Wrigleyville Nation's Podcast - Chicago Cubs Discussion, News, & More · wrigleyvillenation.com

Ep 380 - Guest: Jared Wyllys, Cubs Bullpen Struggles, Homestand Recap, Windy Weekend, Roster Speculation, & More

June 23, 2025·1 hr 12 min·10 clips

Jeremy and Pat return after taking the previous week off. They reopen the Cubs conversation by looking back at the stretch that included a 2 of 3 loss to Philadelphia and a 3 of 4 series win over Pittsburgh. The episode then shifts into the longest homestand of the season. It was warm. It was windy. The wind at Wrigley was blowing out all weekend, and that shaped both the games and the conversation around them. Jared Willis joins the show for the usual mix of analysis, reaction, and Cubs talk. The group keeps things conversational while still staying close to the baseball. A Seattle game becomes the clearest example of the bullpen issue. Chicago led, then gave up seven unanswered runs in quick fashion. That pushes the discussion toward how long a relief staff can keep bailing itself out before a bad night finally shows up. Pat is careful not to make every rough inning sound like a referendum on the manager. There is a sense that some of this is just baseball catching up with a bullpen that had already spent a lot of clean innings. The offense gets its share of blame too. The wind was helping balls carry, so the missed chances at the plate feel more expensive. The Mariners' red Nintendo Switch patch also earns a complaint, because some visual distractions are too loud to let slide. The show leans into that kind of side note without losing the larger point. A bad game becomes a conversation about how the team should actually feel about itself after a stretch like this. It treats the bullpen struggle as a real problem, but not as a reason to panic every time a lead slips. The result is part recap, part argument, and part practical Cubs notebook. It is the kind of episode that cares about the score, the wind, the bullpen, and the bigger team question all at once.

As heard by us

A windy Cubs recap that turns bullpen trouble and missed chances into solid baseball talk.

The Cubs' recent stretch comes through as messy but readable: weather, bullpen volatility, and uneven results all sit on the same table. Jeremy and Pat move through the losses to Philadelphia, the wins over Pittsburgh, and the seven unanswered runs against Seattle without…

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Why you'd press play

If you want Cubs talk that connects a windy Wrigley weekend to a bullpen blowup in Seattle, press play.

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