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O's win series, but lose ground in chase for the final Wild Card · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Close, but not quite for the Orioles. Could not pull
0:10
Speaker 1: off the sweep in St. Louis as we tape this
0:12
Speaker 1: after the game Thursday afternoon. Orioles fall to the Cardinals 7-5, 65-69.
0:18
Speaker 1: So a lot good happened in this series. The downside
0:23
Speaker 1: here now is we've been saying on this show for weeks,
0:26
Speaker 1: somebody's going to get hot and try to separate themselves
0:29
Speaker 1: in the wildcard race. It finally happened. It's not the Orioles, unfortunately.
0:33
Speaker 1: It's Cleveland Guardians. who won seven straight against not good opponents,
0:37
Speaker 1: but they won them all. And now the Orioles losing
0:40
Speaker 1: a half game today. Cleveland's off three back in the
0:43
Speaker 1: wild card. Guys, they got to roll off some wins here.
0:46
Speaker 1: They're going to play the Athletics and the Rockies. No
0:49
Speaker 1: guarantee you beat them just because they have terrible records.
0:52
Speaker 1: But right now, guys, 28 games left. So 500 ball
0:53
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to get it done at this point.
1:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.
1:01
Speaker 3: And I think Steve, like you, you kind of said
1:02
Speaker 3: right off the bat, there's like, you knew a team
1:05
Speaker 3: was going to get hot and you knew somebody was
1:06
Speaker 3: going to make up some ground and now it's happening
1:09
Speaker 3: and the guardians are getting hot at the right time.
1:10
Speaker 3: And I just think with these two series coming up,
1:13
Speaker 3: normally going into it, you'd be fine with four or two,
1:15
Speaker 3: but with the way the standings are going, I mean,
1:18
Speaker 3: you got to think five and one is like what
1:21
Speaker 3: you got to get in order to keep yourself afloat
1:23
Speaker 3: in the wildcard race. Cause if you can get out
1:25
Speaker 3: of hand pretty fast. So I think it's just, I
1:27
Speaker 3: think it's just a matter of the schedule. And we
1:28
Speaker 3: knew the American league at some point, somebody was going
1:31
Speaker 3: to get hot. And I think we're, we're seeing that
1:33
Speaker 3: now in the guardians every year, they just somehow seem
1:36
Speaker 3: to rise to the top when they need to. And
1:38
Speaker 3: there they go with the seven gate win streak. So
1:40
Speaker 3: I just think for the Orioles now, you just got to,
1:43
Speaker 3: like I said, it's, it's hard to tell yourself you
1:45
Speaker 3: got to win five, but with these two opponents, I
1:47
Speaker 3: feel like you have to win five in order to
1:49
Speaker 3: keep yourself in this thing.
1:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, Brad, I'm, I'm with you a hundred percent where
1:53
Speaker 4: treading water is no longer good enough. And it's good
1:57
Speaker 4: that you won this series against the Cardinals, but you
2:00
Speaker 4: really have to take advantage against two of the worst
2:03
Speaker 4: teams in baseball. Now, look, the A's are coming into
2:06
Speaker 4: this series tomorrow having won their last two series, so
2:10
Speaker 4: it's not like they're rolling over down the stretch. But
2:13
Speaker 4: after these two series, guys, you only play one team
2:16
Speaker 4: in the month of September that is not in playoff contention,
2:20
Speaker 4: and that's the Mets. Now, if you're looking at this
2:22
Speaker 4: from a glass half-full perspective, The Guardians do come to
2:26
Speaker 4: Camden Yards for a Labor Day series. So the Orioles
2:30
Speaker 4: have an opportunity to gain some ground there against the Guardians.
2:34
Speaker 4: But up until that point, man, you've got to bank
2:37
Speaker 4: some wins. You have to get closer to 500 and
2:40
Speaker 4: then above.
