Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Scoop: Mets HEAT, Snell’s setback, Cubs legit?

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Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Scoop: Mets HEAT, Snell’s setback, Cubs legit? · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: If the Giants, the Padres and Diamondbacks are really competitive,
0:03
Speaker 1: at some point the Dodgers are going to have to
0:05
Speaker 1: put their foot on the gas a little bit.
0:10
Speaker 2: But I love.
0:16
Speaker 3: All right, Ken, Great to see you as always. We're
0:18
Speaker 3: talking a little bit about first we're going to see
0:20
Speaker 3: you up on the Mets surge. This is a team
0:24
Speaker 3: you and I talked about on Fair Territory on Thursday.
0:26
Speaker 3: I mean, this is a club we had Carlos Mendoza
0:28
Speaker 3: on yesterday. This is the club that I think their
0:31
Speaker 3: starting rotation is better than we gave them credit for.
0:36
Speaker 1: It is. And I saw something yesterday where some of
0:39
Speaker 1: their expected numbers aren't that good, aren't as good as
0:42
Speaker 1: their actual numbers. So per Aps, some regression is in
0:45
Speaker 1: order for the Mets, And okay, that's normal, and when
0:48
Speaker 1: you start this quickly, that's generally what's going to happen.
0:51
Speaker 1: There'll be some regression. But the mere fact that they're
0:53
Speaker 1: in this position without Manaiah, without Mantas is really speaking
0:59
Speaker 1: well to their pitching plan. What they've done with Clay
1:02
Speaker 1: Holmes to make him a starter, what they've done with
1:04
Speaker 1: Griffin Canning to make him a viable major league starter again,
1:08
Speaker 1: they seem to have it going pretty well on the
1:10
Speaker 1: pitching front, and once they get Manaia and Mantas back,
1:14
Speaker 1: they should be in that much better position. They also
1:17
Speaker 1: have some prospects coming, Brandon Sprokee being the most notable
1:21
Speaker 1: among them, who could contribute at some point this season
1:23
Speaker 1: as well.
1:25
Speaker 4: All right, well, if this was college football, we'd have
1:28
Speaker 4: power rankings, and the Cubs should be high on the
1:31
Speaker 4: power rankings the RPI because they've played the absolute juggernauts
1:35
Speaker 4: of teams and they're done with them.
1:38
Speaker 5: Does that show you that they are not.
1:40
Speaker 4: Just the best team in the Central which we bag
1:43
Speaker 4: on all the time, but one of the top three
1:46
Speaker 4: NL teams in baseball right now are in the National League.
1:49
Speaker 5: Right now, I.
1:50
Speaker 1: Want to see more before I proclaim them as that.
1:53
Speaker 1: The n West teams and the Mets right now look
1:56
Speaker 1: more powerful even than the Cubs. Now, the Cubs had
1:58
Speaker 1: a great run early on here, they're sixteen to ten.
2:01
Speaker 1: They're done with the Diamondbacks, done with the Dodgers, done
2:04
Speaker 1: with the Padres. Survived that gauntlet, and not only that,
2:07
Speaker 1: thrived in that gauntlet. So yes, the schedule will ease
2:11
Speaker 1: in May, and there are still questions here the bullpen,
2:15
Speaker 1: maybe the bottom of the rotation now without Steel, maybe
2:18
Speaker 1: the offense at the bottom of the order. It's been
2:20
Speaker 1: great so far. Can it be sustained. We'll see. But
2:24
Speaker 1: at the very least, they have shown that they were
2:26
Speaker 1: a much more formidable club than they were a year ago.
2:29
Speaker 1: And it seems to me, guys, you can speak to
2:32
Speaker 1: it better than I could. But the addition of Tucker
2:36
Speaker 1: was not just adding one bat to the lineup. It
2:39
Speaker 1: was transforming the lineup, making the entire team better. You
2:43
Speaker 1: take the pressure off the rest of the players in
2:45
Speaker 1: that offensive scenario, and it becomes that much more impressive
2:50
Speaker 1: what they're doing. So I do like what I'm saying
2:53
Speaker 1: right now. We've got them on Fox tomorrow. I'm here
2:55
Speaker 1: in Chicago right now. And they had an incredible week
3:00
Speaker 1: went over the Diamondbacks after they gave up a ten
3:02
Speaker 1: run inning, with two back to back wins over the Dodgers,
3:05
Speaker 1: come from behind, Wrigley was rocking. I expected to be
3:08
Speaker 1: rocking this weekend against the Phillies as well.
3:12
Speaker 6: Hey, Ken, I want to jump jump, you know, to
3:15
Speaker 6: the other side for a second of talk Yankees, And
3:17
Speaker 6: I thought you wrote a pretty awesome article and we
3:19
Speaker 6: know the history of the Yankees. They have done a
3:22
Speaker 6: lot of taking a lot of pride and their homegrown talent,
3:25
Speaker 6: and you talked about that. Right now, they have some
3:27
Speaker 6: young guys that they're really counting on, some going through
3:30
Speaker 6: some early season woes.
3:31
Speaker 2: But we know Volpi has you know, he's the gold Glover.
3:35
Speaker 6: He's hit twenty, he stole twenty, He's done some special
3:37
Speaker 6: things in the pinstripes.
3:39
Speaker 2: Can you just touch on that article and talk about how.
3:42
Speaker 6: Important it is for the Yankees throughout their history to
3:45
Speaker 6: have that homegrown talent and build it from within.
