think about the long-term future of your organization. If you're not going to sign Terrick Scouble long-term, you need to get the most for him, right? You've already kind of wasted a lot of time where you only have two months of club control left. And because of the CBA, we don't know what the qualifying, there might not even be a

qualifying offer next year. So I think if I'm Scott Harris, I would definitely move Terrick Scouble. But yeah, they might very well be one of those teams. They're like, hey, man, we're in it. And I think a lot of teams are going to feel that way. It has begun for the Cubs as they go get David Peterson from the Mets. Are there other names you're thinking about for Cubs starting pitching because it still feels like that they would obviously have to add at least one more starter

if they're serious? There are guys out there where you look at the club control element of it where if I'm thinking about what the Cubs need, yes, you need starting pitching. But you would also like to have a guy that you can get for the two months after the deadline and at least one year next year. And there are three guys that I think of in that regard. One is Joe Ryan. That's going to be a very popular name, has been a very popular name.

The two others go down to Kansas City where you find Seth Lugo and Michael Waka. Two guys that have been as consistent as anybody in the American League over the last three years. And both have a year of club control after this season. Both know, you know, with Michael Waka. pitched in the NL Central for a long time when he was with the Cardinals for Seth Lugo, a guy that pitched in the National League for a long time with both the Mets and the Padres

before going to Kansas City. But I look at those two guys because that brings a veteran presence that brings two guys who have pitched in the postseason before and that year of club control. So I think those are three names that I look at that are fits for the Cubs. You just have to determine if you get to the trade deadline

and as we talk about, it's a salvage market because there's not that many teams that are going to move guys, does that price get uncomfortable for you? Are the White Sox and the Cubs shopping at the same store right now? Because everybody needs pitching. And I'm just curious, is it that they're at the same store, but shopping in different level of income, like, as far as high quality stuff? Or are they shopping in two different places?

I think the aisle might be the same. I think, I think Jed might bump in the, Chris gets in the aisle as you're shopping for starting pitching. I think you're trying to look at for the Cubs. We talk about the club control. I think the White Sox would be looking for that too. Like you're looking for a guy that you can plug into your rotation with Sean Burke and Davis-Martin and Noah Schultz now back off the IL. And I also want to have a guy that fits into this next couple of years of what you're still continuing to build.

Because it's something that I'll just continue to harp on, whether people get tired of it or not, is you're still building something, right? If you're the Chicago White Sox, yes, you've been the best. best story in baseball. Yes, you've proven that you're one of the best teams in the American League this year, but you have to continue to build. You can't just blow it all up for just 2026 because you want to make a splashy move. So I think they have an opportunity to do some things because of their farm system that they've built up over the last couple of years. But yeah, I think Jed bumped shoulders with Chris Gets in the aisle as they're shopping for starting

bitching. I mean, heck, the Padres might be in the same aisle, you know? The team needs to You know, AJ's always going to be in the store. AJ's in the streets when it comes to trade. That's for sure. He's constantly looking. Is that the jewels? Yes, that too. That is Russ Dorsey. Russ. Thanks again for joining us.

A friendly reminder that you can check out the relay with Russ Dorsey podcast available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks, guys. Thanks for us. Thank you. Also, this note from Bruce Levine, Jameson Tyone will pitch for Iowa at Toledo on Sunday

as part of his rehab. So that is the latest on James and Tyone. Let's do five on it, live from Gallagher Way. Next. I got five. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today.

On 104-3, the score. I got five on it. Number one. We're broadcasting live from Gallagher Way outside of Wrigley Field. We're here for Donation Day with the Salvation Army, adult rehabilitation centers, and thrift stores. Bring gently used clothing to donate right outside the ballpark. Donors receive a special Cubs pin, and it is really cool.

