Away Games: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

New episode is up and Adam & Kevin have a lot to talk about! After an impressive 8 game winning streak that featured multiple HR robberies, Miles Mikolas acting like an absolute dink, and the bats coming alive, the Cubs played themselves into being buyers at the deadline. Two Monday deals added former Cub Jeimer Candelario and KC right reliever Jose "je ne sais" Cuas. At one game over .500 and right back in the mix for the division/WC, can the Cubs string together another run of solid baseball?  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and follow @adammamawala & @kevinmccaff! Leave us a five star rating, would you? Oh, and go see Adam headlined Zanies Old Town in Chicago on Tuesday, September 19th!! 

Kevin is out this week so our number one pinch hitter Ken Schultz (Outsports) joins Adam to talk about all things Cubs! Belli has been white hot, Swanson is back and looking sharp, and a 6-1 stretch has the Cubs two games under .500 as we approach the trade deadline. We talk about whether the Cubs should be buyers or sellers, what a potential selloff might look like and who it might include, and whether the Cubs have done enough lately to justify adding. Can we make a push for the NL Central? Are there too many teams to leapfrog for a wild card spot? Either way, we appear to be in for one hell of a week. Follow Ken at @kenschultz_ on Twitter and @kenthinguy on IG and follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things! Leave us a five star rating, would you? 

We’re stuck in the middle with this team, and this podcast is a lot of big picture talk about what to think about how we got here and where we’re going. Already in a hole, the Cubs stumbled against an OK Boston team before recovering (mostly) against the hapless Nats, and now we’re in a spot where we need the hottest run of the year from our Cubs to avoid another sell-off. We talk about the games coming up, how good the top of the rotation has been, just how bad Taillon has been, come up with an idea for a new stat (the "Jeff Suppan line"?), and finally, give a shout to the great Pat Hughes as he approaches his Hall of Fame induction weekend. Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

You know what, this was a good Cubs week! Justin Steele represented the Cubs at the All Star Game, and pitched shutout inning on his birthday. The NL broke a nearly decade-long losing streak, and the Home Run Derby was a fun time. The Cubs went into the break with a series win over the Yankees that included Jameson Taillon’s best appearance as a Cub, and we talk a little about the Cubs draft picks this week, mainly 1st rounder Matt Shaw, an infielder from Maryland who can really hit. We also look at the Cubs schedule between now and the 8/1 trade deadline, and folks, it’s soft. Is it soft enough to make up enough ground to be buyers instead of sellers? TBD. Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

Kevin is out of town this week so Sara Sanchez pinch hit (her wRC+ is outstanding).  Anyway, a 1-5 homestand after a tough loss in London was certainly not what the doctor ordered. Nor was blowing a 6-0 lead in Milwaukee on Monday in a series the Cubs really, really need to win. The good news? Ian Happ made two phenomenal throws yesterday, one to keep the game going in the bottom of the 10th and one to end it in the bottom of the 11th. With only 5 games remaining before the All-Star break, can the Cubs make a push to narrow the lead in the Central? Adam will be there in person to watch it go down at Yankee Stadium this weekend. God save him.  Follow us at @awaygamespod and follow Sara at @BCB_Sara on Twitter. Leave us a 5 star rating on iTunes too, would ya? Talk to you after the break! 

A great first 10 innings in London ended with a bobble and a thud, as the Cubs missed a chance to get back to .500 (for now). After another Taillon blowup back at Wrigley, we talk about where this rotation is as the Cubs look at a two week run-in to the All-Star break that could very well define what this season is: compete, sell, somewhere in between? Other news we cover: the Cubs two Futures Game representatives (one obvious, one a fun surprise), Jared Young getting called up to help with the two years running mess at 1B, injury updates on Stroman, Brennen Davis, Brandon Hughes and Codi Heuer, and the truly stupid and awful MLB broadcasts from London. Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

Last week on the pod, Adam manifested a Cubs' three game winning streak. As of this recording over a week later, the Cubs have only lost one game during that stretch. After sweeping the former first place Pirates and taking two of three from the upstart Orioles at Wrigley, the Cubs got right back to their winning ways in Pittsburgh this week. After a three game sweep of Pittsburgh that now puts the Cubs at 6-0 against them this season, the Cubs head to London two games under .500, 3.5 games back of the first place red hot Reds in the Central, and winners of 10 of their last 12! Let's sweep this mini series and come back a .500 club, INNIT?!  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? Happy Pride!   

