Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Miller and Condon 7-28-25 Hr 2

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Miller and Condon 7-28-25 Hr 2 · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Miller, Conn, an hour number two, welcome back, Iowa Sports
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Radio Network Bottom of the hour, Bill Seals covers Iowa
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State. He will join me.
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Had a an opportunity. A couple of positional coaches,
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quarterback and wide receivers coaches met with the Iowa State
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football media earlier today. So we'll recap that toward the
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bottom of the hour with Bill Seals.
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But right now, let's get right to it.
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Boy, baseball's making some news.
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Whether it be Bryce Harper and Rob Manfred, the Class A news,
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trade deadline, Brewers, Cubs tonight.
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Oh, Matt Snyder, what a week we've got.
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You're going to be busy on that keyboard of yours.
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Good to talk to you. How are you?
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Yeah, keyboard talking, you name it.
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It's it's a long few weeks, but you know what?
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It's worth it. It's fun.
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I'm still just talking and writing about baseball, so
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there's not really much to complain about there.
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No doubt about it. Well, I guess let's start with
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the Bryce Harper Rod Manfred set to yesterday in the Phillies
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clubhouse. Because this kind of got to mean
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they were nose to nose. Apparently, if reports are
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accurate, coming out of it, when Manfred brought up the salary
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cap and Harper wanted nothing to do with listening to it and
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wanted to throw them out of the locker room and said we're
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willing to sit out 100, 62 games.
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I hate to say it Matt Snyder, but boy oh boy, this is going to
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get nasty before it gets solved and the with the bargaining
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agreement coming to an end at the end of next year.
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Yeah, We still got the rest of the season and then all of 2026.
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And then it's it's worrisome because if they're already this
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heated right now and we know that there were issues last time
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and last time was coming off the covert impacted season.
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And we knew that the owners were desperate to start making back
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as much money as they lost in 2020.
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And the players obviously lost a good amount of money there, too.
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And the owners locked the players out before the players
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even got a chance to negotiate. And they remember Manfred, call
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it a defensive lockout, which is about the most ridiculous thing
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I've ever heard. But it doesn't seem like they
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solved much. They just kind of kicked the can
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down the street a few years, which is good because we've
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gotten to see some great baseball in the meantime.
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But these owners are very, very adamant about a salary cap.
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Almost all of them, it seems like Steve Cohen.
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There might be a few others that who are the out layers there.
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But you know, even some of the larger market teams like Tom
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Ricketts of the Cubs, I bet he's in favor of it if he just had to
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guess. So we might be headed down that
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path. But if the players are really
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willing to miss an entire season, it's going to take a
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long time before it happens. So man, that sucks to even think
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about. Yeah.
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I'm with you. I hate to think of a summer
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without it. We've seen it before.
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It was not good. So let's let's go here.
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Let's talk about the Class A news, a coveted closer, All Star
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closer from Cleveland, man. Now he's been put on leave
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because the MLB gambling investigators looking into his
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potential because he's caught up with his teammate Luis Ortiz.
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Obviously, you can't trade for him now.
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James would be crazy to do so. He was going to be coveted
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commodity, I think. So what's going on here?
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What have you been able to, you know, kind of hash out in the
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last couple hours? Yeah, the word is apparently
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that it stops here with the Guardian because there was
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worried that it's the exact same probe as Luis Ortiz and they're
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both teammates, they're both pitchers.
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So it's like, uh oh, is their entire pitching staff in on
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something? No, the word is it's just those
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two guys. It's still worries me because
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this is a marquee player like the the four or five players who
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were suspended last year were were kind of no name guys.
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Again, with Ortiz, not that many people know who is not even that
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many diehard baseball fans know him because he's a friend's
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rotation guy. He's not that good because they
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best closer in the world. Last year, all year going to the
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playoffs, he was one of the most important players to his team.
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So that's a big deal. And we've talked about this
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before how I don't understand it.
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It's not like the 19 teens when the players hardly made any
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money and they had to have offseason jobs and they're
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getting paid by these wealthy mobsters.
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Like any kind of increase in betting activity, it gets
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flagged and they get caught. So you couldn't make a ton of
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money off of it. Plus, he does make a ton of
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money already by playing baseball and he's going to
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continue to make a lot more money.
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I don't understand the risk here.
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So we obviously don't know the whole story just yet and, and
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maybe it's just an investigation and they'll find out he didn't
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do anything wrong, which is what I hope.
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But man, I'm just, I'm not understanding how these guys are
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doing this. And remember, we talked about
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this last time too, A bunch of the guys who got caught last
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year, people found out the gambling tallies in like 4 to
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five guys have lost money and they were all betting small
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amounts like $20. How is that worth it?
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How is that worth it? Yeah, to throw your entire
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career and potential perspective earnings out the window should
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this come to fruition, just mind numbing to cash $100 bet, for
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crying out loud, makes no sense. Well, trade deadline week,
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obviously Class A is going to be off the list.
