Latest / Birdland Territory / What will Coby Mayo's role be on the 2027 O's?

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What will Coby Mayo's role be on the 2027 O's? · Birdland Territory

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome in. Latest edition of Birdland Territory after an Oriole
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: victory on Monday afternoon at Camden Yards. They beat the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Cleveland Guardians 6-4. So they are just 70-75. That's not
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the greatest record in the world. They did close to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: within three of the wild card of the co-leaders, the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Guardians and the Blue Jays. And guys, I guess the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: faint hope here in Birdland is if the Orioles can sweep,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: that's a big ask. of the guardians. But if they do,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: they get within a game of them and they still
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: have all these games left with Toronto. So the math
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: can work, but the margin for error is almost minimal
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: at this point. Yeah.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: The margin for error is almost zero really when you
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: think about it. But I mean, you just never know.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, like we've kind of talked about this entire season.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: You just never know what this team. And I just, I,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: at this point, I just feel like they're never out
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: of it until they have the E next, their name
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: for eliminated from the playoff. So if you're a fan,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you just gotta, like we've, we've mentioned a few times too,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: is just roll with the waves. And when they're playing good,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: just kind of back this team. And regardless, they're going
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: to be there till the end. It kind of sounds
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: like this is going to go down to the last week. Regardless,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: no team really wants to kind of take the wild
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: card by the horns and run with it. So, Yesterday
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: was a great game. They bounced back after a really
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: bad finish to the Rockies series and obviously a really
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: bad series against the Red Sox. They looked like a
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: winning ball club yesterday. It's that hope when you see
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: games like yesterday that this team can do it over
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: a long haul and for an entire season. That's kind
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: of been the hope almost this entire year to this point.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: Brad, I think you said during an episode a week ago, like,
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: you're done predicting what this team.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: Is going to do, right?
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: There's so many times this year where you're like, okay,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: that's it. That's the nail in the coffin.
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: It's over.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: But it would be very on brand of this team
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: after losing the six straight games to sweep the Guardians
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: and you're right back in the mix. And look, there
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: is no margin for error anymore. And this does feel
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: like a must-sweep series game.
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: For a multitude of reasons.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Obviously, the team you're chasing, the Guardians, but also the
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: tiebreaker implications, guys.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: Who knows?
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: It could come to a tiebreaker for that final wild
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: card in the AL. And if the Orioles find a
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: way to sweep this series, they would own the tiebreaker
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: over the Guardians because they win the season series four
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: games to three. So it is vital, vital for them
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: to find a way to sweep this series.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Well, if they don't have the tiebreaker, that would mean
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: they lose at least one game in the next two,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and they're three out. Three out or one out. That
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: is a big difference when you've got about two weeks
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to play. So, no pressure, Orioles, but you pretty much
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: have to sweep the Guardians here to keep this thing going.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about Kobe Mayo. Man, what a day. He
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: homers against a lefty and a righty. He's getting better
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: against righties, though, by the way. But First of all,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: I want to go back 40 games with Mayo, and
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: I did that this morning. He's got a 925 OPS
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: in those 40 games and nine home runs. Now, we
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: could prorate that times four, and no player has their
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: best 40-game stretch and then does it three more times.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: But in this case, if you do prorate that, you
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: get 36 homers over a full season in 925. I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: think it's a glimpse of what he can do. And
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: what do you guys see? from Mayo right now. And it's,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: it's starting to be more than just mauling lefty pitchers. Yeah.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: To me, it just seems somebody that's a little bit
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: more consistent at the plate against both sides of the pitcher,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: whether it's a lefty or righty. And I just see
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: somebody that's a little bit more comfortable. He seems to
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: be kind of coming into his own a little bit here.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: I feel like the last couple of years, it's been
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: pigeonholed as, you know, he's going to be this type
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: of player. He's going to be that type of player.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: And I think he's one of those guys on this
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: roster that has really benefited from from the injuries that
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: have happened because playing time is open across the board
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: from him. And they've been finding a way to get him,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: whether it's DH, third base, first base, they've been finding
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: him consistent at bats. And I just think it's one
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of those guys that it takes a little bit of time.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: He's still a young guy. And I just think he's
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: finally getting the regular at bats and becoming more comfortable. We,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, his numbers against the lefties are, is, is
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: kind of stupid at this point that the year he's
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: had against lefties and Like we've, we talked about, I
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: think it was about a month ago. We said, if
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: he could just be league average against righties, I mean,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: this is a, this is a premier hitter in the
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: league with the, with the way his numbers would be.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I think his OPS right now against righties is five 13.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I saw, which is way below league standards. So if
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: he could find a way to just get it to 600, 650,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're going to have a, you're going to
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: have a really, really big bat in this lineup.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: And I think that that's, Definitely possible, Brad, because you
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: look at his 2025 season, it's funny you mentioned 650 OPS.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: He had a 648 OPS in 2025. If he can
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: even get back to that in combination with what he
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: does against lefties with the 323 batting average OPS over
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: 1100 leads the majors and home runs off left-handed pitching.
