Locked On Cubs - Daily Podcast On The Chicago Cubs

With opening day just around the corner, I wanted to do something a little lighter. I appreciate everyone who reached out with some questions for me, and I answered two of them here. First, I recapped the final spring game for the Cubs and a couple of interesting notes, and then in my final two segments I briefly tackled questions from the listeners.

I'll be back tomorrow with more of the same, so if you didn't hear your question get answered don't fret. I'll do some of them tomorrow ahead of the game against the Marlins, and then some others I might save for other times throughout the regular season. You can follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and email us any questions for future mailbags to [email protected].

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It's finally here! Locked On Cubs 38 welcomed Joel Reese, formerly of the BP Wrigleycast podcast, to preview the 2018 Chicago Cubs. Joel and I opened by looking at a laundry list of reasons to be excited about the Cubs this season, including their improved starting rotation. Next, we looked at a handful of things that have us slightly concerned.

Joel and I finished out the podcast by doing a few over/under predictions, followed by win totals for each team in the NL Central. Will Kyle Schwarber hit 34 or more home runs? Will Kyle Hendricks set a new career-high in innings pitched? We're ready for the season to get started! Be sure to follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and send any questions or comments to [email protected].

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We're back after the weekend with episode 37 of Locked On Cubs! After recapping the action, I looked briefly at how the race for the final bullpen spot is shaping up. In my second segment, I went over the biggest surprise of the weekend, which was that Victor Caratini is making the big league roster over Chris Gimenez. Although it's a bit of a surprise, I walked through what I believe the Cubs' logic is and why the move is pretty low-risk.

Finally, I looked at the recent news with the Cubs' rivals, the Cardinals and the Brewers. The Cards are dealing with some injuries, while the Brewers have some serious rotation questions of their own. The Cubs preview show is still upcoming, but I went out on a limb and gave my feelings about how the NL Central is stacking up as we wind down to the end of spring training. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and email the mailbag questions to [email protected].

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There was no game for me to recap, because the Cubs played late on Thursday night and the game began after I had recorded. So I pretty much just dove right into talking about the Cincinnati Reds, and for that I welcomed James Rapien of Locked On Reds and ESPN Radio. First, we talked the biggest issue for the Reds: Their pitching staff. Later, we chatted more in depth about Homer Bailey, Billy Hamilton, and a Reds prospect you'll likely see this season.

James and I finished out doing our predictions, looking at a few over/under candidates, what might need to happen for the Reds to make the playoffs, and win totals for the NL Central teams. If you like what you heard, follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs. Please be sure to email any questions you'd like to have answered for a mailbag I'll be doing next week at some point to [email protected].

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The Cubs beat the Texas Rangers on Wednesday afternoon behind an impressive effort from former Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish. Kris Bryant hit his first home run of the spring, a three-run towering shot off Matt Moore, and the Cubs won 5-1. Just another spring day. The biggest takeaway here is that Darvish appears ready for the regular season.

In my second segment, I welcomed Travis Sarandos of Brew Crew Ball (and various others) to look at the 2018 Milwaukee Brewers. We started off by talking about the starting rotation and narrowing down who might appear as the No. 4 and No. 5 starters. Next, we looked at the logjam of outfielders that all need playing time.

Finally, Travis and I did the big finish: Over/under and predicting the wins in the NL Central. Please be sure to follow the podcast @LockedOnCubs on Twitter, and be sure to send any questions or comments to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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For our second NL Central preview, I welcomed Jason Rollison of Locked On Pirates. But first, I recapped the action from Monday night and Jon Lester's solid performance. He appears to be ready for Opening Day. Jason and I started off by discussing the Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole trades, and the players the Pirates received in return. Then, we chatted a bit about former top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow. Can he ever make it as a starter or is his future in the bullpen?

We finished out by doing a little over/under, discussing how the Pirates could manage to make the playoffs, and I put Jason on the spot to pin down win totals for each team in the division. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and send any questions or comments to [email protected]. Don't forget to enter to win a mint condition Sammy Sosa rookie card and a watercolor of Wrigley Field! Details in the pinned tweet on Twitter.

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Yes, those dreaded St. Louis Cardinals. In the first segment, I briefly recapped the action of the weekend for the Cubs before introducing my guest for the final two segments, Craig Edwards of FanGraphs. Craig and I chatted a bit about the Cardinals, their pitching staff, and some of the questions that remain. Like, why didn't they go sign a starting pitcher? Will their bullpen be good enough?

In the final segment, I tossed some tough over/under numbers at Craig and put him on the spot to predict the win totals for all five NL Central teams. Sorry about any audio quality differences on this one, I recorded the segments differently. For next time, I'll try to keep it uniform! Thanks for listening, as always. Please follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and email any questions or comments to [email protected].

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It seems like we're saying goodbye to Cubs players more and more, here on Locked On Cubs. Today, it's reliever Justin Grimm. After a rough 2017 and a few bad appearances this spring, the Cubs decided to let him go now and open up some competition for the final roster spot. Or could it be two final roster spots?

I examined some relievers that could be contending for the final spots in the bullpen, including one that I think most of us hadn't even considered. Eddie Butler, Dillon Maples, Shae Simmons, Randy Rosario, and even Alec Mills have a chance of coming out of spring training in the bullpen for the Cubs. Finally, I took a deeper look at Cubs non-roster invitee Ryan Court. He grew up a big Cubs fan, and just in general is a guy you want to root for. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs. You can also email any questions or comments to [email protected].

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In episode 31 of Locked On Cubs, I started by recapping the two games from Tuesday (or as much as I could of the second game). Willson Contreras hit a homer, Kris Bryant keeps getting on base, and Ian Happ did the thing against Madison Bumgarner again. And what if Tyler Chatwood actually is really good this year? In the second segment I briefly looked at a poll I ran on Twitter, which came with some interesting results.

Finally, I discussed a piece I wrote for FanRag Sports in which I looked at the most underrated players on each NL Central team (you can read it yourself here!). I don't need to bog you down by discussing all five, but the player I chose for the Cubs is Tommy La Stella. If you like what you hear, please smash that subscribe button and leave us a review! You can follow us on Twitter @LockedOnCubs and send us emails with any questions, comments, or inquiries at [email protected].

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Welcome to episode 30 of Locked On Cubs! There was no game on Monday, but the Cubs are making up for it with two games on Tuesday. You can even catch one on television if you're lucky. I looked at the matchups for both games. Looking ahead, I talked about Addison Russell's solid but quiet spring and how much a healthy Russell can really be a difference-maker for the Cubs this season.

Finally, I played around with stats. Hooray, spring training stats! But I also got sucked into looking at other stats while researching the spring stats, and I came up with a few good ones regarding active players. If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to subscribe and leave us a kind review on iTunes. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @LockedOnCubs or email us any questions or comments to [email protected].

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