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Who's the biggest name that you're watching that you think
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that maybe nobody's talking about?
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And under the radar team that and under the radar team that
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all of a sudden is going to sell and maybe this player is going
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to be the apple of somebody's eyes that, you know, we're not
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talking about yet. Is there one?
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Well, I think he's been talked about some, but I do think the
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Cardinals are headed toward a pretty soft sell here.
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And I think Ryan Helsley last year, one of the most dominant
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closers of baseball, he led the majors and staves.
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He was maybe other than claw, say, might have been the best
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closer last year and he's not having as good of a year this
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year, but he's still good. That's the type of guy that can
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remake A bullpen right there. So I I think that he he's
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definitely one to watch And and you know, the name got floated
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late last week. Nobody was thinking about it,
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but Mackenzie Gore of the Nats is all of a sudden starting to
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be thrown around here. Monster monster strikeout rate
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Feels like if somebody who is good in pitching operations got
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their hands on him, he would take a another leap forward.
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And then like I'm, you know, as coming from a from a Cubs stand
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perspective, like if the Cubs grabbed Gore with what they've
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done with the left-hander, like Matthew Boyd with what they've
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done with showed him in August coming over here with how they
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developed Justin Steel, you're looking at another left-hander
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there. I'd be like, man, that would be
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an amazing grab. Don't know if the Nationals are
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going to do it and it's hard telling because they they fired
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Mike Rizzo. It's a new front office.
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We don't know the direction there.
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But I was surprised when Gore's name surfaced late last week.
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You know, he mentioned in Menaga, and what do you make
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about Friday with his velocity being down?
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I think it's like 2 miles an hour.
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Yeah, they, they, they seemingly knew it was coming.
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They being the White Sox, they pounded him.
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But the velocity maybe is even a bigger red flag.
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What do we make of this, if anything, Matt?
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Hopefully it's just a one off. He'd been so great since coming
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back from injury. I think it was a 1.33 ERA and
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its first seven starts before that.
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And man, it was I think the most concerning thing.
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Well, it was everything, right? It was the velocity, the
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location was very concerning. The White Sox looked so
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comfortable in there. The swings they were taking were
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like Home Run Derby type swings. And that's from a team I know
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the White Sox had been hot at a time, but still from a team that
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as bad as they are to look so comfortable in the matters box
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against an All Star pitcher, it was jarring.
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So, you know, let's see next time out, maybe they need to
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give them extra day. They definitely need to trade
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for starting pitching because at least Brown looks good
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yesterday, but he was terrible now that before Horton's getting
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up there and workload to where they they might need to take it
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easy with him. I know they already talked about
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having to take it easy with Boyd.
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Well, we've got to take it easy with everybody.
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So you're going to need to get more starters, especially until
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Tyone comes back. But yeah, he might need to to be
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a more on like a six rotate, six man rotation type plan moving
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forward because he hasn't made a ton of starts on regular Major
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League Baseball rest. Maybe that was part of the issue
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there. Maybe it was just an outlier.
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Maybe he just had a bad night. Hopefully that's it.
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Well, let's talk about the Series 3 game set to Colin rate
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tomorrow for the for the Cubs and Imanaga is going to pitch
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against Peralta and getaway day on Wednesday.
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How important is this? What does this series
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potentially mean? They're going to face each other
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again next week. I believe it's next week that
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they get back together in Chicago at some point.
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If not, it's in the near future. But what do we make?
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What do we make about this? Brewers.
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Cubs. It's a big one.
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I mean they're tied right now with over 100 games played.
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It looks like if it's going to go down to the wire, the head to
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heads are going to be a big deal.
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It's an opportunity to swing is his standings by a game each
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night without having a scoreboard watch.
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So that's the big thing. And if either one of them
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sweeps, that's three games all of a sudden just like that.
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So it's a big one. You definitely don't want to get
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swept. You can salvage things a little
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bit if you only if you get beaten 2 out of three, but you
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definitely don't want to get swept.
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And I tell you what, tonight, Mesorowski against nasty board.
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That's one of my favorite pitching matchups of the year.
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You've got like the young tall fireballers, you know the hot
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name in baseball. He was a huge topic at the All
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Star game. And then you've got like a
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crafty veteran left-hander who made the All Star team as well
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for his first time in his 30s, who's completely reinvented
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himself in the last season or so.
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And boy does a 1.13 ERA, 1.14 ERA in his last 10 starts, so.
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And of course we know how good Miss Zorowski is.
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So man, that's a first 345 innings there.
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That's going to be a lot of fun. No, no doubt, and I was a little
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ahead of myself when it comes to the return visit to to Wrigley.
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It's A5 game series doubleheader on Monday the 18th and then
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they'll finish out. It was to be a four gamer, but
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they got to make up game in there.