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: Then you're really onto something.
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: But I just find his situation so fascinating, guys, because
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: I think it's very fair to say that a big
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: reason why the Orioles are where they're at is their
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: young core just hasn't continued to develop and ascend with
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: how we all thought they were going to. But Kobe Mayo,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: you're starting to see that with him this year and
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: playing with a lot of confidence. But When you look
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: ahead to 2027, I know we brought this up not
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: that long ago as well, you just kind of wonder
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: where he fits in. Now, the bat will play. It's
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: a special bat, and you're going to want that on
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: your roster, but it's going to be interesting to see
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: how they make these pieces fit with Jordan Westberg returning.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Where does CES fit into this in 2027? Blaze Alexander,
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: the outfield as a whole, but Kobe Mayo, maybe even
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: first and foremost.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Some questions to answer for Kobe, but I put this
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: stat up. This is pretty cool. He's the seventh right-handed
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: hitting Oriole with a 20-homer season before turning 25. There's
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: a lot to process there. Mountcastle, Machado, Scope, Ripken, Renneke, Hansen.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: That's a pretty cool list that Kobe may have joined.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: And I mean, one thing we could be seeing here
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: is that It doesn't. And Mayo has said this himself.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: It doesn't happen right away for young players. And but
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: sometimes if it takes a year or two, it doesn't
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: ever happen. There's that fine line. How much how long
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: do you wait? But it's starting to happen now for
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Kobe well into his chance here. And so he wouldn't
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't be the first player. I don't think the
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: second or third year it kind of clicked in.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and honestly, I think like the way you look
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: at how rosters are constructed these days, these guys are
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: called up when they're 22, 23, as opposed to like,
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: When I was coming in the league, you got it
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: there when you're 25, 26, you're considered young. You may
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: be figured out by the time you're 28. These guys
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: have to figure it out by the time they're 25.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: And it's like they're labeled as a bust or, you know,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: an everyday player. And I just think it takes guys
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: a little bit longer. And I think there's no set
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: mold on how long it's going to take. And I
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: don't know. Kobe Mayhew has always he's he's had the
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: tools they've talked about ever since he was in the
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: minor leagues. His power tool is unbelievable. He has all
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: these other tools that would make him a complete player.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: And sometimes you just, it's tough to be patient, especially when,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: you know, when you look at these smaller market teams,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: the windows are considered so small that if your guys
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: can't figure it out in that three, four or five
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: year window, okay, it's time to blow it up and
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: start over and figure out a new core. But I
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: don't know. I just think the way he's looked the
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: last couple of months, it just, to me, it's somebody
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: that's like starting to feel comfortable, starting to figure it
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: out at the big league level. and starting to develop
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: at the big league level, which I think is the
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: biggest X factor in the major leagues right now.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: And Steve, I know you gave a 40-game sample size
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: for Kobe Mayo, but you go back 48 games now.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: At that point, July 1st, he had a 188 batting
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: average and a 627 OPS. And in this stretch, 935 OPS,
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: 11 homers, 27 RBIs, and now it's a very respectable stretch.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: season-long 749 OPS for Kobe Mayo. And I'll also say
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: this when it comes to Mayo, and this is no
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: fault of his own per se, it hasn't been easy
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: in terms of he's kind of been juggled in a
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: lot of different spots, right? He came up as a
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: third baseman and then they tried to transition him to
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: first base. And I felt like he more than held
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: his own at first base at the end of last year,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: had a fantastic September to end the 2025 season. Then
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: you sign Pete Alonso, so first base is out the
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: window for Kobe Mayo. And Mike Elias brings up, hey,
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: maybe we'll get him in a corner outfield spot during
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: spring training. Then Westbrook went down. Then Jackson Holiday went down.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: So it's, okay, now you're back in third base. So
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: it's been a lot of kind of yo-yoing for Kobe Mayo,
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: and it's not his fault. But I'm sure that adds
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: to the difficulties of settling in at the major league level.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: His numbers, we'll show them to you in a moment,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: against left-handed pitching are ridiculous this year. He's closing in
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: on a team record for homers off lefties. And we'll
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about Mayo in a minute
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: on Birdland Territory.
