Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory WBC Quarterfinal Preview: Cinderella Stories, Pitching Matchups, Owen Caissie’s showcase

Transcript

Fair Territory WBC Quarterfinal Preview: Cinderella Stories, Pitching Matchups, Owen Caissie’s showcase · Foul Territory

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, coming to you from Houston today, scene of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the WBC pool play and now the quarterfinals, and I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: am joined, of course by my friend Alana Rizzo, who's
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: coming to you from Parts unknown. We're going to talk
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of WBC today and we're going to get
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: into all of the fun and the craziness that has
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: occurred over the last week or so.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: It has been crazy, Ken, as we head to the
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: knockout round. This is brought to you, of course, by
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Fox One. All of our World Baseball Classic coverage is
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: brought to you by our friends at Fox one, which
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: is live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: including all WBC games over the next few weeks, and
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: after that the best Major League Baseball action all season long. Ken,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: you mentioned you are in Houston. A big one today
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: in the quarterfinals, Team USA versus Team Canada eight pm
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: on Fox. You are on the call. What is what
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: is your feeling about Team USA's chances to win it all?
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: After the Italy lost, But thank goodness to those Italians
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: because the Americans are in all right.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Actually a lot of the games tomorrow. Sorry, no, probably,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: we don't want to have any misspeaking here.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Yes I misspoke. Oh gosh.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: So, as I wrote last night, as that game ended
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: between Italy and Mexico, the US got a reprieve here.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: And for all the drama that happened over the last
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: twenty four to thirty six hours, with the actual miss
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: speaking by the manager Mark de Rosa, with the flat
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: performance against Italy, flat at least for the first few innings,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and with all of that was just circulating around this team,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the long meeting, the fact that they were dragging according
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to their manager or some of the guys, were that
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: all years now, or at least it should because the
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: moment the first pitch is thrown Friday night in the
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: quarterfinal against Canada, it's a new ballgame for them and
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: they have a chance now to just go forward and
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: just forget all that happened. And listen, mistakes are made.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Guys have bad days. We all get it. We all
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: have bad days. And that's what happened. It happened all
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: around for Team USA, from the manager to the players,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: and as I wrote today before, it was kind of
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: inconceivable that it came to this, but it did, and
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: now again because of Italy's win, Italy wins Group B,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Pool B and the finishes as the runner up Italy
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: four and oh US three and one, Mexico two and two.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: No tie breakers, no run quotient formula, no nothing. And now,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: as you said, allot it, it's the knockout round. US
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Versus Canada Logan Web versus Michael Soroka is the scheduled matchup,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and it seems to me the US should win this
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: game and advance to the semifinal against likely or possibly
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the Dominican Republic. But I think we've learned in this
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: tournament not to take anything for granted. And clearly we're
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: going to see now if the US can rebound and
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: how they rebound, and how the rows, some managers and
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: all the questions that surface the other night are going
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: to come to the four. But we'll see how it
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: plays out. And I don't want to dismiss Canada. They're
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: going to start in this game Soroka, who is a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: guy with a lot of talent. He's been hurt in
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: his career a time. They've got Owen Casey, the Marlins prospect,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: who is likely going to be on their team. He's hot.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: They've got Josh Naylor, They've got bon Naylor, they have
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: major league quality players, and as we've seen with Italy,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: major league quality players and some good young players can
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: take you a long way in this tournament.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you Ken. You also wrote though,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: that the player buy in for future years could be
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a factor if this tournament does end on a sour
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: note for Team USA. I'm assuming that you're speaking specifically
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: about a mayor American players or Team USA players in
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: terms of a future buy in.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, I am, And remember there was a problem with
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Buyan in the past before twenty three, and twenty three
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: kind of changed things. Obviously the dramatic game that ended
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: it with a tiny striking out trout, but even some
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: of the great games that took place before that one,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: players were more motivated this time to play. But if
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: this ends badly and there's criticism and all the things
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: that come with losing and elimination, my question is, Okay,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: are guys going to be less inclined if they don't
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: have a certain amount of playing time guaranteed. I don't
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: know that it's going to take place that way. And yes,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I was getting a little ahead of myself, but Byan's
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: fragile with the US players, and it's a little bit
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: different than it is with the players in Asian and
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Latin American countries. So I do wonder if indeed this
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: becomes something of a negative ending if things change, or
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: it could be the other way too. That increases the
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: motivation for players, Hey, we want to win. That's it.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Maybe the guy who is the next Tarrek Schooll, a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: free agent pitcher who is entering his walk ear says,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: you know what, I'm pitching twice, not once. Let's go.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: So I don't know how it's going to turn out,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: but it's just one thing that is a possible ramification here.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: You mentioned Owen Casey earlier perhaps making the team for
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: the Marlins.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Is he a future star? Ken?
