Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Mark Gonzales: Cade Horton is the key to Cubs overtaking Dodgers

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote were joined by Mark Gonzales of the Sun-Times to discuss the latest Cubs storylines coming out of spring training. Gonzales shared what he believes is the key to the Cubs potentially overtaking the Dodgers in the National League.

Bregman so far this spring, three for nine. Banner 2020-season with the Red Sox. Bregman in the air, left center field. It's back to the track and it is gone. Cubs fans get used to this. Alex Bregman, solo Homer. We're all tied up at one in the first. I'll take a Bregman bombsky on this Sunday. Why not? That is Alex Cohen and Elise Minnaker on the call in the Marquis Sports Network from yesterday. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score.

And we go to our hotline. That is where we find our friend longtime baseball reporter Mark Gonzalez. He is at MD Gonzalez on X. Mark, how are you? Doing well. Great to hear your voice. How's everything? Oh, same here.

It's just nice to catch up like Grody's smiling. I feel like a little bit of the baseball. crew's just happening right now. Yeah, and I won't tell you how great the weather is, so we can move on to Cubs and socks business if you want. Yeah, yeah, we know. It's just like something I've learned to, except I've been doing this a long. You can't hurt me with your Arizona weather, Mark Gonzalez.

I will not let that happen. It's a good place to start would be what we saw on the mound yesterday from the Chicago Cubs. everybody was ultra concerned about Shota Imanaga at the end of last year. Didn't think Shota Imanaga was going to be part of the Cubs rotation this year. And unfortunately, he did not eliminate any concerns with the three home runs that he gave up in his start yesterday. What did you think about it, Mark? Location was terrible.

Velocity was good. The problems he had yesterday were fixable. So he's going to have a few more starts down here. You've got to think that he's got to be at the back end of the road. rotation just based on the way the rotation has sculpted what guys like Kate Horton did last year. Certainly Schultz and knows he's got to pitch better and pitch more consistent, more stronger, because he saw where he faded toward the end last year. He wasn't the only one that did so, but he knows what's at stake,

because the hope is that steel will be ready at some point, you know, late May, early June, and you have the reinforcement. So Shoda's got a lot to prove, but I think there's time, and I think the case with location, he can fix that in a hurry. Real quick follow up on that, because you mentioned what's at stake, and of course it makes sense. Justin Steele comes back. Maybe he replaces Shoda in the starting rotation.

I think that's what you're saying. Is there any chance that Shoda Imanaga is out of the starting rotation even before Justin Steele comes back, considering last year, considering the start to this year as well? he would have to really slip in a hurry. I think given his track record, I think they'd give him a leash. You know, also you can also, you know, manipulate the rotation with off days and such. So I think he'll get a decent leash anyway, whether it's two months, you know, we'll see.

But I think he's to the point where he'll get a chance. He'll get a fair chance. I don't think there'll be a quick cook. with him, but you want results. No, you do, Mark. And one of the things I noticed when you were talking about the home runs and the location of the ball, that's the first thing I'm looking at, right? Like, if you're going to up the velo, then you'd better be able to still place where

you need to, especially when the velo wasn't that high to begin with. And that ball to Edgar Caro was about shoulder high. You know, and it was inside. Like, what did you think about just the home run balls that he did give up? I mean, that one, that one kind of raised my eyebrows because, you know, it's good that he's throwing 95, 94-95. That's encouraging, but it's not a skein's fastball. It's not 100 miles an hour. It's 95.

Guys can catch up to that. If you're going to throw 95, you've got to be more effective getting it on the hands. He didn't do that. So, therefore, he's going to pay a price. And I think that's where it comes along, not just his fastball, but a slider as well. You know, Montgomery, Braden Montgomery, he looked like he was sitting all over that one,

but he got enough to clear the fence with some distance. So he's got sort of got some work to do. But once again, I think it's fixable. Yeah, the Braden Montgomery. Good for Braden Montgomery. Good for him. Hitting a 1-1 curve for the home run. And the Austin Hay, hey, I don't know what the Austin Hayes Homer,

well, I think it was a fastball. It seemed like it was right down, like, center cut. It was low, though. That was not a... I didn't think there was a bad pitch. Really? I think it was just a little high. See, I didn't think the Edgar Carrow pitch was a bad pitch

because it kind of came up and in. Oh, no. Now that I'm looking at the replay of Hayes, guys, it's... It's like right there. It's middle, middle of the plate. It spent roughly two years over the plate before it got to get hit out of the ballpark. In the words of Joe Madden, and it was center cut.

