Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Russ Dorsey talks Cubs: Matt Shaw's role, Matt Boyd getting Opening Day nod

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

Mark Grote and Leila Rahimi were joined by Russ Dorsey of Yahoo Sports to discuss the latest Cubs and World Baseball Classic storylines.

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Available now at five-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter? Right? And the best part? They accept Discover. Except Discover? In a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover is accepted where I like to shop.

Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants? These are making a comeback. I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen Report. At blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments. It's about you.

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Rules and restrictions apply. Dorsey, National MLB Insider for Yahoo Sports. My eye is on which version of Pete do you get in 26? Because if you can get, we'll call it 65%, even 70% of the first half, Pete Coromstrong offensively, with that same high-quality defense that we saw from him since he's gotten to the big leagues, to be honest. Then you still have a high-quality player. Insider and analyst for Friday night baseball on Apple TV Plus.

Hey man. we're a show hey and in the biggest moment on the biggest stage the best player to walk the face of the earth showed us exactly where he was Russell Dorsey On 104 3, the score

The score The only thing we're missing is Marshall with all of his crew in here. We had Clay Harbor now we have Russell Dorsey the noted baseball insider He's an insider and analyst for MLB Network Friday night baseball on Apple TV Plus. There's a lot of

gym talk that went on between the Russell Dorsey and Clay Harbor transition. You know, I feel like there was a lot of... Clay was a professional athlete, though. The workout tips are strong. You were a college athlete. I was not. But you practically were. The only thing that stopped you from being an actual college baseball player was the injury

you sustained. I can't say it. I can't allow myself to say it. Because you were, you were. You were a college baseball player. No, man, I can't do it. I think I'm... They're Division 1, aren't they?

In fairness, yeah. I think I'm a way better athlete right now than I've ever been in my life. He said that. Clay said that too. Yeah. Clay has talked about how if he were in the same shape, that playing that he is in now. He thinks his career would have lasted longer.

100%. Like, and that's a good thing. Like, you want to get to 30 and be like, damn, I'm in good shape. And I think for everybody out there, you don't have to look like Clay Harbor to be in good shape, right? to work on your leg muscles. Longevity in life is tied to

leg strength and having muscle in your lower limbs. It's also mobility. Mobility moving around and keeping some muscle in your legs. A lot of people think that their knees are hurting because they're older and your knees are probably hurting because of mobility issues. You know what's funny is like, yeah, you guys were talking gym and talking

workout and then when I got a hold of you, we're talking about cheese. You're at bad at sports. Although I'm trying now. It's one o'clock. This is the lunchtime show. That sounded great, though, a burger. A big sloppy cheeseburger with some fresh fries. Fresh cut, French fries.

Oh, man. The vat of oatmeal did the job today. A vat of Laila's special oatmeal. That's a lot of oatmeal. Well, I don't use, this is just the container. I don't actually. There's no way in hell. My oatmeal bill every week would be a billion dollars.

I'm like, damn, that's a lot of oatmeal. No, this is a 24-ounce. She's half a galaxy. She's feeding. She's feeding. She's feeding. Three cups of oatmeal. It's time for Layla's feeding.

Jeez. I'm randomly running at Arlington nights. Like, come in at 10 o'clock so full. Like, oh, I've had three cups of oatmeal. It's like horse oats. Just sitting there like concrete. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I would just, I just end up like wanting to run like a racehorse the entire time.

One day at work, I did bring oats, apple, and a carrot to work. And then I realized what I had done. What type of oatmeal? This is the rolled oats, just the traditional quaker. There's all these different, like, steel cut. No, I just want the plain ones, but I don't like the quick cook. I like the ones you have to actually cook. They just taste better to me.

And that is enough of oatmeal talk on the score. Shout out to the oatmeal eaters out there. Shout out to oatmeal. We did have no espresso talk, so that was big for Team Italy. We'll get into Team Italy in a little bit. We had Italian beef talk, too. Yeah, we had Italian beef talk. in order of celebrating team Italy.

And it's 312 day, people. Chicago. Do what you like on 312 day. That's what I say. We also have some Cubs news. So this is new. They just sent out a media release. I consider it breaking whether or not you do is not my problem.

So guess what? Wildfire, you're hearing from me again. Breaking news on the score is brought to you by Wildfire. Enjoy a delicious meal, or if you're me, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, at Wildfire restaurants with five Chicago land locations. The Cubs have trimmed their roster. It is now at 46 players. Left-handed pitchers Luke Little and Ryan Rawlison

and outfielder Justin Dean have been optioned to AAA Iowa. Right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez, catchers, Ariel Armas and Casey Uptees, and outfielder Brett Bateman have returned to minor league camp. I don't think that's a surprise. Who, who, who, and who? Well, Vince Velasquez is older. Chicago's spring training roster of 46 players

consisted of 25 pitchers, five non-roster invitees, four catchers, one non-raster invitees, 10 infielders, that's four non-raster invitees, and seven outfielders who are three of them, non-raster invitees. So that is the latest when it comes to the Cubs roster as they continue to trim here and there. Anything stick out to you, Russell, as far as trying to figure out who this team is going to be once everybody's back from the World Baseball Classic. We got the news today that Matthew Boyd is going to be the opening day starter. Yeah.

