Kap & J. Hood
7/12 8 AM: Shot or No Shot
(music) Good morning and welcome in to the Captain J. Good Morning Show on ESPN 1000. And we're streaming on the ESPN Chicago app with David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood with you, now time for "Shutter No Shot" brought to you by The ESPN Bet, Jonathan, now live in Illinois, signed up today and new users get $100 in bonus bets with any sports book. By the way, my wife was watching the YouTube segment at the start of the show yesterday. She thought the funniest part was how your dad said, "Boy, get an alley mechanic." That's the truth. She said, "I bet his dad was tough." I said, "I never met him, but yeah, that's what it sounds like." He was a rough and tumble individual. Big Bear Bob Hood. She said her dad, Ron, who lives out in Dixon, Ron Samitas, the great Ron Samitas, wrestling Hall of Famer. He said it's the same. What do you need all these new fangled things for? Just get something simple. Just get yourself an alley mechanic. And threw me the GM keys. Here's all you need. Because he was a Chevy guy. He would always have Chevy Capri's classics. So my father lost -- Enough to get three or four bodies in the trunk, of course. Yeah. So my father did the same thing. He said, "I'm going to get a new car." Oh, you're finally going to break down. He still got Nichols from First Communion. He said, "Yeah, I got a new car. What'd you get? 2008 Mercury Marquis." That he bought off his brother. Yeah. Blake. New car. Not a new car. That's 16 years old, Ron. That's right. He's got that huge trunk. Yeah. You know why? He could work on himself. Correct. That's a new fangal. Take it to the dealer. Dealer. Get underneath there and change that, oh boy. Yes, sir. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. Here's Shane Orr. Hand me a wrench. Hey, Shane. Good morning, boys. How are we feeling on a Friday and feeling good? We are seven days from being able to call it a football Friday. Indeed. It's going to be active. Shane, I have a quick question to ask you as a Patriots fan. So it is official now that Bill Belichick will be part of Inside the NFL. Ah, the old great show, the Verbal Show with Len Dawson and Nick Boinacani back in the day. You know where it airs now? Now it's on the CW. That's correct. And then he'll also be part of the Manning cast. I want to ask you and also, I think it was on Andrew Marchon's Twitter feed of the-- He's a great follow. The Fox broadcasters, the teams. Who will be a better broadcaster will be Belichick on this studio show or Brady as the number one for Fox? Who's going to end up being more quote-- more quotable? Put it that way. I'll do it that way. Who's going to be more quotable? Tom Brady. I think Belichick's going to be more quotable, but Brady will be the better broadcaster. Okay. Because Belichick, without doing the sound bite and being rude to the media, he's actually very thoughtful. He's in the story of the sport. You actually can't get him to stop talking when it comes to the NFL. It's like, all right, Bill, you're trying to walk away from him, he's still talking. So I think that he's going to say some things that he couldn't say as a coach. Brady, I saw him on cow herd. He has some great things to say about the quarterback position. I want to see what that's like in sound bite form as a color analyst. What's that going to be like? You know who else I think will be good if he does let himself do it? Nick Saban. Nick Saban last night at the SPs and I'm no huge fan of the SPs, but we flipped over to it. I wanted to watch the presentation of Steve Gleason, who has ALS dude. He was told he had three to five years left to live like in 2011 and he's still going. He said still here. Now he can't speak any longer and he blinks and his computer reads his eye movement. Well, now his eyes are deteriorating. So he's going to lose the ability to communicate it all. He came out and made a speech last night through his computer. His son wheeled him out dude. I had tears rolling down my face. It was incredible. And then Nick Saban got up to speak. He was tremendous. Like if that dude is on my TV doing football, oh, all in he's going to be very thoughtful as well. Saban is fantastic history of the game knows what's going on. He's going to be a real find for ESPN. Agreed. Here's Shane Orling. All right, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler pulled some executives for top 10 positional rankings. Does this series ever year today? He dropped his top 10 tight ends list based on his executive polls. Cole commit was not included and was relegated to an honorable mention. He was actually at the bottom of the honorable mentions list. I don't know if those were presented in any order, but it was interesting to have to scroll so far to find Cole commit after a season where he was top 10 and receiving among tight ends graded as the sixth best receiving tight end at PFF in all of football last year. So shot or no shot Cole commit is a top 10 tight end. I mean, I think that's a shot. That's a shot. Yeah. I think he's a top 10 tight end. He's a good football player. He's an awesome dude. Awesome. Even in this offense that the Bears have now cap where they have multiple weapons, a veteran at the running back position in Swift. We haven't talked enough about him. I'm sure as camps opens, we'll talk more about the running game for the Bears. He also will be a threat in the passing game. You'll also get some touches. He should. I think you will. The short passing game. I think he will be an option. Their tight end room, I would argue, is as good as any tight end room in the league. May not have the best single