I can tell you that. One per person while supplies last. We're here until 1245, followed by Zach's Aedman's pregame show right here on 104.3, the score. Now, who's question number one? Which is the bigger Chicago baseball accomplishment? The Cubs hitting a season high, five home runs in one game, or the White Sox earning their first road series victory in eight tries. man this is a great question i i am going to say in this case the white socks and what they have

accomplished on the road i know that surprises you a little bit marshal because you know why because i expected and i understand the question in the spirit of it we're talking about relative i expected the cubs to hit bombs this year when the wind is blowing out like it was last night i was there act accordingly that is what you were supposed to do that's more of what the cubs have supposed to be doing this season. So I am not going to give them the advantage on this particular question. Not only did the White Sox win a road series, they do it against the Orioles who were the most indicative of their troubles on the road recently, having lost 15 of 16. That was nine straight losses before they won the first game of the series. And they've been doing it in really

easy fashion. They are making baseball look easy right now, which has been tough for both of our baseball teams. It doesn't mean it's bad. But I am, I think that I am more proud of the White Sox of what they have been doing and winning on the road in this particular series than what the Cubs have been doing. I can't believe I'm saying this, but not me. I actually think based on what

we have seen, the totality of the season, especially the pre-14 of 18. I'm thinking about losing 21 of 28 for the Cubs and how paltry the offense looked at the time. It's the five home runs in one game. Yes, this is a lineup that is built to do that. The back of everybody's baseball cards indicates that it is supposed

to be that way. But at the same time, it hadn't happened. So until it happened, I wasn't quite sure that it was going to happen. You got me? I think I just have a little bit of resentment that it wasn't happening because it is a surprise that the Cubs had five home runs in a game. So for me, it was the five home runs because we hadn't seen it. Also, here's a fun stab for you. The Cubs hitting right now, I feel like they are, the socks have hit 44 runs in the past five games. Can the Cubs pull off a stretch like that? That's the next challenge. The Cubs have been score runs at a nice clip over the last week or so.

I mean, the Mets series certainly helped. Danesby Swanson has certainly helped. But look, this is a no-brainer for me because only one of those facts that Ray gave us in the question was when Naded. The other, you had to go out and do on your own. And you saw Colson Montgomery able to power it together. I know. Say it with me now. The Cubs, they needed some win to get theirs done.

Colson Montgomery. He's just here to create. What are you doing, Montgomery? The win from all the Orioles fans in attendance is they, ooh and ah, at what he is able to do. Weggner made news yesterday, by the way. The other reason why this is big is because go back to earlier this season. You know, pre-Sam Antonagia, as I like to call it. P-S-A.

Yes. It's like BC and AD. Public service announcement. but PSA is it works even better. Pre-Sam Antinacci. This team played the Orioles and got swept right out of their own ballpark. Since then, they've been pretty good at home.

You triggered them. They've been pretty good at home. And so now the socks kind of, you know, if they can pull off a sweep today, that's the perfect atonement for what happened earlier in the season against a team in the Orioles that apparently still only five games out of a far card spot. The American League is anybody's guess, man.

It really is. The American League is actually where anything is possible. Like they are the ones embodying Kevin Garnett's phrase, 20 some odd years later at about perhaps a wild card race. The funniest part about that call is if you play it by itself, it sounds like that was the announced crew. It was not. It was the field microphone. So that's fans. Yes.

Oh. That's the best part about it. I love it so much. Five on it. Number two. It's time for a five on it. Fill in the blank question. Pete Crowe Armstrong's June is the best month by a Cubs since.

2023 July, Cody Bellinger. I did the math. You know why? Because that's the last Cub who got a National League player of the month award. But here's the spicy meatball, my friends. Is that, oh, is that Cody Bellinger hit a mere eight home runs in that month? That means PCA's a lock, right? So in 2023. Several against the socks, by the way. Yes, if you remember, Cody Beldinger, was named NL Player of the Month.

And at that time, he was the first NL Player of the Month to win the honor since Chris Bryant did it in August of 2016. So Bellinger was named the Player of the Month himself in April of 19. But in that month, he hit 400, had 198 weighted runs created plus, and led Major League hitters in hits with 40, which is what PCA has this month. Average in total basis was 69, nice. Was third in RBI with 24, fifth in slugging percentage at 698, and then was tied for fifth in home runs with eight. So that was what I deduced, was that it was July 2023 and Cody Bellinger.