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Is this guy in terms of his stock? Is it ascending?
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: What do you know about him?
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: It's been high for quite some time. It's the top
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: one hundred prospect. He's a guy that obviously the Cubs
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: did not want to part with in the trade for
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Edward Cabrera, but he is someone that they ultimately did
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: part with because they got the control on Cabrera and
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: obviously they felt that the exchange was worthwhile. But Casey's
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: been hot in this tournament. He's been really good. He's
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: someone with an immense promise because of his physique and
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: his power and all the things that come with it.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: So I'm looking forward to seeing him here and I'm
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing Canada play. They've done a great
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: job so far. And Puerto Rico is the other team
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: in the quarterfinal in Houston. They're going to play Italy,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and they've had a great story too, because of all
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the insurance problems that they had earlier. No Lindor, no care,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: no Jose Berrios, and yet now they get there with
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Yadier Molina as their manager. It's going to be really
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: interesting to see them play Italy. And then, of course
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we have the other matchups going on in Miami with
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Dominican Republic, Korea and Venezuela, and also of course Japan.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, let's take a look at that bracket.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: We talked exclusively so far about Team USA versus Team Canada,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: but there are three other games going on in the bracket.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: You can see it there.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: It's going to be Korea going up against the Dominican Republic.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Of course, the United States and Canada. Then it's going
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: to be Puerto Rico against Mexico and then Venezuela going
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: up against Japan. So let's talk ken about to the
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Dominican game, the Korea versus the DR game on Saturday
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: on Friday rather on FS two. That's in Miami. It's
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: six thirty Eastern. The Dominican Republic.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Do you think they had the best chance Tea in
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: pool play? Do you think they were the best team
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: in pool play?
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I do, and I actually believe they're the favorite in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: this tournament. They're riding obviously a wave of emotion. The
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: highlights from Miami from pool play were astounding, one after another.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: The home runs, the celebrations, the passion that they play with. Now,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: is there pitching going to be good enough to get
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: through this tournament? We're gonna find out. But at the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: same time, they are a team that I expect will
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: be Korea and I expect would give the US a
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: big problem in the semi final, though it would be
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Schiens starting for the US. So I still see the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: DR as really good. And we talk about the US
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: lineup all the time out it's so good Themican Republic
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: line up. It's really good too. It's every bit is good,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: if not better. So I do see them beating Korea.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: I expect Korea will be just overwhelmed by what the
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Dominican Republic has Offensively, we'll.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: See, all right.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Now, does Korea have a puncher's chance? Though you had
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: mentioned that they might be a little bit overwhelmed. I mean,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: we didn't think that some of these teams were going
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: to advance, and they did.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Does Korea have a shot?