2:42
Speaker 1: A lot of interesting topics to talk about from this
2:44
Speaker 1: series in St. Louis, where the Orioles, of course, scored
2:47
Speaker 1: a bunch of runs in winning the first two games
2:49
Speaker 1: and even scored five today. So they actually wound up
2:52
Speaker 1: scoring 26 runs in this series. But they allowed 14
2:55
Speaker 1: the last two games in splitting those two, two and
2:59
Speaker 1: one in the series. Let's start with this one. Kobe
3:02
Speaker 1: Mayo today hit his 14th homer off a lefty. That's
3:06
Speaker 1: his updated stats through today against Southpaws. He's slugging 746,
3:10
Speaker 1: OPSing 1100. This is crazy. And when he hits them,
3:15
Speaker 1: they stay hit. 446 feet today. Here's what I think, though,
3:20
Speaker 1: and I want to hear your guys' thoughts beyond these
3:23
Speaker 1: offensive numbers. I worry about Kobe's future position. If Pete's
3:28
Speaker 1: locked in at first, if Westberg comes back, they hope
3:31
Speaker 1: at third. If Jackson's at second and Gunner's at short,
3:35
Speaker 1: I don't see Kobe as an outfielder long term. I'm
3:38
Speaker 1: not sure where he can fit in, but right now
3:41
Speaker 1: he's hitting to the point where you really got to
3:43
Speaker 1: sort that out somehow.
3:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great point. I honestly didn't think about
3:48
Speaker 3: that till you just said it, but it's the truth.
3:50
Speaker 3: I think when Jordan Westbrook comes back healthy, he's the
3:52
Speaker 3: best third baseman they have. And you obviously have P
3:54
Speaker 3: for locked up here and holidays not going anywhere. Henderson's
3:58
Speaker 3: not going anywhere. So it's kind of like, is he
4:00
Speaker 3: an outfielder? Is he a DH? Other than that, where
4:02
Speaker 3: does he kind of fit in here? And with the
4:04
Speaker 3: way he's hitting, you just want to see him. hit
4:07
Speaker 3: average against righties. It's just you just want to be
4:10
Speaker 3: able to see him hit 230, 235, 240 against righties,
4:14
Speaker 3: and then you can really think about, okay, what can
4:17
Speaker 3: we do to get this guy in the lineup every day?
4:19
Speaker 3: But if you're looking at the lineup for next year
4:21
Speaker 3: moving forward, I just kind of see him as a
4:24
Speaker 3: DH against lefties at this point. I don't know if
4:27
Speaker 3: you can put him in there every single day and
4:29
Speaker 3: try to move him to the outfield and maybe get
4:31
Speaker 3: something out of that. So I just think that's one
4:33
Speaker 3: of the bigger question marks that moving forward in September
4:36
Speaker 3: here and trying to figure out what you're going to
4:38
Speaker 3: do for 2027 is where does Kobe Mayo fit in
4:40
Speaker 3: this lineup and with this team? And I think that's
4:42
Speaker 3: a big question mark that the Orioles need to figure out.
4:45
Speaker 4: We're going to have no shortage of storylines to talk
4:48
Speaker 4: about this off season, but Kobe Mayo is, it really
4:52
Speaker 4: is one of the bigger storylines, Steve. It's, it's something
4:54
Speaker 4: that we've talked about on, on one Oh five, seven,
4:57
Speaker 4: the fan is he's kind of caught in this numbers game.
5:00
Speaker 4: And look, it's a good problem to have because if
5:02
Speaker 4: you're Mike Elias, you want as many good players on
5:05
Speaker 4: your team as possible. Does Kobe Mayo end up being
5:08
Speaker 4: a trade ship?
5:09
Speaker 5: Perhaps.
5:10
Speaker 4: I know Mike Elias, when he was meeting with the
5:13
Speaker 4: media at the beginning of spring training, remember this was
5:16
Speaker 4: prior to Jackson holiday going down prior to Jordan Westberg
5:19
Speaker 4: going down. He did bring up the possibility that Kobe
5:22
Speaker 4: Mayo would get work in a corner outfield spot.
5:25
Speaker 5: We know that he has a big.
5:26
Speaker 4: Time arm, but, I just think Kobe has bounced around
5:30
Speaker 4: a lot positionally in his young career, where this time
5:35
Speaker 4: a year ago, Steve, he was playing first base, and
5:37
Speaker 4: I felt like he was more than holding his own.
5:40
Speaker 4: And then, of course, you signed Pete, so that's out
5:42
Speaker 4: the window. Is he an everyday third baseman at the
5:46
Speaker 4: major league level? I'm not so sure. But with Westbrook
5:50
Speaker 4: coming back and, hey, even throwing Christian Encarnacion straight, what
5:55
Speaker 4: he's meant to this club, ever since Blaze Alexander went
5:58
Speaker 4: down with that injury, he's been extremely productive.