Yes. Yeah. He did start that, didn't he? because I use that, and that was a Joe Maddenism, wasn't it, Gonzo? Yeah, I mean, Joe got credit for a lot of things that he didn't certainly originate, but he popularized, and I'll give him credit for that one. Yeah, he was Mr. Pop Culture. What do you think about Alex Bregman?

I mean, they looked really good at the plate yesterday, the home run, believe he had a double as well. I mean, it was nice. I don't know if importance is the right way to put it, but maybe important to see that in spring training, considering the $175 million five-year contract they gave him? He leaves with a good feeling. I think he's one of the guys you have to worry least about,

just given his track record, but the way he plays the game, he saw it at third, he gives you a good at bat. He's a good teammate. We've already seen it. Him talking to his teammates about certain things during drills and all that. He's pretty complete and steady. And I think if this team's going to go farther, they need guys like him.

He's also been battle tested. You know, he's played in the playoffs and a World Series. So he's one of the guys you're not going to be worried about if this team goes where it wants to go. We're talking to Mark Gonzalez, joining us live from a nature preserve or something. He's doing a Disney movie. He's little birds flying over his head. Where are you right now? Mark, are you at the facility in Mesa?

No, I'm actually somewhere where it's, it's true. tranquil and peaceful. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it sounded that way. Yeah, we all heard the birds just now. Mark was covering the game for the Sun-Times, Maddie Lee, filling in, and we were talking about the Cubs and Sox game that we all got to witness yesterday. It was on TV as well.

It was on Markey. How much level of concern, if at all, Mark, when it comes to us understanding that this was the lineup that we were going to see out of the Cubs before the World Baseball Classic? And the fact that you had the Bregman home run and that was about it offensively. How much stock do you put into that, if any, at all? None. None really. What I look for is, you know, at bats, like Pete Crowe Armstrong against, you know, Anthony K.

A lefty, we all know, Pete had trouble. Last year against lefties. He got a nice hit to left field. Went the other way. You want to see more of that, especially him becoming a, a little more discipline against lefties covering the strike zone but not expanding it. That's one thing I look at. You're just kind of isolating things and looking for certain instances rather than, you know,

results batting average at the end of the spring because that means nothing, as you know. So I look at those things. And if you want to take a step back to Saturday, Ben Brown and Javier Assad pitched very well against the Dodger team at five of its big boys at the top of the order. So you look more at those things right now. It's a weird time of spring training, and I say that because even if it wasn't the World Baseball Classic, there seems to be a lull at times. And that's when you can get in the bad habits or guys get hurt or they have the infamous dead arm stage. So it's a very curious time right now, especially with the guys going off the World Baseball Project.

Yeah, yeah. But it's an opportunity for guys like Ben Brown and Assad to assert themselves because injuries are part of the game and they've got to have these guys ready to step in if something happens. Yeah, I heard Ben Brown talking about trying to get better. I mean, it was Bruce talking about Ben Brown trying to get better at the mental game. But I do want to stay on the lefty motif for a second with PCA, as you said, going up against the White Sox starter, Anthony Kay, who is a lefty and could very well be in the starting. a starter for the Sox once we get this thing going for real. But Michael Bush, obviously, was up against the lefty. 34 home runs last year, 866 OPS, 592 played appearances.

That was seventh on the team. Did they just let them go this year, Michael Bush, or at least try, at least start the season? Just saying, yes, you will play against everybody, all lefties, righties, no funny stuff. Michael Bush, show us what you got. I think that's the case. you know, another element is the fact that, you know, Tyler Austin being out, that's going to create a situation where you're going to try to find somebody who can spell him at first base on occasion.

The unfortunate thing is that Miguel Amaya and Christian Betancourt, who's a non-roaster guy, and targeted his backup catchers. They're playing for Panama, the world baseball classic. So who knows if you see even Matt Schenberg. Shaw over there, but I think that Michael Bush will get a longer leash. I hate to use that phrase again, but he'll get a chance to prove himself against lefties. And I think it's fair, too. You know, he's still young, and he had a really terrific season last year, maybe still

underrated, even though he hit 34 homers. I think he's still got plenty of upside there. So, you know, why not give him a chance to see what he can do against lefties? So, you know, sometimes having him face lefties is better than anybody else on the bench facing a lefty with few exceptions. Mark Gonzalez is joining us. And in Consor, we should have probably started by asking you this question. I think we all just went into old habits like, hey, let's talk about the spring training game from yesterday. But what are your questions, you know, regarding this Cubs team as a longtime reporter and someone who covered the team?