In part 1, Adam flies solo to discuss the Cubs' disappointing west coast swing. The good? Stroman continues to shove, Kyle Hendricks almost made history, and Mash Mervis hit a ball into McCovey Cove. The bad? Pretty much all the other stuff, including the Cubs apparently not being interested in extending Marcus Stroman...yet. THEN (at 13:00 minute mark), Greg Huss joins Kevin to talk about the state of the Cubs prospects, and what the farm system has beed doing in 2023. Find Greg’s great work over at North Side Bound, and on his “Cubs On Deck” podcast. After a satisfying rain-delayed victory over the Pirates last night on Pride Night at Wrigley, can the Cubs keep it going against the *checks notes* FIRST PLACE PIRATES?? We shall see.  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you?

After a frustrating end to the Tampa Bay series that saw the Cubs squander a late chance to walk off the Rays for a series sweep, the Cubs have taken 2 of 3 from San Diego with Kyle Hendricks on the bump later tonight. Positives: Amaya is back up and raking, Stro continues his dominant ways and Taillon is starting to look like the guy we were hoping he was. Friday night brought an encouraging night from the Cubs' pen, specifically Adbert Alzolay working his way out of trouble and Mark Leiter Jr. striking out Soto, Machado and Cronenworth in an incredibly impressive bottom of the 9th. Steele hit the IL but hopefully not for long and Bellinger continues working his way back, though the Cubs don't expect him back on this west coast road trip. Let's climb our way back to .500 and not look back, shall we?  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? Happy Pride!  

Well, it's been a real sh*t sandwich of a homestand that began with two wins over the Mets, followed by a 4 game losing streak, followed by an absolute gem from Marcus Stroman yesterday. With two games remaining against the owners of MLB's best record, who knows what to expect at this point. We talk about Kyle Hendricks' return, Miles Mastrobuoni inexplicably hitting in the 1 and 2 hole, Justin Steele's first rough home start in a year, and of course, North Shore Adult Diapers. Then (at 19:00 in) we interview the author of Aisle 228, Sandra Marchetti (FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus)! Sandra shares some of her poetry, Adam chimes in with one of our own, and we all pine for Zach McKinstry. Aisle 228 is about the Chicago Cubs, listening to baseball on the radio, and going to games with my father. The book highlights milestones across Major League Baseball of the past 50 years and culminates in the Cubs 2016 World Series win. Baseball fans of any team will enjoy this title, along with amateur historians and reade

Well, it was another up and down week punctuated by a brutal walkoff loss in Houston, some frustrating games in Philly, and a nice win over the New York Metropolitans last night. Christopher Morel AKA Christopher Meowrel AKA Christ Morel has homered in 5 straight games and has 9 in his first 12 games since his callup and Stroman, Steele and Smyly continue to shove. Beyond that, Taillon has struggled mightily, the bullpen woes have lingered, the offense is leaving a lot to be desired, and the Cubs are five games under .500. Nonetheless, they find themselves still in the mix in an exceedingly mediocre (according to Ross, "sh***y) and winnable NL Central so let's stay optimistic?  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

So, on May 17, 2023, the Cubs are closer to the bottom of the National League than they are to the division-leading Brewers. Not ideal…BUT! Steele showed real guts this week, Mervis hit his first homer, Seiya is heating up/normalizing, and Hendricks is on his way back. We also talk about some of the upcoming, triple digit throwing bullpen options on the brink of coming up.  It hasn’t been the best run, but if you’ve been listening (or reading, watching, etc.) this probably isn’t the biggest surprise.  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel have joined the party,  and we hope it's a permanent move. We talk about the Cubs having a significantly better roster today than they had on opening day, a very difficult past couple weeks and another difficult stretch coming up. Oh, and the Cardinals took 2 of 3 at Wrigley and Willson Contreras made his return and we get that out of the way, too. Finally we talk about Michael Cerami's piece at Bleacher Nation about the Marquee Cubs coverage and what needs to change to make it feel like a Cubs broadcast, and not a generic national game on ESPN. Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