6:01
Speaker 5: So that's another name in the mix.
6:05
Speaker 1: It is interesting to speculate if there could be a
6:08
Speaker 1: fall or winter trade here with him because, as you said,
6:12
Speaker 1: you've got CES now. Is he long-term for the Orioles?
6:16
Speaker 1: He's looking like he might. You've got Blaze Alexander having
6:19
Speaker 1: this great year. And maybe a team that has more
6:22
Speaker 1: of an opening at the corner infield, would covet Kobe
6:25
Speaker 1: Mayo and all that control. The risk for the Orioles
6:28
Speaker 1: is are you trading a guy who's turning into a
6:30
Speaker 1: 35-homer player right before your eyes? They have to make
6:35
Speaker 1: that judgment. But if you were to take him with
6:37
Speaker 1: all that control and a couple, one or two of
6:40
Speaker 1: those young pitchers that teams covet, you could get yourself
6:44
Speaker 1: a thumping outfielder that they're missing right now and kind
6:48
Speaker 1: of fill a need.
6:50
Speaker 3: With the stats you just showed, 14 homers against lefties,
6:53
Speaker 3: OPS over 1,100. That is a piece that teams would
6:58
Speaker 3: covet to have. That's a guy that you can slot
7:00
Speaker 3: in every single day against a lefty. Some of these
7:02
Speaker 3: bigger market teams, they don't need to have a guy
7:04
Speaker 3: that's going to play every day. They just need to
7:06
Speaker 3: have a guy that's going to mash against lefties or
7:07
Speaker 3: against righties. And there's other teams where their rosters are
7:10
Speaker 3: a little bit more flexible. So it definitely makes sense
7:13
Speaker 3: if you're in this offseason. And like I said, with
7:15
Speaker 3: Blaise Alexander coming back, the guy's a Swiss Army knife.
7:17
Speaker 3: He can play everywhere. He plays a great defense everywhere
7:20
Speaker 3: in the infield. You can put him in the outfield.
7:22
Speaker 3: And I feel like he does a little bit better
7:24
Speaker 3: job than I think maybe Kobe could do elsewhere in
7:27
Speaker 3: the field. And he just might not be a roster
7:29
Speaker 3: fit for the Orioles, which can happen in the major leagues.
7:31
Speaker 3: And if you're able to get something back for him,
7:33
Speaker 3: it might be something to consider this offseason.
7:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, it definitely makes a ton of sense. And heck,
7:38
Speaker 4: even in the short term, guys, I'm kind of curious
7:40
Speaker 4: where Blaze Alexander is going to play. Obviously, you want
7:43
Speaker 4: that bat in the lineup, but he's played a couple
7:46
Speaker 4: of rehab games. And the first game he played at
7:49
Speaker 4: third base, last night he played in center field. And
7:53
Speaker 4: I'm thinking just with how Mayo's swinging it, how CES
7:56
Speaker 4: is swinging it, you might see Blaze more in the
8:00
Speaker 4: outfield down the stretch, at least for the remainder of
8:03
Speaker 4: this season. But they're going to get creative with him.
8:06
Speaker 4: especially against left-handed starters. You're going to want CES and
8:09
Speaker 4: Kobe Mayo both in the lineup, so Blaze definitely won't
8:13
Speaker 4: be a third base against a left-handed starter.
8:16
Speaker 1: Coming up as we get deeper into the show, we're
8:18
Speaker 1: going to talk about a little concern of the starters here,
8:20
Speaker 1: seeing Bradish and Rodgers struggle back-to-back. On the other hand,
8:25
Speaker 1: the bullpen's been kind of on a roll here for
8:27
Speaker 1: about a week. We'll touch on Pete Alonzo, the amazing
8:30
Speaker 1: run he's been on, even if he didn't get it
8:32
Speaker 1: done for one game. I think we can be okay
8:34
Speaker 1: with that, the way he's been swinging. So a lot
8:37
Speaker 1: to do today. Don't go anywhere. Stay with us on
8:40
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory.
8:44
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8:48
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9:44
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Kyle Bradish for a moment. I have
9:46
Speaker 1: some concerns how it's unfolding for him in recent games.