Like what are your observations about just how this team has been put together this season and what you think? You know, I've been critical of them in the past, but I think they have a really good team. I think this is the first time you could say, yeah, they could really challenge the Dodgers for the title. I really feel this team is well balanced. The issue is going to be health because we saw what happened in the rotation last year. and certainly they have somebody like Colin Ray in the wings and Justin Steele is going to be ready, hopefully late May, early June.

But I still think that in order for this team to overtake the Dodgers, and I hate to put pressure on one guy, but, you know, Kate Horton's going to have to do more of the same. I think he's the guy because you look at the second half of last year, I mean, he had a great feeling when that guy took the man like he were going to win. and the question is, do you feel that good about the other guys? And that's going to be an issue where somebody's going to have to step up as well as

Kade and provide quality starts because, you know, down the stretch and even in the playoffs, it was usually a clean flip because, you know, Shota was on fumes and Matthew Boyd hit a wall as well. I mean, that was not a good feeling. And you kind of think, God, if Kate Horton didn't have that rib fracture, they would have advanced and probably played the Dodgers for the National League championship. So that's where health and depth come in. Because I think the team is pretty well balanced right now. Certainly, you know, the backup outfield situation can sort itself out,

but they've got plenty of candidates out there, and you've got to think that, you know, Ian Hap, PCA and say are going to play a lot out there. So that person, it's going to be tough for that person to get, you know, 200, 250 at back. but that's the way they are equipped, and I think that all around you look at the infield and the outfield, it's pretty well structured. Mark Gonzalez, by the way, I want to make sure I have this right, Gonzo. Do you know, are you the only beat writer in this town that has covered both the Cubs World Series on an everyday basis? I was there with you and the White Sox in 2005. Is that correct?

Yes, it is. Wow. Yes, it is. And I don't take any credit for this, but also this marks the 25th anniversary of the Diamondbacks winning their World Series title. And I was fortunate to be the beat writer that year. In fact, a lot of stuff going on down here in Arizona with the Diamondbacks World Series title 25 years ago. Wow. Louise Gonzalez, where are you now?

That is. Well, we know where Craig Counsel is. Yeah, we do. So there's that. He was a part of that team. Yeah, he was. So, and by the way, Gonso, I'm forever grateful to you for introducing me to the Montgomery Inn, a great ribs joint in Cincinnati. I hope you still are able to make it to that place.

But just having watched the Cubs and the White Sox play yesterday, I know you still take an interest in what the White Sox are doing. And specifically, Braden Montgomery with a couple hits on the home run, how fast do you think that guy could end up on the White Sox roster in their outfield? because it feels like there's room at the end, specifically in that White Sox outfield right now for somebody like Braden Montgomery. The White Sox Center, Chris Gets, have not been afraid of rush guys, accelerate their pace through the miners,

but I would tap the brakes a little bit on Montgomery. I think you've got a chance to be a super player, but I think this year is going to be very important in terms of his development and taking that last step to the majors. He's a switch hitter. He's got great tools, and maybe it's a situation where he hits for a higher average than the power.

I still think there's some things he's got to work on. I saw him in the fall league quite a bit. I saw him as a freshman at Stanford. I liked him, and he went over three with a strikeout. But he just stood out there. He looked like the real deal. In a best-case scenario, I could see him being up around the All-Star, break, but once again, I think there's no need to rush them yet. So I would put some pause on,

give some pause on that. Fine. Pause. I hit pause. Fine. It's never bad having hope in a player. I like it. Then you can say that you've got to see him on his upswing, so that's awesome. Mark Gonzalez, always great to talk to you. Thanks for joining us. We like to hear your voice too, and I guess we'll let you get back to this bird sanctuary you're at because we can hear all of the happy birds in the background. It's a beautiful day down here. I'm going to have Ray add that to my sleep sounds for my... Chirping birds of Mark Gonzalez's background.

I can't get a nap to that. Take care, y'all. Thanks, Mark. Like we mentioned, Mark Gonzalez, still on Twitter at MD Gonzalez. He's also a senior writer at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. Coming up next, let's delve a little bit more into what we saw in that Cubs and White Sox game. Because I think there are some themes, you know, that we can actually say this is something that we hope to see this season. And this is something that we hope to not see this season.

And I have a complaint about the broadcast from yesterday that I would like to discuss. I would like to officially file a complaint. All right. So we'll do all of that next.