It's a cute answer. It's wrong, but it's a cute answer. Here's why that month is not as good as PCA's month. PCA with a higher, both slugging percentage and way more stolen bases, eight to the two that Bellinger had that month. You got to go back a little bit further. How about we take a trip back to 2015? Oh. Do you know who was doing all the damage in 2015? There was a pitcher. He may have won a Sy Young but been denied what he deserved as far as All-Star appearance. Does that sound familiar? I thought about this, yes.

I think you're on the right path. It is Jake Arieta, and it is phenomenal what this man was able to do in his time. You go back to August of that month. He made six starts. Had a complete game shutout. In

42 and a third innings, he gave up two earned runs over six starts. That dog will hunt, because because that is an ERA of 0.43 for the month. Listen to this whip. Walks and hits to innings pitch, 0.685. That's not real. That's a fake number you just ran.

6-0 and 6 starts for the complete game shut out just to mix it up. And he only give up 2 run runs over 6 starts. It's pretty amazing. You were there. I was there. It was immaculate. He was fun to cover because he was kind of an interesting dude too. But yeah, that never goes out of style.

And he was a tenant at our apartment. at Gallagher Way. That's right. He joined us to talk about running. I was there. And then remember he's like, I'm thinking about changing my flight. They ended up changing his flight and partying with the team after they were. Yeah, that's right.

That's right. And I told this to him when he was here, but my favorite thing with Jake Garietta was actually when they were playing in Milwaukee one day. Craig Counsel was, of course, the manager, then of the Brewers. And I asked counsel about Arieta. and he said when he's going well, it's not even fair. And I told Arieta that,

I said, counsel said it's not even fair. And he goes, I agree. I agree. And he was right. All right, so I feel compelled to, maybe I didn't know the spirit of the question. When I think of the best month, like immediately that comes to my head,

it's 1998. I'm sorry to go in the way back machine. No, you're fine. Major League records were set. I was there for that too. I was like as part-time as, one can possibly be at the score, actually. And I remember cutting up Sammy Sosa highlights to play during my scoreboard update.

Just a reminder to people, in June of 1998, Sammy Sosa had 20 home runs, 40 RBIs. 20 home runs. I know. Let that sink in. Oh! A slash line of 298, 331, 842, OPS of 1173. total hits. Okay, this is the best.

34 total hits, 20 of them left the ballpark. It was insane. It was crazy. Oh, a little trivia question. The first two home runs that he hit that month were against an old friend

Ryan Dempster when he was with the Florida Marlins or was it the Miami Marlins. I think at the time it was Florida. You're right, it went from Florida to Miami. I think the thing that separates PCA from Sammy in that discussion, Sammy had obviously more power,

but even though that happened, 20 home runs. He still didn't have an OPS higher than PCAs. He still didn't have the speed that PCA displayed on the base pass. And we know he didn't have a defense that PCA has in center field. You know, you're right. If you like raw power, if you like raw power, that's your guy. And it's an unbridled power.

He, homered most days in the month. It's insane. Five on it. Number three. Five on it on 104. The score with Layla Rahimi Marshall Harris and Mark Grody Broadcasting live from Gallagher Way. Here's question number three. The most important...

This is the question. Please name the most important player in both the Cubs and White Sox current lineups. That means no one who is currently on the injured list. Sam Antanachi for the White Sox. The reason is very simple.

He is the spark plug. He is the proverbial straw that stirs the drink. And we've even had people within the organization say, that's the guy. He's the hitter of consequence right now because Muna Muna Takaami is not available.

So there's pre-Sam Antonacci, there's post-Sam Antonacci. The White Sox have been very good without him. For the Cubs, whew, I mean, it's PSA and it's PCA. Come on, come on. Do we need to even have a discussion about this as far as the Cubs go? I wrote it down. I also, PSA, PCA. I think it's Miguel Vargas and PCA.

but that's just my own remix on it. I'm with you. You and I are exactly. I just, I prefer the slug that Miguel Vargas. He changes games and won at bat and Sam Antenachi can't do that. There's only one way to settle this. And that is for Miguel Vargas and Sam Antonacci to face off in feats of strength. Maybe they run dueling 40s. Maybe they have to do like some sort of double dare obstacle course.