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: It's time to remind everyone why baseball is glorious, especially
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: nowadays where you could think your team is out of it,
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: but they might be back in it again. Let me
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: introduce you to the American League wildcard, KP. And let's
• 9:55
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• 9:58
  Speaker 5: grab some more tickets for... what is a playoff race
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: before the playoffs actually begin.
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: Well, speaking about being out of it, I'm an American
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: League East guy, and I'm talking to you Toronto fans.
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: I'm talking to you Baltimore fans. A couple weeks ago,
• 10:13
  Speaker 6: probably not a reason to come out to the games.
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: Look at the standings right now.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: Both of you teams are right back in this wildcard race.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: Rangers fans.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: We can go on and on.
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: Mariners fans, you might be feeling a little queasy, but
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: you're still in this thing too. So all of you
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: should head to SeatGeek and get yourself 10% off your
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: next set of MLB tickets. 10% off MLB tickets with
• 10:34
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• 10:38
  Speaker 5: in the description to download the app and have the
• 10:39
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• 10:42
  Speaker 5: use it later.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: So Kobe Mayo homered off of lefty Joey Cantillo yesterday
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a solo shot, later a two-run shot off the right-hander, Ciccone.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Here he is against lefties, updated 11-36 OPS, 16 homers,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: which leads Major League Baseball, second in those history. Gary
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Reneke hit 18 off southpaws in 1983, so he's got
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: a great chance to get that with, you know, two
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: and a half weeks to go here. And one thing
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: I see, Brad and Tim, You can't sneak a fastball
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: by him right now. They're trying to bust him in,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: and he's turning on it. He's got a big swing.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: He's a big guy, but he's still getting the ball,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: getting the bat out on a 95 pitch on the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: inner corner.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that's kind of where his season
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: has turned around. Earlier in the year, he was hitting
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: breaking balls that were kind of just middle of the
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: zone and it was kind of running into his back path.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: But I feel like he's done a better job of
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: covering the fastballs, especially on the inner part of the plate.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: And when you start doing that, along with the power
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: he has against the breaking balls, that creates a very
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: complete hitter and a tough guy to go after. And
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: I think that's where the league is trying to figure out.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: It's earlier in the season. I feel like you could
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: get the fastball by him. they've made the adjust. He's
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: made the adjustment to the league. And now you have
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: to wonder if the league is going to make an
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: adjustment back to him. And I just think he's done
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: a good job of doing that so far to this, uh,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: the last couple of months. And to me, we, we've
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: talked about Kobe and we're, we're, you know, the off season,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: he could be possible trade piece or this and that
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: at this point, it would scare the hell out of
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: me to get rid of Kobe Mayo, because I just
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: feel like he's one of those guys who ended up trading.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: He goes somewhere else and he just goes off. He
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: comes into his own. Like we've talked about, he's got
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the tools, he's got the big body. He's, He's everything
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: you want in a player. And I feel like he's
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: showing that on a more consistent basis. And it would
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: really scare me to move on from Kobe Mayo. If
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: that was one of the guys they were considering this
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: off season, it's a tough proposition, man.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: It really is.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: It's one of the more fascinating storylines for this team.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: This off season is what happens with Kobe Mayo, because
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: I'm with you, Brad.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: Like this is no longer a flash in the pan.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: This is ridiculous.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: What he's been able to do season long and, and, Steve,
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: this team over the past couple of seasons has been
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: searching for ways to get better against left-handed pitching.
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: That was a huge reason why they brought in Tyler O'Neal,
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: for example.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: But since July 8th, you can go back two full
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: months now, this is the best-hitting team against left-handed pitching
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: in terms of runs scored, home runs, OPS way up there.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: And Kobe Mayo, obviously, is spearheading the reason why they've
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: been able to have this kind of crazy turnaround because
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: prior to that, you know, there were a bottom.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: 10 offense against left-handed pitching.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: So Mayo has been a serious, serious factor in the turnaround.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Right. And you mentioned his OPS is nearly 750 for
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the season and that's with low numbers against right. So
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: if he just pulls that up a little bit, you're
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: looking at a possible 800 OPS guy, even if the
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: lefty numbers fall off a little bit, which they may well,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: and the righties come up a little bit, it sort
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: of evens it out. But, We hear this cliche in baseball,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: if you hit, they'll find you a position. This is
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: where the challenge comes in, and you referenced this, Tim.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo is the first baseman, so their position is out.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: If Westbrook comes back and it's his old self, that's
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: a big if I know. But let's say he does,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: how do you not make him the regular third baseman?
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: He was the heart of the team when they were
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: in the playoffs. So now you've got Blaze Alexander, you've
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: got CES, you've got Kobe. He's not playing middle infield.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: He has never played corner outfield. So when you say
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: find him a position, I'm having a hard time finding
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: him one.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it's a great problem to have.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: I just feel like it's the more bats and the
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: more guys that have kind of emerged from, I feel like,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: I don't want to say mediocrity, but I'd say like
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: the middle of the pack guys, there's been a lot
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: of players who have come out of that middle pack.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: And now it's, you have to find a spot for
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: these guys. Blaze Alexander to me is the leadoff guy
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: moving forward until he proves otherwise. His at bat yesterday,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: that 11 pitch walk or 12 pitch walk he had
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: there was, was huge to getting the starter out. And
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: you don't know where the inning goes from there. If
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: he has a bad at bat there and kind of,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: you know, weekly grounds out or pops out, but he's
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: done a great job battling. So yeah, it's just, it's,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: it's tough to find spots for these guys, but I
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: just think going into the off season, it's, I feel
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: like it's, it's bad to ask Kobe to, Hey, let's
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: take some fly balls and let's like maybe work on
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: your speed. Let's lose a few pounds to help you
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: out in the outfield. But if you're going to be
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: at the major league level and you get an opportunity
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: like Kobe Mayo might get to play other positions, I
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: feel like you just got to run with that. And
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I feel like he's been adaptable to this point. And
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: it just you got to find a spot for him
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: at some point. And I just I would hate to
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: pigeonhole him as just a guy to face lefties because
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: I feel like there's a lot more in the tank.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: And he's still too young to just give up on
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: him only hitting against lefties. So I just feel like
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: this offseason, they got to figure out ways and maybe
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: bring it up to Kobe before the end of the season.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Well, and this kind of gets back to the conversation
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: we had the other day, guys, where he's got to
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: continue to face right-handed pitching. That's how he's going to
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: get better against right-handed pitching is facing more right-handed pitching.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: But I just, I wonder where the fit is as well, Steve.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if this is a case and
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: we know that Pete loves playing first base, but does
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: he DH more, but doesn't happen this early on in
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: the contract?
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: Probably not.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: It's, it's, Clearly there's a log jam there and there
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: is going to be movement, whether it's Kobe Mayo, whether
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: it's someone else, because a lot of these guys have
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: similar profiles and you just, you wonder how it fits
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: in this current state.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: You do have DH. Now the Orioles haven't had a
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: regular DH for a long time. And the trade of
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Adley helped that a little bit because he was thinking cat,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: you know, Adley and Basayo, some first base, some catch. Well,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: that's out now because Adley's not on the roster. It's
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: a puzzle, but I guess it's a good problem to have.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: You'd rather have more good players for a spot than less.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how the Orioles are going to play
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: this out with Kobe Mayo, who, by the way, has
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: an 11-game hitting streak in addition to everything else he's doing.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: He's at three homers, 11 RBIs, batting 317 in an
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: 11-game hitting streak going into game two. against Cleveland. We
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: haven't mentioned that lefty on the mound yesterday. We're going
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: to do that in a moment. Trevor Rogers, another great
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: outing as fans wonder about, can they sign this guy?