I think that's the one you could say, okay, that makes a lot of sense based off of what he was able to do last year, probably how stretched out he is right now. Yeah, that makes sense. I think the thing when it comes to the Cubs that I'm curious to find out is with the Tyler Austin injury, that was a guy that was supposed to come over, hit against left-handed pitching, and be that. force off the bench for you. And with him not in there, does this allow Matt Shaw to play a bigger role than maybe he would have played had Austin not gotten hurt? And so I think you saw the lineup with, you know, Matt Shaw playing a little bit of first base yesterday and like him getting work there.

And increasing his versatility is only going to help him and help the Cubs. Because look, if you have a guy that can play a million positions, it's really valuable. So I think for Matt Shaw, him being able to be versatile defensively, but also be able to be a guy that's strong against the left-handed pitching. Like, you find ways to, that's how you find ways to get guys in the lineup, right? What can you do? You're a right-handed hitter and you can bang against left-handed pitching. There's going to be a spot for you on the roster. That's the thing, though, with Matt Shaw.

We think he could play all these positions. Like, I don't, I mean, he's been fine so far. Yeah. but can he really consistently play the outfield? Can he play the – I don't know they're going to use him at shortstop. We know we can play third base, but is he going – like we always think about Ben Zobrist, right? Ben Zobrist excelled at those positions. I think that we're just assuming he's going to be good.

We don't know that yet about Shaw. Right. And he's going to get his opportunities to. Like everything we've seen is that they are going to give him opportunities to. think the other thing when it comes to Matt Shaw playing all these positions is they have a lot of guys that play every day at short. Obviously, Dansby is going to play between 155 and 160 games a season. Nico is going to play between 150, 160 games a season. So you're not going to have them there. Now you bring in Alex Bregman. It's not like he's going to take that. That's way from Alex Brickman, who he just brought in his free agent. Yeah. And Alex is probably going to play between 145 games and 150 games at third base. The one thing with Bregman is there could be some days where maybe you DH him, right?

But he is also a good defender at third base. So it's not like you have that situation where nobody's a good defender and say, ah, well, he's above average there so we could just plug him. So yeah, they're going to have to do some work to find him at bats. But for him, it behooves him to play all these positions, or at least attempt to play all these positions to get himself in the lineup. I think we had the interview. The morning show played the discussion with Matt Shaw talking about him trying to adjust to all these different positions.

And I think you're right, Mark. We don't know that this is going to work out. Good teams need a player like this. Ideally, it's not your previously top prospect. You know, in the organization, ideally that guy's probably got a regular spot every day. but I see why they're trying to make it work. I think of a guy like Kike Hernandez who has made a career at whatever Dave Roberts needs him to do that day, he's going to do it. Hey, I need you to play left today. He's going to play the left. I need you to play center. He plays center.

I need you to come in and play third base for defensively and come in for Max Muncie late in games. He'll do it. If Mookie Betts needs a day off and McGarohas isn't playing like, hey, play short. play second base to blowout. I need somebody to jump on the mound and save the bullpen. Like, he's done that and made a lot of money in the big leagues doing that. Also, he hits against the left-handed pitching, right? And when the postseason gets there, he takes his game to another level. So there's a benefit of having guys that not only have the ability to do that,

but also provide value in other ways. But, you know, the real find on Kike was that he was not this Ballyhooed prospect coming up in the Astrosystem. He was a gift. and I think he was somebody who also came into the organization on the big league level in that way. They needed him to step up from the minor leagues. He got his opportunity and made it impossible to go away. Yeah.

I think for with Shaw, the draft positioning is always going to be a part of his story while he is in Chicago. Now, I'm not saying they're just going to move him for nothing. But while he is a member of the Chicago Cubs, that's always going to be a part of, well, he was a first round draft pick. We want a first-round draft pick to be a utility guy. Well, that's the situation him and the Cubs find themselves in. So for all parties involved, you want to make the best of the situation, hit against left-handed pitching, be willing to play all these positions, which he seems like he is, and thrive at them, right?

Like, if I had to say at the end of the season, how many at-bats does Matt Shaw have, what would you guys say? Oh, man, that's a good question. 400? Is that reasonable? I mean, that's like below, like last year, Michael Bushhead. Bush had the seventh most at-bats. He had like 600-something, so I'm just like taking it from the end of the, or the least amount of bats for the starters. I put that in air quotes because Bush didn't start a lot of times against lefties. So I'm going to say I'm going to go four-hondo?