tight end that goes to either Travis Kelsey or George Kittle, a port up in Detroit is really awesome. But when you have Cole Comette, who's as an inline blocker, outstanding receiver, personality, you have Gerald Everett, who can flat out score in the red zone and Mercedes Lewis in his 19th year who Tyson Beigeant just called the most important guy in our locker room. That's what he said. Tyson Beigeant on a podcast. Who's the most important guy in the room there? Mercedes Lewis, he is the leader of our room with DeAndre Swift, who will be able to get some passes in the short game with DJ Moore, with Keenan Allen with Roma Dunes A. I still think Cole Comette will get a lion's share of some passes, especially in the red zone, getting into the end zone for a touchdown. I think he'll. I still think he'll be a major threat to this offense. There's a lot to for Caleb Williams to work with, but I still believe that Cole Comette is better than honorable mention in the NFL at the tight end spot. There you go. I agree. Shane Orland speaking of Caleb Williams, Jalen Johnson did a media tour yesterday. He was on a few shows, Jim Rome, Colin Coward, I believe he was on NFL network as well. And he was asked on the herd about how Caleb Williams is fitting in with the Bears. So some thoughts here about how he's fitting in with the Bears. I mean, he blends in well. I think that's the, that was one of the misconceptions for me. And I know even getting caught up in people trying to label him as Hollywood and being all these things. It's like, no, he just is who he is. He's a confident guy in his self on the field off the field. I think it's one of those things where he's very secure in who he is. He's very confident and knows the work that he puts in to be able to have that confidence. And at the end of the day, I mean, he's a Heisman winner. He's the guy that got drafted number one. So I don't feel like he shouldn't have confidence at the end of the day. I think it's one of those things that he embraces and he walks in who he is as a player who he is as a man. I think that's something that seeing him in person and he blended in right away with the locker room with the guys. And that's only going to continue to grow. But I think he's came in and handled everything perfectly, just come in and working, coming in and dealing with the guys often. You can, you can see everything coming together, how it's supposed to be. Usually players don't talk bad about players, certainly not their own teammates. So I typically don't care when players say things like this. It doesn't mean a lot till we see what happens on the field. Jaylen Johnson was the guy who said of Kayla Williams, don't bring that Hollywood here. He was very skeptical. And he said that at the start of his answer, Shay, he said he had misconceptions. Misconceptions. So shot or no shot for Jaylen Johnson to speak this highly about Kayla Williams, calling him humble and fits right in. This actually speaks about volumes. Well, that's a shot. But getting back to the point though, Jaylen Johnson says that he, that his quote was misconstrued or no, it's what you said, because your perception of Kayla Williams was the perception of some that thought this guy, his dad's going to be involved and he's Hollywood as hell and he went to USC and he thinks that he wants the red carpet. See, he said that and then Jaylen Johnson says, well, you know, that's not my words were misconstrued. No, you thought you were getting a Hollywood guy that was not humble, that he already had it made. That's what he thought. But now he looks at it because you've worked with him, you've been a practice with him. Oh, he's not like that at all. So for him to say that, well, my words were misconstrued, no, they weren't because that was your perception of him because that's what some were saying about Kayla Williams. It's okay to be wrong. He was wrong. At this point in time, as far as we know, he was wrong. Yeah, as was the Justin Fields files out there that it's going to tear the locker room apart. They let Justin leave, it's going to everyone's going to turn, really? Really? You sure about that sounds like Caleb. And when he showed up at DJ Moore's camp at Deerfield High School, unannounced, the only person knew he was coming was DJ said, I'll be there. And he got out of the car and was signing autographs and throwing footballs to kids. Yeah, this kid has fit in perfectly because you know why he goes to freaking work. He's about the work that he puts in. He's not about all the other nonsense. It's amazing what happens if you just focus on the work in the football. Just do your job. I know that, Cap, that's too much for some people that you just can't focus on a thumbs up thumbs down. Did he work hard? Did he not work hard? Did you win? Did you lose? Is he getting it? Is he not getting it? Because that should be the sports discourse. But now the sports discourse is much further than that. Now it's whether or not he paints his nails, whether or not he's emotional, all this other stuff. Like that matters. Correct. All I care about is the meat and potatoes. Say that I'm defocused as a fan. You could say that. But my focus is, did my favorite football team win or did they lose and is he the reason for it? He also the nonsense in this Michigast does not matter to me. Completely agree. Love that word. To me? No. Oh. Oh. Phenomenal. You drop in Michigast, I guarantee you my brother's on his way to perform surgery right now. And is absolutely laughing out loud. That's the greatest. Just a word. Not most. Don't understand it. It's Yiddish. It is. It is. But again, look, this kid has just busted his tail since day one. Dude, he was doing the install in March before they ever drafted him before they had his medicals in Shane Waldron doing the install through the QB collective. Here's the plays. Let's go. Yes. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Take that. Here's Shane Orling. Hootie. I know we love a barbershop debate on this show yesterday. We had the 92 dream team versus this iteration of the quote unquote dream team. How about this for a barbershop debate? Some of the all time great rappers is releasing an album. It is out today, Eminem back with his record, "The Death of Slim Shady." Some of the reviews are not great, but this is his farewell to his alter ego, shot or no shot. Eminem is a top five MC all time. I don't think that's a shot. What does MC mean? Rapper. Artist. MC means rapper. Okay, I didn't. I'm not aware of that. Yes, artist. They don't laugh back. They're smoky. I hear him laughing. [Laughter] When it was off mic, so it doesn't count, right? I'm not a business man. I'm a business man. That was my mistake, actually. I would say that's a no shot. And what does MC stand for? I know you said what it means, but... Master of ceremonies is like in an event. Right. Exactly. So why are you calling Eminem an MC? It's Master of ceremonies. Okay. Yeah. You could use that. I think that's a simple way to... We can't just call Marshall. Isn't that his name? Yes, I don't think that... Marshall Mathers. I don't think you want to call him that. I would say no. That's a no shot. He's not top five. Cap, what do you think of that? Top five rappers of all time? Let's see. There's... Notorious. Yeah. You know? [Laughter] There's Diddy. There's Jay-Z. What's that? Let's leave Diddy out of this. Yes, please do. No, Diddy, please. Leave him out of this. Why? Because he's got troubles. We still talk about the late OJ Sips. It was one of the great running backs. He had troubles. He was still one of the great running backs. Stephen Ace, Smith, would like to have a word about OJ. But go ahead. I'm trying to think of other rappers that would be at the... At the top of the list. Fiddy Cent. What is it? Lil Wayne? What's his name? What city? Is that the name? Fiddy? Yeah. Not 50. Oh, it's not? Okay. Lil Wayne. I'm learning about culture every day. Go ahead. Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne. That'd be L.I.L. Not Little. Uh-huh. That's five. M&M could be six. Shane, you're good that I got six. Shane, would you say that Kendrick Lamar is the Paul Skins of MCs? Oh, about Drake. Let's leave Drake out of this for a moment, please. Drake your friend Drake, right? That's your buddy? Yeah. He was on your show, was he? Was he on the TV show, Drake? No. Common was on the TV show. Oh, very good. Classic. Chicago guy. Yes. Oh, he actually is. Kendrick in the top five conversation for you. He is for me. He is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. He has. He's broke through whatever glass I think there's been. He's in that conversation for sure. That's for sure. Uh, like Jay Z's on the list for me. Well, Kendrick, it's Jay Z Kendrick. It is, uh, but Nas is Nas is on the on the list yet tell, yeah, tell us about Nas. Give me, give us a couple of his favorite, your favorite albums. I couldn't help you. No, but you mentioned them. You just. Hold on. You stuck your beak in there. My favorite? How about Snoop? Well, that's a OG Hall of Fame. It's almost a different list. I mean, Tupac? Yeah. What was your favorite from him? Uh, so anyway, he loves LA, he does love LA. That is true. I would say that Kendrick Lamar is in my top five. And I think that's going to be all time now based on what he's done as of late. It's Nas on that list. That is, um, Jay Z's on that list, Kanye on that list, uh, and, uh, again, I would like to leave him to this side also as an MC, probably not as a producer, certainly. How about Ice Cube and still Biggie, even though he's passed away, I think I was more of a Biggie guy than a Tupac guy. Buster Rhymes? Uh, just the old time classic, Buster Rhymes. Yes. Wu Tang Clan. Maybe just some good ones here. I mean, fantastic. But we don't want to. Who is your favorite Wu Tang member, Cap? Uh, probably Tang. I thought maybe Wu would be definitely. No idea. For me, I think that I think I named my five. Probably method man would be my favorite is Eminem in the top 10. Yes. Top five. No. I'm talking about me personally. For me personally. Shay. Ghostface killer. All right. Coming up next. It's a sound bite. He saw a machine now boy. I'm so glad I asked this question about Andre 3000. Yes. Actually. Yes. All right. F doom. You're just reading. Yes. Yes. He just. Yes. Googles a wonderful thing. Yes. MF doom. Take that around the NFL is next on cap and Jhood. How'd you like to see me pitch for the Schonberg boomers because I've been called out. Well, not really, but you'll feel the boom of my four seamer and then watch real players take the field. But he's gonna coach me a little more in the throwing out the first pitch at win trust field next Friday night at 6 30 as the boomers take on the gateway grislies. I'll be throwing out the first pit and lucky for you. My melodious tones will lead the seventh inning stretch. Get your tickets at boomers.com. So let's hang out together. I have a couple cocktails. I've got somebody driving me and we'll have a lot of fun. So get your tickets now boomers.com. Let's have a meet and great. Feel my booms. Mokey. This is cap and Jhood they beat in the traffic commute. So you don't have to on ESPN Chicago. It's time to go around the national football league right here on the cap and Jhood morning show. ESPN 1000 and we are streaming on the