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So we'll have a split day night doubleheader on Monday the 18th.
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Well, let let's move around and let's talk about, let's talk
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about the American League East because this I like talking
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about this division. All of a sudden as the team of
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the best record in baseball are those Toronto Blue Jays?
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What are they going to do? What do you think the Jays need
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to do to hold off the Yankees? It's but it blows me away that
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boom, blink and the Jays are up 5 1/2 on the Yanks.
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I didn't see that coming. What do you make of the Yankees
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and what do you think the Blue Jays will do?
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Well, first of all, let's admire this just for a second and the
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run that you've been able to experience as a fan since late
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May because there were two games under 500.
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There were eight games out of first.
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I looked back, I had them 22nd in power range that week and now
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they're number one. It's the best record in
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baseball, 5 1/2 game lead. Just an outrageous run, and
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they've kind of had to patch together the back part of the
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rotation in there now. Scherzer was 11 strikeouts.
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That was really good to see. Lauer's looking good all of a
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sudden, like there's a good rotation.
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I think there's somewhere with all there to go out and get some
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bullpen help. And not like they're desperate
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for it or anything, but I think they could take some swings
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there. And I mentioned Helsley earlier.
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I don't know if there's a match there, but you know, someone
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like Johann Duran, if the Twins decide to sell him or Helsley
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from the Cardinals would make a lot of sense.
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It would be a lot of fun to add there the the back of the
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bullpen. I don't think it could hurt to
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take a look at another starter because you just don't know how
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much like Lauer and Scherzer are going to hold up there.
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Like Serzer with his age and injury history and Lauer, how
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long is he ever going to be good in the rotation?
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Because he hasn't really held up for a full season yet in his
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career. So I think it's just going to be
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all pitching. I mean, there there's you can
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probably squint your way to making it make sense with like a
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Eugenio Suarez. But I don't think that they're
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they're going to do that. I think they're fine offensively
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and Santander probably will be back in September or so.
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Maybe give him a little shot in the arm there.
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Yeah, yeah. And Varsha again, it gives them
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the options to move pieces around.
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I think that would there's like a chain reaction where they
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could get Clement back to third base.
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Yeah. So it's they have a lot of
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options and like look at low profido, like there's some real
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guys. Barger, Barger, like every guy
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they're plugging in is just amazing right now.
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It's pretty awesome. Really is as a fan, Yankees.
12:42
Not a fan, but obviously appreciate the history with the
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franchise, etcetera. They've fallen on hard times.
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How do they snap out of it? Or do they?
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22 and 28 since they had that, since they were eight games up
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on the Blue Jays. And that's an extended.
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I mean, that's two months of being a bad team.
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Now Judge is hurt the rotation. They need at least one, probably
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2 because Warren has hit a wall right now.
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Clark Schmidt has the UCLSU, Garrett Cole's out for the
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season. So you've got Rodon and Freed.
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And Freed, by the way, is dealing with that blister then
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Stroman. I don't, you can't really count
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on Stroman long term. So like what they need 2
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starting pitchers. How are they going to swing
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that? They already depleted a lot of
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their farm system. And then they probably need some
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Bolt and help too. They already went out, they got
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Ryan McMahon for 3rd. That's going to help them
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defensively. I mean, they're they already
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moved Jazz Chism back to second phase.
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Somebody with McMahon's range probably helps Bolt be
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defensively, but it's still so much of the offense is just
13:44
watch what Aaron Judge does and then hope that somebody like
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Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldsmith, Jazz Chisholm, Frank Grisham
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gets a big hit. And without Judge, that's just a
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subpar offense with a few good players.
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So I they're in trouble, there's still probably a playoff team.
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But you look at how hot the Rangers are right now, tied for
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the mayors for that, that last wild card spot, The Red Sox are
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in there. The Yankees are only a game and
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half up on the third wild card spot and they're two teams tied
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for it. So they're only a game and 1/2
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in the playoffs right now. They they, they could well be
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out of the playoff picture by the time we talk next week.
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Let's go to the twins. And particularly when it comes
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to Joe Ryan, Would they move him?
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I mean, they'd have to be blown away, obviously, I think.
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But he's Do you think they would move because he's a guy, that
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boy? No, I Yeah, Go ahead.
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Yeah, I was saying, I think so do you saying they'd have to be
14:35
blown away, Like I think they're floating him to see what kind of
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offers they get back and they're not going to get any that they
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say, yeah, let's do this. So I think that he's available
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in the sense that, hey, if you want to bowl us over, by all
14:50
means go ahead and try. But he's not necessarily as
14:53
available as they like Jax and Duran are.
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The Brewers, we talked about the Cubs.
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Let's talk about the Brewers because I don't think they're
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going anywhere. I like this team a lot.
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Obviously, I love their manager. This is going to be fun to watch
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tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday and then back on the 18th when
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they get together at Wrigley Field.
