Cubs Insider

In another specialty episode, Greg and Jimmy take a look at their personal midseason prospect Top 25 lists and answer each other's questions about why they ranked certain guys where. They start off at the top and work their way through until they explain why Brailyn Marquez didn't fall on either of their lists.

With the draft quickly approaching, Greg and Jimmy bring back Greg Zumach to discuss who the Cubs could be eyeing for the 7th pick in this years 2022 MLB draft. Greg Zumach then goes on to discuss the Cubs potential draft strategy, guys who are climbing up people's boards, and who the Cubs could be looking at during the later rounds of the draft.

It's time for another mailbag episode as listeners went above and beyond in sending in plenty of questions for Greg and Jimmy to answer on the show. The guys spend some time at the beginning of the show talking about the brilliance of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans playoff run (2:05) before digging into the questions. Once there, they chat about Matt Mervis (7:45), Cristian Hernandez (13:10), catchers...

With the MLB trade deadline looming, Greg and Jimmy take a long look at what current Iowa relievers might be making the trip up to Chicago soon (3:45). After that, the guys get into some deeper individual analysis, breaking down the mechanical tweaks to Ryan Jensen's arm motion (19:50), the fade on Luis Devers' changeup (28:15), and the splits and role of Jared Young in Chicago in the second half...

Greg and Jimmy are back with this week's Growing Cubs Podcast, fresh after watching the Kevin Alcantara Game where had had 8 RBI's. After discussing the Kevin Alcantara Game (3:30), the guys discuss who deserves a promotion (16:15), debate players to buy or sell (32:00), and discuss Yovanny Cruz's recent outing in the AZL (54:46).

Caleb Kilian was added into MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects recently, and now he has made his debut for the Chicago Cubs! Greg and Jimmy start their discussion with Kilian's recent start on June 4th against the Cardinals. Also, they talk about the recent news of Brennen Davis' recent back surgery and where that would put him on their prospect lists. They finish the episode talking about Yohendric...

The guys hit both ends of the spectrum in this episode as they cover prospects in the Majors and young kids all the way down in Myrtle Beach. They lead off the episode with the big news that Nelson Velazquez has been promoted (8:00) before explaining why Christopher Morel has earned a more permanent spot on the big league roster (21:15). We then head south to discuss the big seasons from both Luis...

There are plenty of great prospect performances happening down on the farm and Greg and Jimmy dig into some of them in this episode. Tune in to this episode for info and analysis on Christopher Morel (2:00), Brandon Hughes (11:25), Caleb Kilian (20:40), Bryce Ball (29:45), Chase Strumpf (35:35), Kevin Made (41:55), and Luke Little (48:00).

It is episode 100 of the Growing Cubs Podcast! Greg and Jimmy provide updates on the injuries of top prospects Ed Howard and Brennen Davis (3:55), give updates and analysis on the first massive wave of promotions in the system (13:40), and finally the guys end the podcast by reminiscing on episode 1 of the Growing Cubs Podcast and look back and compare the system in 2019 to the system today (25:20...

Greg and Jimmy dip into their mailbag to answer 14 different listener questions about all kinds of players from top prospects Brennen Davis, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Ed Howard to more off-the-radar guys like Richard Gallardo, Jake Reindl, and Yeison Santana. They finish off the episode by giving their unnoficial top ten prospects as of right now!

Greg and Jimmy are back with another week of the Growing Cubs Podcast. In light of the recent NFL draft, the guys discuss how to grow the MLB Draft (5:55) and then discuss some of the best pitching performers this year (20:12), Luke Little's dominant pitching performance (33:10), Alexander Canario's power this week (41:52), and James Triantos and Pete Crow-Armstrong's hitting surge in Myrtle Beach...

There have been enough minor league games for Greg and Jimmy to have thoughts but not necessarily conclusions. They spend this episode giving out ratings for 14 total players based on two questions: On a scale from 1 to 10, how worried are you about Player X? And on a scale from 1 to 10, how excited are you letting yourself get about Player Y? Join the guys to hear what they think about Pete Crow-...