3:48
Speaker 1: Well, Kem, it's interesting. So I wrote that article and
3:51
Speaker 1: it's basically about, yes, how they have done a better
3:54
Speaker 1: job of late getting homegrown talent to the majors. They
3:57
Speaker 1: also trade a ton of homegrown players. And it was
4:00
Speaker 1: about the obstacles they face in the draft because they
4:03
Speaker 1: lose picks when they sign free agents, they get pushed
4:06
Speaker 1: back when they go over luxury tax threshold by forty million,
4:09
Speaker 1: so they've had some disadvantages in terms of identifying and
4:14
Speaker 1: selecting players in the draft. But after I wrote it,
4:19
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of the comments from the Yankee
4:20
Speaker 1: fans who are kind of self hating Yankee fans.
4:24
Speaker 2: It seems to me they're miserable.
4:27
Speaker 1: Will's is not that good.
4:29
Speaker 5: He's hitting under.
4:29
Speaker 1: Two hundred guys. Yeah, right now, But when you can
4:33
Speaker 1: feel the team or a lineup, I should say, and
4:36
Speaker 1: Aaron Dredge olmost shouldn't count, but he is homegrown. Okay,
4:39
Speaker 1: let's start there. Then you got ben Rice dhing, you
4:42
Speaker 1: got Wells behind the plate, you got Volpia short stop. Granted,
4:45
Speaker 1: the third base situation is homegrown right now, it's not
4:48
Speaker 1: exactly where you want it. And you've got Jason Dominguez
4:51
Speaker 1: in left field plus Clark Schmidt in the rotation. I
4:54
Speaker 1: hate to tell you, folks, that's pretty good. Now. Are
4:57
Speaker 1: all these players going to be stars? Nowhere? In that are?
5:00
Speaker 1: Do I suggest that? Do? I say that Wells could be?
5:03
Speaker 1: And it just speaks well that the Yankees are doing this.
5:07
Speaker 1: Now They're not the only team doing this. The Mets
5:10
Speaker 1: really have a going to in this regard the Red Sox.
5:13
Speaker 1: We know about their farm system and what it's producing
5:15
Speaker 1: some other clubs as well. So yes, the Yankees are
5:19
Speaker 1: not the only team, but for them to do what
5:21
Speaker 1: they've done, it does speak well of their amateur scouting,
5:25
Speaker 1: their international scouting, and their player development.
5:29
Speaker 6: Well, let's stay there, New York. We know how volatile
5:32
Speaker 6: those Yankees fans can be. We've seen Jazz Chisholm really
5:35
Speaker 6: struggle right start off, high gets the Brewers an they
5:39
Speaker 6: both he struggles as well a guy who has not struggled,
5:42
Speaker 6: and it's going to kind of create I think somewhat
5:43
Speaker 6: of a good problem, Ben Rice, what they do when
5:47
Speaker 6: Stanton comes back, because right now you talk about those
5:49
Speaker 6: struggles of those other guys, you cannot afford to lose
5:52
Speaker 6: his back, but you have outfield of Domingas who are
5:56
Speaker 6: looking like he needs to continue to get those at bads.
5:58
Speaker 2: We know what Judge is doing.
6:00
Speaker 6: Grisom has looked extremely good out there in center and
6:03
Speaker 6: belly as well.
6:04
Speaker 2: What happens when Stanton comes back.
6:07
Speaker 1: Cam, I would only say that, and I hate to
6:10
Speaker 1: sound like a general manager here because it's a broken
6:12
Speaker 1: record we hear every single year, every month from general managers.
6:17
Speaker 1: It's a good problem to have, and it is a
6:20
Speaker 1: good problem to have have too many good players and
6:22
Speaker 1: other teams are in this scenario in other scenarios as well,
6:26
Speaker 1: and in the Yankees case with Stanton he has been
6:30
Speaker 1: hurt so often. It seems to me you can ease
6:34
Speaker 1: him back in, keep playing Rice and figure it out
6:37
Speaker 1: that way. Now, Rice, of course has experienced at first
6:40
Speaker 1: base where Paul goldschmid is. He's a catcher biting trade.
6:45
Speaker 1: I don't know that he's going to be doing that
6:46
Speaker 1: for the Yankees, so you have some options there. But
6:50
Speaker 1: it seems to me this is one of these things
6:52
Speaker 1: they'll figure out if they go along, and who knows,
6:54
Speaker 1: if somebody else might get hurt. Maybe they can get
6:56
Speaker 1: Stanton in the outfield certain days when they would want to.
7:00
Speaker 1: There are things that they can do. But yeah, it's
7:03
Speaker 1: a question certainly that will come up. One Stanton is back.
7:07
Speaker 1: He's not back yet.
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8:11
Speaker 3: Ken yesterday on the show, we were talking about, first
8:13
Speaker 3: of all, how we would love to have our team
8:15
Speaker 3: built around Bobby Witt Junior. And there was an article
8:18
Speaker 3: in The Athletic about, you know, kind of following Bobby's
8:22
Speaker 3: routine everything he goes through. And there's another one that
8:26
Speaker 3: had just come out the same thing around Stephen Kwan
8:30
Speaker 3: how his mental edge has helped unlock an undersized Major
8:33
Speaker 3: League Baseball Star. There seems to be a focus with
8:35
Speaker 3: your with your organization, with the Athletic of doing that more.