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Alana. And the one thing we learned from the
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Italy US game is yes, there's always a puncher's chance.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: It's baseball. I'm not excusing what happened with the US.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: They should have won that game. Should have beaten Michael Lorenzen,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: who's kind of a journeyman right hander, should have beaten
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the team that was playing some younger guys and guys
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: who had a combined zero All Star appearances. But it
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: is baseball, so things can happen. And Korea, like Japan,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: plays fundamentally sound, and yes, they have a puncher's chance. Absolutely.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Now the other game, this one's on Saturday, three pm
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Eastern on FS one, the one in Houston, Italy, versus
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Puerto Rico three pm Eastern.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: I tell you what, if anything can.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Italy is riding high, not only on the espresso, but
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: on the thought that they've got a fighting chance in
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: this thing.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Four and owen Pool play, and I don't know that
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: anyone anticipated that. And they have a very intriguing blend
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: of players, and yes, Pascentino had the amazing night last
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: night with three homers. They have some other major league
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: veterans as well, but some of their younger players have
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: really come to the fore here. Dante Nori, Nick Morbido,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Sam Antonacci, a lot of these guys. They're not top
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: one hundred prospects, but their top ten prospects in their
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: organizations and in the players' parlance, they are showing out.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: So Italy, with Samuel Aldegary on the mound, should be
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: in a good spot here and I would expect that
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: they're going to be the favorite in that game to
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: advance to the semifinals.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: The one I'm excited about as well ken Saturday night
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: on Fox, of course in Miami Venezuela going up against Japan,
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: and I think what makes me the most excited is
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: the probables in terms of the starting pitching Ranger Suarez
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: versus Yoshi Nobu Yamamoto.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: That is a playoff caliber matchup right there. We've probably
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: seen that matchup in the playoffs. Well maybe not exactly
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: that matchup, but those guys are both pitchers who have
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: played for playoff caliber teams. Yamamoto had the great run
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: last year in October and range of Suarez is going
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: to be the coolest customer in that ballpark that night.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: He is always the coolest customer whenever he pitches. So
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: you talked about, well, does Korea have a puncher's chance? Yes,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and so does Venezuela. It's not maybe as powerful a
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: team as it could have been with al Tuve and
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: of course, but they still got Salparez, They've still got
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a Kunya, They've got some guys, and that's going to
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: be a fun game to watch. I would think.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: If you had to kind of pick the winners of
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: each of the four ken, who are you picking right now?
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I'll go with US. I'll go with Italy, Dominican Republic
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: and Japan, and that would be a spectacular semi final group,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: no doubt. And if Puerto Ricoo gets past Italy. That
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: would be great too, because Miami, of course is I
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: would think, in my view anyway, the capital of Latin
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: America in many ways, and there are people from all
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: different countries in Latin America who live in Miami who
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: are extremely passionate about baseball. We've seen it in the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: crowds so far in pool play. So if you got
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Puerto Rico there along with the Dominican Republic and maybe
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: even Venezuela, you could really see something.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: There's still some great teams out there.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be a lot of fun as the quarterfinals,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: of course have started, from the WBC through the World Series,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: to the World Cup, to NASCAR and IndyCar. With Fox One,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: you'll get it all live. Start your seven day free
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: trial today offers our subject to change. Download Fox one
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: today and stream the World Baseball Classic live now through
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: March seventeenth. Go to foxwe dot com for complete terms
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: and conditions. Fox won streaming.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Now. It is time for Grill and Ken.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: You guys get the opportunity to ask Ken Rosenthal a question.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: So what we're going to start with here, Ken is
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: starting with your favorite moment of pool play. We've had
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: some great matchups so far, some great games in pool play.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: Anything stand out to you.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: The espresso machine. And here's the funny story behind the
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: espresso machine. So obviously it's in the dugout for the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: first game, which I believe was against Brazil, I'm not
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: exactly sure. And that night the players were basically getting
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: their throats burned because the espresso is so hot. So
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: they put the athletic trainers in charge of it, and
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: now they're pre making the shots, so it's a little
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: bit cooler. They are a little bit cooler once the
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: players get to them. They're not getting their throats burned.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: And that has been one of the highlights of the
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: tournament for me, just seeing after Italian hole runs and
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: they hit seven in the last two games. By the way,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: those espresso.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Shots, I agree with you on that, but I see
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: your espresso shots and I will raise you the double kiss.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: So I love the fact that Vinnie Pasquentino started doing
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: this with the Royals, and now he obviously brought it
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: to the Italian dugout. He was kind of just the
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: barista for a while until a massive game for Italy yesterday.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: But the whole double kiss, it's a very Italian thing.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: It's a very Latin thing to do. That has to
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: be my favorite moment. Plus watching the Dominican players play
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: and the absolute joy that the Dominican team has and
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: just how much fun it is, all the just the
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: overall celebration and all of those types of things.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: So I love it.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I love the WBC because of this. The power of
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: espresso as armand is amazing. Has pointed out as well
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: as far as here's another question here from Foul Territory Show. Oh, actually,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: here's some roster changes too, so let's see this. Will
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: vest Ken, Tyler, Rogers, Tim Hill reportedly added to Team USA.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Anyone else not on the roster that could end that
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: could impact the end result.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: What do you think about that?