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: What's been the holdup? It's not happening, but what is
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: happening is he keeps rolling out great start after great start.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: We'll talk about Trevor in a moment.
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: I think what people are seeing on the screen and
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: what we'll explain to the podcast audio crowd right now
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: is how I'm a little summer action with Fabletics. And
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: then you take us into fall and a little more layering.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: And here in the east, I'm still going to go
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: to the shore in the fall. I love the shore
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: in September.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: You come in from the beach.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: You throw on a sweatshirt like this.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: It's light.
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: It's breathable.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: But you know what? It is so comfortable.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and for me, I love working out. But also
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: I'm getting more into tennis, paddle, a little bit of pickleball,
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: all that. I want lightweight, breathable, comfortable, and affordable. Let's
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  Speaker 5: talk about that. The discounts for Fabletics are massive when
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• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Quick shout-out to the Orioles' Haye Frederick Keys affiliate. They're
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: in the South Atlantic League playoffs tonight at Greensboro. It's
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: a best-of-three. Frederick will host Game 2 Thursday, and if needed,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Game 3 Friday. If they win this series, they'll play
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: for the South Atlantic League championship. And their history as
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: an O's affiliate, of course, this was all in the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Carolina League. Frederick has won four championships. The last was 2011.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: And by the way, guys, here's a real shout-out for Frederick.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: There's 120 full season minor league teams, 30, you know,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: low A, high A, double A, triple A times 30,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: four times 30 is 120 for the major league baseball.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Frederick has the best record of those 120 teams this year.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: They're playing 643 ball. That's 83 and 46. Hickory is
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: next from the Texas organization, followed by Bowling Green from
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Tampa and Tulsa from the Dodgers. So no minor league team,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: This year, to this point, has won a higher percentage
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: of games than the Frederick Keys. That's a nice return
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to the Oriole organization. And I think the Frederick fans
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: will be excited to see a playoff game when for
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: five years they didn't have an affiliate. So Colin Woody,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: the manager there has done a great job, but he's
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: just told me throughout the year, how the team has
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: such great chemistry and togetherness. And, and, you know, Brad
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: teams that win usually do is that doesn't always work
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: out that way, but they've got some, like he told me,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: RJ Austin, uh, who's not a top 30 prospect, by
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the way, and he's hurt currently, but he's been an
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: inspirational leader. He's like their Blaze Alexander. He brings the energy,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: the passion, and that's been big for that team all year.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: So I hope they do well in the postseason starting tonight.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: And I think with the Orioles organization, the coolest part
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: is that all the teams are so close by, and
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: I think it's just a way to– I know they're
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: not the big leagues. It's low A, but it's still
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: low A, high A, but it's still all Birdland territory,
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: and I think that's what makes the Orioles organization so
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: special is that you get to watch these kids from
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: low A all the way up to Baltimore, and you
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: never know. A couple years down the line, you could
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: see some of the guys from hopefully a championship team,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: and it's cool to say you saw them in low A,
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: and they were– you know, 19 years old. And it's
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: just what makes Berlin so special is that they're so
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: closely knit in the community and having all the affiliates
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: really close by.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: And Steve, like you said, what a return for Frederick.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: And, you know, it's a great fan base. Obviously, they
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: renovated that stadium. So unbelievable return to affiliated ball.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, they play halves there. So sometimes
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: you see a team had a great run of prospects
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: for the first half before they got promoted. And then
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: they were mediocre after they left. Well, they've changed over
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: their roster, and they were great in both halves. That's
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: why they have 643 winning percentage. Frederick's just been winning
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: from start to finish this year. So we'll see how
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: it works out for them in the playoffs starting tonight.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Trevor Rodgers, guys, seven and a third, one run. He
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: didn't walk anybody again. Two games, 17 strikeouts to no walks.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Career-high 10th win. That was strong stuff. Last 14 starts,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: his ERA is 284. What this guy is doing is
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: something special.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Jim Palmer nailed the nail on the
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: head yesterday when talking about when the game started. You
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: don't want anybody on the mound more than Trevor Rodgers
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: yesterday after losing six straight. I just think he just
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: brings that comfortability to the team. You know what you're
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: going to get out of him.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: You never know.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: He might have a spectacular start like he did before,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: but you don't see the clunkers as much as can
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: happen with other guys in the big leagues. I just