I refute the idea that Sam Antanachi can't change the game in a single bat. I've seen three home runs. Only two of left have actually gone over the wall. Exactly. Yeah, too. But when he gets on base, when he gets on base, good things happen. And it leads for the rest of the lineup.

I'm talking about what Miguel Vargas can do when the runner's on first and second. He's at the plate. He can hit a three-run homer. Sam Antenachi cannot. I think there's more than one way to win a baseball game. Absolutely. The Miguel Vargas strategy, it works. Yeah, no, I prefer, but I prefer that strategy.

Okay, you just prefer that strategy. Early in your life, you would convert. No, I'm seriously. I loved 80s baseball. That's why I'm digging all these retro things. The White Sox are. doing because that's me loving and learning baseball and everybody

was fast then. There was only a couple of boppers on every team it felt like. But I understand Slug now. I have come around. It's time for you to evolve. It's funny that you disagree with the White Sox hitting coach. That's funny. Because he's with me. He'd prefer to have Sam Antanachi up with runners on first and second.

He said Sam Antanachi is the most important player in the lineup. Hyperbole. Hyperbole. Oh, you think, Moving on. No, we have to move. We're moving on to question number four. We talked about it in the meeting.

Number four. All right, we got some Bulls news this morning. According to ESPN, Shams Sharani, a guard slash forward. Norman Powell has agreed to a two-year $45 million deal with the Bulls. Last night, the Bulls announced the signing of forward slash center, Zach Collins, who a reported two-year $17 million contract extension with a team option for a second season. Here's the question. What are your thoughts on the Bull's initial?

moves in free agency. Okay, so I guess maybe we need to be careful what we wish for because we all wished for more rim protection out of the Bulls and we got it. And then we got more and then we got more and that's what I feel like is what happened. We got defensive players of plenty and the

two-way players in the draft. Caleb Wilson, Daly and Swayne, I think Nick Claxton obviously offers room protection. I think Zach Collins also, when he's healthy, offers rim protection. And I think Norman Powell is an all-star. Like, I feel like had an underrated time when he was in L.A. with the Clippers.

But it's the Zach Collins contract for me that I ask about just because he was the AK regime traded four player. And he struggled to stay healthy. I think that's been a big issue. I was cheering on Zach Collins to be healthy this past season. We know Marshall, that didn't really happen. Looking at these moves, I love it. I don't have a problem with anything they've done. I know some people will say, well, you don't have any caps.

left. I'm like, cap space to do what? You have 9.4 for the mid-level exception. Yeah, all you have less is that MLE, as they call it. Look, if you're the Bulls, you want to put together a product that does not finish in the bottom three in the east. That's goal one. Because

if you do that, now you're getting docked and punished with the new anti-tanking rules. They have a starting five, and a starting five that can play with other teams starting five. When you look at Josh Giddy at the one, Norman Powell at the two, Caleb Wilson, modest Zellis, Nick's Classen. There's, there's some development in there, but there's also some veteran presence, especially look at the bench. Same story. Rob Dillingham, Dalyland Swain, and

Trey Jones. And until they move Trey Jones or Isaac Acorro or Josh Giddy, if that doesn't happen, I expect this team to win more games and a lot of people are expecting this team to win while still giving Caleb Wilson a fair shot at Rookie of the Year. He's going to get a chance to do his thing. I just, I'm curious as to what other moves might be out there. but they're highly malleable right now. They can pivot on a dime if they need to it, the next opportunity, which will be the trade deadline. Very simply, what I liked about the Norman Powell signing is that he can shoot.

