Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ron Coomer talks Alex Bregman's resurgence, Kevin Gausman's hand cramp

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Cubs Radio analyst Ron Coomer to break down the club’s 4-3 walk-off win over the White Sox on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

That's how you make an entrance, guys. Ron Coomber. Hello, boys and girls. That's how you do it. Mark Grody, dusted off his seat. Oh, yeah. We're happy to see you. Coom, thanks for coming in with us today.

Good, good, good. Sorry, I'm a little tardy. Oh, yeah, you're good. It's a day game. Travel day is always an issue, but I'm here. No, we're happy to see you. I was playing like I was in the Bears coming across the street, but that's okay. Look, you know what's crazy is that every time I look at what's going on with the Cubs in

particular, right? And we get to this point in the season where we're like, all right, well, the Cubs, they do pretty well at home as far as just level of excitement. You now have, to lead the majors, 13 walk-off wins. That is a lot. But it's especially a lot when you think about the fact that they've only got 38 wins at homes. That means basically better than a third of the time you're winning in walk-off fashion. What can you say about, one, the atmosphere, but also just this team's ability to make it happen at the end. Well, you can look at it a bunch of different ways. I'll say this.

You have a superstar player in the making that has a flare for that, which I've seen, and so have you, Mark, here in Chicago, we've had, I had a teammate that got to played right field years ago that had a little bit of that flare. Same with Sosa. But, you know, there's some guys that have that thing, and Pete Kroa Armstrong has that thing, there's no doubt. But then there's other guys like a game like last night, Bregman, who's now starting to swing the bat much better. You know, you're a veteran player and you got quite a few of them and they know how to have good at bats in big moments and they can, you know, take the game from

it being really fast to slow in the game down. And that's what we saw last night with Bregman. He knew he was going to get a breaking ball. He got one away and just shot it back through the middle of the game winner. Well, and that's big to me, Coom, because when you consider number one, how breaking balls really ate up the team in May. No doubt. And the adjustments that they have made. What I saw last night was a hitter and Alex Bregman who had a clear two strike approach that worked for two RBIs of consequence, one being the game winner, as we saw, two-out approach, rather.

So we see the two-out approach happen. Then we see a hitter who had a clear approach when it came to, say, facing that breaking ball, not looking at it go by him like we had seen previously in the season. What do you think about the adjustments that he's made? This is not a flash in the pan yesterday. This is culmination of, I'd say, a few weeks of work now. Yeah, months, actually. You know, a lot of guys have issues when they first come to a new team and they sign a big deal.

I saw it in New York with Jason Giambi. You know, we all signed in New York. But he's the one that really signed. He got the big money. Bregnant got a lot of money. And you're playing, you want to really do well in front of your home fans and you want to do well for your new team. And he's starting to get there now. I just saw a guy yesterday that, you know, and in the last two weeks of using the other side of the field,

it's starting to click for him, and that couldn't be, it couldn't be a better time for the Cubs, especially with Dan's be going down. But Bregman's an established big league hitter. He's going to eventually be okay, and you knew that. But, you know, when you're going through it and you're the guy, it's not very much fun. I remember in 2015, John Lester got off to a sluggish start, remember, and he even admitted. like he was putting too much pressure on himself. Bregman has been somebody that comes

of desired for two years. So he knew how much they like. A five-year deal, he ain't going anywhere. So I was, as a human being, I was relieved for Alex Breggen, and relief for him, and hopefully this will click, and it will continue for him. We were just talking about Javier Assad

and the role that he has played on this team this year. I think two things. I think that he has been managed perfectly this year, and I know he doesn't want to be sent down, and I know he'd prefer to be a starter, but sometimes you manage guys as to not get them exposed. I also think that he's done his job maybe better than any other cub. He's not the most valuable cub,

but he's done his job better than maybe any cub this year. I couldn't agree more with you, Mark. Last night is a perfect example of sitting in a bullpen, probably sipping on a cup of coffee and thinking, you know, we're just watching our new star pitcher go to work, then next thing you know, his thumb is a mess with the cramp. It was very bizarre. And guess what?