8:39
Speaker 1: Why is that, Well, we have this department. I don't
8:44
Speaker 1: know if that's the right word for it, but we
8:45
Speaker 1: have a group of writers, or at least one writer
8:47
Speaker 1: who is focusing on that. Actually, it is a directive
8:51
Speaker 1: and it is something we're trying to do. And both
8:54
Speaker 1: those articles, the one on Wit and the one on Kwan,
8:57
Speaker 1: were extremely interesting revealing. And I'm not just saying that
9:01
Speaker 1: because I work for the Athletic. They certain they do,
9:04
Speaker 1: but I was not aware that Wit had this kind
9:08
Speaker 1: of routine. I was not aware of Kwan's motivations, his
9:12
Speaker 1: inner thoughts, and from that perspective alone, just how these
9:17
Speaker 1: guys go about it, how they work at it, That
9:20
Speaker 1: to me is really interesting, especially I would think to
9:24
Speaker 1: parents of young athletes who are trying to figure out
9:27
Speaker 1: why these guys are so good at what they do.
9:30
Speaker 1: For every major league player, it's not just physical ability,
9:33
Speaker 1: it's work ethic and it's also a routine and process
9:36
Speaker 1: and all of that. So I believe the series is
9:39
Speaker 1: called Peak and we're gonna have more stories along those
9:42
Speaker 1: lines as well. And honestly, both those stories to me
9:46
Speaker 1: really stood out because they told you things. This is
9:50
Speaker 1: the goal of any story really that people I don't
9:53
Speaker 1: think new And with Bobby Witt especially, you look at
9:56
Speaker 1: this guy as a physical freak man. He could do
9:58
Speaker 1: anything he wants in the baseball field, but no.
10:00
Speaker 9: Oh, he has this whole series of things he does
10:04
Speaker 9: each day, all different things, including listening to a podcast,
10:08
Speaker 9: and that is what makes him who he is.
10:12
Speaker 4: On fair territory, you talked about the Blake Snell injury
10:16
Speaker 4: or continued injury. When you hear something like that from
10:20
Speaker 4: a superstar off season signing, it's normally concerning. When it's
10:25
Speaker 4: from the Dodgers, and Dave Roberts comes out and goes, well,
10:29
Speaker 4: you know, we're just really gearing up for October. Is
10:33
Speaker 4: it less concerning or is it still concerning? And that's
10:36
Speaker 4: just the way that the Dodgers are painting the picture
10:40
Speaker 4: for the fans.
10:42
Speaker 1: It's got to be concerning. Anytime you have a picture
10:45
Speaker 1: with arm trouble, it's concerning the difference with the Dodgers.
10:49
Speaker 1: And this speaks to what Roberts was talking about, is
10:51
Speaker 1: they have other options. They've got Tony Gonsolin coming, They've
10:55
Speaker 1: got Clayton Kershaw coming, and oh yeah, at some point
10:58
Speaker 1: Shoe Heo Tani's going to pitch again. So they have
11:00
Speaker 1: this depth that other teams simply cannot match. And because
11:05
Speaker 1: they have that depth, they have the ability to shut
11:08
Speaker 1: down Pictures if they are not quite right, take their
11:11
Speaker 1: time with Pictures who are injured. And I'm not saying
11:13
Speaker 1: that Snell is not a real thing. It's a real thing,
11:17
Speaker 1: for sure. But at the same time, they're not gonna
11:20
Speaker 1: push it with any of these guys because what they
11:22
Speaker 1: are trying to do is point everything toward October. Now,
11:26
Speaker 1: what's really interesting to me is if the NL West
11:30
Speaker 1: is as good as it started off, if the Giants,
11:32
Speaker 1: the Padres, and Diamondbacks are really competitive, at some point
11:36
Speaker 1: the Dodgers are going to have to put their foot
11:38
Speaker 1: on the gas a little bit. And they're not doing
11:40
Speaker 1: that right now, that's for sure. They're kind of going
11:43
Speaker 1: about it in a different way. And you can understand
11:45
Speaker 1: that coming off a World Series title as well. When
11:47
Speaker 1: Pictures go deep into October, it's more difficult for them.
11:50
Speaker 1: At the start of the next season, we're seeing it,
11:53
Speaker 1: not just with the Dodgers' rotation, but also with their bullpen.
11:56
Speaker 1: So they're going to be an interesting team to watch.
11:59
Speaker 1: Do I expect them make the playoffs? Yes? And do
12:01
Speaker 1: I expect they'll be formidable in October? Yes? But this
12:05
Speaker 1: is a tricky landscape that they're navigating, and it's a
12:07
Speaker 1: fine balance and it's gonna be something will be following
12:11
Speaker 1: all season.
12:12
Speaker 3: I just can't believe they're not going to finish one
12:14
Speaker 3: sixty two. And oh, I just don't know what is
12:15
Speaker 3: happening there in Los Angeles. Ken Before we let you go,
12:18
Speaker 3: Jim Boden, your colleague with the Athletic just came out
12:21
Speaker 3: with an article about being optimistic and pessimistic about certain teams.
12:26
Speaker 3: You are covering the Phillies and the Cubs this weekend,
12:28
Speaker 3: As you mentioned, you are in Chicago. What is your
12:31
Speaker 3: opinion on the one thing that's optimistic about them as
12:33
Speaker 3: well as pessimistic? What are you looking for the Cubs?