And right now, that is suspect with some players on the Bulls. And Caleb Wilson hopefully will get there. Dailin Swain will get there. The Bulls shooting will get better. But he is, from three specifically, the guy shoots 38%, 47% field goal shooter, 82% from the free throw. any average is nearly 22 points a game. The Bulls could use all of that. So I like the signing. Zach Collins signing is fine, but I'm like you too, Marshall. Like, what's next? And this was an

intriguing start to it as well, bringing it with all the influx of young players. Also, I thought it was important to bring it in adult, so to speak, bringing in the 32-year-old Norman Powell, who's been around, who's been traded a couple of times in his career as well. I think that's a good resource to have in the Bull's locker room as well. Bonus question. What did you guys think about vooch going back to the magic. He's a stud. Appropriate. It's appropriate. That's what it is. I think the magic are going to make some noise. I loved him when he was with the magic.

Yeah. Like he had a fight. We could bicker about his Bull's career, but I really did think he was like a rising superstar in the league. He was who he was the whole time. It's just the situation around him didn't exactly fit. Yes. Exactly.

All right. Final question. Number five. Today is Bobby Bonilla Day. The question is, does anybody have it better than Bobby Bonilla? His agent. His agent, actually, there's a White Sox connection with his agent. It is a man whose nickname is Go-Go Gilbert. And he is known for being the agent who put together the greatest deal of all time.

And he's also a close friend of Jerry Reinsdorf is Go-Go. So Ozzy knows him. I actually got to, I think, cross-pads with him one time. the sweet level at socks where everything happens. You know, that's where all these baseball people are. So I always shout out GoGo Gilbert in these situations because he was the agent behind the legendary Bobby Bodnia deal. The thing I want to know is, what's he doing with his money every year?

Does he save it? Does he spend it? Like, I'm curious. But you know it's always going to be there. That's a very good question. Well, it's interesting because if you look at the first time he got to deal, which was 2011. He got $1.4 million. That $1.4 million, it does not hunt the same way it does in 2026. You know what I'm saying? Like that, that's lost a lot of its currency value in

inflation dollars alone. So that's why I'm curious. But yeah, I can't name anyone on the top my head that's got it better. This man's getting this payment every year through 2035, Grody. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, I can't think of anybody's got it, but he's got his own day. It's like it was, I remember when it was sort of a hipster thing. Like, you know, You know, it's just the people in the know. Like if you know, you know. Right, if you know, you know. And now everybody knows.

Even if you're not a sports fan, you're like, tell me more about this Bobby Bonilla and why he, why we make a big deal out of him every year. But it also makes me think about how awesome those pirates teams were. Like the young Bobby Bonilla pirates and Barry Bonds and I want to say Andy Van Sleck might have been on that team. So good for him. Specifically, the check is 1.193 million from the Mets today. and it will be every Bargogonia Day, July 1st

through the year 2035. Oh, that's it. It ends? That's it. That's it. Wow. That's right. That's amazing. That's a long run, though. No, it's a hell of a run. It's a hell of a run. It's just going to be very sad when it does end. I didn't think about the possibility of it actually ending.

Yeah, but that's still pretty good. Oh, it's amazing. To me at least, I could do a lot with that type of money. I could actually make a living off of, believe it or not, less than that money. Isn't that amazing? Yeah. I can do that for you if you were to give me that kind of money.

Caller 6 to our score contest line. 312 540-0-670. We'll win two general admission tickets to Moe and Umphreys McGee at Hunter Pavilion on August 15th, powered by Ravinia. For tickets and more info, visit ravinia.org. We're getting you ready for Cubs baseball here on the score. It's a fun time here at Gallagher Way. So we will bring you the latest from Craig Council and get you ready for the game next. Rahimi Harrison Grody, midday's 10 to 2 on 104 3, the score.

We are back here at Gallagher Way for one more segment before we get you ready for Cubs and Padres baseball game three of the series. And it is nice outside. If you don't consider the temperature, the wind is blowing. We got a hot one today. It should be fun as far as watching a ball or two perhaps leave the yard as we broadcast live from Gallagher Way outside Wrigley Field. here for Donation Day with the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Centers and Thrift Stords here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Bring gently used clothing to donate right outside the ballpark. Donors receive a special Cubs pin.

It is really cool. I have one in front of me. One per person while supplies last. So we're here until 1245. Then it is Zach Zayman's pregame show right here on 1043. The score. Marshall, you got lineups for us today? We have lineups.

