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Would the Pirates be a playoff team if Griffin and Cruz stayed healthy? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hiles.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Joining me, as always, are my co-hosts, Josh Harrison and
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Platinum Key A.A.K.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Mark.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: It is Friday, September 11th. The Pirates are set.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: To begin a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs in
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Wrigley Field. We're recording this Thursday afternoon, so we don't
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: know if the Buccos concluded their Southside series with a sweep.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: But nonetheless, they've won five straight series.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I believe.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: I want to say eight of their last nine or
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: seven of their last eight.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: They've been playing really good ball.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: At the time we're recording, they're a 500 ball club.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: They could be over 500. They could be a game
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: beneath 500, but nonetheless, where they stand now, if they
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: win this series this weekend against the Cubs, they will
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: return home to Pittsburgh with at least a 500 record.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: So that's something to be excited about, I guess.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: But overall, How excited can you be? Because right now, yes,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: while this team arguably might be playing its best baseball
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of the season, it's hard to celebrate too much because
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: they're still far out of the race. At the time
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: of this recording, I believe they are still five games
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: out of the nationally wildcard race. They've passed up some teams, right?
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: They've passed up the Marlins. They've passed up the Cardinals.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Cardinals, yeah. And, yeah, so.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: They're a 500 team, but there's still a ways to
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: go with just a couple of weeks left in the season.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: And I wrote a column about if you can feel
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: excited about that or if it's disappointing. And the main
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: thing that a lot of people point to as to
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: why these wins aren't more meaningful, why this team is
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: in the position that it's in, is injury luck. I
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: have some numbers that I want to point out here, guys,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: and that's going to be the topic of today's show
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: is just how impactful injuries can be, how much of
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: the blame do they deserve for this season. There are
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: two guys that really stick out to me. When they're
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: on the field, this is a good team.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: O'Neal Cruz.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: The Pirates are 46-37 in games that O'Neal Cruz plays
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: in this year. They're 12-8 since he returned from the
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: IL in games that he's played in. Connor Griffin, they
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: are 35 and 29 in games that Connor Griffin has
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: played in this year. They are four and one since
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: he has returned from the IL. I point out these
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: two guys because these are your impact positions. This is
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: your starting center fielder. This is your starting shortstop. These
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: are the two highest war positions on the field. And
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, these guys are among the war leaders on
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: the team, despite having played, you know, a fraction compared.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: To the rest.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: And they and they were without them for a key stretch.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Connor Griffin missed time twice this year. It was obviously
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: a better team when he was around.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: And I mean, it's unfortunate. It's not like, you know, he's.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Babying or he's being babied or he's faking anything like
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: these are legit injuries. It's just unfortunate. Like it was
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: an unfortunate loss. Same thing for O'Neal Cruz. And it's
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: a different team without them. But how much of an
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: excuse is that, right?
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: These are two players. Their record with.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Ryan O'Hearn when he's healthy, 46-50. So they have a
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: losing record when Ryan O'Hearn's playing. And they'll point to
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: him being a tough loss. Spencer Horowitz was an extended loss.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, how valuable has he been since he's been back, right?
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So I think it really just comes down to these
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: two guys. And yes, tough losses, no doubt. But is
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: that a legitimate excuse? Can two things be true at once?
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: That yes, this hindered their chance to make the playoffs,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: but also it's not an excuse because teams have players
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: who get injured.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I'll start with you, Mark.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, when you think back to this season, will
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: injuries be the main reason why you believe the Pirates
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: did not make the playoffs?
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: I don't think injuries are the first thing I would
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: point to. I think that's One of the top three
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: for sure. But every single major league team has injuries.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: It's pro sports. Injuries are a part of the game.
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: You have to deal with that. And you can't use
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: that as an excuse yet. The Pirates had unfortunate luck
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: with who got injured this year as far as Cruz
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: and Griffin. But at the same time, if you're a
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: good team and a playoff team, you take that in
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: stride and say next man up and just go. build
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: off of that. And we didn't really see that when
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: those two guys went out. So at this, but yeah,
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think like I point more to Paul
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: Skeen's regression as more of like an impact because yeah,
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: I mean, they're injuries, but I don't think this is
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: a playoff team necessarily. If both Connor Griffin and O'Neal
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Cruz are healthy the whole year, I think they're way closer.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: They're a lot closer than five games. I don't know
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: if they're a better team than the Padres with those
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: two all year. What about you, Josh?