12:36
Speaker 1: Are the Phillies Alana both both okay? Cubs optimistic? They're
12:42
Speaker 1: leading the majors in run scored. I don't know that
12:44
Speaker 1: anyone expected that. So what I'm optimistic is that their
12:47
Speaker 1: offense is going to be at the very least above average.
12:51
Speaker 1: It certainly seems that way unless they crash, which I
12:53
Speaker 1: don't expect. Pessimistic bullpen. They're gonna have to figure that
12:58
Speaker 1: out at some point, maybe get some new arms in
13:00
Speaker 1: there as well at the deadline, which every team will
13:03
Speaker 1: be looking for. Phillies optimistic simply because of who they
13:07
Speaker 1: are and the track record of so many of their
13:10
Speaker 1: fine players. There's no reason to panic when you're in
13:14
Speaker 1: the situation they're in right now, right around five hundred.
13:16
Speaker 1: Not exactly rolling, pessimistic. Guess what same answer, bullpen pen.
13:22
Speaker 1: And they're good with Alvarado, they're good with Strom, they're
13:25
Speaker 1: good with Kirkering. Ultimately, even though he struggled of late,
13:29
Speaker 1: Jordan Romano has to re establish himself and they need
13:32
Speaker 1: to get some other pitchers performing well. In addition to that,
13:37
Speaker 1: Tanner Banks has been okay from the left side, So
13:40
Speaker 1: that's the one thing that has been odd with them
13:43
Speaker 1: so far. The other thing that's been odd with them,
13:45
Speaker 1: or at least unusual for them, is that they haven't
13:47
Speaker 1: hit with runners of the scoring position. That I don't
13:49
Speaker 1: expect to continue. They're a good offensive team and that
13:52
Speaker 1: will come to the four.
13:55
Speaker 3: Bullpen bullpen. Bullpen. It's always about that bullpen. I wonder
13:58
Speaker 3: if they do anything early or do you think you
14:00
Speaker 3: know they wait to the deadline. Can they go early
14:03
Speaker 3: and get some guys now, because everyone's going to be
14:05
Speaker 3: looking for bullpen help.
14:06
Speaker 1: It's tough to do right now. You be paying a
14:10
Speaker 1: premium price and all teams want to see what they have,
14:13
Speaker 1: exactly what they have. But at some point the bullpen
14:17
Speaker 1: market will heat up, probably after the All Star break,
14:19
Speaker 1: and we will see some bodies flying, as we always do.
14:22
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Speaker 8: I love this.
15:35
Speaker 3: There's an article guys in the Athletic reasons for all
15:39
Speaker 3: thirty Major League Baseball teams to be optimistic pessimistic based
15:43
Speaker 3: on early season returns. So this was an article by
15:47
Speaker 3: Jim Bowden. We appreciate him obviously on the foul territory
15:51
Speaker 3: family as well.
15:53
Speaker 2: So we picked a few of.
15:54
Speaker 3: The teams guys, Braves, Mets, who else, Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers,
16:00
Speaker 3: Red Sox.
16:01
Speaker 2: All right, So here we have it.
16:03
Speaker 3: So Mets the reason to be optimistic slow start, their
16:07
Speaker 3: lineup looks like it could get back to its lethal
16:09
Speaker 3: form two years ago. And pessimistic the losses of Max
16:13
Speaker 3: Freed and Charlie Morton and free agency, combined with the
16:15
Speaker 3: early surgery from Lopez, has left Braves with several reasons
16:18
Speaker 3: or several rotation questions? Do you agree with that? By
16:21
Speaker 3: the way, Cam's Tigers are on here too, on this list,
16:25
Speaker 3: So do you agree with that in terms of the Braves?
16:27
Speaker 6: Cam, I'm sorry, Alana, I didn't hear that last part.
16:32
Speaker 3: God, do you agree that the best you know that
16:34
Speaker 3: the Braves optimistic, slow start their lineup looks like you
16:37
Speaker 3: could get back to its lethal form from two years ago.
16:41
Speaker 2: Well, again, this is my question.
16:44
Speaker 6: We saw this when Acuna first came back from his
16:46
Speaker 6: first ACL. It took him a second, it took him
16:50
Speaker 6: a whole year, and the following year is when you
16:52
Speaker 6: put up that incredible MVP season. So I still worry
16:55
Speaker 6: about Ronald Lacuni. I still think he is the heartbeat.
16:57
Speaker 6: I still think he's the catalyst if they can get
17:00
Speaker 6: him back to just an all star level. Ronan the
17:04
Speaker 6: coole with just you know, I know the tweet doesn't help,
17:07
Speaker 6: you know, doesn't look great when he's calling Ale Kellnick
17:09
Speaker 6: and things like that.
17:10
Speaker 2: But I think if you can get him back Austin Riley.
17:14
Speaker 6: I don't know if they can be as formidable as
17:15
Speaker 6: that year, I think they did some extremely special things
17:18
Speaker 6: from a record standpoint, but I think they can be
17:22
Speaker 6: extremely competitive, but to that level, No, I don't think so.
17:28
Speaker 6: And if I'm not mistaken, it was Freddy on that
17:29
Speaker 6: team we're talking about, or was that it was also still.
17:32
Speaker 4: There the year that they were the year that they
17:36
Speaker 4: were legit, No, Freddie was Okay, they won, they won, Yeah,
17:43
Speaker 4: they won.
17:44
Speaker 5: The World Series.