9:50
Speaker 1: And it was disappointing to see him Give up seven
9:53
Speaker 1: earned runs in four and a third on the second
9:56
Speaker 1: game of the series in St. Louis. That tied his
9:58
Speaker 1: career high. So last year, he threw 54 innings, counting
10:03
Speaker 1: the minors and the majors. Now he's at 143 for
10:06
Speaker 1: the Orioles. And Brad, my question to you is, that's
10:12
Speaker 1: a big jump up, but how do we factor in
10:17
Speaker 1: that he once threw 169 in the majors, that was
10:21
Speaker 1: in 2023, when he was fourth for the Cy Young Award.
10:24
Speaker 1: Is that helping him now, or is that too far removed?
10:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, to me, I think it might be a little
10:31
Speaker 3: bit too far removed. I just think he's hitting the wall,
10:35
Speaker 3: and I think it's been very obvious that he has
10:37
Speaker 3: still the swing and miss stuff and he'll get his
10:39
Speaker 3: strikeouts here and there, but it just hasn't been as
10:41
Speaker 3: crisp as we've seen him. And it's just, it's just
10:44
Speaker 3: the fact of him coming off an injury. And it's a,
10:46
Speaker 3: it's a, everyone wants to talk about with Tommy John,
10:48
Speaker 3: it's a 14 month comeback, but really when you think
10:51
Speaker 3: about it, it's, it's more of a two year plus
10:54
Speaker 3: type of comeback, especially as a starting pitcher, just because
10:57
Speaker 3: of the innings stuff, like you talked about, Steve, I
10:59
Speaker 3: think it's just, he's getting, he's getting way beyond the
11:02
Speaker 3: amount of innings he threw last year. And, it's just
11:04
Speaker 3: really hard to perform at the major league level at
11:06
Speaker 3: that as well as he has been doing for as
11:09
Speaker 3: long as he's been doing at this point. When last
11:11
Speaker 3: year he threw 50-something innings, and you're talking about almost
11:13
Speaker 3: tripling the amount of innings he threw last year. No
11:16
Speaker 3: matter what your innings have been in your career in
11:18
Speaker 3: the past, I just don't know if he has the
11:21
Speaker 3: long resume that we've seen some of these older veterans
11:23
Speaker 3: that have Tommy John. They come back, they throw 150-plus
11:26
Speaker 3: innings the year after they come back from Tommy John.
11:29
Speaker 3: It's a really difficult injury, and I think every guy
11:31
Speaker 3: reacts to it differently here. And I would just be
11:33
Speaker 3: very careful with him here moving forward just because the
11:36
Speaker 3: standings are kind of up against you. And his performance
11:39
Speaker 3: just has not been where it's been at. And it's
11:42
Speaker 3: not because of him. I really think it has a
11:43
Speaker 3: lot to do with just the amount of innings and
11:45
Speaker 3: the workload he's put on himself this year, which he's
11:48
Speaker 3: done amazing to this point, honestly.
11:50
Speaker 4: It's a significant storyline, and it's not just for Kyle Braddish.
11:54
Speaker 4: Where Trevor Rodgers today, he has now thrown a career
11:56
Speaker 4: high in innings at the major league level.
11:59
Speaker 5: Brandon Young is blown by that.
12:01
Speaker 4: Shane Boz is 16 innings away from throwing a career high.
12:05
Speaker 4: So it's a lot of these guys currently in the
12:09
Speaker 4: starting rotation, and that's where my focus kind of goes
12:11
Speaker 4: to September call-ups, where do you go to a six-man
12:15
Speaker 4: at that point? Do you back off Braddish some– It's
12:18
Speaker 4: a huge, huge storyline. Maybe I'm looking at this from
12:22
Speaker 4: a very glass half full perspective with Kyle Braddish. Obviously,
12:27
Speaker 4: you look at his line and you never want to
12:29
Speaker 4: give up seven earned runs. Captain Obvious calling. He didn't
12:32
Speaker 4: get shelled in that game. I was more disappointed about
12:37
Speaker 4: the back to back walks in the fifth inning where.
12:40
Speaker 4: When you're staked to a big lead, you can't be
12:43
Speaker 4: walking people, much less walking back-to-back guys. But you look
12:46
Speaker 4: at the hits. Burleson hit a dribbler through the middle
12:49
Speaker 4: of the infield. Walker hit that chopper down the left-field line.