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But what do you think the Brewers are searching for?
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They they sure could use some slugging.
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If you look at the lineup right now, Yelich with the 19 homers,
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a lot of that was in like 1, you know, one big stretch, Jackson
15:27
Cherio 17, then you're on down to Reese Constance 12 and nobody
15:30
else has more than 7. So I think if you look at in the
15:35
playoffs, how difficult it is to score runs and how important it
15:39
is to have a guy that, OK, now we have a couple base runners
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on, let's pop one and all of a sudden we get a three spot.
15:45
That's very important. So knowing that the Cubs have
15:49
talked about a Eugenio Suarez, I kind of feel like Suarez might
15:53
be the move for the brew. They can move, they can move
15:56
Durbin around. They've got ADH spot to play
15:58
with. They could try to play yellow
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thumb in the outfield. There has to be a way to make it
16:04
fit and it's not just adding a guy who would lead your team in
16:08
home runs by double basically, but it's preventing the other
16:12
contenders in the National League side from from getting
16:15
him. So that for me would be where I
16:18
was living if I were the Brewers front office.
16:20
But we'll see. They they do the right thing a
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lot, and the right thing for them is different than a lot of
16:25
other. Indeed it is.
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Let's talk about the Dodgers, who are not playing their best
16:29
baseball. They got to injure one injury
16:31
after another. Padres are within four.
16:34
I still think the Dodgers ultimately will win the West,
16:37
but, and I'm not sure the Dodgers are going to spend any
16:39
money at the deadline. Maybe their trades are just
16:41
going to be from their own roster when they come back off
16:43
the IL. Is that how you see it?
16:45
Or will they be active? Maybe maybe.
16:48
I mean, they their bullpen is broken right now and we saw it
16:50
again yesterday in Fenway. They thought once they grabbed
16:55
Kirby AIDS and Tanner Scott, like their whole talking point
16:58
was deadline proof. We don't want to have to make
17:00
moves at the trade deadline. We want to have just this BR
17:03
team and they're getting Michael Kopec, Blake trying them back.
17:08
Will that be enough? The Tanner Scott injury seems
17:11
like it's long term and Yates hasn't been very good.
17:15
They've got issues out there. I don't know if they would want
17:17
to. Like you said, if they don't
17:19
want to spend that much, then it'll be margins.
17:21
It'll be guys on the margins. I am used to the Dodgers taking
17:25
big swings and they're the defending champs.
17:27
Why one of they? So I immediately go to like
17:29
Duron and that would be they've the the Twins and Dodgers have
17:34
matched up several times before. That feels like that would be
17:37
one of those moves where they just drop the hammer and say,
17:40
hey, screw you everybody, we're going to go out and make the big
17:42
move of the deadline. But yeah, it might have to be
17:46
lower. Like if it was still the Twins,
17:47
maybe someone like Danny Colum or maybe they go and talk to the
17:51
Rockies about Jake Bird. It might be a lesser type move
17:54
like that. But I do think they need to grab
17:56
one guy and then hope that they're trying to in Kopec
17:59
returns also shore things up. And finally, we've got the
18:03
Baseball Classic this year. Last year was at the America's
18:06
oldest ballpark. Richwood, right?
18:08
Richwood. Yep, in Birmingham.
18:10
Field of Dreams preceded it. Now they're moving inside of a
18:14
race racetrack and auto racetrack.
18:17
Bristol Speedway is where there's what's going to take
18:20
place. I saw the Dimensions 315, I
18:23
think down the lines, 400 to center field.
18:25
But it's a pretty cool setting. It's Cincinnati and it's Atlanta
18:29
and they'll play on Saturday night, which is, I think, out of
18:32
the norm. Hasn't this been played during
18:35
the? Week in the past.
18:36
Yeah, it does. Doesn't.
18:38
Thursday on the other two days that it feels like it'll be kind
18:42
of cool and I like the idea of going around and making
18:45
different sports venues into baseball for just one day.
18:49
So I'll say that's another marketing win for Major League
18:52
Baseball. Now we don't know how the game
18:54
itself is going to go. Hopefully it's as awesome as the
18:56
first field train. But.
18:59
That is a high, high, high bar. That was like one of the best
19:01
regular season games of all time.
19:04
Hopefully they get that lucky again.
19:06
But I do like, you know, it's just one game And I kind of like
19:11
the idea for ridiculous number of home runs with a short horse,
19:15
right? Like remember the games in
19:16
Monterrey, Mexico when they forgot to do the humidor for the
19:20
first game and it was like 2118 or something?
19:22
Like it's just one game. So I think it'd be cool if they
19:26
both offenses just went absolutely bonkers like that.
19:29
And maybe 100,000 people. Is that what I see?
19:31
Is that what I hear? I saw something about attendance
19:35
this morning, but I didn't click throughout.