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: I don't certainly look at it and say that it's
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: the sole reason, but I definitely think it calls for impact.
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: Obviously, this title injury impact.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: You're talking two guys that, as you mentioned, shortstop center
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: field on a team that was already unproven defensively. You're
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: talking about two of your major positions that you're asking
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: to be filled in, not only from a defensive standpoint,
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: but they're counted on offensively. But Mark, you make a
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: good point with obviously looking at the pitching. You mentioned Paul,
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: you know, starting pitching bullpen at one point. So there
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: are obviously other factors.
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: That, yes, while Connor and O'Neal were.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Out, they still had their opportunities to where they lost
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: games due to, you know, just not taking care of
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: the ball or playing the game. And, you know, boiling
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: down to making the plays that need to be made. So, yes,
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: you're not going to sit here and say that those
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: two guys being out is the reason that they're not
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: in the playoffs.
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: But I do believe that if they're in, if those.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Guys are playing that, their record probably is better because
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: you mentioned Spencer Horowitz and you mentioned Ryan O'Hearn, who
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: might not have a winning record when, you know, they're
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: in the lineup. But how many of those times were
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: they in the lineup this year that Connor and, you know,
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: O'Neal weren't in and we just had this conversation about
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: Spencer and Or I think it was Spencer and Brian
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: Reynolds not having the protection. So that right there shows
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: you the impact of those two guys. You still have
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: opportunity to be in a lot better position than you are.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: But on a team that, as you said, has some
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: holes that aren't that good defensively, when you're missing your
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: two up the middle, it's going to be even that
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: much more blatant. And yes, you can sit here and
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: say that, yes, it had an impact while it's not
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: the sole reason.
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: Mark, I agree.
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: It would probably be in one of the top three because,
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: I mean, those are two guys that since they've been in,
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: been winning. But at the same time, you had guys
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: in those positions that were more than capable.
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: And as I said, they lost some games.
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: That when those guys weren't there, that if you look
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: back and you won those games, you're not having this
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: conversation of saying, oh, are we a playoff team when
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: these guys are there?
• 7:29
  Speaker 6: You're saying, you know what? These guys are making our
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: playoff push that much better.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: If O'Neill Cruz and Connor Griffin were healthy this entire year,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: the pirates are probably right around where the Padres and
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Diamondbacks are. Because, I mean, if you look at it,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Connor Griffin's played 64 games. He's worth 1.5 B-War. You
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: multiply that times two. That's a win and a half
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: right there. You get an extra win and a half
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: right there. And then you add O'Neill Cruz, who's worth
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: 2.1 B-War over 83 games. So let's just add a
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: third to that. And that's a difference of two or
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: three wins right now. And now you maybe aren't exactly
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: in the playoff. You might be a game or two
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: out as opposed to five games out. So, correct. If
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: they're two most valuable players, which if the season had,
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: like in MLB The Show, if you turned injuries off,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: those two guys would have led the team in war
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: this year.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Cruz and Griffin.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Yes. If it went perfect, sure, they would have been
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: a better team. But that's just not how baseball works.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: I'm willing to give grace for the Griffin injury simply
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: because they just didn't have anyone else. And they tried
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: to get creative and go get Gonzalez. And I kind
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: of like the way they went about it just because
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: it's like, hey, this is a long-term thing. Maybe he
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: can play and just be a little bit better than Triolo.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: The bat profile was kind of intriguing.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: But it didn't work.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Um, and if I'm going to blame anything on Griffin's absence,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: I'm going to blame it on the fact that they
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: didn't plan for a plan B at shortstop. They said,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: we have Jared Triolo. He can hold down the fort
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: until Connor's going to be here.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: And it was pretty clear that they intended on.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Connor being here very, very early as evidenced by the
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: fact that he was promoted the day before the home open. So, yeah,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: like they just plan on Connor being their everyday guy
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: at shortstop, which was a gamble. One, because he was