ESPN Chicago app still to come Jesse Rogers the latest on the MLB Cubs Sox and everything else at 835 around the NFL. Here's Shay Norley. I will get to around the NFL today in a moment. I want to address that live read cap is going to be leading the seventh inning stretch at the Schomburg boomers after a couple cocktails. That's correct. That's a must see event. That is something everyone must attend. We're going to get a penis and cracker Jack's reset. You might. I'm going to have a few bears. That's right. And I am going to be looped up and you're ready to roll next Friday night coming back from the lake to do that. Not a beer guy. I'm going to have a couple of beers. Here's Shay Norley. One can. One can then. I don't think they. The boomers game. What do you want me to do watching just do what you usually do don't drink alcohol. You usually don't so that's not how you make up your mind one day be a dude just be a guy. So I'm going to have a few beers. You won't be a guy. You just won't be a dude. Unfortunately, I'm going to have a few beers. Okay. Not a beer guy. I'm going to have some beers. Yeah, it's not my favorite drink. But guess what? They have some craft beer selections there. Those are better than cruise lights. Sorry. Good and civil with you as we move on to Shane, wow, okay, all right. This time next week NFL teams are going to be in training camp. Some of them, at least, including the Chicago Bears. I have a list here of the biggest concerns facing teams as they get ready for training camp. After the bears, the concern is can they protect Caleb Williams? Is that the biggest concern going into 2024? I think it's can they rush the passer rush the passer. And we saw some of it cap toward the end of the season last year. We thought that the arrows pointing up for the defensive line, the pass rush, but protection of this rookie quarterback is paramount. Is it not? I don't disagree and it is. But I think she is missing the boat here because he is saying rush the passer only comes if you have amazing rush edges. When you have an incredible defensive backfield, a talent, you have pressure up the middle. You've got a really good player, Montez Sweat. Oh, by the way, you have linebackers that can all run. There's such things called coverage sacks. You can get to the quarterback in other ways, be creative, absolutely 100%. My biggest concern is can they protect Caleb enough to let him make plays? That is the concern because it's about the timing. Caleb Williams has had practices, but he's got to get a feel of the game. It is faster than college, that's for sure. And he had an iron gate in front of him with an offensive line at times at USC. But it's different in the NFL. You already have chirping from the Titans before game one's here of how they want to be able to, this one guy wants to twist the neck off of Caleb Williams' shoulders. Remember this, right? We talked about this like a month ago. The Titans already chirping to try to get after the rookie. You have three, seven. Let's go. I'm so glad it's not a marquee game. I'm glad it's the Titans. That's a winnable ball game. It is. It can be hopefully comfortable in the pocket. Whatever mistakes he makes, let it happen against them before it happens against Green Bay. Then let's go. Detroit. Yeah. So, yeah, I think it's the offensive line of the protection of Caleb Williams for me. Super close is still going to have his beak in there. He's at the DC, but he's going to tighten the screws, I think. I hear he might still be calling the defense. That's fine. He's really good at it. Let's go. Let's go. All right, Shay, what else? All right. For the Lions, the biggest concern is do they finally have enough to elevate their defense. They addressed it heavily. They brought in four new cornerbacks, Carl and Davis, Amique Robertson, Drafted, Terry and Arnold and Ennis Rakestra, they also signed DJ Reader. They brought an edge rusher Marcus Davenport to play opposite of Aidan Hutchinson. Are they going to be good enough defensively to be a Super Bowl winning team, which is the expectation for them this year? I think that was the thing that they had to shore up, Cap, in the off season, right? Their secondary. If there was a weakness on the Lions, it was that. It was. And now CJ Gardner Johnson, where did he go? Back to Philly? Yeah. So they had to replace him, and he was injured last part of last year. And they needed to shore up the depth in that secondary as well. I think they've done that. Yeah. Shay, you mentioned DJ Reader, right, on the defensive line. Yeah. He came from where? The bangle? Correct. Yeah. I think that if anything else, and this is still me saying that the Lions will take a little bit of a step back, will still be in the playoffs this year, I think that that's the elixir that can help them, because that was glaring for them last year. Their secondary play. How many games did the Lion win last year? 12. 