The phone rings you're in. And you got like all of 30 seconds to grab your glove, your hat, put that thing in your hat for the signs and off you go. And he comes in and gets a double play ball. And he's just, it's awesome. And I just look at him and he reminds you of old school baseball. He's not popular with what he threw. throws, it just works. And that's that sink or slider change-up combination, puts the ball in play, and with our

defense, it works. Do you feel like the Cubs have simply done a better job handling the other team's most dangerous hitter as opposed to the White Sox approach to the Cubs, most dangerous hitter when you look at Mune. Mune got his last night. Don't be full. But they have done a good job of just navigating around him as opposed to PCA who's just, you can't stop him.

Yeah, well, I would say I listen to Will's comments after the PCA walkoff Homer, and I understood it. There's different trains of thought, and we were talking about this in the booth yesterday, well before the game with, you know, Darren Jackson and Jeff Frankor, and, you know, ex-players that played the era before this. And we were always taught, and this is straight from my manager. This is from Joe Torrey and Kelly, Tom Kelly, with Minnesota. They would flat out say in the team meeting before the series, if they had a star player, we are going to do our best not to have that guy beat us. And I watched Roger Clemens in the final game of a series ready to chew nails

because Joe would not let him pitch to Barry Bonds. And finally, we're up 8 to 2 and a 7th. And Clem just looks into the dugout, and the skipper just gives them the shrugging the shoulders. Like, go ahead, big boy, go get him. And I'm playing first base and holding the runner on, and I come off the bag, and Bonds hit a ball so damn hard. I went like, whoa. And the ball went over my head and hit the upper deck, the third deck, and I flinched.

And I was like, oh, my God. And it makes sense, right? And I went, boy, skipper's pretty smart, man. He's had my life in his hands Me playing that close to the hitter That was no good But you know that's such a good illustration Because we know Clemens was an absolute game on

Nobody wants to be put in a situation Where you want to have to walk Because he's thinking he's one of the best in the game At the time when that went down There was no doubt If it wasn't the godfather Joe Torrey Clement would not Rock would have never agreed to that

He'd been uh-uh I'm pitching him And what are you going to say to Clements Right exactly Take the ball, go get him Somebody's going to be upset up there and it's either going to be on a result or a prevention. We all

had so much respect for Joe that you would never cross Joe Torrey but I, you know, I watched it and then that's the hardest ball I've seen hit in the pitch. We all looked at it because then we're messing with him the next day once he's calmed down Clemens.

The pitch almost hit him in the chest and he hit it into the third deck. I would. Yeah, that was unbelievable. I do want to ask you too about the use of the bench because we see Secret counsel, I think, it's a wrinkle that I don't know is going to be mentioned up front because of all of the things that happened in this game. But Kevin Alcounter gets brought in as a pinch runner and glides home. You see that happening. He has the nice fist bump.

Then you know that brings up Carson Kelly. Well, who's getting on base for Alex Bregman to help bring home? Like that, that worked out really well how that all went down and just the use of the bench there. Yeah, and counts, you know, he likes to play his lineup night after night after night. He's always been that way with Milwaukee. He's that way. And he's had the teams to be able to do that. And he does here.

But there comes a time at this period of the season, usually, where there are guys that go down. And then all of a sudden, you have to use your bench. And I think he's done a, he's navigated this season well enough to where all these guys that are on a bench, Comforto Ramirez, they're all playing enough to where they're sharp. They're not, you know, totally rusty. and so Ramirez is playing well.

I think the catching situation has been awesome for the Cubs, you know, and they're fresh. So, you know, and then some of these kids from the minor leagues are bouncing up and down like El Contra. And, you know, he made a contribution. He scored a run yesterday. It's a big run. All right, let's get to the Kevin Gosman weirdness from last night. I know that obviously players cramp up. It happens that's part of the game.

Have you ever seen it like that where it's the glove hand and they're slamming the goo? on the mound? That I've seen. Now that happens. Not on the mound, but I've seen it in a field. Okay. You know, this new gel that they have instantly gets into your blood system and starts working. So the first time it happened yesterday, I know they were trying to get two outs, so you're trying to get that stuff in his system. So you get the third out, and now you can come to the bench. You hope you have a long inning on offense, and then things can work out. Well, it didn't quite work out that way, but he's still pitch. You know, there are some guys you look at and you go, this guy's a baseball player.