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: only 19 when they made that decision. And two, because, again,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: what happens if he gets hurt? Well, you're banking on
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Jared Triolo to play his worst position and you're banking
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: on Triolo to play every day when you know he
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: can't be a productive hitter as an everyday player. And
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: that was your only backup options. So if they had
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: signed like a backup or utility guy, you know, we've
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: thrown Willie Castro's name around a bunch.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: We threw around a whole bunch of.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Other names this offseason is just like a guy where
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: it's like you look at that left side you had
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: a third baseman who did not know you you only
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: have one guy who knew how to play shortstop and
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: third base that wasn't named connor griffin right but yet
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: there were times where you couldn't play either of them
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: there Because Connor Griffin wasn't healthy and Jared Triolo might
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: need a day off because he's struggling. And now you're
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: playing Nick Gonzalez out of position and you're losing war.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, Gonzalez, Jacob Gonzalez is like a negative war player.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: You use him to replace someone who is worth one
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: and a half to two wins.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: That's a huge drop off. So, you know, that's unfortunate.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: That was poor offseason planning. I could still excuse that
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: a little bit because again, if Connor was healthy, they
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: would have been fine. The one I can't excuse is
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Cruz because they should have been okay without O'Neal. Right.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: And I'm not saying that O'Neal isn't their best outfielder.
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: He is.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: When O'Neal Cruz is playing at his best, there's no
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: one on this team.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Aside from Connor, potentially, that can match the value that
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: he provides as far as speed, power, and even with
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: his mistakes in the field, he can make up for
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: it sometimes with his range.
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: It changes the game.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: It changes the game.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: But, If you look when O'Neal went down, it almost
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: directly coincides with Esmeralda Valdez's breakout month. So they got
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: what they were missing from... O'Neal offensively. And you probably
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: don't get that from Valdez if O'Neal's not hurt because
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: there's not a spot to play him every day and
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: let him get going.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: So it's not just like, well, if O'Neal was here
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and Valdez, it's like, no, no, no, no, no. You
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: weren't playing.
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: Well, there could have been.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:38
  Speaker 8: Like, I mean, maybe I guess, cause like Spencer was
• 11:41
  Speaker 8: hurting up the first base, but it's just like, I
• 11:46
  Speaker 8: don't think he gets that much run if O'Neal is
• 11:49
  Speaker 8: not playing every day.
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: So facts.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: They got the offensive production and even though valdez tailed
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: off you look at what he did while o'neill cruz
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: was gone i think he had like 15 home runs
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: over o'neill's absence had like an ops over 800 that's
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: what you're expecting to get from o'neill crew and he
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: was worth like a win over that stretch that's what
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: so you got that production and in centerfield mangum For,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: you know, as frustrating as he can be sometimes with
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: this over hustle is probably just as valuable in the
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: defensive side of the game, if not more valuable. And
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: there was a stretch where he was playing a decent
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: center field there. And if Reynolds had just done anything,
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: that outfield production wouldn't have dropped off at all.
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Because Valdez carried them offensively for the front half of
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: O'Neal's absence. And then when the 22-year-old rookie couldn't carry
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: the team offensively anymore, no one else could step up.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: And Mangum's a fourth outfielder. He shouldn't have been asked
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: to do that. In reality, I guess this is a
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: long way of me saying they, they still could have
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: survived this.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: They still could have survived it. The Connor one. And
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: then we said this on the show.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Was going to be the hardest thing to overcome because
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: there was no one that could replicate that value. But
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: in the outfield, maybe not directly in center field, but
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: their outfield value without Cruz could have been maintained because
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: they got someone to step up.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Valdez stepped up. And if Reynolds, who was playing.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Well while Valdez was also playing well, had just been
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: able to maintain what he'd been doing all year, or
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: even be some sort of semblance to it, they could
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: have got by, even without O'Hearn out there.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: So... I guess, yes.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Like I said, to round it all up, it's like,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: would they be a playoff team if Griffin and Cruz
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: were 100% healthy this year?
