Another Melancholy Monday For The Cubs

Reasons to Believe: The Cubs Turn It Around Right Now

Playoff odds don’t drop from 99% to the mid-30s without taking your mood with them, and Cubs fans have felt every inch of that fall. We’re coming off a stretch that’s been flat-out miserable, but I’m making a decision on purpose: I’m done watching this team like the worst outcome is guaranteed. We’re still here, we’re still watching, and we can demand better without drowning in it. The turning point I can’t shake is Craig Counsell getting ejected over the Moises Ballesteros foul-ball mess. It wasn’t just arguing a call, it was a rare flash of fight that made me think the clubhouse isn’t as broken as the box scores look. Then Alex Bregman steps up postgame with a cold, honest assessment: the offense has been bad, and it’s going to take real mechanical changes and real work. That’s the kind of accountability I need when the vibes are awful and the standings are worse. We also get specific about the on-field problem: MLB pitchers are attacking the Cubs with breaking balls in the zone, especially after they get ahead 0-1, because we haven’t slugged enough to punish mistakes. We talk approach, “loud bat, quiet body,” and what an actual adjustment arc can look like for a hitter like Bregman. Add Pete Crow-Armstrong catching fire, the reality of pitching injuries, and a schedule with 13 straight games against under .500 teams, and you’ve got a real window to build momentum into July. If you’re riding with the Maniacs, hit subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review on Spotify so more Cubs fans can find us. What’s the one change you need to see this weekend to believe again? Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

Another Melancholy Monday For The Cubs

A bad week at Wrigley can make you want to burn the whole thing down, but we’re not doing a rage podcast today. We’re coming in on a melancholy Monday, paying respect to Stacey King and what he meant to Chicago sports, and admitting something a lot of fans don’t want to say out loud: the emotional weight of following teams is real, and perspective matters when bigger life stuff is on the table. Then we turn back to the Cubs, because the baseball is still the baseball. The rotation is beat up, the offense keeps failing in the eighth, ninth, and tenth, and the gap between payroll expectations and on-field execution is getting harder to ignore. We dig into the Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson spotlight, how pressure changes a player’s at-bats, and why “just be patient and take walks” can turn into a rigid approach that collapses with runners in scoring position. The bright spot is PCA. We talk about the adjustments, the swagger, and why we want Pete Crow-Armstrong locked into the leadoff role as more than a hot-streak reward. The mailbag gets into Craig Counsell blame, trade deadline vibes, Taylor McGregor love, and even a Mark Grace versus Anthony Rizzo debate that ends up circling back to what this lineup is missing most: situational feel. If you’re riding this season with us, subscribe, share the show with a fellow Cub fan, and leave a review so more maniacs can find the community. What’s your one change you’d make before first pitch in Colorado? Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

Athletics Recap + Giants Preview + Slug% 101

A single insane ninth inning can make you feel like the Cubs are turning a corner, and five minutes later you’re right back to asking what’s broken. That’s the push and pull we’re sitting with after the Athletics series: a needed win, a shaky foundation, and a weekend set at Wrigley Field against a Giants team that’s somehow playing even worse lately. With a big chunk of remaining games coming against under-.500 opponents, the next few weeks aren’t just a schedule break, they’re a decision point for how we should judge this roster.  We also get specific about what fans argue over every day but rarely define clearly: slugging percentage. I walk through the simple math, the real-life meaning, and the benchmarks that separate “fine” from “weak” from “unplayable” for everyday MLB hitters. Then we put names on it, starting with Alex Bregman’s early-season slug and what it implies when you’re paid like a centerpiece and hitting in the middle of the order. The 2016 Cubs come up as context not for nostalgia, but to show how much lineup damage used to exist and how rare it feels right now.  From there it’s the rest of the state of the team: Shota Imanaga’s sudden crash, a bullpen that feels faceless, PCA’s potential spark, Michael Busch’s heater, and why I’m setting a June rule to focus more on position players than pitching. We also address the uncomfortable chatter about Craig Counsell and what it even means to “blame the manager” in modern baseball, before closing with a Giants preview including what makes Robbie Ray difficult and why this series needs to go the Cubs’ way. If this helped you see the Cubs with clearer eyes, subscribe, share the show, and leave a review. Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

Good, Bad & UGLY: Breaking Down The 2026 Cubs On June 1st

Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

A Vegas Hotel Room Rant After The Cubs Get Swept Again

Seven straight losses can make a season feel like it’s slipping through your fingers, and that’s exactly where our heads are as we record solo from a Las Vegas hotel room on Memorial Day weekend. The Cubs just took another beating, and we’re not pretending it’s fine because the calendar says May. We’re talking like fans who’ve watched this pattern before: hot streak, cold streak, repeat, and somehow the same problems keep showing up when the pressure rises. We dig into why this skid feels worse than “bad luck,” from the lifeless at-bats to the lack of urgency that shows up in approach and execution. We get into lineup decisions like PCA hitting leadoff, what his current profile suggests, and why “walk rate” doesn’t fix an offense that can’t slug. Then we go straight at the leadership questions Cubs fans are asking out loud now: what Craig Counsell should be delivering at a top-of-market salary, what accountability looks like during a collapse, and why the fan base is running out of patience with the same explanations. We also connect the meltdown to bigger roster-building issues: pitching injuries, thin depth, and the uneasy feeling that the farm system and front office plan aren’t producing enough quick answers. Finally, we look ahead to the only kind of hope that feels tangible right now: a real stretch of decent baseball and a trade deadline that actually changes the shape of the roster. If you’re feeling angry, exhausted, or weirdly curious about how bad it can get, you’re not alone. Subscribe, share this with a Cubs fan who’s suffering too, and leave us a rating and review so more people can find the show. Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney