Are the Chicago Cubs True Playoff Contenders this Season?
With stars like Pete Crow-Armstrong and top pitchers, are the Cubs real MLB postseason contenders this year? Rob Donaldson and Dan discuss their potential.
Video Transcript
Let me go over to the other Chicago team.
They're on Waveland Avenue, and go to the Cubs here.
I mean, could they be a contender in the postseason to get something done?
Because they seemingly have a lot of lineup, a lot of talent in that lineup right now, and their pitching is starting to come around.
Are you a buyer in the Cubs?
You think they could be a player in the playoffs?
When, when you have somebody like PCA who's having a, just a, a Mike Trout prime-esque year, anything's possible, right?
And, and ultimately when you're talking about the- He's fun to watch, isn't he?
He's fun to watch, isn't he?
It's just so I, he's one of those few players, because when you look at a guy like a James Wood who's having a breakout year with the bat, you look at his defense and it's like, oh, well, he's given some of those home runs back, right?
Like, he just, he's just such a butcher out there.
PCA is taking runs off the board and then adding three more when he flips to the other side.
It's just incredible.
I- and I'm a Cardinals guy, so it's tough for me to say that, and I hope this isn't the long-term picture, but PCA in this vacuum right now has been absolutely incredible.
And you wanna talk about their pitching, too.
Ben Brown, Cade Horton, two of the guys who were projected at the top end of this rotation, and Ben Brown was phenomenal before his injury this season.
They're slated to get back into the mix here in, in relatively short fashion.
This team down the stretch is only gonna get better and, and truly, they've been awesome.
Rob, who do you think wins the American League West?
Tight race going on right now.
Who ends up coming out of that in your opinion?
I mean, Seattle, we talked about them bumping around a little bit like bumper cars.
I mean, but who comes out of that West in your opinion?
Yeah, it's, it's kinda crazy because when you look at the Mariners on paper, it feels like they potentially have the best on-paper-looking roster, but when you look up at the scoreboard every single night, I, I mean, they can't even score one run is kinda what it feels like.
And even with them bringing up Cade Anderson, who I'm super, super excited about watching today, how does that help kind of their, their push for the postseason?
Not very much.
They've been getting it done from the pitching element for the most part.
It's really just been the bats that have been holding them back.
I don't expect that to change.
And so that makes it a two kinda headed race between the Rangers, Astros.
Rangers have, I think, the highest floor of the two teams.
The Astros have the much, much better offensive firepower.
So it's gonna be kinda, you know, which one potentially gives down the stretch.
As the temperatures cool down, as the launching pads decrease, I tend to think it's gonna favor pitching a little bit more.
Give me the edge with the Rangers long term here.
You know, Rob, I look at both the Braves and Milwaukee and I go, "Man, what great years they're having.
Look at the one loss column for them."
And then I say, "Well, there's the Dodgers still."
Any one of those teams, if you were to pick of those two teams, Braves or Milwaukee, who could push the Dodgers the most?
I, I would say right now it's Milwaukee because the Dodgers offense has been abysmal for the most part of the last three months, and if it's gonna be a low-scoring affair type series, the Brewers have the pitching, the Braves really do not.
Go ahead and give me the Brewers with the best chance to pick off the Dodgers in that NL race.