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Sure, maybe. But I would argue that they still could
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: have survived this. So it is an excuse.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: It is something to highlight. It is part of the
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: story of this team. Not an excuse, I guess, but
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: it is, again, like I said, it is definitely a
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: hurdle that they had to overcome, and they did not
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: overcome this one.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: But it is just as equal.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: They had four months of horrible bullpen pitching. And they
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: were not able to address that early. And it seems
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: like they were not able to address that because the
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: front office was unwilling to make an additional investment to payroll.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Because if you look at.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: All the players that they added at the trade deadline,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: all of them pretty much had their salaries covered, were
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: pre-arb players.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Or were coming in on expiring deals.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: And the money that they got sent away through Joey
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Bart and Arkady and and the comp pick pretty much
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: evened out the books. So maybe if they had a
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: little bit more money to spend, they could have fixed
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: the bullpen in June or July just with one arm,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: and that would.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Have been a fix.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Maybe if Brian Reynolds had stepped up at the plate
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: in August, that would have been a fix. Maybe if
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Paul Skeens didn't have his worst year as a pitcher since,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: I don't know, high school, that would have been a fix.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: To me, they're all even. The injuries are the most blatant, obviously,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: because you're seeing a lineup with names that don't include
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Connor Griffin and O'Neal Cruz and Ryan O'Hearn and Spencer Horowitz.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Like, yes, that's part of baseball, though.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: And good teams, they find a way. And it's not
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: to say that this team did not have players that
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: could have at least kept it alive. They wouldn't have
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: been as good, but they didn't need to be this
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: bad without these guys. And that's the point I'm trying
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: to make is, yes, it didn't have to.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Be as good, but they could have stayed afloat.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: And if they were just 500 entering September, and then
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: you get what they've just done through the first 9,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: 10 days of the month.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Now we actually have something to talk about, something to
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: be excited about. But they weren't good enough when they
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: weren't at full health.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: And to me, so these injuries, yes, part of the story,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: but so.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Too is Paul Skeen's not stepping up, Jared Jones not
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: being good enough, the bullpen not being good enough, the
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: defense not being good enough. It's all, to me, an
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: equal pie chart. And that's why they didn't make the playoffs.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: It's not just because their two best players can't stay healthy.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: That's just part of baseball sometimes. Sometimes you lose guys.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, the Atlanta Braves won the World Series without
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: their best player. And I know this isn't the Atlanta Braves,
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: but they're also not trying to win the World Series.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: They're trying to win 85 games. So they had enough
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: talent to still be better. without Griffin for half the
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: season and Cruz for a third of it. Right.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break. When we return,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: we will wrap.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Up this week's show, this week's Friday show, as we
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: always do with our weekly segment, Jay Hay Now, here
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: on Bucket of Territory.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: The postseason run is heating up for Major League Baseball teams. Kratzy,
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: you can go see all these games, all the important games.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Whatever your team is, they have a great chance, almost
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: all of them, at being alive for the postseason. So
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: you can go on SeatGeek and find whatever team you want,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: whatever game you want, whatever matchup you want to try
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: to help cheer your team on to the postseason.
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: Yeah, look ahead of your schedule.
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: Go on to SeatGeek.
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: Essentially, your team's either in the playoffs or the team
• 17:13
  Speaker 7: they're playing has a chance in the playoffs. So all
• 17:16
  Speaker 7: these games in September, you got to get on there,
• 17:19
  Speaker 7: get your green dot, figure out where you're going to sit,
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: do it ahead of time, and use the codes.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: And of course, I have a code for y'all. You
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: can use code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next set
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: of MLB tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off MLB tickets
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: in the description to download the app and have the
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: code automatically added to your account so you can use
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: it later. Get ready for MLB postseason by getting the
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: perfect ticket on SeatGeek.