12. I think they get there again. They're really good, man. Really good. Yeah. They're awesome. They level up in competition. Can you repeat the deal, like, hunted, not hunter, that all of that deters me a little bit from saying they'll just go win 12. I still think they're the class of the division, Cap. Agree. I just think it's trying to repeat that again, to be able to do that again. That's tough. But I still think that that's the problem that the Bears and the Packers, in particular, got to get through. Well coached, clearly. They've got the weapons. We'll see. All right. What about the other teams? For the Green Bay Packers, this is ridiculous to me. How will the second outside cornerback spot shake out? Like, what? Eric Stokes is starting their now opposite J.R. Alexander, but the 2021 first round pick, despite everyone singing his praises in May and June, has barely played over the last season and a half. Look, the Packers defense last year was atrocious, in large part, because the scheme was a joke. They replaced their defensive coordinator. We'll see how that pans out. For me, if I'm a Packers fan, my primary concern is will Jordan Love continue the ascension to start them? That should be the number one concern. You were impressed with what you saw last year. Can you replicate it? Not a whole thing about sports, but especially the NFL cap. You could say, hey, Jordan Love, if a lot of people turned a lot of heads, can you do it again? If you have some injuries, can you overcome it by your play, instead of having to depend on your teammates? There's always questions when it comes to this. Is it your good enough quarterback to get you over the hump if there's issues? So your defense isn't very good. Or your offensive line is collapsible, you know, or rickety. What can you do about as a quarterback? Good question, Mark. No question. And in terms of Jordan Love, he's legit, man. That guy's the real deal. Real freaking deal. Now, do they have enough depth defensively? Was this all a Joe Berry problem? We're going to find out. I think Jordan Love is my big question about the Packers. If we think that the Bears are going to take a major step this year and be in the playoffs, the Packers will have some to say about it. Oh, yeah, if you lose both to the Packers and we can see that the Lions are the best team in the division, you better not lose many more than them. There's a lot of questions with that Packer team for me. Left tackle, they drafted Jordan Morgan, the kid out of, I think, Auburn. The wide receivers are a bunch of no-name guys who excelled last year. But is that repeatable? Is that all Matt LaFloor's schemes? He's just that good. Jordan Love has to be that good again. You have to show me the defense is worth anything. There's a lot more question marks than certainties, but if all of those things are good, the Packers are going to be really good. And Alabrew will tell you that the Vikings will be heard from, if you recall his report. He doesn't think that they're going to take two steps back. He feels like they're going to be in the mix. Yeah, the problem is they're just so much worse than the rest of this division. And they have the question of who is this team's number three ride receiver? Brandon Powell, Jalen Naylor, they lost KJ Osborne. He's in New England. Well, the weaponry outside of Justin Jefferson gets rough. And TJ Hockinson, like it or not, is not the productive beast that he was two years ago. Wait, you said the weaponry outside of Justin Jefferson? Yeah. Jordan Addison. And Hockinson's better. And I think you're giving the credit, where, yes, he's coming off an ACL. That's an issue. When did he tear that thing? How early in the season? Well, we talked about, would he be ready for the season when the season starts, right? Does he will be? Yeah. Well, if you listen to Evan Cohen, he would tell you the tight end is vital. That all you need is Jefferson and Hockinson. That's what he said. Yeah. Why receiver doesn't matter? Right. That's what he said. Jordan Addison's a beast. What else is a question on the team? Is it the defense? Defense of line? I don't know if defensive line's a huge question. They went out and drafted Dallas Turner. Yeah. Jonathan Greenard. They still have Flores as the defensive coordinator. He was excellent, even if he's a blitz or nothing guy. I think the biggest question for me is, how much is JJ McCarthy going to play? Are you going to rock with Sam Darnold into November? That's a question. Some guy just now on DraftKings, I saw this, you know, like they have, like bleacher report gambling will have, hey, this big bet was made. Some guy just bet like a lot of money and Sam Darnold will be the league MVP. No shot. Yeah. Zero shot. Agreed. Hand me the money. By the way, I said, Jordan Morgan from Auburn. He's from Arizona. I was working off memory. All I could see was an A in my mind's eye. All I see is an A. Arizona tackle, Jordan Morgan. Jesse Rogers, the latest in the Cubs and Sox and everything else MLB is coming up next. CaptainJhood.espin1000 and also on our YouTube channel. Jess, finally, the Cubs are plus 115 on the money line tonight with Steel taking the mound. Suarez is on the mound for the Orioles. What is your gambling advice for those that may be inclined? I think you go for it. I really do. Suarez is 34 years old. He's off to a good start. First year back from, I think it's Korea or Japan, he played in both leagues over the last like five years. I think you go for it. Like I said, it's Justin Steel smelling blood in the water. He can't go eight or nine again. So that's the thing that you know they're going to a bullpen. There's no way it's falling up a nine inning with another. It just doesn't happen. So can they survive? Can they score enough to survive? You know, bullpen's been pretty good lately, but I think you go for it. You go for the juggler here. Go for it. Every team goes on a run, good or bad. And it's been months since they've gone on one. So we, we, this is it. This is it right here. Jesse Rogers on the waddle and silly show yesterday and he joins us on the hotline. Let me the car. It's tire. And I don't have a rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom, boom. I'm waiting for waddle to give me, you know, to wet my beak a little bit after that one, right? That's a wood. Yeah. See what I see would. But let me tell you, I'm going to retire after