12:53
Speaker 4: Church hit a fly ball where Dylan Beavers had hit
12:56
Speaker 4: off his glove. So he wasn't getting shelled, but clearly
13:00
Speaker 4: this is not Pete Kyle Braddish. And we haven't seen
13:03
Speaker 4: Pete Kyle Braddish in quite some time. In terms of
13:06
Speaker 4: the swing and miss, that's downhill. The breaking balls don't
13:09
Speaker 4: really have that snap that we're accustomed to seeing.
13:12
Speaker 5: So I think that.
13:13
Speaker 4: This is a big storyline when talking about the innings,
13:17
Speaker 4: not just for Kyle Braddish, but the rest of the
13:20
Speaker 4: starting rotation as well.
13:23
Speaker 1: I think that's a good way to put it, Tim.
13:25
Speaker 1: We haven't seen peak Braddish. We hold this guy to
13:27
Speaker 1: such a high standard because we've seen it. We know
13:30
Speaker 1: what he's capable of doing. And so right now, ERA
13:33
Speaker 1: over six, his last six starts after seven earned runs. But, again,
13:39
Speaker 1: this is a big talent. They signed him long-term. That
13:42
Speaker 1: was great to see. I just am a little surprised.
13:45
Speaker 1: I guess I sort of expected early a few, like,
13:48
Speaker 1: five-inning outings. Like, they might yank him. He's pitching a shutout,
13:52
Speaker 1: but they get him out of there. But then again,
13:54
Speaker 1: if you go back and that binds you in an
13:56
Speaker 1: inning here, two innings there, you're still only 10 or 20.
14:00
Speaker 1: It doesn't save you 50 or 60 innings. It saves
14:02
Speaker 1: you 15 or 20. But that wasn't done, and so.
14:07
Speaker 1: They want to be playing in October. It's going to
14:10
Speaker 1: be challenging.
14:11
Speaker 4: Yeah.
14:11
Speaker 3: And I think that's the other side of the story
14:14
Speaker 3: here is that if they get to October, can you
14:16
Speaker 3: even pitch Kyle Braddish in the playoffs? Like to me,
14:18
Speaker 3: I just don't know if there's going to be innings there.
14:19
Speaker 3: And if you do, are you risking injury again? And
14:22
Speaker 3: to me, that would be the worst thing that could
14:23
Speaker 3: possibly happen for the season and moving forward. Because to me,
14:27
Speaker 3: the way he's pitched for a majority of the season,
14:29
Speaker 3: he's a race or he's at least at the very worst,
14:32
Speaker 3: your number two starter. And you just cannot afford for
14:35
Speaker 3: this guy to get hurt. And I think At this point, Tim,
14:38
Speaker 3: like you kind of said before, I just think you've
14:40
Speaker 3: got to protect this guy no matter what it is,
14:42
Speaker 3: whether it's a six-man rotation, whether it's you want him
14:44
Speaker 3: to make a start every fifth day, it's three innings,
14:47
Speaker 3: and you just have to do a piggyback with somebody else.
14:49
Speaker 3: There's just got to be a plan, and I'm sure
14:51
Speaker 3: they have one. They just haven't shown it yet. It's
14:53
Speaker 3: just he's a huge piece moving forward, and I just
14:55
Speaker 3: feel like at this point he is priority number one
14:58
Speaker 3: to keep safe.
14:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, we've had this conversation at various points throughout the
15:03
Speaker 4: season where, heck, even go back to the All-Star break, guys.
15:05
Speaker 4: We're talking, okay, could you skip a start there, get
15:08
Speaker 4: to them on the other side, and they opted to
15:10
Speaker 4: not do it. I'll admit, I'm shocked they haven't gone
15:14
Speaker 4: to a six-man rotation or done anything to kind of
15:17
Speaker 4: artificially change the innings.
15:19
Speaker 5: Load for Kyle Braddish.
15:21
Speaker 4: But, again, I think we're going to find out a
15:23
Speaker 4: lot at this September call-up, you know, Is it Cade Povich?