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: This week's Jay Hay now is going to highlight somebody
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: that I spoke on a little bit. I think it
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: was earlier this week or last week, just overall for
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: the team, who I think has done a good job
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: of just kind of being that veteran presence, steady kind
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: of heartbeat, keeping everybody, you know, focused on the task
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: at hand, Brandon Lyle. You know, he's kind of been
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: that voice of the locker room. I think it was
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: the Miami series when they had the meeting and he
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: was just saying, man, you know, guys had, kind of
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: reflected and said that they were just trying to do
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: too much.
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: And he was just like, you.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: Know, our job is to go out and, you know,
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: play these games and focus on the job at hand
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: and take it one game at a time. And I
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: think he's been a really good, you know, representative of
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: showing that. And even in the moment of, you know,
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: not necessarily got into it, but, you know, just staying
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: present and, you know, guys might be feeding off of,
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: you know, in Chicago the other day, the little player,
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: second base, you know, he.
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: Wasn't on it. Like, come on, man. What's going on, man?
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: What you doing, bro?
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: Like, you know, Just kind of like, come on, man,
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: let's keep it, like, keep it a hundred.
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: I'm out here, like, hey, we getting in y'all right now.
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: You don't like it. It is what it is.
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: But, like, you know, and you saw right away how
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: the guys jumped out. I think yo didn't even, yo
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: was all the way to the dugout before he realized.
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean? But, you know, who better
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: right now on the team than for, you know, than
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: it to be. know brandon loud i don't think he
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: was doing it to try to get the guys riled
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: up you know that's just him playing the game and
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: saying like come on man cool out bro like you
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: know we we all we coming for you like y'all
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: trying to do something we are too but you know
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: even where the pirates are you know anybody could have
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: been like man they ate five games out.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: He's like, bro, we got to take it one game
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: at a time.
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: And when you got a team that has been playing
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: the way that they have, you need constant reminders of
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: a guy that's going out there showing up day to
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: day and doing what he's supposed to and then at
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: the same time showing up for his guys. Yep.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: And I just love how Brandon Lau is– he's one
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: of the few players on this team who doesn't have
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: a contract with the Pirates next year. He's not going
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: to be a– not necessarily already a part of next
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: year's team, but you can just tell how much he
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: cares about winning still, about still fighting for this team,
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: still playing hard constantly. I've just been so impressed by
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: the leadership, his constant comments, just reminding everyone, you know,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: our only goal today is just to go 1-0, and
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: that's it. That's all we have to worry about today.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: I think that mindset has been, you've really got to
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: see that his, like, impact on the team these last
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: few series has because it looks like this team's learning
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: how to win. And I think Brandon Lau has shown that,
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: especially dealing with this hard stretch after the All-Star break,
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: dealing with adversity, dealing with that disappointment. And so keeping
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: your head up and going out there and fighting, I
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: really think that this stretch, even though it might not
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: mean anything this year, down the line, I think it
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: will pay dividends.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: With the exception of Juan Soto in 24, when he
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: had that monster year with the Yankees heading into free agency,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I can't recall a better overall showing heading into a
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: contract year. I mean, he's having his best year on
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: the field, but if you have been paying attention, and.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Brandon Lau's agency is noting.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: All of these things, the dude fouls a ball off
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: his damn kneecap and can't walk off the field and
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: plays the freaking next day. In middle July in Atlanta
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: when it's hot and no one wants to play baseball.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: It might have been early July or late June, one
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: of those two.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: He shows up every day. He's second on the team
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: in games played. He's been their most consistent player, pitcher
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: or position player. Like Mark said, he is perhaps the
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: most invested on this team, and he has no reason.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: He's not going to be a pirate in 30 days.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: He's not, I mean, they're going to stop paying him
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: after the season ends and he might come back, but like,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: he has no reason to care about.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Anything other than Brandon Lau's numbers.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: But the fact that this dude just shows up every
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: day and he is just on his P's and Q's, man.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: He is the definition of a pro. That is, I
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: don't care what business you're running, he exemplifies the exact