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: think he's that stabilizing factor for this rotation where You
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: have guys with amazing stuff. Trevor Rogers' stuff isn't off
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: the charts, but he goes out there. He's consistent. He
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: puts the ball in play. He keeps the defense involved.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Doesn't walk guys. Doesn't hurt himself by walking guys. And
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: he's just been great. I just think if you throw
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: out those first two months where obviously there was some
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: injury and maybe a little bit of confidence issues going on,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: but outside of that, he's been absolutely outstanding this entire season.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you can go back 17 starts at this point.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: He's got a 288 ERA. So you're talking more than
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: half the season, a sub three ERA coming off what
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: he did last year. And for him to bounce back
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: guys is pretty crazy. When you consider how rough the
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: month of May was where he had an ERA over
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: 10 and for him to not only write the ship and,
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: you know, talk about an ERA of a four or
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: five to go sub three ERA.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: Since that point, since the calendar turned to June is unbelievable.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: And we were just talking about Kobe Mayo and that's
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: one of the most interesting, you know, decisions.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: That the Orioles have this off season.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: Well, Trevor Rogers is right up there for me as well,
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: where a qualifying offer, it seems very likely, you know,
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: what did the negotiations look like from that point? Heck
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: something that I'm really curious to see Brad is, is,
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: are players going to want to sign before the impending lockout?
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: Are you going to wait till after to see this
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: new economic landscape? I think that month after the world
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: series and before the CBA expires is going to be interesting.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: Does Trevor Rogers just want to say, you know what, man,
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: I'm really comfortable in Baltimore. If the number is anywhere
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: close to what I'm looking for, my agents looking forward,
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: do I just take that? I just think, I would
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: like to see Trevor Rogers back, and we've talked about
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: that a lot on this show. For them to have
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: already locked up Bradish and Boz long-term, Brandon Young is
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: under club control for a long, long time. If you're
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: able to add Trevor Rogers, I don't see that as
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: anything but a really good thing.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: His strike throwing in this game was prolific, and we
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: will tell you how prolific in a moment.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: Here's how prolific his strike throwing was.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: 104 pitches Monday.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Career high, 78 strikes. The most strikes by an Oriole
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: since John Means pitched a no-hitter.
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: And he had 79 strikes.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: On May 5th, 2021 at Seattle, he was hitting the mark.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: He was hitting his spots. And here's the other thing
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: that impressed me, Brad, held his velocity. Pitch 105 was 95,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: 94.7 in the sixth, 94 in the seventh, 94.5 in
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the eighth. I mean, this deep into the season, that's
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: a wowser for me. Yeah, it's big.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, holding your velocity that late, but Just watching
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: that outing yesterday, everything was on the edges. I mean,
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: when you would look at the pitch cast and where
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: he was hitting, I mean, there was not a single
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: pitch in the middle of the zone. And when it was,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: it was off speed and they were out in front
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: of it. And I just think it was one of those,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: you know, I kind of had mentioned you get those
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: 10 starts a year where everything's going. And it's, I
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: just think it was one of those 10 starts yesterday.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, when you throw that many strikes and you're
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: not able to get squared up, you're doing something, you're
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: doing something good, especially in today's major league where, you're,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: you're talking 60%, 65%, I think is probably the major
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: league average of strikes, strikes thrown. A lot of guys
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: throw breaking balls that are, you know, starting the zone breakout,
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: but Trevor Rogers, he was just, he was doing it
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: all yesterday. His slider sweeper was, was phenomenal. And he
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: was really, he was just pinpointing his fastball when there
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: was inside the righties, when there was up in the zone,
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: he was just really consistent with that. And, That leads
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: to great starts, and I think doing that in September
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: proves that, like you said, Tim, this is somebody I
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: want to have on my roster. If you're able to
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: have an outing like that in September in a big spot,
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: that's a guy that's ready to pitch in big games,
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: and you hope you get to a spot that turns
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: out to be that guy.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: That's the hope, for sure.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: And a stat that we talk about a lot when
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: it comes to starting pitching is getting strike one. And
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: him filling up the strike zone as much as he
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: did yesterday, it's not surprising that he had a 73%
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: first pitch percentage, which is fantastic. You get ahead of batters,
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: and then you're able to put them away. And we
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: brought this up a lot.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Rodgers.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: His stuff may not compare to Braddish or Boz, but
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: he is a really, really consistent pitcher, a guy that's
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: going to fill up the zone. The four-seam fastball, it's