He's a pitcher, but he's a baseball player. And I think Cubs got a couple of them in this trade that, you know, home's the same thing. He's a ball player. You know, and that's because you could have came out of the game then. And he was fighting to stay in. And that, to me, tells you all you need to know about a guy pitching, you know, in late August, trying to get to the playoffs. And as far as you can see, he's all right. I don't know if you've talked to the manager today already.

I'm right out of my car. Oh, yeah. Shall I go, baby? It's a travel day, Mark. He's had to get his stuck together. Come on, you remember that? Shot over here. This is why he is the dog.

Okay. Ryan, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me about the dog. Tell Kuma about the dog. I had a police escort from Ryan Ports coming over here. He's a good blocker, man. He's a big guy. I want Mark to explain because he's gone from calling you, you know,

Coom dog. Now he's just calling you the dog. Here's the thing. There's a lot of dogs out there. You got a snoop dog, right? You got one dog. Lance Johnson back today. Nobody will accuse me of being Snoop Dog.

I don't think that. You know, I've met the air. Very nice guy. What I'm saying is, I am proclaiming you as the dog. There's a lot of dogs out there. You are the dog, and I mean that in the dog the good way. Maybe here around Wrigley Field. Ladies and gentlemen, the dog.

Yes, we clap for the dog. Are we ready for a good ball game tonight, folks? Let's go. We've had a great series. It's been a lot of fun. Let's keep it fun, easy. No fights. And let's have a Cubs victory today.

Let's keep it, Yingway. Let's keep it in Yingway. Yeah. Well, and that's another thing. I know Friday, August 28th from 7 to 9, you can go to Coombs Corner in Lockport after the game and meet the dog. Ron Coomber. Enjoy yingling bucket specials. Score some yingling swag.

Don't miss the post game party at Coombs Corner with Yingling flight. Next generation of light beer. Really good on a day like this where it might be a little steamy. I'll have one after the game. I can try. They're ready. Yeah. There you go.

I do want to point out the atmosphere there is going to be great at Coombs. It's really great inside the cubby bear right now. We have a wonderful crowd. It's always good here at the cubby bear. You know that. At sound of the frustrating fights that we saw. Yeah.

What can you say about that? Even last night during the rain delay, what was it like to kind of observe the vibe that was going on? It's hilarious when all that, so I had family in the booth and all the kids be piling behind home play. It's just funny. And it just tells you how fired up fans are for this series.

And when the kids all come, to the ballpark. You know, that was me when I was 16, 15, 16 years old coming to Wrigley on a night that you could get here. And you just loved being here. And I think people that rained, it didn't matter. They were going to hang out here at the ballpark and have a great time and they did. I thought

Cubs did a great job. We got back on the field and played the grounds crew. Did an unbelievable job. And it was just, it was a fun night. And once again, you know, it's always even that much more fun when you win like we were talking with a walkoff. You know, that's pretty cool. Yeah. No, I

wonder what today is going to be like just because you've got Clay Holmes on one side and you've got, I don't even know, on the other side of the white side, right? You know, the White Sox, coming into this series, we knew in talking with Stoney and Darren Jackson

that their bullpen was pretty beat up coming in, they used them a lot. So this was going to be one of them series where you really want to win, right? I mean, it's Cub's socks, but you're also like pretty depleted in the pen. So we've had series like that where we played St. Louis and our pen was depleted. And you're, you know, so it's one of those situations for the White Sox.

This is a big, big series for our city. Playing in October is bigger for everybody. Absolutely. Well said. Ron, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Ron. We'll let you get back to the getaway date and game three of what. It should be a great series conclusion.

Yeah, and we've had a packed house. It's been a lot of fun. Thanks for having me on. Of course, man. Thanks for making us your first stop, buddy. Enjoy your youth. Gingling post game. Yes, I will for sure.

Absolutely. That is Ron Coomer. We are happy to have him. The Cubs Radio Network analyst eight seasons with the twins, Cubs, Yankees and Dodgers. Let's go. How about a little round of applause for Ron Coomer? 1999, All-Star, and the dog, as Mark Rohde dubbed him.

So we are happy to get you ready for game three of Crosstown here from the Cubby Bear. Thanks to our crowd who is here. Thanks to everybody providing a good vibe. We'll talk a little bears next. there are some finer points to the Ben Johnson press conference that probably deserves some more attention. So we will examine as they get ready for joint practices, and we're alive here from the Cubby Bear. Thanks to Yingling. Next.