17:44
Speaker 4: And then like the twenty three is when they had
17:48
Speaker 4: like nine guys go to the All Start in the
17:50
Speaker 4: All Star Game, like all nine guys that Brave.
17:53
Speaker 2: Jock was wearing the pearls and it was it was
17:57
Speaker 2: it was a lot of magic that it was a
17:58
Speaker 2: lot of magic.
17:59
Speaker 6: Like so like when things happen years like that, there's
18:02
Speaker 6: a lot of magic going on that they do a
18:05
Speaker 6: great job, right locking guys up, sign of guys. But
18:08
Speaker 6: I just steel think that, you know, in the totality
18:13
Speaker 6: the pitching, I just don't think they can need it done.
18:15
Speaker 2: And I don't think the offense is the same.
18:18
Speaker 9: Eric.
18:19
Speaker 3: Let's talk about your phills for a second. What's the
18:21
Speaker 3: biggest reason for optimism when you think about the Phillies
18:24
Speaker 3: and what concerns you the most about the fightings.
18:28
Speaker 4: I mean it's two it's two things and both involve pitching. Yes,
18:32
Speaker 4: you're gonna talk about in playoffs, this team strikes out
18:36
Speaker 4: too much. Yes, they're not hitting against starting pitching to
18:39
Speaker 4: start this season. Hitters can make adjustments like that. You
18:43
Speaker 4: don't pick up a front of the line rotation guy
18:46
Speaker 4: in the offseason very often, and they did that. That's
18:49
Speaker 4: the optimistic part for me is hayseleus Lozardo has looked
18:52
Speaker 4: everything of what they wanted when they went out to
18:55
Speaker 4: get him. People forget at this point in the year too.
18:58
Speaker 4: The Phillies after that, when after Kyle Tucker too, they
19:02
Speaker 4: fell short. They were looking to make that move that
19:05
Speaker 4: the Cubs clearly have made that's been awesome.
19:08
Speaker 5: So the Phillies aren't done.
19:09
Speaker 4: Dave Dombrowski is not done, and he can't be done
19:12
Speaker 4: because the bullpen right now is horrendous. Matt Strom isn't
19:18
Speaker 4: having the year that he had last year, which was
19:20
Speaker 4: a historic year with historic runs. He'll be fine. Jose Alvarado,
19:25
Speaker 4: he's got a little uptick in his velo and he's
19:28
Speaker 4: throwing strikes ever since spring training. I think in spring
19:31
Speaker 4: training had like seven innings, struck out twenty guys. He's
19:34
Speaker 4: been taking that into the season. He's been elite. You
19:37
Speaker 4: can't do it with two guys. Dave Dombrowski will not
19:39
Speaker 4: stand around and allow a guy like Jordan Romano to
19:44
Speaker 4: continue to be healthy on the roster without trying to
19:48
Speaker 4: figure something out. You see it out there. Jordan looks frustrated,
19:52
Speaker 4: he looks confused. I see them probably being able to
19:55
Speaker 4: figure out a way to get him back to some
19:59
Speaker 4: type of level of success because I think he's got
20:02
Speaker 4: like a thirteen ra right now. And then when that happens,
20:06
Speaker 4: you're pushing everybody else in the situations that they're not
20:09
Speaker 4: used to. Ryan Kirkering will step up. So I think
20:13
Speaker 4: they have the core pieces. They're just struggling right now.
20:16
Speaker 4: It's not gonna be a complete overhaul trade four of
20:19
Speaker 4: the guys out of bullpen. No, that's not gonna happen.
20:22
Speaker 4: Dave Dombrowski will find guys shocking news. Lehigh Valley, their
20:27
Speaker 4: Triple A team actually has the lowest bullpen era in
20:32
Speaker 4: all of Triple A going into last night's game.
20:34
Speaker 5: So that's a cool that's a cool.
20:36
Speaker 4: Thing, not saying the answers are in triple A, but
20:38
Speaker 4: there's probably some answers.
20:40
Speaker 3: I do agree with what you said right off the
20:41
Speaker 3: top that Dave Dombrowski will do whatever he needs to
20:45
Speaker 3: do to figure this out. That's one guy I've always
20:47
Speaker 3: had a ton of faith in when it comes to
20:49
Speaker 3: front office moves and getting what he needs to do.
20:51
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this, Cameron Mabon, in terms of
20:54
Speaker 3: first world problems, look no further, my friend, than the
20:57
Speaker 3: Los Angeles Dodgers. Jim Boden saying, this is the optimism.
21:00
Speaker 3: They have the best and deepest starting rotation in the sport.
21:03
Speaker 3: When healthy, they have three impact closers, the top three
21:06
Speaker 3: batters in their order or future Hall of famers, and
21:08
Speaker 3: their lineup is as deep as the rotation. The pessimism.
21:10
Speaker 3: The Dodgers continue to deal with rotation injuries big and small,
21:13
Speaker 3: from Snell to Tyler Gonzlin, who's coming back, Cursh's coming back,
21:17
Speaker 3: and Tyler glasnow has cramps, drinks some pickled juice. I mean, honestly, like,
21:21
Speaker 3: nobody feels sorry Cam for the Los Angeles daughters.
21:25
Speaker 6: Nobody, Well, not only do I feel sorry, nor do
21:29
Speaker 6: I sit here and worry, Alana when you talk about
21:31
Speaker 6: all of that depth, right, that's why and this is
21:34
Speaker 6: why they went out and did what they did this
21:36
Speaker 6: all season. Everybody was in the uproar, well, they're adding
21:39
Speaker 6: this guy and they're adding that guy.