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Yes, Joe Ryan and these changes were expected. Matt strom
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: is another reliever who has been on the designated Picture
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: pool list and he could be added at some point.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: So here's the deal with this. You can add four
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: pictures after pool play and you can see those three names.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Matt Strow might be the other for all I know,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: those three, I guess have been announced, and then after
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: the quarterfinal you can add two more pictures. So Joe
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Ryan made his first spring start a couple of days ago.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: He looked good, three scoreless innings, and of course he's
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: coming off that lower back inflammation, so he will be
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: in play if they add him for the championship game
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: if they get there. So these additions were largely expected.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Du Rosa basically said, it's guarantee they're going to be
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: check changes last week, and you see those relievers right there.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: They will come in and refresh the pitching staff, so
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: to speak. And I know that one of the guys
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: who has gone is Ryan Yarborough. He's back in the
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Yankees camp this morning. So this was the plan all along,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: and other teams will probably make similar changes.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: I love this next question Ken from Muncy fifteen. Two
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: pitchers who pitched last night, Aaron Nola and Sandi al Contra.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Who looks better to have the bigger bounce back season.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, great question and both pitched really well, I would
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: say Alcantra, and this is going to be his second
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: year removed from Tommy John and he, after a tough
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: start last year, kind of got rolling and it's going
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to be probably his free agent year. I believe there's
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: an option that they're going to most likely decline or
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: more likely than anything, they'll trade him, and I just
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: expect Sandia al Contra to be back to what he was,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: maybe not cy young form, but certainly one of the
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: top pitchers in the game. And that's not the discount. No, well,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: he looked great last night. He is an accomplished, quality
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: major league pitcher and I kind of always expect him
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: to pitch well and I'm surprised when he doesn't.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: He is ready to take any position, anything that they
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: want him to do. We'll talk about that momentarily. Hamilton
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: the Babe Porter, any concerns with Nolan McClain starting for
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: the US in the finals if they make it young player,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: young arm and he thought there can.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's certainly a concern that he struggled a little
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: bit in that last game. It's interesting he struck out
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: the side against Italy to start the game and then
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: he had some things happen and ends up allowing three
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: runs in three innings. Is it ideal? No, it's not ideal.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Would you rather have Trek Scooble come on one hundred percent?
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: But Nolan McLain is a guy who is not afraid.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: He's got six pitches and I would expect that the
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: last game was a lonely experience. And again, one of
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: the key things to remember here, if they get that far,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: they're gonna have a fresh pitching staff. They're gonna have
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: guys rested. There's a day off in between the semifinal
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in the final for us, they should be in a
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: decent position, as decent as they can be. If you
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: have Ryan available, if you have some others available, some
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: of these new relievers, Mason Miller, All these guys should
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: be okay. Is it perfect? No, But worry about that
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: when they get there. They've got to get there first.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Can Are you concerned about Mark de Rosa perhaps being
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: a little hamstrung in terms of pitchers, particularly relief pitchers.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Obviously had Kersha up late against Italy that didn't end
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: up working out. He went with Mason Miller. I believe
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: instead any concern there about the way that the bullpen
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: would need to be managed moving forward.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: That's the biggest challenge that Rosa and his staff face
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: handling the pitching now. The Kershaw moved the other night,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and a lot of people were very critical of the
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: fact he's warming up. Why is he warming up when
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: you still have Mason Miller. Well, Mason Miller could not
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: come in the eighth and then come back for the ninth.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: That's one of the restrictions on him. And if Bednar
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: had gotten past twenty five pitches, and he nearly did,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: then they were essentially out of pitching. And that's why
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Kershel would have needed to be in the game. So
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: that wasn't a case of taking the opponent lightly or
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: not understanding the rules. He was hamstrung in that particular case.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: So I would expect that with the new pitchers coming
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: in it would ease the problem somewhat. But at the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: same time, handling a staff is definitely the biggest issue
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: that this team is going to face that a lot
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: of teams do face in this tournament.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Can Maybe we're not talking about Team Japan enough, which
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: is interesting because they are the reigning champs of course,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: of the WBC a few years ago. Does Japan playing
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: a road game against a possibly pro Venezuela crowd help
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: the underdog, You.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Could say that, But they played a road game in
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three tournament as well, actually two road
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: games to get to where they got to, and they
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: beat Mexico in the semifinal if I'm not mistaken, and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: then of course they beat the US in the finals.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: So I don't know that Team Japan is going to
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: be perturbed by anything that might happen, going to be
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: in a good spot. They know how to handle this.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: And having Otani as your team leader, we saw the
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: stability he provided for this team in twenty three. Remember
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: what he told the players before the championship game when
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: they were going to play the US. He said, Hey,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I know you've watched these guys on TV. I know
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: you know who they are. They're not better than us.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Let's just go play and see what happens. And of
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: course those words proved rather wise.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Yes they did.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: All right, we're going to be back right after this
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: a quick break and then we'll be back with Dude
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: and Dork.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Of the Week.