You know the game just under an hour away from... having first pitch in the Cubs, they'll throw Colin Ray against Walker, Bueller for the Padres. Here's what the Cubs have in their lineup. It's no surprise that Pete Crowe Armstrong is leading off and playing center field. Alex Bregman, fresh off maybe his most productive day as a Cubs, is in the two-hole and playing third base. Are you okay with that? I have to be. I still would rather have Sayez Suzuki directly behind Pete Core Armstrong, but this is what Craig Counsel is doing.

Like, this is what we're doing. Okay. Michael Bush will bat third and play fourth. first base. Sayy Suzuki, the aforementioned, will clean up and play right field. I think that's the first time he's been in the field since he's come back. He's been D-Hing a lot. Ian Hap will play left field and he's up from seventh to fifth in today's lineup. Nico Horner will bat sixth and play second. Michael Comforter will be your D.H. and he will bat seventh. McGillamire will bat eighth and be behind the plate. And Danesby Swanson will hold it down in the nine hole and play

shortstop. The powerful Danesby Swanson, who put on a show last night, a lot of relief. By the way, Walker Bueller, 5 and 3, 381 ERA, just a fair warning. Now, if the wind's blowing out here, all bets are off, but Walker Bueller has been very good recently. He is not

allowed more than one earned run in a game since May 27th. That was against Philadelphia, and that was only two runs. So Walker Bueller, maybe looking like vintage Dodgers, Walker Bueller, the starting pitcher for the Hadres today. And Colin Ray, with that 480 ERA, but he has been good recently against Milwaukee and Toronto,

and he has been, my goodness, like one of the most important players on the Cubs this year, just in terms of somebody giving you innings and somebody being healthy for the Cubs this year. Or as he is lovingly referred to on the morning show at times, Colin Rhea, that's dramatic. Is that a Dustin? It's a purposeful. It's not a mispronunciation on accident. It was just something that has happened. It's a fun thing they're doing there. Yeah, I think it was emphasis originally like Colin Raya.

Raya? So then it kind of turned to be. Not to be confused with Colin Raya. That's a different thing. Yeah. Very fair. Or, no, I won't do it. I was going to do Bulls head coat.

I was going to do Boylands again, but I'm not going to do it. Oh, no. Oh, no. Before we do that, let's bring you what Craig Counsel had to say. Injury updates and also talking about Alex Brugman's night at the plate last night. How was his say a feeling he's in there right today? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think we're better.

You know, he took a pretty good day of practice yesterday and running around yesterday, and just he feels good enough to go out there. So the goal would be to try to get him out there more. Probably pretty a little more cautious kind of pre-all-star break and then see where it sits kind of post-break. Did that slide yesterday, I'll indicate to you that he was healthy and getting up and being okay? I mean, I think we made the decision on really him playing the outfield kind of Monday, actually. So, yeah.

Did it on how Cabrero's recovering? Yeah, I mean, he's, I think the goal for Cabby would be to try to get him off a mound. before the All-Star break in terms of like throwing bullpens. So that's the goal over the next 10 days is I'm trying to off the mound, a bullpen before the break.

I said Gregman needed that last night. How much of it just needs it mentally needs to see success happening in the plate? Well, yeah. I mean, it's always both.

I mean, I think, you know, there's the, you know, the mechanical part of having your swing kind of locked in. And then there's the mental part of just needing success and wanting to contribute. And work paying off, you know, to like stick to your, stick to a plan of what you're trying to do. So it's never one or the other. It's always both, I think. And, yeah, look, we all need, we all need positive reinforcement. you know, you can work your tail off. And when you don't get results, it's discouraging, right?