21:41
Speaker 2: Well, one thing the Dodters.
21:42
Speaker 6: Continue to do is say, ahead of the curve, well,
21:44
Speaker 6: guess what, Sometimes you can't fix every injury, right, Sometimes
21:48
Speaker 6: you don't know how to put your pulse on what
21:50
Speaker 6: is the reason behind it?
21:52
Speaker 2: So what should we do?
21:53
Speaker 6: Let's just go load up right. This is a part
21:55
Speaker 6: of being smarter and ahead of everybody else. At the
21:59
Speaker 6: end of the day, we all know, and you know
22:00
Speaker 6: best of Alana. The Dodgers are looking towards September. We
22:04
Speaker 6: know when it comes down to it, when it comes
22:06
Speaker 6: down the stretcher we saw last year, They're gonna make
22:08
Speaker 6: that run. God's gonna come back when they need to
22:11
Speaker 6: be back. And what people don't know too. When I
22:13
Speaker 6: came into the game, it was a lot of hey,
22:15
Speaker 6: can you play through that? Can you can you stomach it?
22:18
Speaker 6: Can you get through it?
22:20
Speaker 2: Well?
22:20
Speaker 6: Now, what we don't even realize sometimes when guys go
22:23
Speaker 6: in and say, hey, you know, I got something take
22:26
Speaker 6: a day, take a matter of fact, take God, we
22:30
Speaker 6: got more guys.
22:30
Speaker 2: Matter of fact, Let's see what he can do. Let's
22:32
Speaker 2: get him some that basket, Let's get him some innings
22:34
Speaker 2: and like.
22:35
Speaker 6: So there are situations where God day, take a day,
22:39
Speaker 6: take your t in, go figure it out, Go get healthy.
22:42
Speaker 2: So the Dodgers, there's nothing to worry about.
22:45
Speaker 6: They went out and made these moves to be in
22:47
Speaker 6: the situation they're in.
22:48
Speaker 2: They're going to figure it out. It's April. I don't
22:51
Speaker 2: stress it all when it comes to the Dodgers.
22:53
Speaker 3: Somebody is salty that he had to play through some pain.
22:56
Speaker 3: Play through some pain, all right, a j when you
22:59
Speaker 3: look at the bass or a j Eric when you
23:02
Speaker 3: look at the Boston Red Sox. Is the issue that
23:06
Speaker 3: Devers is having offensively right now? Is that enough of
23:09
Speaker 3: an issue of concerned as far as the pessimism is concerned,
23:13
Speaker 3: or are we looking at it too much? Is it
23:15
Speaker 3: too much of a big deal for us?
23:18
Speaker 4: I mean it's a big deal, But the pessimism, I say,
23:21
Speaker 4: I think that's optimism.
23:23
Speaker 5: Raffee Devers is going to be fine.
23:25
Speaker 4: And the best part may be the fact that the
23:29
Speaker 4: first baseman, Tristan Cassas is also struggling. So I'm not
23:33
Speaker 4: saying you're moving Devers to first. I'm not saying he's
23:36
Speaker 4: going to be more successful because he's on his feet
23:39
Speaker 4: playing and not sitting on the couch or taking a
23:42
Speaker 4: million swings in the cage trying to get up for
23:45
Speaker 4: his four or five at bats. But you know what,
23:48
Speaker 4: to me, if someone else was struggling and you had
23:51
Speaker 4: to replace him, you would have an issue. Tristan Cassas
23:56
Speaker 4: is struggling. It is not going well for him right now.
23:59
Speaker 4: I think he had back back games with home runs,
24:01
Speaker 4: but he's still only has three on the year. You
24:03
Speaker 4: can't have that kind of production from that position if
24:07
Speaker 4: you have budding prospects in the minor leagues who are
24:11
Speaker 4: absolutely smashing the ball. Anthony's down there smashing it and
24:17
Speaker 4: he wants to be up in the big leagues. This
24:19
Speaker 4: team wants guys who are able to contribute right away,
24:23
Speaker 4: and he's one of those.
24:26
Speaker 5: To me.
24:28
Speaker 4: That you look at Tristan Cossas and you say, is
24:31
Speaker 4: he going to turn this around? You look at Raffie Devers.
24:35
Speaker 4: He's going to turn it around. And that's only because
24:38
Speaker 4: the track record, that's it, not saying Tristan can't. It's
24:42
Speaker 4: just a question of Izzy and this team wants to
24:44
Speaker 4: win now. Based on the fact that they went out
24:47
Speaker 4: and got Crochet extended them. They went out and got
24:49
Speaker 4: Alex Pregman. They feel their window is now and they're
24:52
Speaker 4: gonna go after it and they're not going to stand
24:54
Speaker 4: for dudes hitting one seventy playing first base.
24:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim Bowden said that Tristan Cossas at first was
25:00
Speaker 3: a nightmare. But this is a team cam Maybin that
25:02
Speaker 3: strikes out too much. They are the lead leader in errors.
25:05
Speaker 3: But let's talk about the Metropolitans, a team that just
25:08
Speaker 3: had a seven to zero homestand including a sweep of
25:12
Speaker 3: Eric's Philadelphia Phillies. The optimism. The Mets have the best
25:15
Speaker 3: record in baseball. They lead the majors with the team
25:17
Speaker 3: e are of two point three four pessimism. The bottom
25:21
Speaker 3: half of the Mets lineup is showing signs of underachievement,
25:24
Speaker 3: as third baseman Mark Vientos is off to a slow start.