that one because I usually get them wrong. I'm usually wrong. But right now the Cubs are on a roll was Justin Steel's birthday yesterday, along with his kid. And his have the, have the same birthday and they're all in Baltimore. He talked about it after the game. What? I mean, as a fan, just throw the reporter thing aside, I think Justin Steel might be my favorite club. He's awesome, man. Yeah. Yeah. He's old school, right? He throws two pitches, basically almost all fast balls, a few sliders. I think he threw four sinkers, something like that. It's here it is. Try to hit it really reminds me of John Lester. He comes inside. I was reading some of Brandon Hyde's comments. He's like, yeah, he kept jamming us inside the righties. We couldn't get the barrel on the bat, you know, the barrel of the bat on the ball. So just a great, great series, great outing by him. And who knows? Six to seven, four in a row. That's the longest streak in baseball right now. They do this every July, I guess. And it'll be an interesting week. And that's for sure. But I have one phone to pick with Craig Council. He talked about needing the bullpen all weekend because they've four games in three days. You know, if Hendrix tonight, you might need the pen. You have West Neschi. You might need the pen. You have a double header tomorrow and steals at 70 pitches, seven innings. He has a chance to go back to back complete games and they pull him. His first half is over unless they're going to put him in the bullpen for Sunday's game. Why the heck didn't they let him go? Did you guys see my tweet the last time a pitcher through back to back complete games nine inning, not rain short or anything was two thousand seventeen, not a cub. Any pitcher in baseball, two thousand seventeen times have changed. He had a chance to do it last night and didn't do it. You think about that, Cap, the way that steel was rolling. He could have had a complete game and still to get it done with a hundred pitchers or less. He could have done it. No question. He absolutely could have done that. Jesse, maybe they have a bigger plan. Maybe Craig said, we're good. I need to make sure that he's fresh for the second course. Yeah, for sure. For sure. It was eight and nothing at that point. Just would have been cool. And I can't believe it's been almost seven years since a pitcher's gone. Complete games in back to back starts. But that's not a big deal. The big deal is they're actually playing good baseball and I said this on Waddle Show and then they said it again after the game last night, but all three of these games and this little stretch, it feels like the offense is doing things a little different. They've relaxed since scoring that 10 run affair against the Phillies last week. It feels like that was a confidence boost. It's the handing off the baton to the next guy. It's the flow of the lineup. Council said it after the game last night. A couple of the hitters said it last night as well. So there's a relaxation going on here, which you need at the plate, even though there's urgency to win. I feel like you're seeing it. You're seeing them relax the plate and play in the right way. Opposite field hitting. Horner's going to right field. Swanson's going to right field. I don't know why it took three months to get this offense back a year or two and a half months, but maybe it's maybe it's not too little too late. They got to still continue this before and after the all-star break to really get back in it though. You're going to give Jesse credit now that the team is turning around or throwing that, but you always do. Usually blame me. You do, Cap. Come on. I'm not giving you any credit. I don't really blame you. I hold you accountable at times on questioning, but the power of the all is real. And the all is six and one since the last game of the Philadelphia series. My question is, will Jed be able to go into the tax and get himself to help he needs because Ballinger's gone at least two weeks. We don't know what he's going to be like when he comes back. So what do you think happens there? Yeah, I mean, if they're going to add, I think it's going to be in the bullpen. I mean, look, they're done rebuilding. The rebuild is over once you start adding. The rebuild is over. Now, if the standings say, you know, you're not good enough to win this year, that's a different story. So I don't think he, now I said, I've been saying the last couple of days, he might trade Ballinger no matter what, I think this team is ready to move on from Ballinger, to be honest. And we saw that basically in the off season, they're ready to move on, but he fell back in their lap. Armstrong's taken over at center. They have this emerging first baseman. Both are going to come cheap. So unlike last year, this team is not reliant on Ballinger's left handed back. Now, it's good when he's going good. He's not bad. I mean, it's left handed hitting, but I think they can survive without him. I think they're going to move on from him. It could be at the end of this month. I will see if he opts in. If they do keep them, all that stuff, he probably will. But I'm not too concerned about Ballinger. You saw what they did last night without him. Of course, he has value. Of course, they will miss him in moments, but I think they're better positioned than they were a year ago to survive without him. So my point is, I think he's going to focus on the bullpen. If he does that, he's got to get a closer. That would be the biggest ad they could make. I've said for a while, and I agree with you, their offense, it has to come from within. They have $20 million players all over the diamond. If they're going to get