19:37
I've had a million trade deadline hit.
19:39
No, didn't get a chance to read it.
19:41
And thank you for finding time to do this one.
19:44
Appreciate it, buddy. You have a good week.
19:45
We'll read you at CBSSports.com. The latest on MLB.
19:48
Matt Snyder talks to Trent tonight every Monday and writes
19:51
on Major League Baseball power rankings, come out Monday
19:53
morning, etcetera. Matt, thank you for doing this.
19:56
I know you're busy. We'll talk to you in a week's
19:57
time. Thank you.
19:58
All right. Take care.
19:59
Good. To talk to you Matt Snyder
20:01
CBSSports.com Bristol's Motor Speedway Bristol, TN 100,000
20:06
people on a Saturday night 615 or is it 715 Well it's evening
20:12
and it's in prime time and it's on the weekend and I'm like Matt
20:15
I thought that that game was a Thursday game in the past look
20:18
for me for my money a not growing up here so not a hawk
20:23
fan or a clone fan don't have that kind of bias I.
20:28
I still think far in a way, that the coolest sporting event that
20:30
ever took place in the state that I call home and love is the
20:34
Field of Dreams game. I mean, that was phenomenal.
20:36
The way that it started, the stars that they had coming out
20:40
of the corn, The game itself was unbelievable.
20:43
And the fact that our state was in the spotlight, I don't think
20:47
it'll ever be topped, which in a way, I'm kind of glad that they
20:50
moved it away because I just don't see how you could ever
20:53
come close to getting that ultimate high.
20:57
And it was a high of watching that game unfold in the state of
21:01
Iowa. Phenomenal theater.
21:03
Take a time out. Bill Seals joins me next.
21:06
Iowa State conversation with Cyclone reports Bill Seals.
21:10
He's next Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
21:30
Welcome back Miller and Condon. Iowa Sports Radio Network Ken
21:34
Miller taking you until 2O clock off the bench welcomes Lucas
21:37
Strain, Shane Reardon filling in Sean Roberts and his wife
21:40
Kaylee. Congratulations if you haven't
21:42
heard of new parents this weekend Kaylee gave birth to
21:47
Miles Roberts. So well done.
21:49
A young boy in the Roberts household and Sean will be off
21:52
for a couple of weeks. I think it's August 8th
21:55
somewhere around that date he comes back to the shop.
21:57
But congratulations to the on the birth of their first child.
22:02
Let's get Bill Seals in here. He's been busy covering well,
22:05
basketball media availability on Thursday, football media day on
22:12
Friday and had another media opportunity here this morning.
22:16
Boy, that cyclones are really laying it on you.
22:18
Media making your work. Good to talk to you.
22:20
Bill Seals, how are you? I know you're busy.
22:22
I'm doing great, Kenny. Appreciate you having me on.
22:25
Yeah, it's been a lot of trips up to Ames here over the last
22:29
week or so as we get cranked back up.
22:32
No, no doubt. So a lot of ground to cover with
22:34
you. I want to start with Friday,
22:35
first of all, to Cyclone football media day and maybe a
22:40
take away A2 from you obviously. And I know the linebackers came
22:46
out and I can't imagine the fight for those spots, how
22:49
intense that's going to be because they all played
22:51
seemingly ahead of schedule last year.
22:53
Going to be the fascinating to we watch this a shake out as to
22:57
who's going to win those starting spots come what is it
23:01
the 23rd? Yeah, yeah, I.
23:04
Think one of the big takeaways and it can lead into a number of
23:07
points here is just the the health of this team at this
23:11
point. Now that the less thing less
23:14
than a week of starting camp and then they're they're in great
23:18
shape and healthy and seem like every week last year we were
23:22
talking talking about who's going to be out this week, who's
23:25
coming back and this and that and well, it it takes me into
23:29
that linebacker position and that was an area brought up on
23:32
media day pretty frequently. Coach Campbell and then with the
23:37
talking to a couple of those linebackers out there
23:40
availabilities after media day. So it's going to be interesting
23:44
to see how that thing sorts its way out.
23:47
You you look at the the roster right now and you could put
23:50
together a solid 3 deep. I think of guys that have played
23:54
snaps on Saturdays and then they throw Samuel Samay into the mix
23:59
too. He's changed positions.
24:00
Was kind of that a Leo defensive end.
24:04
I don't think they could put enough weight on him though.
24:07
So he's going to move and I would imagine probably going to
24:10
play Sam linebacker. So could you throw him into a
24:13
spot where you've got Will McLaughlin and you've got Bo
24:17
Goodwin and and Samuel Samay is another one that's played some
24:20
snaps on Saturdays a little bit as well.
24:23
So just veteran this across the board.
24:26
You know, I think one of the other big takeaways spent a lot
24:29
of time talking about Gabe Berkel, Ben Bramer.
