Ivy Envy - Chicago Cubs Fan Podcast (UNOFFICIAL)

On this mid-week episode of the Ivy Envy Podcast, we’re talking about the first few games in the Cubs series with the Nationals.

The Cubs have played several 1-run games this season, winning quite a few of them. We talk about all of the close games that the Cubs are playing against good competition.

Kris Bryant hit a home run off the new video board in left-center field. We weren’t optimistic about a Cubs player accomplishing that in our season prediction episode.

The back end of the rotation has performed very well lately. Wada and Hendricks have both stepped up with good outings, right when the Cubs needed some stability in that part of the rotation.

We also talk about Jason McLeod’s recent comments on Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber.

Direct download: Episode_723.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:17pm CDT

On this, the 319th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast. This week, the Cubs went 3-3 on their road trip out west which included series with San Diego and Arizona.

We talk about the last week in Cubs baseball, focusing on some good pitching out of the back end of the bullpen from Kyle Hendricks and Tsoyushi Wada. We also talk about Anthony Rizzo and his emergence as the leader of this team. Chris Coghlan has had a rough spring. Our opinions on Coghlan are mixed.

We answer several listener questions and many topics. We discuss: Pedro Strop, the Cubs plan in the 2015 MLB draft, Addison Russell’s bat grip, adult stuff causing Chris to miss Kris Bryant home runs, Baez/Vogelbach rumors, the Cubs broadcasters, whether or not the Cubs will make a move for a pitcher later in the season, finding a team Cubs fans and Cardinals fans can agree on, the level of disgust we feel losing a series to the Diamondbacks, Kris Bryant’s mohawk mullet and finger-licking, the 2015 Ivy Envy Bus Trip, and the dreaminess of the 2015 Cubs.

Direct download: Episode_722.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:56pm CDT

We only have one Cubs game to talk about on this mid-week episode of the podcast…so we don’t! The Cubs had an off-day on Monday and are playing late games on the west coast. This episode was recorded before the Cubs/Padres game on Wednesday night.

Since we don’t have a lot of game action to talk about on this episode, we instead focus on the prospects. Since we are a month and a half into the season, we look at how the top 10 prospects in the Cubs system are doing this season.

 
Direct download: Episode_721.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57pm CDT

It’s been quite a week in Chicago Cubs baseball. We start things off by talking about some of the events that led to a six-game winning streak. Some are good baseball and some are flukey plays.

We can’t go an episode without drooling over Kris Bryant, so of course we do that. The Cubs have made several roster moves recently, including sending Travis Wood to the bullpen. We run through the significant moves.

We received several listener questions and we go through all of those. Kurt gives us a (good) scary stat of the week and we read some internet muscle flexes.

 
Direct download: Episode_720.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:46pm CDT

On this mid-week episode of the podcast, Andy and Corey comment on the first few games of the Cubs series with the Mets at Wrigley.

We spend a healthy amount of time talking about Kris Bryant’s play, especially in Tuesday night’s game. Jon Lester has a good outing and Jake Arrieta makes Corey look like he actually knows what he’s talking about.

We also talk about the back end of the rotation and how any long winning streak is going to require the #4 and #5 spots in the rotation to provide a little more.

We answer a voicemail question from Josh in New Jersey. Josh asks about the rumored trade talks between the Cubs and Mets. We discourage you from reading too much into it…then we read too much into it.

Sean asks a question about closers in non-save situations. Michael asks about the Cubs hitting in the 7th inning and later.

If you have not yet filled out one of our listener surveys, we can finish this campaign with one final push. Please go to http://ivyenvy.com/survey. This should not take you more than 30 seconds and we’d really appreciate it.

Direct download: Episode_719.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:09pm CDT

On this, the 315th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we talk about the last of the Cardinals series and the entire Cubs series with the Brewers. You can’t have a discussion about the last few weeks in Cubs baseball without spending a lot of time talking about the bullpen.

We start things off by talking about hearing the guys on Effectively Wild calling the Cubs “bulletproof”. Does this team feel bulletproof to you? Does it feel weird to have anyone refer to the Cubs as bulletproof?

Five years ago, Starlin Castro was called up and made his MLB debut. Lots of fans are down on Castro and we look back at the first five years of his career and share our opinions on Castro.

Jake Arrieta has had two rough games in a row. After looking so masterful last year and early on this year, that could make one a bit nervous. Corey does his best to calm those nerves and he has an explanation of what went wrong in those two games and why the results of those two games will not become the norm.

We have several listener questions to read though.

If you’d like to help support Ivy Envy and help us continue producing content with this podcast andThe Daily Northside Recap, check out our Patreon campaign.

 
Direct download: Episode_718.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:05pm CDT

On this episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we’re talking about the first few games of this Cubs/Cardinals series in St. Louis. We get a bit distracted early in this episode when this happened.

We talk about the highlights and lowlights of the first few games in the series. Corey is significantly more optimistic than some of the fans that are freaking out with the Cubs dropping the first two games. There are a lot of positives to take away and we discuss those.

The Cubs have made several roster moves recently and we discuss some of those. We’re a month into the season, so it’s time to start voting for the All Star Game. Corey gives you his hot take on fan voting, the timing of all of this and the hashtags.

Direct download: Episode_717.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:39pm CDT

The early season schedule for the Cubs is very NL Central heavy. On this episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we talk about how they have fared so far against the teams in their division. This last series with the Brewers has left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths, but they are still playing the division pretty tough. For instance, the Cubs were dominated by the Pirates last year, but they are playing them tough this year.

The Cubs have a huge hurdle ahead of them in the Cardinals this week. The two teams square off for a 4-game series in St. Louis. As good as the Cubs have been playing, they are losing ground on the Cardinals and these head-to-head games are important to win.

Kris Bryant and Addison Russell have been up for a few weeks now and without being too reactionary, we look at how they’re doing. It’s obviously a small sample size, but both of these guys are doing things well in certain areas and then struggling in others.

Jon Lester had a second strong outing, that makes two in a row and it appears as though that dead arm is coming back to life. His start on Friday was very good and it’s nice seeing the Cubs get the production they expected from Lester.

We answer several listener questions. One of the questions came from Jeremy from Phoenix. I talked about the anti-bullying comic book that he’s a part of. If you’re interested in this for a child in your life, check it out here: http://northwestpress.com/shop/rise-comics-against-bullying-1/

Kurt gives us his Scary Stat of the Week and we read some internet muscle flexes.

Our iOS app is live! The Ivy Envy app is completely free. Check it out and download it here.

This app, our 2nd show every week and The Daily Northside Recap was made possible by listener support through Patreon. If you would like to invest in Ivy Envy, you can do so by going toPatreon.com/IvyEnvy

Direct download: Episode_716.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:44pm CDT

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