15:28
Speaker 4: Is it Luis de Leon, who has been transitioning to
15:31
Speaker 4: a bullpen arm? And if it is de Leon, is
15:34
Speaker 4: that a possible piggyback for Kyle Braddish? So I think
15:38
Speaker 4: we'll get a lot more clarity on September 1st.
15:43
Speaker 1: So the Orioles, the pressure's on right now. 28 games
15:46
Speaker 1: to go, as we said. Cleveland's won seven in a row.
15:49
Speaker 1: So guys with 28 games to go, if the Orioles
15:52
Speaker 1: went 17-11... They'd have a winning record, 82-80. Would that
15:56
Speaker 1: be enough? In the American League, it might be more
15:58
Speaker 1: than enough. But right now, Cleveland's two over. So remember that.
16:03
Speaker 1: All it takes is one team to separate, and they're
16:05
Speaker 1: doing it. And as you said, Brad, this isn't their
16:08
Speaker 1: first rodeo. They seem to have something in the DNA
16:11
Speaker 1: in Cleveland that late in the year, they're ready to go.
16:15
Speaker 3: And we've kind of, we mentioned earlier in the season
16:17
Speaker 3: when they play them, but it's pitching and defense and
16:19
Speaker 3: every single year that shows up and that team just
16:21
Speaker 3: has arms for days. They've had this forever. And then
16:25
Speaker 3: those couple of years, they went to the world series.
16:27
Speaker 3: They had an amazing lineup with it. So to me,
16:29
Speaker 3: it's like one of those teams that you kind of
16:31
Speaker 3: see in your rear view mirror, you know, they're always
16:33
Speaker 3: there and you're just kind of waiting for them to
16:34
Speaker 3: speed by you. And I feel like They might have
16:36
Speaker 3: just found their click here because their bullpen, their starting
16:40
Speaker 3: rotation is really good. Their bullpen is even better than that.
16:43
Speaker 3: And it's just this is the time of year I
16:44
Speaker 3: feel like where those things really show up. You have
16:46
Speaker 3: a lead, the game's over. And that's kind of what
16:48
Speaker 3: they've done for I feel like over a decade now.
16:51
Speaker 3: I feel like they've had that kind of team where
16:52
Speaker 3: the offense does just enough, but the pitching staff is
16:55
Speaker 3: the thing that really puts them over the edge. And
16:57
Speaker 3: I feel like that's what they're kind of doing right now.
16:59
Speaker 4: They just know how to get it done. And Steven
17:02
Speaker 4: Vogt is a heck of a manager. And, you know,
17:05
Speaker 4: this time a year ago, that was when they were
17:07
Speaker 4: really making their move and the Tigers are spiraling down
17:10
Speaker 4: the stretch.
17:11
Speaker 5: The Guardians end up winning the division again.
17:13
Speaker 4: I'm not putting it past them to win the division again.
17:18
Speaker 4: They're heading into today. There were two and a half
17:20
Speaker 4: games behind the White Sox. So they're within arm's reach.
17:24
Speaker 4: I think there's a very real chance they end up
17:26
Speaker 4: winning the centrals.
17:29
Speaker 1: Not the team you want to see breathing down your back,
17:32
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Guardians. And if they stay the wildcard team,
17:37
Speaker 1: by the way, they're going to play three against Kansas
17:39
Speaker 1: City coming up. The Royals have gotten hot, maybe at
17:42
Speaker 1: a good time for the Orioles. Then it's a nine-game
17:45
Speaker 1: homestand upcoming for Cleveland. Three KC, three Toronto, three Detroit.
17:50
Speaker 1: So all those teams, well, the final two after KC,
17:53
Speaker 1: are sort of in it there. And then three in Baltimore.
17:56
Speaker 1: So if the Orioles can stay within a game or two,
17:59
Speaker 1: That could be a very sizable series in early September
18:02
Speaker 1: at Camden Yards. The Birds fall in the final game
18:05
Speaker 1: of the series at Busch Stadium, 7-5, and we're talking
18:10
Speaker 1: about that and more topics coming up on Birdland Territory.
18:13
Speaker 2: It's time to remind everyone why baseball is glorious, especially
18:17
Speaker 2: nowadays where you could think your team is out of it,
18:19
Speaker 2: but they might be back in it again. Let me
18:21
Speaker 2: introduce you to the American League wildcard, KP, and let's
18:25
Speaker 2: tell everyone why they might need to head back to
18:27
Speaker 2: SeatGeek grab some more tickets for what is a playoff
18:31
Speaker 2: race before the playoffs actually begin.