back on offense, it has to come from within. But the bullpen is where he can add, especially in the ninth inning. So that's where I think they concentrate gap. My friend, Jonathan Hood sent me a stat breakdown. Michael Bush, rookie rankings. This is all rookies, 317 played appearances. That's fifth in all of the rookies. Twelve home runs. That's first among any rookie in baseball, 46 runs scored. First among any rookie in baseball, 36 RBIs, fourth. Time to give Jed as hard as we are on him at times for lack of action. He gets a lot of credit for that deal, dude. That's fine, Jesse, but you know, it's amazing how you've done an about face on Bellinger. It's amazing. You're the guy for years. You've been screaming for the rooftops about how the Cubs need left-handed thump. I'm not saying that Bellinger provides that he's not sure, but he's not that. What I'm saying is that you always said they need left-handed power. Bellinger is expendable now. If you go for without Bellinger, you know that you're a non-play-off team. I don't care what you had in the bullpen. If you can't hit, and I don't expect the Cubs to be this, the way they're playing against the Orioles for the rest of the season, but you need to have a difference maker from the left side. But multiple. Yeah. Multiple guys. You're exactly right. Not being that guy, he's not being that difference maker. Michael Bush has better numbers throughout. Now, maybe he's being pitched more carefully. I'm talking about Bellinger because he's got more on his resume. I don't disagree with that. I've said that. I just think they're better positioned. And I'll repeat it. He just wasn't and isn't in their longer-term plans. Now, he might be if they keep him and he opts in, obviously. But as evidenced by how they went about the offseason, they were practically moving on from him then. And he fell back into their lap. So that's my point. It's not the same Bellinger. It's not the same team without left-handed hitting. Half is recovered. His season. Bush, like he said, is looking good. So that's kind of where I'm feeling. Like, yeah, maybe I thought that previously, but I think times have changed a little bit. And I swear to God, I could see if a team lines up with a good prospect, they're moving on from them. But look, if they get back in the race, you know, you don't give up inventory like that. So I have made a change on that. You're exactly right. Guy has nine home runs at the All-Star break, you know? I don't know. It's just not the same slugger he was. Jesse Rogers brought to you by West Coast Men's Health, helping men with chronic pain and ED. For over five years, go to westcoastmen'shealth.com. More with Jesse next on cap and J-hood. Jesse, we were talking about Paul's schemes, it's so unfortunate that we won't be able to see schemes in person and guaranteed rate with the pirates in town for the White Sox. And we're talking this morning about Paul's schemes. Yesterday against the Brewers, he raised his record at 6-0, has a sub-2 ERA, striking out 12 batters per nine innings. Chase said that he thinks that Paul's schemes is on his way to being the most impressive rookie, the best rookie that we've seen in all sports. How possible is that? I suppose it's possible based on the short history he's had on the mound so far, I have to think about all sports though, some rookie seasons as I go back. But he has that chance, he might start the all-star game after basically a month or so in the big leagues. That's pretty impressive. In fact, I think he's probably going to at this point after yesterday's performance. But you know, they'll probably limit his innings in the second half, right, he was pulled with a no-hitter. This is what the second time he's been pulled with a no-hitter, he did it against the Cubs at Wrigley. So that's the one thing, if they reduce his innings, then it's not as impressive, right? So he's going to be in the team photo, he's going to be in the team photo for most impressive and then he's just getting started. So as long as he stays healthy, there's going to be a fun career, unfortunately it's in the same division as the Cubs, but the Cubs fans will get to see him a lot, that's for sure. Jesse, I want to ask you about the White Sox because Garrett Crochet will be on the hill any sax notes. And there's going to be a ton of scouting activity going on at the game, not only for him, but they'll pick over the carcass for Tommy Pham and Paul D. Young and potentially Luis Robert, do you think over under three and a half trades, the White Sox go over under? I'll say over three and a half players, you know what I mean? But I don't know if that means four or more trades could be a couple players in a trade. So I'll go over three and a half players traded in how many trades gets does. And you're exactly right about the scouts. I'll tell you a quick one. So every day I make some calls in the month of July here. You know, I don't call the same people every day. I'm talking about scouts and executives. So yesterday, I called a few the first three scouts I talked to all said, Hey, I'll see you in Chicago tomorrow. You go to the game. So the first three that I talked to are going to this weekend's games, pirates and White Sox. So you're right, they're picking over the carcass crochet at the top of the list. But you mentioned some others. I mean, they're not pitching tonight, but Flexin, Fettie, you know, Copex back on the mound. He has gained some interest just since the immaculate inning. So I think at least six to 10 scouts will be there. I don't have exact number, but the first three I talked yesterday are coming. So it'll be very interesting to see what