24:32
He didn't see those guys on the field much together last season
24:37
and here they are. And I think at the perfect time
24:40
with Higgins and Noel gone, I think a lot of a lot of what was
24:45
said at media day as well about those guys is that they're going
24:49
to play a big role with Higgins and Noel gone.
24:52
It's not just going to be, you know, they find two more, three
24:55
more wide receivers who are going to dominate all the
24:57
targets. I think it's going to be mixed
24:59
around and Bramer Burkle going to be some recipients there of
25:04
of a lot of those targets. So, yeah, I think again, that
25:06
the health was a big factor and then, you know, we could get
25:10
into number of points there out of media day, too.
25:13
Kenny, I wasn't sure how much you wanted to.
25:15
Go ahead, take it away. Yeah, yeah, cornerback, that's
25:19
another one. I asked Campbell at media day.
25:22
The opposite we we know John Tez Williams is going to be one of
25:26
the starters there, but opposite him, who's the guy?
25:30
And interesting. Benny Nagoya was the first name
25:33
that he brought up and he segwayed right into Trey Bell.
25:37
So I wonder maybe if it was going to take Benny some time to
25:40
kind of work his way into that role.
25:42
You know that. Yeah.
25:45
Darian Porter, He he was a name, you know, the guy they switched
25:48
over and he didn't go over and start right away at corner.
25:51
It took him a little bit of time to work his way into that role.
25:55
And you know, TJ Tampa in front of him, Miles purchase other
25:58
guys. But I'll tell you what it sounds
26:01
like Nagoya is making an instant impact on on the defensive side
26:05
of the ball. And we know what they love about
26:08
those those tall, rangy cornerbacks and and what how
26:12
they've looked in in cyclone uniforms.
26:15
So I think Benny, that wasn't, I think nice for cyclone fans to
26:19
hear that name brought up. They've got a big hole there, or
26:22
the opposite of John Tez. So those are a couple of the
26:26
storylines I outlined that had some notes up from Monday.
26:30
You can read a little more into that on on my site.
26:33
And yeah, just a lot of good stuff out of Media Day, 25
26:36
minutes out of Campbell. So a lot of lot to had to work
26:40
through on Friday. Yeah, that.
26:41
Was that's good to hear. Nagoya, he's mentioned as
26:43
quickly as he was. Of course Porter was, as you
26:45
mentioned, that's the same role and didn't seemingly take over
26:48
as quickly as maybe Nagoya would.
26:51
And as we know, Porter worked his way up into becoming a third
26:53
round pick by the Raiders this last NFL Draft.
26:56
I'm gonna go back to Ben Bramer, who and there's no offense to
27:00
gave Berkel, who I thought was one of the stories of Iowa State
27:03
last year, in positive way. I mean, injuries aside, I
27:06
thought Berkel just came out of nowhere and I'm excited to see
27:09
if he's got one more step. But to me, Bramer, other than
27:12
Rocco back, is the most important critical piece of this
27:15
year's offense. I think he's a pro, Bill.
27:17
I do. I think you're watching him for
27:18
the last time as a Cyclone this year because I think his ceiling
27:22
is that high. Obviously, Berkel behind him is
27:25
great. I know they've got some others
27:26
that they like there, but Bramer potentially going to have a
27:30
breakout year. Your thoughts?
27:32
I think it's perfect timing for him to do that as well.
27:35
Replace that. They're replacing 2000 yard wide
27:39
receivers now in the NFL and the targets are going to be spread
27:42
out a lot more. Bramer was healthy last season.
27:46
You probably don't see Iowa State produce 2000 yard
27:51
receivers and Higgins and no, I don't think that happens.
27:55
They they had to to get those targets.
27:57
But yeah, Bramer is going to be a huge force, I think.
28:01
And then if they want to focus on say like a chase so well,
28:06
Xavier Townsend, then Bramer over be escalates and then you
28:11
you, you maybe Gabe Burkle gets open.
28:14
So I think there's just a lot of weapons.
28:17
It's a lot more balanced throughout that room right now.
28:19
And and yeah, certainly though, Bramer, I think he's poised for
28:23
a big season and just got to keep him on the field and
28:26
healthy. Let's go to today and then we'll
28:29
shift gears at the very end of our talk here to basketball.
28:31
What you heard from TJ last Thursday, one of the questions
28:36
and he knew was coming because it is a contact sport.
28:39
And Rocco Beck, I mean, we certainly hope he takes every
28:41
snap this year in perfect world, but it's football and just the
28:45
progression. I know Jake Waters was asked
28:47
about Connor Mobley, the presumptive #2 or maybe not,
28:51
maybe Manske's going to push him.
