Pointless Exercise - A Desipio Podcast Pointless Exercise

The Cubs can't hit and the Bears are finally going to be on Hard Knocks, and Tom Loxas has left his own podcast to become a regular here at Pointless Exercise and so we talk all about it. Do the Cubs need a catcher? I guess if you don't want every pitch to just roll to the backstop they do. How do they work Petecrow into the lineup on a regular basis? Is Dansby Swanson ever going to hit again? Why is Nick Madrigal still around and Ian Happ still batting right handed? Then, on a happier note the guys discuss what the first shots of the Bears first ever appearance on Hard Knocks will be, how Matt Eberflus can either bolster his reputation or doom his career on the show, and why the Bears need to force the NFL Films guys to focus on players beyond Caleb Williams. They also discuss if the Chicago sports media is equipped to actually cover this Bears team. All that, and more.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Angel Hernandez has been put out to pasture, Ben Brown was yanked with a no-hitter going, and the Cubs hitters aren't really into the whole line-drive thing. David Brown joins Andy to discuss all of this, plus whether or not Andy cursed Ronald Acuna Jr to the injured list, whether they guys agree with Bob Costas and Chris Russo's thoughts on whether Shohei should just bag pitching altogether and a young friend takes a break from breaking up sex trafficking rings in Thailand to pitch a defunct university into the College World Series. Is MLB counting Negro League stats like MLB stats really doing those stats a disservice by attempting to paper over why those players weren't in the big leagues to begin with? Plus, are the Phillies the best team in baseball?




---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Oleg and Andy call to the bullpen and Mike D. steps over Kyle Hendricks to fill in for the birthday boy, Praz. The guys discuss whether the Cubs have demoted Kyle to the bullpen or is being put out to pasture, and they (or at least Andy) thinks with a little "growth" it might just work. They also try to make sense of the Cubs sending down Petecrow and not Nick Madrigal and just how long Nick's Roster Spot Hostage Crisis can go on. They also discuss what to do with Ian Happ, whether Cody Bellinger is playing his way back to free agency again, and most crucially, how can the third largest market in the nation foist Zach Zaidman and Matt Spiegel on us as our only play-by-play options. All that, and more.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Why are some of the best young pitchers limited to short stints in the minors instead of contributing what they can to the big league team? David Brown and Andy discuss that hot topic, plus can you fix your bullpen in May, why is that Paul Skenes mustache a thing, when are they finally going to get around to updating the requirements to get a win, create the team error and figure out how to make a safety base that isn't too weird looking for a big league diamond? Andy demands the Cubs bring up Cade Horton. They also discuss catchers creeping too close to hitters, which of the automated strike zone ideas is most likely to work and when can they start using it. They also discuss Boog Sciambi's appearance on Pablo Torres' podcast and why the things he claims the Cubs value in a player do not mesh with the current roster. All that, and more.




---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The guys kick around all of the important issues this week like, how long has Dansby Swanson's offensive slump been going on (a long time), who should be the Cubs fourth outfielder when Seiya Suzuki returns and why should it be Ian Happ, and what to do with Petecrow when Seiya's return happens. They also ponder just how well Nick Madrigal would need to hit to actually be worth a big league roster spot and what current big leaguer can be used as the minimum threshold for that? They kick around ideas for Cubs' closer and make the case why Cade Horton's pitch and innings limit are fine but they should be occurring in Chicago, not Des Moines. They also make fun of how bad the Cardinals are, check out the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and talk about the time the Chicago Blitz traded themselves to Arizona. All that, and more, like the intro music to The Fall Guy, Gil Thorp comics and other stuff.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The Athletic's Jon Greenberg comes on the pod to talk about the Bears ill-fated stadium press conference, his role in helping the Bears finally put their tortured quarterback history to the side, why Kevin Warren and George McCaskey would end up being the stars of Hard Knocks. They discuss how cool Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are. Why it's savvy for Ryan Poles to become The Pat McAfee Show's favorite general manager. How the Flus' glow up actually makes you more confident in his ability to coach. What's going to dictate when Major League Baseball fixes the player name lettering on jerseys and much more.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message