Cody Delmendo Interview + Are The 2026 Cubs Buyers Or Sellers?

Cody Delmendo Interview + Are The 2026 Cubs Buyers Or Sellers?

Pete Crow-Armstrong is forcing a different conversation about the Chicago Cubs. When a center fielder is playing like an MVP and leading the league in WAR, you stop treating the season like a slow drift and start asking harder questions: are we buying at the MLB trade deadline, or are we wasting a rare window? We bring on Cody Delmendo from the Off The Ivy podcast and get brutally specific about what’s broken and what’s still real. We argue through the deadline “sell vs buy” debate, then put the blame where it belongs when a roster built to contend plays like it’s stuck in neutral. Alex Bregman’s struggles come up for a reason: money, expectations, and the way Matt Shaw’s rise makes every quiet Bregman night feel like a spotlight. We also talk Dansby Swanson, why defense still matters, and why fans lose sleep when league-average offense disappears. On the pitching side, we dig into Ben Brown’s growth, what it means when he can survive without his best stuff, and why the Cubs can’t treat injuries as background noise anymore. We also map out what “smart buying” looks like: add pitching without lighting the farm system on fire unless the Cubs actually look like a World Series team. If you’re a Cubs fan trying to balance rage with hope, this one is for you. Subscribe on Apple or Spotify, share it with your group chat, and leave a review if you want to help the show grow. What would you do at the deadline: buy, hold, or sell? Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

Sweep The Rockies Or We Riot Politely

The Cubs just did something that changes the whole feel of a season: they won a series on the road, then shrugged off a Sunday loss like a team that expects to bounce back. We’re still honest about the flaws, but the tone is different because the baseball is different. Logan Webb shuts the door, sure, but taking the first two games in San Francisco is exactly how you survive ace-day and stack momentum. We dig into the mindset piece through Alex Bregman, because the most convincing part of his recent stretch isn’t a box score. It’s accountability. We connect that to real life work habits, then bring it back to Chicago Cubs baseball: who sets the standard, who drags the room upward, and why “back to basics” is more than a cliché when the offense needs to wake up. From there it’s Ball Or Strike time, with a big focus on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s breakout, the walk rate jump, and why his ceiling might be higher than we even know. On the pitching side, we talk Ben Brown’s All Star resume, Javier Assad’s value as a plug-and-play weapon, and what “competitive pitches” actually look like when you’re watching closely. Then we look ahead to the Colorado Rockies series and the Toronto Blue Jays at Wrigley Field, including the atmosphere, the urgency, and the uncomfortable roster questions like whether Dansby Swanson needs a reset on the bench and why Matt Shaw’s usage still doesn’t add up. If you’re feeling the Cubs turning a corner, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more Cubs fans can find the show. What’s the one move you’d make this week to keep the momentum going? Thanks for tuning in!  - Carl & Mahoney

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