28:53
But what did the quarterback coach Jake Waters have to say
28:56
with the two guys battling to become number two behind Rocco
29:00
Beck? Yeah, I think it's going to be
29:02
Connor Moberly's job. I I believe just the time Manski
29:06
had this offseason to kind of work back through that internal
29:09
brace procedure that he had late in the senior year on that
29:15
elbow. I, I think this is Moberly's job
29:18
and, and he's a different looking guy than he was as a
29:21
freshman as well. He says one of the first things
29:24
Waters said was that he came in about $1.85 and now you're
29:29
looking at a kid who's 2:15 to 2:20.
29:33
So, yeah, he's really put that we had him that we talked to him
29:37
this morning a little bit and yeah, just a different looking
29:40
guy than he was a year ago. A lot of confidence and got it
29:45
was just really interesting to get into how his first year went
29:49
as well and and how he took over that role and you getting into
29:53
some specifics there and taking his game up a step here this
29:57
offseason. So we'll have more a lot more on
29:59
that at Cyclone report. So yeah, it's good to good to
30:02
talk to him. And now also had wide receivers
30:06
today as well. Yeah, yeah.
30:08
And I want to talk about them in a minute, but I want to finish
30:10
up with Rocco Beck, who's clearly head and shoulders as
30:13
the number one. We know and most years or a lot
30:17
of years anyways, doing this over the years, there was a real
30:19
battle or a lot of questions around the starting quarterback.
30:22
Does he have that next level? What's it going to take for him
30:25
to be better? If this team's going to go blah,
30:27
blah, blah, they need the quarterback.
30:28
That's not the case with Rocco back.
30:30
We've seen what he can do and he's gotten improved I think
30:34
every year when he was kind of came out of nowhere after the
30:37
the gambling suspension with Decker's and thrust into that
30:40
spot, maybe he would have wanted anyways.
30:42
We'll never know. But just his progression in his
30:45
last couple of years. And what does Jake Waters and
30:48
Matt Campbell have to say about what they'd like to see from
30:50
their starting quarterback this year?
30:53
Yeah. I just think getting getting
30:54
more into the the the playbook, the time that he think this is
31:00
the first time that he'll play for an offensive coordinate
31:04
coordinator that's returning for a second season with Taylor
31:08
Mauser. So I think there's certainly a
31:10
lot of growth yet to be made as as those two continue to work
31:15
together. I think, you know, maybe just
31:17
from my perspective, I think a lot of folks would like to see
31:20
that the the interceptions cut down on that the the pick sixes.
31:26
But I'll tell you what a guy that when the game's on the line
31:30
in the fourth quarter, I don't I'm not sure there's many
31:32
quarterbacks in the Big 12 that coaches would like to have been
31:35
Rocco backed and what he showed last season leading Iowa State
31:39
back in in many of those. So yeah, just a lot I think
31:44
still on the on the place for him this year, a lot for him to
31:48
prove. I think he he talking to him
31:51
down in Dallas, the Big 12 media days maybe still being
31:55
underrated a little bit in in some of those pre season lists,
31:59
a lot of other Big 12 quarterbacks named above him.
32:02
So he's playing with a chip as well.
32:04
You know, he's not going to come out and and say that I think per
32:07
SE, but I think he's got an edge to him this year.
32:10
He wants to prove that he's one of the top couple guys in the
32:14
conference. Hang on.
32:16
I'm about to sneeze. Sorry about that.
32:19
Anyways, my bad. Noah Polly.
32:23
Here it comes. Yeah.
32:26
Noah Polly, the wide receivers coach.
32:29
Live radio can't help it. You know, we talked about the
32:32
linebackers and and just the the depth and how many guys are
32:36
going to be fighting. Noah Paul, he's got kind of
32:39
similar situation unfolding when it comes to the wide receivers.
32:44
There's a whole bunch of dudes that are going to compete for
32:48
receptions this year and I think there's some skill there.
32:51
Obviously a lot of pressure on Seoul and Townsend is they come
32:54
in with massive shoes to fill and nobody expects that.
32:57
But Daniel Jackson back. I know that they're high in
33:00
Eskeldson. We saw him last year, Carson
33:02
Brown played. We thought we'd see more for me
33:05
like Green, and there's a couple of young guys, lower classmen if
33:08
you will, sophomores and red shirt freshmen.
33:10
So no, Polly's got a bunch of dudes.
33:13
They're going to be fighting for those to catch those passes
33:16
from, Rocco backed. Yeah, there's a lot to sort out
33:19
this year at that position, Kenny.
33:22
I think probably the lazy analysis for me would say that
33:26
oh, well, you know, they go out and they recruit Chase so well,
33:29
Xavier Townsend, one of their first targets in the transfer
33:33
portal had to have type of guys. Yeah, they're going to be the
33:37
the the X receiver and the M receiver in Townsend's case in
33:41
the slot. But I'm not so sure.
33:43
I think that there's a lot of competition in in this room.
33:47
And and Townsend, I I think he admitted that he's not quite the
33:52
precise route runner maybe that a Jalen Noel was.