18:34
Speaker 6: Well, speaking about being out of it, I'm an American
18:37
Speaker 6: League East guy, and I'm talking to you Toronto fans.
18:40
Speaker 6: I'm talking to you Baltimore fans. A couple weeks ago,
18:43
Speaker 6: probably not a reason to come out to the games.
18:45
Speaker 6: Look at the standings right now. Both of you teams
18:47
Speaker 6: are right back in this wildcard race. Rangers fans.
18:51
Speaker 5: We can go on and on.
18:52
Speaker 2: Mariners fans, you might be feeling a little queasy, but
18:54
Speaker 2: you're still in this thing too. So all of you
18:57
Speaker 2: should head to SeatGeek and get yourself 10% off your
19:01
Speaker 2: next set of MLB tickets. 10% off MLB tickets with
19:04
Speaker 2: the promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link
19:07
Speaker 2: in the description to download the app and have the
19:09
Speaker 2: code automatically added to your account so that you can
19:12
Speaker 2: use it later.
19:15
Speaker 1: Well, of all the things I expected to see in
19:17
Speaker 1: the final game of the Orioles, the St. Louis series,
19:20
Speaker 1: I did not expect to see Pete Alonzo strike out
19:23
Speaker 1: four times, go over forward four strikeouts. Man, baseball, you
19:27
Speaker 1: just don't know. But this guy has been so scorching hot,
19:31
Speaker 1: just ridiculous. And what I think we're seeing this year
19:34
Speaker 1: from him is he's not just a good power hitter.
19:38
Speaker 1: He's a good hitter. Obviously, all this opposite field he's doing.
19:43
Speaker 1: His walk rate, by the way, 11.1 would be a
19:45
Speaker 1: career best if he maintains it. Strikeout rate is 23.6.
19:50
Speaker 1: That's not terrible at all. Some guys strike out 35%.
19:53
Speaker 1: That's a little over average. It's about average. So he's
19:56
Speaker 1: not a huge strikeout guy for a guy with his production.
20:00
Speaker 1: And his weighted runs graded plus of 147 would be
20:03
Speaker 1: his career best. I thought he had an unbelievable year
20:07
Speaker 1: for the Mets, and he might be topping it. He
20:10
Speaker 1: hit over 50 homers one year, and his weighted runs
20:13
Speaker 1: created plus might be topping that year. So the guy is,
20:17
Speaker 1: it's almost like a friend of mine said, it's almost
20:19
Speaker 1: harking back to Frank Robinson days of way back carrying
20:23
Speaker 1: an Oriole team. And I think, didn't Rubenstein invoke the name.
20:27
Speaker 5: Of Frank Robbie? He did.
20:29
Speaker 1: That's what this guy's playing like right now.
20:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think, I really think going to Camden
20:34
Speaker 3: Yards has kind of freed up Pete's game a little
20:36
Speaker 3: bit more than it was at city field playing with
20:38
Speaker 3: the Mets there, that right center field gap there is
20:41
Speaker 3: just gigantic. It doesn't matter what the dimensions say. It's
20:44
Speaker 3: really hard to go out that way. And I think
20:46
Speaker 3: at some point when he was in New York for
20:47
Speaker 3: long enough, he kind of just said, screw this. I'm
20:49
Speaker 3: not going to try to go right field. I'm going
20:50
Speaker 3: to stay middle of the field to left. When you
20:53
Speaker 3: open up that other right side of the field, I mean,
20:55
Speaker 3: I can't remember the last time he's gone deep to
20:58
Speaker 3: left field. I mean, I do remember, but I'm being
21:00
Speaker 3: sarcastic here, but I just feel like he's just, he's
21:03
Speaker 3: so comfortable going to right center field right now and
21:05
Speaker 3: with power and and just the hitting ability that he has,
21:09
Speaker 3: that it's kind of taken his game and freed him
21:11
Speaker 3: up and allowed him to get to the next level.
21:13
Speaker 3: He looks just as good as he did when I
21:14
Speaker 3: saw him as a rookie when he hit those 50-plus homers, Steve.