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: We love Hello Fresh shout out to them and over
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: one hundred recipes to choose from each week to provide variety.
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: There the spice of life. They don't make it boring
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: for you when you're preparing food. Also, there's three times
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: the seafood for no up charge. AJ They wanted you
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: to know that you can impress your guests or your
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: family with new grass fed steak ribis, and you can
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: make meals with seasonal produce like pairs, apples and asparagus.
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: Well, listen, Scott, I'm trying to stay in my playing
• 19:59
  Speaker 5: slash fighting, so I need the seafood, I need the protein,
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: and I need the veggies. And plus I want to
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: look cool when people come over and say, wow, you
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: made all this stuff, and I'll be like easy peasy.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: A new slogan, HelloFresh making aj look good. So go
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: to HelloFresh dot com slash ft one zero FM to
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: get ten free meals plus a free Zwilling knife one
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: hundred and forty four dollars ninety nine per cent value
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: on your third box offer valid while supplies last free meals.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Apply This discount on first box new subscribers only varies
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: by plan. Because when dinner tastes this good, nothing hits
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: like home cooking. Bet MGM account holders today. How about
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: in any sport parlay boost token you can score a
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: bigger payout if your wager with that token hits. Tokens
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: can be used on parlays and on same game parlays.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: Gambling problem or concerned, there's help called one eight hundred gambler.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Dude, Dude, dude.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Our dude of the week, A lot of different people
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: to choose from. Ken, go ahead and give me the guy,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: the guy or gal that got your honors.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Michael Lorenzen, team Italy starter against the US and I
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: spoke to him two days before his start and he
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: basically said he was relishing pitching against Team USA and
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: I was like, really, you want to them? He said, yes,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: this is the kind of challenge and this kind of
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: environment that we play for, we live for, and that's
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: what separates these players from mortal men. And he said,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: even if they embarrassed me, it'll be a great experience,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it'll be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Well,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: it didn't embarrass him. He pitched brilliantly, So he is
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: my dude of the week. Michael Lorenzen. Yeah.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Michael Lorenzen and the other couple of Rockies pitchers that
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: are participating in the World Baseball Classic all pitching very well.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: I don't think amongst the three of them they've given
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: up an earned run yet. Somebody fact checked me on that,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: but I'm pretty certain about that.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: My dude of the week.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Again, a lot of different people to choose from, but
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I'm taking Vinny p. I just love everything about this guy.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I love the energy, I love the self listeners that
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: he brings not only to his team with the Royals,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: but what he's done for Team Italy. I mean, taken
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: every single shot of espresso, bringing the kissing into the dugout,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: the fact that he hit three home runs that's never
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: been done in a WBC game before. I just love
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: his energy, and I loved his postgame interview of course,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: when he was saying you're welcome, USA. I just think
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: he's a good dude. He's good for the game, and
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: it's fun to see him have fun all right. Time
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: now for our dork of the week, Okay, Ken again,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: kind of a lot to choose from this week.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: Who do you have?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: All Right? I know the obvious choice is Mark de Rosa,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: but he's taken enough heat in the last twenty four hours,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: so I'm going to question why are former employer MLB
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Network saw fit to put de Rosa on the air
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: the morning after that game against Mexico when they had
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: in the clubhouse until late at night. And he is
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the manager of this team, he should not be required
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to be doing his normal TV appearances or even any
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: TV appearances during the tournament, and he has enough media
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: obligations as just the manager of the team before games,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: press conferences and meetings with the broadcasters. That should not
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: have happened. And I don't know if he was tired,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: if he was confused, if he didn't know the rules,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: although I really do believe he did. But in my view,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: he could have been corrected on the air by Matt
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and Harold. A lot of things could have gone differently here.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: And it's tough because at times you feel like he