33:55
So there's still some work to do and everybody forgets He was a
33:58
running back coming out of out of high school and has moved to
34:01
wide receiver in college. So and nipping at his heels.
34:06
Eli Green was a name we talked a lot about last offseason.
34:10
He from talking to Polly today, though, he had a shoulder
34:13
surgery coming out of last season.
34:16
That was something that we did not know about.
34:18
So he's had a lot to work through from that and I'm
34:21
getting the feeling now Eli Green don't count him out quite
34:25
yet. He was the one that they went
34:26
they went after the offseason before is one of those have the
34:30
had to have kind of guys out of North Dakota State.
34:33
So I think that Green certainly going to push Townsend for a lot
34:39
of snaps at that imposition inside outside you you got over
34:45
be you look at him and I think you you see you see what maybe
34:50
Jayden Higgins would have looked like as a red shirt freshman.
34:55
Granted, he wasn't at Iowa State at that point, but I think over
34:58
be with that frame, he's going to build upon that.
35:01
Another one of those tall, rangy wide receivers and and he's
35:05
coming out of high school. He wasn't one they had to go get
35:08
out of the portal. So someone they can really
35:10
develop from the first time he gets on the campus.
35:13
Brett Eskelson, maybe that Z wide receiver position, the
35:18
third wide out, you don't know how much 12 or I don't know that
35:22
they'll do much 13 personnel with three tight ends, but maybe
35:26
looking to do a lot of 12 with Berkel and Bramer.
35:29
So when they go to a three wide receiver look, Eskelson might be
35:34
that guy to be that third wide out.
35:36
Daniel Jackson's another another one.
35:39
What he's had to go through is an incredible all the injuries
35:43
that he's had to persevere from and none of them equate to what
35:48
he got, what he got handed him in high school when he had a car
35:51
accident that would put him in in critical condition.
35:55
So he's had so much to work through and not even, yeah, I
35:59
mean, a car accident when he's in high school, he had that to
36:02
deal with before he even got to Iowa State.
36:05
And is, was handed the what he's been handed.
36:08
So. But yeah, I wouldn't count him
36:10
out as, well. Daniel Jackson's going to be one
36:12
of those few veteran guys in that room, so going to lean on
36:17
him a lot. So, so, so many options.
36:19
And we haven't even brought up like the, the, the true
36:22
freshman, Zay Robinson, the local guy.
36:26
Yeah. So there's so many pieces in
36:28
there. And and Noah Pauly's got a job
36:31
ahead of him to to sort that one out.
36:34
Bill, I think I'm out of time. And is TJ going to make them
36:37
with the media again or basketball availability over
36:40
until the fall? Going to be next Tuesday.
36:43
Oh good, so we'll get another. One in the morning next Tuesday,
36:46
so we'll get him one more time and a couple more players.
36:49
So yeah, should be some basketball to talk about next
36:52
week or or whenever. Got you.
36:54
So in 30 seconds any take away? Literally 30 seconds from last
36:58
Thursday's immediate availability hoops wise.
37:03
Well, Jamarian Bateman, good stuff about him, continues that.
37:07
The reviews on him are great. He's picking things up
37:10
defensively, Big effort guy. TJ went out of his way to praise
37:14
him. We got him individually, so I'll
37:17
have a story up on him. So I think he's a guy you're
37:20
going to look to be that freshman that plays meaningful
37:23
minutes and then played. It sounds like he's making good
37:27
progress as well, coming over from Germany.
37:29
So lots of good stuff out of that.
37:31
Bill Seals, cyclonereport.com part of On Three Media On Three
37:35
Media, cyclonereport.com for Bill Seals.
37:37
Bill, as always, thank you. We will speak with you next
37:40
week. Thank you, Bill Seals.
37:41
Alright. Thanks Kenny, have a good one.
37:43
Yep, good to talk to Bill Seals as we check in on Iowa State
37:46
Quick Timeout Miller and Condon Iowa Sports Radio Network.
37:53
I'm Millary Condon welcome back final minute here of the program
37:56
on a Monday Bama Bob going to join me do a couple of segments
38:00
this week. I think three of them with Bama,
38:03
the first of which will be tomorrow.
38:05
Look forward to doing that and more Mitch Holtis, Patrick
38:09
Mahomes going to be the sound bite tomorrow.
38:11
I appreciate you being with me, Tyler Allen, always appreciate
38:13
you being with me behind the glass.
38:16
As we navigated this last couple of hours, the off the bench
38:22
almost did it again. Off the bench is coming up.
38:26
Lucas Strange, Shane Reardon in today from 2:00 until 5.
38:31
Thanks for being with me. Trent's on vacation.
38:33
I'll be back with you tomorrow at noon.
38:35
Miller and Condon weekdays noon to two on the Iowa Sports Radio
38:41
Network.