Is that, Hondo? See? Yeah, there I go again. Simildo. I was going to say between 300 or 400. So I'll split the difference and say $350. And the only reason I'd say that... See, I would have said higher if it's gone down.

The only reason I just don't know how many... Because we listed off all the guys that play every day. So I just don't know, in my mind, where the at-bats are. Yeah. And so it's, okay, there's going to be some tough left-handed at-bats for Michael Bush. Even though I think Michael Bush might get more opportunities. Seems like they really would like... I mean, they're letting them plow through, obviously, in spring training.

There are going to be some matchups where it's beneficial for Matt. or for Michael Bush to be in the lineup. There's also going to be somewhere like, hey man, Chris Hale on the Mount of Night. Don't even worry about it. We're going to put Shaw in there. Enjoy your day off. I think those situations will arise.

I think there are going to be some situations where tough left-hander out of the bullpen comes in and you say, all right, let's go to Shaw late. Yeah. The other thing, too, is like, you know, his name did pop up in trade talk. So you want to make him more about it. I mean, he still might be a tradable asset.

Do you think he is at this point? Or do you think they need? that guy on this team that is in must-win mode, I think. Because of the Austin injury, I think you need him on the roster right now. Now, that changes if different things happen. He's not thriving against left-handed pitching, but also that makes him less valuable. So, like, I think there are a lot of things that you have to try to balance. Is there a young kid in the minor leagues that's tearing it up and it's like,

maybe we want to get this kid a look? I don't think you're going to banish him to Siberia this short into his career. I just don't think they're going to do that. I'm a never-say-never guy when it comes to transactions because I've seen a lot of guys get moved that I didn't think would get moved. You know what I mean? So it's not like he's costing you anything financially. But he just might look valuable to other teams. Like you said with the pedigree, being a first-round pick.

He could potentially start somewhere else. Yeah, that might be other scouts and GMs. You're right on the club control portion of it where it's like he has five and a half years of club control left. They have time to try to figure this out with him. Correct. And I think that that probably means more to them than it does to anybody else. Also, they don't have a ton of dudes under club control after the 2026 season. They're also up there in average age of team.

Yeah. Aren't they in the top five in eight average age? I think they are maybe top seven. It's somewhere higher than 10. So you're right. But yeah, Nico comes off. Swanson done after this year? No.

Or did you get two more years? Ian Hap's last year is a senior on his contract. He has three more years after this year. Oh, man. He's that guy. He signed in December of 22. Yeah. So that's seven.

That was a seven year deal. Yeah, 7177. He's that guy that's always got three more years left on his contract. So, yeah, Ian Hap, Nico, look, Sayya. Sayya, yeah. They have guys on the roster that will be free agents very, very soon. So it's not like you can just abandon him, and it's like, oh, shoot, I wish we had that guy with five years of club control on the roster still. And I think that probably means more to, that value is perhaps, I don't think it's his greatest value to the team right now, but maybe it's one A.

The club control? Yeah. portion of it. Yeah, I mean, I think it's, it changes the calculation. And who say there isn't a point in the year where he has to get the bats in Iowa? But also, you just don't know. I don't, I guess the trade deadline is probably not going to be as active as in years past. Because last year's wasn't either.

Right. But I wonder if they keep that in mind just in case it can be. It's just, we just don't know what their needs will be in July. Yeah, which is why it's hard to say. Like, you hope knock on wood, everybody's healthy, but we know baseball, and that's just not how it is. So I think it behooves everybody involved to keep options open. Yeah, and I feel like the years of control of nothing else, you're still at five after this year. You know, that's what makes this, well, four and a half, but still, that's what makes this such a big deal.

Yeah. I'm done carrying around bulky drinks. And I'm definitely done cleaning. melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots. These little guys are as pocket-sized as any candy. But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero-sugar caffeine boost. Candy can't even compare at this point.

Fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor. With a tasty caffeine kick. That's right, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. And it's not just a flavor. Just one flavor. Five-hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors. 17. So if you're craving that candy-flavored chaos,

but actually want energy that works? Grab fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots. Pocket-sized, zero-sugar, big flavor. Available now at five-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Breaking news from good ranchers. Over 85% of grass-fed beef in stores is imported. Most grocery store meat contains antibiotics, hormones and harmful seed oils. Good Ranchers does things differently. All their meat is born and

raised on local American farms. No antibiotics, no added hormones, no seed oils. Just one ingredient. Meat. Visit good ranches.com and get $25 off your first order with code ranch 25. That's code ranch 25 for $25 off your first order. Good Ranchers.com. American meat delivered. Thy ticket, Lady Jennifer of Coolidge. Well, many thanks, good sir. Heareth my discover card. They accept Discover at Renaissance fairs? Yeah, they do here. Discover is accepted at the places that I love to shop. Get it with the times? With the times. You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen report. We talked about it a little bit,

but Matthew Boyd gets the opening day start. I think we could all agree. Like, hey, he earned it from last year, he's the veteran. I have no beef with that whatsoever. How do you line up the rest of the rotation? Is Kate Horton got to be your slam dunk number two? Where does Edward Cabrera fit in? What's your kind of rough draft, Russ, as you look at the starting five for the Cubs this year?