It has been another exciting week during week two of Cubs minor league baseball. Jimmy and Greg discuss the new pitch clock implemented in minor league games (5:10), the players DFA'd and put on the 40-man roster (22:00), Riley Martin's superb piggyback outing (40:00), Kohl Franklin and Riley Thompson's starts after coming back from injury (50:22), and some of the Cubs 2022 MiLB debuts (55:15).

The first week of the minor league season is in the books and the guys couldn't be more excited to finally analyze players doing new things on the field. They broke this episode up by running affiliate by affiliate starting at the lowest level: Myrtle Beach (2:15), South Bend (17:30), Tennessee (29:50), Iowa (42:40), and Chicago (51:30).

Jimmy and Greg are back for the last episode of the Growing Cubs Podcast before the 2022 minor league season kicks off! This episode is another off the cuff discussion about where various prospects are rostered to start the 2022 season. Jimmy and Greg give their insights on what they are excited about to watch at each affiliate and predict the type of season some of the prospects will have.

The guys begin this episode the same way they left the last one: with one major prediction. They discuss how many Cubs prospects will be featured in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list a year from now. They then get sidetracked with a bit of Jason Heyward/Michael Hermosillo/Brennen Davis debate before finishing off with the main topic of discussion - the best Spring Training performers from the past week.

Live Cubs spring training baseball is now being played and Greg and Jimmy give updates on the prospects who are catching their eye. Then, they give their season predictions on Cubs prospects who will bounce back, win pitcher of the year, hitter of the year, and the first to homer in 2022.

The guys start the episode with some sad news as Drew Gray went down with Tommy John surgery recently (2:00). In an effort to bring the mood back up, they spend the rest of the episode talking about 40-man roster prospects that are back in action (7:30), the non-roster invitees to Spring Training (32:30), and Rule Five Draft talk... for next offseason (41:45).

With the start of the minor league season coming up, Greg and Jimmy are alone this week and will return back to weekly recordings. This episode the guys break down each affiliate and what players they are looking forward to watching play in 2022. Plus, Greg and Jimmy give predictions on which affiliate your favorite players will start in 2022.

Minor league spring training is just a couple weeks away, so Greg and Jimmy team up with regular guests Greg Zumach and Todd Johnson of North Side Bound to prepare for the upcoming season. The four guys answer listener questions covering everything from their affiliate to watch this year to the prospect they will have their eye on to begin the 2022 campaign.

It took 88 episodes, but Greg and Jimmy are finally joined with the first ever guest catcher on the Growing Cubs Podcast! Bryce Windham sits down with the guys for a full hour to discuss his decision between playing baseball versus basketball in college, how he converted to catching his senior year of college, his approach at the plate, and a slew of many other great topics.

Marquee Sports Network's Lance Brozdowski joins the show to give his perspective on Cubs prospects! The crew starts off the show by talking about Lance's atypical route to being a multimedia producer by way of accounting school. After dabbling in some advanced analytics conversation, Lance gives his opinions on prospects from Ethan Roberts to Yohendrick Pinango and many others in between.

Greg and Jimmy are back in 2022 with another interview! This time, they have one of their better interviews yet with Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year DJ Herz. On the podcast, DJ discusses his incredible 2021 season, his pitch grips, his success in both football and baseball during high school, and what players aren't getting talked about enough in the Cubs system.

We're joined by another broadcaster! This time it is Sam Weiderhaft of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans! Sam talks about his wild journey to the Pelicans mic while giving plenty of fun tidbits about the prospects that graced his ballpark last year. Come for the Ed Howard content, stay for his Buddy Bailey story!

Although there is no major league phase of the Rule-5 draft yet this year, Jimmy and Greg break down the Cubs moves in the minor league phase of the Rule-5 draft, including draftee Conner Menez. Next, the guys welcome back Max Bain to the Growing Cubs Podcast for the third time. Max discusses his new project, The Bain Campaign podcast, what he has been up to so far in the offseason, and his overal...