happened. And I said on what I'll show yesterday that I do think he's going to make trades like post all star break all the way up until the end of the month. In other words, it's all not going to happen July 29th and 30th. There's too much to do for Chris gets to wait until the final 24 hours. So I think we're on White Sox watch from basically all star break on. And, you know, I keep hearing people that sit in Robert and crochet. That'd be a couple massive deals for gets to pull off in one, you know, two week period here, but I wouldn't say it's impossible. So we'll see tune it tune it. I still need to know what's your centerpiece, though, Jesse, because if you're going to trade off these parts at some point, even the matter of bad team we're talking about, you have to be able to have someone you're going to start with. What's your centerpiece? Is it Corey Lee? Because you got to start something. I mean, seriously, because if Fettie's going to be gone and I can understand if crochet is going to be gone. Okay, great. If you if you just need a solid veteran to put on your bench like a the young guys like that, Tommy Famp fine. But who's the centerpiece? If you trade off your best and what then where do you start? I think I think you're headed in the right direction. Corey Lee is at the beginning of his career. Drew Thorpe at the beginning of his career. They have a pretty good double a pitching staff like those the guys. You're right. Corey Lee, Drew Thorpe. Anybody with five or six years of control that's just getting started. Cannon. Exactly. That's it. It's you're starting over, Jay Hood. I mean, the mindset is just you got to get there because Jared made it sound like it was going to go in a quick fix. But all everything gets is done is told us differently. And he's not even done doing it. So yeah, think about those guys and think about whoever they get in these trades. That's going to be the core. Unfortunately, that means years away from competing. Could you explain Jesse why there was so many lopsided games yesterday? This is the least amount of runs per game that we've seen in baseball since September of 78. You see this, right? The 10 to 1 victory for Detroit over Cleveland. The shutout in the met game, the blood in the Cincinnati game, the Cubs over the Baltimore. What does that say? I'll be on these getaway days. I actually think it's just more about parity. You know, you have about four or five elite teams. Only three or four really bad Colorado, Miami, Oakland. You don't have as many. There's a lot in between. It's my point. There's a lot in between. So you get a lot of variants from night to night. I mean, who saw the Cubs sweep of the Orioles coming, even though the Orioles are an elite team? So I can't answer that except there's so much parity in the middle that on any given night, you might see a blowout. And then the next night, that team gets blown out. So it kind of makes for interesting stuff. I guess, you know, for betters, it's not that interesting because it's hard to predict. But baseball's always been hard to predict. And just like this weekend in St. Louis, I don't know. I mean, the Cubs have their four and five pitchers going and then a bullpen game. It's Kyle Hendricks versus Sonny Gray tonight. If the Cubs win the night, maybe maybe there is something real going on, but I'm not sure what's going to happen. Call the power of the hour. All right. The power of the hour. The recap. That's it. Well, forget that the power of the Al Otis is six and one. Let's go. One of the reasons why the Al has been so good is because the starting pitch has been good. You got was Neschi out there. So what? He was awesome the last time he was. Yeah. Hendrix Hendrix tonight. That's going to be interesting. What do you mean? So what? That's not the hallmark of your starting rotation. What are you talking about? His last thing he was. The reason why the Cardinals are even in it is because of the Cubs. The Cardinals have not been playing good baseballs of late. They have not. No, but Jesse. I mean, Jesse's talked about it before when, you know, the Marmal was going to be fired more than likely. I just say, like he wasn't not going to make the season to see because the team was not going in the right direction. They've turned it around. Yeah, they extended him for some reason, but they're they're a run differential of minus 38. They're doing it with with, you know, smoking mirrors, kid, smoking mirrors. Thank you. Bad Cup baseball. Houdini Act there. Neschi's last start six and a third of one hit, no run baseball. Long man. Let's go. Hayden. And you just got to feel like Kyle Hendrix sees what just happened in Baltimore and just doesn't want to let the team down. Like, I'm really interested to see his start tonight. You know how that is past the baton. Next guy, next guy, next guy. The next guy doesn't want to be the guy that kind of lets everyone down. So I'm really interested to see Kyle tonight against against the Cardinals. As always, Jesse, we appreciate the time. All right, boys, I'll pre and post game for your white sacks and pirates tonight. So I will talk to you later from the ballpark. Oh, God, God. Oh, no, I am going to give it my best. Just remember that. Alright, the old radio short straw there. And then you head to the all star game, right? Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm there Sunday for the draft Sunday night and the all star festivities. So I will talk to you Monday from there. All right. Thank you, sir. All right, go owls. Oh, rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom, boom. All right, Jerry, coming up bears drama in two minutes on cap and J.