Locked On Cubs - Daily Podcast On The Chicago Cubs

The 2018 All-Stars have been announced, and three Cubs have made the team. It shouldn't be much of a shock that Javy Baez, Willson Contreras, and Jon Lester will be representing the team. But were there other players with a case to be made? Maybe even a snub? Kelly Wallace joins me in the second segment to discuss, plus more Cubs chat.

But I kick things off by recapping the action over the weekend against the Cincinnati Reds, and then previewing tonight's game against the San Francisco Giants. In the final segment, I went around the NL Central and updated the standings.

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In the latest episode of Locked On Cubs, I welcomed my good friend Evan Altman of Cubs Insider to discuss the Dexter Fowler drama. Fowler spoke about his happiness with the Cardinals, while Mark Saxon of The Athletic wrote an interesting story that includes some notable new information. We broke down all of that in the second segment, and later we also discussed the best MLB rivalries.

Other than that, I looked ahead at today's matchup with the Cincinnati Reds and how the schedule shakes out leading up to and beyond the All-Star break. In the final segment, I looked around the NL Central and updated the standings.

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Happy Fourth of July, everyone! The Cubs won their game with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, and I briefly recapped that in the first segment. After looking ahead at their matchup today, which begins at 1:20 pm CST, I welcomed Locked On Cubs contributor Tom Usiak to the podcast. We chatted a little about a recent story he wrote on catcher Miguel Amaya (which you can read here), as well as other matters of the minors.

In the final segment, I did the usual Around the NL Central and updated the standings. The Cardinals seem to be falling out of the division race, so is this going to be a two-team fight to the end between the Cubs and Brewers? It certainly seems that way.

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I welcomed Sean Sears to the podcast for Episode 96, and in the interest of keeping Locked On Cubs more regular he's going to be a more frequent contributor. We started out by talking about the Cubs' matchup with the Detroit Tigers, featuring Kyle Hendricks against Michael Fulmer at 1:20 pm CST.

In the second segment, we turned to St. Louis and discussed John Mozeliak's unfortunate comments about Dexter Fowler. Finally, we briefly recapped what happened yesterday in the NL Central, what the standings are heading into action on Tuesday, and a look at how each of us expect the top three teams in the division will finish the year. 

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The Cubs have scored 10 or more runs in four straight games, and amazingly, they're on a four-game winning streak. How about that? Included in the streak is a weekend sweep of the Minnesota Twins, which I recapped briefly in the first segment. In the second segment, I looked at a big international free agent signing (courtesy of Todd Johnson at Cubs Insider) and answered a few questions from the listeners. Is Albert Almora Jr. having the most underrated season thus far?

Finally, I did the usual Around the NL Central segment and updated the standings. Things are finally starting to shake out how many of us thought they would. But will the Brewers stick with the Cubs all the way to the end? Could we see these two teams battling in the NLDS?

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The Cubs beat the Dodgers in the finale of their road trip, finishing 2-2 in Los Angeles and 4-3 against the Dodgers overall this season. They broke out the lumber in the late innings after Clayton Kershaw left the game, dropping 10 runs on the Dodgers' bullpen. The Cubs return home today to take on the Minnesota Twins in a three-game set, and Mike Montgomery will start against Jose Berrios.

Speaking of starting pitchers, the Cubs got some less-than-exciting news on Yu Darvish, which I discussed in the second segment. Could the team be looking at trading for a starting pitcher for a second-half push? If you think Jacob deGrom is headed to Chicago, I have some sad news for you: You're dreaming. I finished with the usual Around the NL Central segment to close things out.

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The Cubs finally won a game! It must've been related to the return of Locked On Cubs. Right? Anyway, they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers behind the left arm of Jon Lester and the hot bat of Javier Baez. After looking ahead to tonight's pitching matchup, I looked at the season Baez is having offensively and made a few comparisons to show just what kind of rare air we're talking about.

Later in the segment, I looked at Brian Duensing and his performance this year. Spoiler alert: He has been really bad. In the final segment, I did the usual around the NL Central and updated the standings. Those Reds just keep sneaking up on the Pirates!

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After a brief hiatus (which I explain), I'm back with Episode 92 of Locked On Cubs. The Cubs have had a rough go of it lately, losing five straight games -- most of which were extremely winnable. Duane Underwood Jr. made his big league debut on Monday night, and overall he pitched pretty well against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough for win.

The big news of the day was that Yu Darvish had a successful rehab start with the South Bend Cubs. By all accounts, he was commanding his pitches well and throwing strikes. But is everything good with Darvish? There may still be some gray clouds lingering over the Cubs' big-ticket free agent signing. In the final segment, I updated the standings and took a look at how the Cincinnati Reds have been doing lately.

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The Cubs split their double-header on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers, setting up a rubber-match on Wednesday. Jon Lester will take on Ross Stripling at 1:20 pm CST, and that's the marquee matchup of the series. Both pitchers have been very good for their respective teams in 2018. I talked in depth about each guy in the second segment.

Also in that segment, I took a deeper look at which Cubs players have a reasonable chance of making the All-Star team. Several Cubs have a strong case, but who might get left out in the cold when selections are made? The final segment featured the usual "Around the NL Central," with the updated standings as of the start of play on Wednesday.

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After taking 2-of-3 with the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, rain and a power outage (how appropriate for this team) prevented the Cubs from even playing on Monday night. The game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was rescheduled for a double-header today, with the first game beginning at 12:05 pm CST. Tyler Chatwood will start in the day game, with Mike Montgomery starting in the evening game at 7:05 pm CST. I recently wrote about Montgomery for Bet Chicago, and you can read that story here.

In the second segment, I talked a bit about some of the weird ways in which Joe Maddon is handling Pedro Strop this year. Also, could my biggest Cubs trade deadline target be off the table? What will they do now? In the final segment, I did a quick rundown of the NL Central and the (once again) first place Cubs.

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