Like human nature, I think, and these guys are, you know, as resilient as they come. But it's still nice to get results. It's important for guys like Bregglin and others. Sometimes they have a chip on their shoulder. For instance, today, we asked them about the thumbs down yesterday coming around. cases after a homering and he didn't want to address it which is fine and certainly is okay and so we're okay with it but the idea that motivation sometimes comes from people pushing against you is that part of what athletes do um i mean we all find our own ways to be motivated like that that's just

i mean everybody does that and i think You can pick all sorts of ways. You can pick the people that love you to motivate you. You can pick the people that doubt you to motivate you. And I think we all do both from time to time, especially those of us, and you guys get it too, especially those of us that are getting constant feedback on our performance, right? When you get constant feedback on your performance, you kind of, I think, toggled between

picking like, you know, the lovers and the haters and who's motivating you? The lovers and the haters and who's motivating you. Constant feedback on his performance, you say, from perhaps us, the peanut gallery? Yeah, but the peanut gallery even has people commenting. We got a text line that exists the last time I checked. We're evaluated every day as well. Every day. So that's all right.

We do. We evaluate them on the daily. So, and somehow, some way, cabby and the crew. are 10 games over 500. Edward Cabrera. That's a new one. I know. We all looked at each other and we're surprised to hear cabby.

We got a cabby. Can we get that cabby back up and running, please? Do you want to talk about somebody who needs to take his time when it comes to injury? You're right. You talked about James and Tyone. Multiply that times two for me with Edward Cabrera. It's fair, based on his injury history over his career. And it's more times than not he has found his way to the IL.

Now, to add to that, Jesse Rogers has been on the Bregman beat. I think that's safe to say over the past few days. No doubt. He posted this on Twitter. Bregvin was asked for the meaning of his thumbs down celebration, which he did routing the bases and after crossing home plate, quote, nothing.

Not a message to anybody? No. But I don't believe that because, you know, they were doing the type stuff celebration too. Passive aggressive, anyone? Ray looks at me. You know what I'm talking about Ray? Well, yeah, the type stuff, yes. But I totally don't believe that either.

I totally, you don't give a thumbs out, the thumbs down when you cross the plate and look up for nothing. Like, come on. Who was he looking at? Who's it looking at? I think he was looking at everybody. I think he was looking at the fans and the press box. I think he was generally

thumbing down everybody. I wish he would just own it. We thought about the Javi Baez thing too, because what happened in New York with Linddor. Yes. And that took on a life of its own, but here we're just like, eh. And it was subtle. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't the same kind

deliberate once he got on base type of thing that what we saw with hobby was. Theory. I did like that Alex Breggman, who doesn't have very many home runs, still in single digits. When he hit the home run, he did take a moment to pause and admire his work. I mean, that was one where you can't.

Can you imagine what that did for his soul? Hitting the 450 foot, or actually, probably a little less, 417, actually. Somehow I wrote it down. Still pretty big. Pretty big. That had to have just felt like such a release for him. A three-run Jack after having a horrible season? Well, can he release

again and repeatedly? I think that's the idea. I think that's the hope. What do you mean? Yeah, that's inappropriate. I'm not going to stoop to your level, okay? Your beavis and butthead lifestyle. From the show who brought you the conversation with Ian Hapenor open. Knob. I don't

I will walk away. I will walk away from Gallagher Way. We got two minutes left in this show. One minute, actually. One minute, I will walk away. Yeah, you're going to anyway. We want to thank you guys again for joining us. from Gallagher Way. We had a wonderful time here getting you ready for Cubs baseball today.

And thanks to our friends at Budweiser Brickhouse Tavern for a nice spread, great place to go before and after all Cubs games in Brickley Field events. Watch the USA World Cup game there tonight. It's not just for Cubs baseball. Well, you know Grody's not going to watch. Kickball, man. Watch a kickball match. I sold that from Steve Rose and Bloom. That's what Rose Bloom says. Yes, you did. Thanks to C.S. Thanks to Peter. Thanks to Max. Thanks to Ray for all being out

here today. Thanks to our promotions crew. Thanks to Ryan Porth. Thanks to Tyler Farrengold back at the station. Mr. Baby T. Esquire, as we are now calling him. Thanks to Brandon Friar. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz. Max Curtis, Cozy Westerland is our video crew. So Cubs Baseball was Zach Zatman coming at you next. TTR. Thank you. Oh!