That is a good question. Do we want to say, like, from opening day two weeks from today, or by the middle of the season, what's the road? Because then we've got to add the Justin Steele component in there, too. When do you think he's coming back, by the way? June, because there's no reason to rush them because they have decent death. Why don't we avoid lefty-righty-lefty thing right now to say who their best pitchers are? Okay, so if Boyd's their open, okay, go ahead.

Like your top five starting pitchers. You go Boyd, Cade, Codd, Codd, Edward Cabrero. Yep, yep, yep. He's probably three. That's what we were working with. And then whoever you want. Shoda. Oh, you say whoever they want.

So you're saying like maybe a sod, sprinkle a dash of Ben Brown. That's the benefit of depth. Yeah. They don't have to have that. You don't have to. And at some point, you might have to go six-man when Justin Steele returns. That was the concept. That's what they thought that the discussion was going to be.

Craig Counsel touched on it a few weeks ago. And we talked about it a couple weeks ago when I was here of like the benefit of depth is you could have three guys have 25 starts. You can have three. guys have 10 to 15 starts. You can have a handful of guys that have five to seven starts. And if the goal is to get

yourself to October as healthy as possible in your rotation, right? That's what the Dodgers were able to do last year. And then their starting rotation was very strong going into the postseason. The goal is to avoid the ever-loving hell that was the starting pitching situation in the playoffs.

Yes. Yes. That's the goal. Running out of it. That is the goal. Well, I don't know. who's going to pitch tonight. And then you're like trying to avoid starting Shoda and that whole thing. We will have you pitch two-thirds

of an inning when we feel like it. To begin the game, maybe, or maybe we'll just... No, I want none of that next season. It is such a different situation right now. Thielbar, Thielbar, Thielbar. He's back? Yeah, he is.

They, that game where they finally say, all right, Shoda's going to start in Milwaukee. And you just knew what was going to happen. And then it happens. And then you're just like, man. And then they win the off season.

They're like, no, depth. I have to have it. And that's the thing is that I can't tell if Craig Counsel is more flexible than I give him credit for or if he's sneaky stubborn sometimes. Because I feel like he is flexible, but then I also feel like he's sneaky stubborn. I do like the idea of potluck fifth starter. You know what I mean? Yeah.

You like the idea of a wild card. I guess so. Colin Ray. Yeah. Brody makes a dash of uncritory. might get some starts. A dash. Yeah. Colin came up earlier.

Yeah. I always mentioned, Colin. You could have made the argument. We tried to for Colin Ray during some of those playoff conundrums. Oh, don't get Marshall going. No, Marshall and I were on the same page with that. James and Tyone could be their fifth starter by the end of the season. He was the one guy you could depend on in the playoffs.

And that's not a knock to JMO. That's just like they're going to have Cade and Matthew Boyd and Edward Cabrera and Jamo and Justin Steele if all are healthy by the end of the season. And that's a really good problem to have. Yeah, it is. I really. I love that. Let's just save this feeling.

Let's save it. Okay, so now we've got to talk to you about the World Baseball Classic because I want to hear your reaction to the misstep to say the very least by by. I mean, yeah, Dero. Do you speak Italian, by the way? It's not one of the languages. Okay. And then, yeah, the game last night was pretty entertaining.

I'm not J.P. Morose. Yeah, he's amazing, man. He does speak Italian. I know, and he does all the access. There's a guy who's tearing it up in the World Baseball Classic for Team Italy that I talked about the last time I was here. And I got some smoke for the morning show, too. Oh, let's do it. We got a lot.

I'm done carrying around bulky drinks. And I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots. These little guys are as pocket-sized as any candy. But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero-sugar caffeine boost. Candy can't even compare at this point. Fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor. With a tasty caffeine kick.

That's right. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. And it's not just one flavor. Five-hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine in 17 flavors. 17. So if you're craving that candy-flavored chaos, but actually want energy that works, grab fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots.

Pocket-sized, zero-sugar, big flavor. Available now at five-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Thy ticket, lady Jennifer of Coolidge. Well, many thanks, good sir. Hereeth my Discover card. They accept Discover at Renaissance Fares? Yeah, they do here. Discover is accepted at the places that I love to shop.

Get it? With the times. With the times? You're playing the lute. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen Report. At blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments. It's about you.

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