25:27
Speaker 3: What is your perception of the Mets. Should we be
25:31
Speaker 3: worried or is this team better than we thought?
25:34
Speaker 2: I think the rotation is much better than we thought.
25:37
Speaker 5: But for me.
25:38
Speaker 6: I think it stars with the real captain, the true
25:39
Speaker 6: cabinet captain, and it's not the guy to signed for
25:41
Speaker 6: eight hundred million. When I sit back and I turn seriously,
25:46
Speaker 6: when I sit back, and I turned the TV on
25:47
Speaker 6: and I flipped the Mets game on. Francisco Lindor has
25:51
Speaker 6: an energy that comes through the television, right. And I
25:54
Speaker 6: was fortunate enough and lucky enough to play with him
25:57
Speaker 6: a share clubous with him to.
25:58
Speaker 5: Pick his brain.
26:00
Speaker 6: And I look at all the noise around Juan Shota,
26:02
Speaker 6: right the does he miss New York? And I was
26:05
Speaker 6: hitting behind Jude Or, I was hitting in front of
26:08
Speaker 6: Judge and this and that and the money.
26:10
Speaker 2: And the struggles.
26:11
Speaker 6: Francisco Lindor continues to be a quiet catalyst, right, the
26:16
Speaker 6: guy that just shows up super fresh. I won't say
26:19
Speaker 6: he's in his work clothes or his like. His clothes
26:21
Speaker 6: are extremely you know, fire and clean and a high end.
26:25
Speaker 6: But he shows up with his work pale on, in
26:26
Speaker 6: his high end designer close. And it continues to just
26:30
Speaker 6: lead that squad. Right, you talk about Collins Mendoza, He's
26:34
Speaker 6: leading that squad, understanding who he needs to lean on
26:38
Speaker 6: to get these guys where they want to go and
26:40
Speaker 6: every single night, whether it's defensively where there's base running,
26:44
Speaker 6: whether it's offensively.
26:45
Speaker 2: Frankie Lindor is the heartbeat and the soul of the
26:49
Speaker 2: New York Mets.
26:50
Speaker 6: And as I continue to watch him, I'll be the
26:52
Speaker 6: guy that says he's extremely underappreciated. And maybe it's because
26:55
Speaker 6: he's playing for the Mets, and the Mets fans are
26:57
Speaker 6: up and down and wishy washing as they come. But
27:00
Speaker 6: that guy deserves his flowers for being a consonant professional
27:04
Speaker 6: and the ultimate leader when you talk about the Mets.
27:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had Carlos Mendoza on the show yesterday here
27:10
Speaker 3: on Foul Territory talking about what you were talking about
27:12
Speaker 3: with one soda in the lineup. He's like, listen, he
27:14
Speaker 3: was just answering a question. But in New York it's
27:16
Speaker 3: going to be a headline.
27:17
Speaker 2: Kratz.
27:18
Speaker 3: Do you suppose with the Mets situation, the rotation and
27:22
Speaker 3: the way that Pete A. Lonzo is playing, are they
27:24
Speaker 3: the NL East favorites?
27:28
Speaker 4: I have to say they're not, just because Mets fans
27:32
Speaker 4: really don't like me when I talk about the Mets,
27:34
Speaker 4: because I called him a third place team before and
27:37
Speaker 4: they have proven me wrong. This team is played together.
27:40
Speaker 4: Are they the NL East favorites?
27:44
Speaker 1: No?
27:44
Speaker 4: I don't think so. Is this pitching staff a lot
27:47
Speaker 4: better than I thought? Absolutely? What is going to be
27:52
Speaker 4: the anchor of this pitching staff? Are you going to
27:55
Speaker 4: get thirty starts out of code I singa? Are you
27:58
Speaker 4: going to get at a half a whip point zero
28:04
Speaker 4: five whip from Kranic Max Kranis the whole season? Probably not?
28:10
Speaker 4: So where is that extra depth gonna come from? Vientos
28:14
Speaker 4: is going to pop up? He's going to improve. They're
28:16
Speaker 4: improving here. To me, this next two weeks is huge
28:19
Speaker 4: for the Mets because they're getting back the guy that
28:23
Speaker 4: I think is one of the leaders on the field,
28:25
Speaker 4: also not Lindor esque, but Francisco Aluarez behind the dish.
28:31
Speaker 4: Luis Enz did an amazing job of leading this staff.
28:35
Speaker 4: Can they transition because every every catcher calls a little
28:39
Speaker 4: bit of a different game, But can they transition to
28:41
Speaker 4: Francisco Aures back behind the dish because that guy, to me,
28:46
Speaker 4: marked the change because he was hurt early in the
28:48
Speaker 4: season last year when they're struggling, marked the change when
28:51
Speaker 4: this team flipped and started to win. So if they
28:54
Speaker 4: can continue to win with him. Ask me in a
28:56
Speaker 4: few weeks if I think they're going to win the division,
28:58
Speaker 4: I'll probably say yes, yes. Right now, I still think
29:01
Speaker 4: it's the Phillies' division to win.
29:04
Speaker 3: Shocking, and you call me a homer Cameron Maybin with
29:08
Speaker 3: the Detroit Tigers your ball club the pessimism. According to
29:12
Speaker 3: Jim Bowden, the lack of lineup depth is glaring and
29:14
Speaker 3: the Tigers will only go as far as their offense.