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: qualities you should strive to find in employees. Someone who
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: makes everyone better around him. someone who has a great
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: attitude someone who is a leader but not overbearing who
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: always knows his place in every situation be it in
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: a scuffle on the field be it you know in
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: the lineup what he needs to do depending on who's
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: hitting in front of him be in the clubhouse when
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: he's new and not trying to come in and take
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: it over the first day of spring training but gradually
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: becoming that guy that everyone can come to and lean
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: on and be a rock that's candidly been missing from
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: this clubhouse.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: For many, many years, pretty much throughout this entire regime.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: He has been excellent.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: And just to see him add on to it, there's
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: like just this one final piece of like, okay, we've
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: seen it all, aside from this one thing that we saw.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: We're recording on some Thursday.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: So last night, Wednesday night was just basically like, we're
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: not going to let you treat us.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Like a bitch, you know, lack of a bag for
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: lack of a better term. That's what it is.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: And it's like, I don't care if we're five games out.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: I don't care if we're under 500 right now. Like
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: we show up and we play with pride. And there
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: have been a lot of pirate scenes that I've covered
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: that I've watched that wouldn't have someone to just like,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: you know, maybe they would, but it would be like an,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: a personal thing, you know, like, but like, I think
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Brandon Lau, what he did there was not just to
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: defend Brandon Lau. It was to stand up for the
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Pirates because I remember last year in San Diego when
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: they got screwed on a call at home plate and
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Don Kelly got ejected and Mitch Keller came out of
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: the dugout and was yelling. I remember after the game,
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: the message in the clubhouse from Kutch and from Don
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Kelly was, we've got to earn our respect.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: No one in baseball respects us.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: And now you see they're earning that respect. The White
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Sox knew they screwed up when that happened immediately. And
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: you could see everyone was ready to go. This is
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: a team that's unified. I've never once doubted that they
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: had a bad culture in that clubhouse. And I think
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Brandon Lau plays a part of that with the things
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: he says, the things he does, and even the things
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: that don't get noticed. Just being around that guy, that
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: is winning energy right there. And if other guys who
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: have been here longer could even be one fraction of
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: what Brandon Lau has been this year throughout their time
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: in the Pirates, this organization would be a lot better.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: They need a lot more Brandon Laus around here. Maybe
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: not guys who have the same back of the baseball card,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: but guys who have this, guys who have this, and
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: guys who have something that I'm.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Grabbing beneath the camera right now that can't go on camera.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: So good for Brandon Lau. I can't say enough nice
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: things about him. You know what I also can't say
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: enough is hit that subscribe button. I could say it
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: maybe 3,000 more times because that's our mission.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: That's what we're heading to.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: I also want to remind everyone to head to the
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Bucko Territory team store. Guys, any final thoughts before we
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: wrap this one up?
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: Nothing from me. What about you, Josh?
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: No, I think you closed the show out pretty good there, Noah. Yeah.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: I guess one final note on Brandon Lau, throughout this
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: entire White Sox series, he has been picking up what
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: pitchers are doing and communicating that constantly. Brian Reynolds kept
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: pointing at him being like, thank you. You were completely right.
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: Pulling Reynolds aside right before he gets up to the plate.
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: So again, just you see that leadership. It's emblematic. He
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: does it even when no one's watching, when no one's
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: going to notice. So yeah, just shout out to Brandon Lau.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: What about you Noah? Any final thoughts?
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just on the 25th anniversary of 9-11, just want
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: to say big thanks to all of our first responders
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: out there, firefighters, police officers, people who keep us safe
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: in times of tragedy.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Just those images, and it's not just.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: 9-11, obviously, but any image of everyone running out of
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: a burning building and seeing people run in, I think
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: that's very powerful. And to quote Mr. Rogers, always look
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: for the helpers. That can restore a little bit of
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: faith in humanity. So shout out to all of you
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: people who are helpers. We appreciate you not just on
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: 25th anniversaries of American tragedies, but every single day.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you for what you do.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Big thanks to everyone who watches the show as well.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: He's Platinum Key. He's Josh Harrison. I'm Noah Heil signing
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: off saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Bucko Territory presented to you by the Fowl Territory Network.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Take care.