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: got let down by some people around him, and I
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: believe that happened here, and I'm not sure exactly who,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure exactly how they should have gone down,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: And he certainly has responsibility and he's taken responsibility for it.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: No problem there, but man, I don't know that he
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: should be doing his normal morning circuit or even his
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: extra circuit. And he's the manager of Team USA.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Can somebody in the Mark DeRosa camp or Team USA
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: camp could have intervened there and said, hey, that's a mistake,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: let's get this corrected early. It goes along the line
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: in terms of my dork of the Week with kind
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: of what you're saying. I think Evan Drelik had a
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: great tweet about this. A league run network has a
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: league run tournament and hires a network league employee to
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: manage the team. Seems like too much league going on there,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: So I'm kind of going with that. It's just a
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: lot of league and I think obviously that's why Mark
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: DeRosa was on Hot Stove the following morning, because of
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: course he is a Major League Baseball Network employee. I
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: think MLB Network does a great job covering our sport,
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: but I don't know that everything being so league driven. Obviously,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: the WBC is owned by the league, the network is
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: owned by the league. Deroso works for MLB Network. All
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: of the things, it's just too much league going on
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: and not a ton of separation.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: Go ahead.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: And one more point here too, Alana, And I don't
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: know exactly how that appearance came about, but de Rosa
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: mentioned that that was Scourgion and Harold Reynold or his friends,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and maybe he was just trying to do his friends
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: a favor. But in general, he's kind of just do
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: his job here and not that job, the main job,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: and that is something that in the future I would
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: expect is going to change some How do.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: You expect him to respond as a manager? Can Some
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: of the criticism was that Mark de Rosa doesn't have
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: any managerial experience?
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Why is he?
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Who is a very good analyst, I believe I learn
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: a lot from dro Why is he managing Team USA
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: when there are actual bona fide managers who have MLB
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: managerial experience sitting out there? How does he respond as
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: a manager? And is the criticism fair?
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: That's certainly a fair question, And the one thing I
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: would say is that question was much more applicable in
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three when he hadn't done this, and at
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: that time he's named the manager, and not that many
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: people were critical of it. It seemed like, Okay, he's
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: a guy that has managerial aspirations, or at least did
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: at that time, so why not put him out there?
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: And he now has the experience from twenty twenty three,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: So if you're asking that question, that question really should
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: have been asked, then it's fair. And in the future
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: I would expect maybe they go with a more experienced manager.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Remember Buck Martinez, Joe Torre and Jim Leland were the
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: managers before Duro, so they all were former major league managers,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: and I can see that happening again. But at the
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: same time, he is in a better spot this time
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: than he was last time he's gone through this. That's
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: not to say that a more experienced guy couldn't do better,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: but really, what's the damage that he has done here? Okay,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: maybe some questionable lineup decisions, some of them worked out
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: better than that people have talked about. Pete crow Armstrong
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: had two home runs in place of Byron Buxton. I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: don't know that he's screwed up the game. I do think,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: and I basically wrote this, I don't know that they
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: took that game seriously enough. And that is on the manager,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: it's on the entire team. But is that due to
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: his inexperience or is that due to just overconfidence? Well?
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Mark de rosa Italian man as well. He owes Team
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Italy a big fat dinner when this is all over.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: We appreciate you guys being with us. Thank you so
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: much for watching and listening out. Territory is coming up next, ajay,
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: is that twins? I'm going to be over there as well,
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: hooking up with a J and Eric Kratz. We have
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: great guests today, Fair with ten returns on Monday. Enjoy
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: the knockout round.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to you then.