29:17
Speaker 3: The optimistic choices for Jim, the Tigers are the only
29:20
Speaker 3: team with four starting pitchers who have pitched at least
29:22
Speaker 3: twenty innings and posted eras under two point nine zero.
29:27
Speaker 2: Do you like this club?
29:28
Speaker 3: Yes or no? Of course you have to say yes
29:30
Speaker 3: because you're a homer two when it comes to that.
29:32
Speaker 3: But is there enough?
29:34
Speaker 6: Of course I have to say yes, right you and
29:36
Speaker 6: you spoke on it, and Jim spoke on it. It's,
29:39
Speaker 6: you know, offensively, it's the middle of the pack batting
29:41
Speaker 6: average tenth, rounds eleventh, home run sixteenth, on base persentng eleventh.
29:46
Speaker 2: Slugging eighteenth.
29:47
Speaker 6: But it's the era the Homers allowed the whip where
29:50
Speaker 6: their third, third fifth like, those are spots where you
29:54
Speaker 6: win ball games. And that's been their mo even going
29:57
Speaker 6: back to last year. The second half of their success
29:59
Speaker 6: came because aj Hinch, who is maybe the magician of matchups.
30:05
Speaker 6: When he talking about setting guys up his success, whether
30:07
Speaker 6: it's a guy coming out the bullpen, whether it's Andy
30:09
Speaker 6: A baya Is coming in the face and lefty Carry Carpenter.
30:12
Speaker 2: Coming in to get a righty.
30:14
Speaker 6: Aj Hinch does a better job than anybody outside of
30:18
Speaker 6: maybe Alex Korra and setting his guys up with success right,
30:21
Speaker 6: understanding matchups, innings before they come, outs before they come
30:25
Speaker 6: and when I see that, Jim Bowden is definitely right.
30:29
Speaker 2: The offense is an issue.
30:30
Speaker 6: But the thing about aj Alna is he gets his
30:33
Speaker 6: guys to start in their roles.
30:35
Speaker 2: Aj is one of the best communicators that I've ever
30:37
Speaker 2: been around.
30:38
Speaker 6: And what he's gonna do is he gonna go, Hey,
30:39
Speaker 6: Andy A Baya is, you do a great job of
30:41
Speaker 6: scene pitchs, controlling his own getting hits, starring that, Hey,
30:45
Speaker 6: Ridley Green, you do.
30:46
Speaker 2: A great job of using the whole field. Get back
30:48
Speaker 2: to that.
30:48
Speaker 6: And what I do love is they found a way
30:51
Speaker 6: to insert Hobby Baye is. Now what people don't know
30:54
Speaker 6: about Hobby and I was his teammate because I was
30:55
Speaker 6: a lot of guys teammates, you know, playing for so
30:58
Speaker 6: many different teams. Hobby bay Is came up a center fielder,
31:01
Speaker 6: and I remember shagging with.
31:03
Speaker 2: Him in the outfield and him telling me, I'm like,
31:04
Speaker 2: what are you doing here? He's like, bro, I was
31:06
Speaker 2: a center fielder before it was a short stop.
31:08
Speaker 6: We're usually it's toppings somewhere around where guys go from
31:10
Speaker 6: infield to outfield.
31:11
Speaker 2: He went from the outfield to the infield.
31:13
Speaker 6: So the little moves, the little adjustments being able to
31:17
Speaker 6: you know, maneuver chess pieces as good as anybody. I
31:20
Speaker 6: believe in the Tigers. And then once again, Alana, if
31:23
Speaker 6: you talk about any central NL, al it's always up
31:27
Speaker 6: for grabs. So I love the Tigers chances. When we
31:29
Speaker 6: were talking about what they have to compete with, it's
31:32
Speaker 6: just the Royals for me right now.
31:33
Speaker 2: So I like where they are.
31:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's not the Twins.
31:38
Speaker 1: Cam.
31:38
Speaker 4: I want you to look at your right shoulder. I
31:40
Speaker 4: want you to look at your right shoulder just like this. Okay,
31:44
Speaker 4: just because the line called you and I both a homer, Okay,
31:48
Speaker 4: we're both we're both looking at the person who has
31:51
Speaker 4: a Dodgers show. We don't have a Philly show. We
31:53
Speaker 4: don't have a Tiger's show. This is a baseball show.
31:56
Speaker 4: We're no, that's your left shoulder. That's your left shoulder.
31:58
Speaker 4: You gotta look at your right should. Yeah, got a
32:01
Speaker 4: Dodgers show. That is the It should be called Homer territory.
32:05
Speaker 1: Wow.
32:06
Speaker 3: Wow, don't hate us because you ain't us.
32:08
Speaker 2: Okay, they not like us. They spoke it like a Dodger, too,
32:12
Speaker 2: spoke it like a Dodger. That we, in fact, you're
32:16
Speaker 2: not talking about the Rockies.
32:17
Speaker 3: We just we do in fact have those shows. You
32:21
Speaker 3: just don't happen to be the host of them.
32:22
Speaker 2: We do have a show talking about the Rockies. No,
32:26
Speaker 2: because the Rockies are unbelievable garbage.
32:29
Speaker 3: Rockies are garbage. And the Dodgers treated me like family.
32:32
Speaker 2: So that's right, that's right.
32:35
Speaker 3: I got three rings. It's not my fault.