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: still one of the better four-seam fastballs in all of
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: baseball this year, but it's not gas what he's throwing
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: like Boz does, but he's really, really effective.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Steve, another thing, too, I was going to say about
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: yesterday was there's there's something there between Rodgers and Basayo
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: and they mentioned at a start before that Basayo was
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: kind of there when Rodgers was making his way back
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: through the minor leagues when he was going through struggles
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: and I just there's certain catches you throw to throughout
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: your career that you're just you're on the same page
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: without even having to do anything and I just feel
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: like they're there when you don't have to sit there
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: and go to the pitch con and change it and
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Basayo knows exactly what he's trying to do to certain
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: hitters it's just you can tell there's a different type
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: of confidence that he has when Basile's back there. And
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: that's another reason he's going to be there for seven
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: more seasons or whatever it is after this. So it
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: wouldn't be too bad to keep those guys together, thrown
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: to one another because there's obviously a, a really good
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: chemistry between those two.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: It wouldn't shock me if he took a qualifying offer
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: because of the CBA, Tim, like you mentioned, maybe Rogers says,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I'm going to table my situation for a year. Now
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: his agent saying, but you, Look what you're doing. Let
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the teams fight over you. Why just take $ 22 million
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: when you might get $ 122 million? So he's got some
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: things to decide here.
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: And I think Tim brings up, he brought up a
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: good point with the CBA too. I just, I don't know.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know what these guys are going to do.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: I don't know if they're going to wait. My guess
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: would be that they want us to have this all
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: clarified because maybe there is more money on the table
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: for guys. Maybe there is this period that they want to,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: I've heard MLB wants to incorporate where there's a window
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: of signing guys and outside that window, not much is
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: going to happen. And when they do that, that's when
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: you get more teams coming at once and trying to
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: come after you. So I think it's going to be
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: interesting across baseball to, And this is just one more
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: example of, you know, we'll see what happens with what
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: his agents want him to do and what he wants
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: to do in this situation.
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, this is purely just a guess. I think it's
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: going to be one way or another.
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: I think you could either see a frenzy of signing
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: or no one's going to sign before the CBA because
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: there's just so much uncertainty, guys.
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: And that's why I could go kind of either way
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: with it.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: And I think if MLB does have a signing period,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: that's a mistake. To me, the suspense that builds throughout
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: the winter with free agents, some don't sign until February.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: While that's frustrating for a fan base to watch week
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: after week go by, it still builds tension and keeps interest.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: to me rather than have it all crammed into three
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: weeks and then nothing.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: My thing with that whole calendar change, no one does
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: it better than the NFL in terms of the NFL
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: is a 365-day-a-year sports league. If you're baseball, you're basically saying, yeah,
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: we're going dark for a month or two. And that
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: just seems so counterintuitive to me. Like, just be like, Hey,
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: you know what? We're going to be on the back burner.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: No one's going to be talking about us for a
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: couple months. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: The only thing I'll, the only counter I'll say to
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: that is that I think the players would rather know
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: what they're going to do by Christmas or a week
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: after new year's. But I agree. I think if you're,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: if you're like saying basically January's out the window and
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: there's nothing that's going to happen, then, you're just, you're,
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, anyone that's talking baseball is going to take
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: a month off. So I definitely get it. Like now
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: being on more of the media side of things, I
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: definitely understand it from that perspective. I just think the
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: players like to, you know, get set up their spring
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: training housing and know what team they're going to be
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: with and get comfortable and try to find all that
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: kind of stuff. But yeah, taking a full month off with,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: I think definitely not be a great idea. So it's, it's,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: it's definitely going to be interesting, not just for the Orioles,
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: but across MLB this entire off season and see what happens.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: So, O's fans, another Birdland Territory in the books. The
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Orioles still have mathematical hope after Monday's win, and we'll
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: be back at you in a couple days to see
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: how we're feeling about it then. Thanks for watching today.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: See you next time on the latest edition of Birdland Territory.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: Check it out right here. And make sure you subscribe
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: to Birdland Territory for more Orioles coverage like this multiple
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: times a week.