New episode is up and Kevin is back from his travels! We talk about the Cubs being essentially where we thought they'd be (around .500), a tough sweep in Miami and the case for bringing up Morel and Mervis ASAP. We also talk about Taillon and Hendricks working their way back from injuries and look ahead at a difficult May schedule for the Cubs.  Follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things and leave us a five star rating, would you? 

New episode is up and our old pal Ken Schultz is pinch hitting for Kevin! After a disappointing weekend in which the Cubs dropped 3 of 4 to the Dodgers at Wrigley, they got off the schneid in a big way last night with an impressive shutout W against the Padres. Justin Steele continues to show that he has ace stuff, Yan Gomes had a big day at the plate (much to Ken's chagrin), and the Cubbies are 13-9 and on pace for a 95 win season. Who'd have thought? We also talk Michael Fulmer's struggles, the offensive dead zone of 1B/DH, and Ken's Wrigley experience thus far this season.    Follow Ken at @kenschultz_ on Twitter and @kenthinguy on IG and follow us at @awaygamespod on all the things! Leave us a five star rating, would you? 

Ian Happ — an all-star caliber player who always wanted to stay a Cub — got an extension of PLURAL  years! We celebrate that, and talk about how his extension and the contracts of several other key players (Nico, Seiya, Wisdom) gives us an outline of a mini-era that now runs through 2026. We look back on the series wins against the Dodgers and A’s, talk about the sustainability of Wisdom’s breakout, the weirdness of already knowing the resurgent Bellinger and dominant Stroman are in their final year as Cubs, and some other weirdness around the league. PICK UP YOUR OWN DANG POPCORN! Follow us @awaygamespod on all the things!

After Nico Hoerner’s first career walk off hit, the Cubs are playing a geniunely division-winning pace (ahem, 5-4…but It’s a bad division, so we’re not wrong). We talk falling for Dansby and his gorgeous backhand, Nico’s path to + offense, Seiya’s return date and how mystifiying the roster management has been to this point in his absence, particularly in the outfield. Alzolay is dealing, Hendricks is healing, and two weeks in, it’s mostly Smyly on the North Side…relatively speaking.  Follow us everywhere @awaygamespod and hit us with a rating and a review, if ya don’t mind.

Kevin and Adam cover week one of the Cubs, their 2-3 start, what’s looked good, what’s bad, and what’s exactly how we expected it to be so far (most of it). We also make all our picks for the season! Division winners, World Series, MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and we each make at least one insane prediction for the year that we think might ACTUALLY happen…and we’d love to hear yours. Tweet at us with your BATSH*T predicts, @awaygamespod, and hit us with a rating and a review, if ya don’t mind.

In our annual tradition, Kevin & Adam are joined by Ken Schultz for our jumbo-sized season preview podcast. We predict team MVPs, breakout/regression candidates, and a lot of sillier things. We also get into a little “state of the Cubs fan” talk, and we end with something really great: Ken’s 29 Things To Be Excited For This Season. Follow us everywhere @awaygamespod and hit us with a rating and a review, if ya don’t mind.

There’s a little Cubs talk here (full season preview coming next episode!), but today it’s mostly all WBC talk. The tournament that the best players in the world universally loved playing in ended with Japan defeating the USA in a one-run game that came down to a full count, between the world’s two best baseball players: Ohtani & Trout. If you don’t like this, unfortunately, you don’t like baseball. It ruled. And because it was a game that mattered, Kyle Schwarber also homered. With the WBC done, now it’s time for the big show: CACTUS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! Then, opening day.   Season Preview coming next week!   Follow us everywhere @awaygamespod and hit us with a rating and a review, if ya don’t mind.