21:17
Speaker 3: And I just don't see him slowing down. I see
21:19
Speaker 3: him playing so free and just loving it and having
21:22
Speaker 3: a good time with the guys, and it's fun to watch.
21:25
Speaker 5: And guys, keep in mind, he's doing this hurting.
21:28
Speaker 4: With a calf injury where he's just de-aging a lot
21:31
Speaker 4: and he's barely playing first base over the past couple
21:33
Speaker 4: of weeks. His last 17 games, he's got nine homers
21:36
Speaker 4: and 20 RBIs. And it's funny, I was doing some
21:40
Speaker 4: show prep this morning and I was just looking at
21:45
Speaker 4: the American League MVP market. And obviously, Jordan Alvarez is
21:50
Speaker 4: running away with it. That's no surprise. Pete Alonso has
21:54
Speaker 4: the third shortest odds to win AL MVP. That's crazy.
22:00
Speaker 4: There's a very realistic shot that Pete Alonso, when it's
22:04
Speaker 4: all said and done, finishes top three in AL MVP voting.
22:09
Speaker 4: So what a home run of a signing. And we
22:13
Speaker 4: were talking with Ben McDonald the other day, obviously how
22:17
Speaker 4: great of a player Pete is on the field, but
22:20
Speaker 4: the leadership aspect, he has been an unbelievable free agent
22:25
Speaker 4: signing by this club.
22:29
Speaker 5: Unbelievable.
22:30
Speaker 1: We could have hoped for offense like this. Well, we
22:33
Speaker 1: are getting it. We didn't know what we get top
22:36
Speaker 1: notch defense. Yep.
22:38
Speaker 3: He's a leader.
22:39
Speaker 1: We heard that. But an incredible leader, as you said,
22:42
Speaker 1: he's helping teammates around the batting cage. I mean, he's
22:45
Speaker 1: not selling popcorn, but that's about the only thing he's
22:47
Speaker 1: not doing. So the guy's been almost too good to
22:51
Speaker 1: be true, except he is. And he's here for all
22:55
Speaker 1: these years. What a wonderful thing. And at some point,
22:59
Speaker 1: I think this team is going to take off behind
23:01
Speaker 1: this guy. Maybe not this year, but I can see
23:03
Speaker 1: him leading the Orioles charging into October a couple times.
23:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I honestly think with him being around these
23:10
Speaker 3: guys for a full season, and I think at the
23:11
Speaker 3: end of the year, sometimes during the season, you don't
23:15
Speaker 3: look at stats. You're just so lost in the day-to-day
23:17
Speaker 3: things that when you go back and you look at
23:19
Speaker 3: Pete's season, you're going to have a lot of these
23:21
Speaker 3: young guys be like, man, I need to pay more
23:23
Speaker 3: attention to what he's doing on a daily basis. And
23:25
Speaker 3: I really think after this season it's going to kind of–
23:28
Speaker 3: because you get caught up in your own process. You
23:30
Speaker 3: get caught in what makes you feel comfortable. But I
23:32
Speaker 3: really think when you go back this offseason, a lot
23:34
Speaker 3: of these young guys are going to be like, hey,
23:36
Speaker 3: I need to spend more time around Pete. I need
23:37
Speaker 3: to figure out where his mindset is, what he does
23:40
Speaker 3: to get ready. Where is he at when he's facing
23:42
Speaker 3: this pitcher, that pitcher? And you go into spring training,
23:45
Speaker 3: you're more open-minded as opposed to when you sign a
23:46
Speaker 3: guy as a free agent. You've heard about him. You've
23:48
Speaker 3: seen him. But you're kind of like he's going to
23:50
Speaker 3: do his own thing. He's been doing it for a
23:51
Speaker 3: long time. Next year in spring, I think he's going
23:54
Speaker 3: to give them a huge opportunity to be around him
23:56
Speaker 3: daily basis from February all the way through when the
23:59
Speaker 3: season starts and just kind of see what he does
24:02
Speaker 3: to prepare himself for a season and what it takes
24:05
Speaker 3: to do 162. Because that's what Pete does. He plays
24:07
Speaker 3: 162 games every single season. He's out there. He's healthy.
24:11
Speaker 3: And not only that, he produces. And I think it's
24:13
Speaker 3: really going to kind of be like, that's a guy
24:15
Speaker 3: I need to follow. That's somebody I need to watch more.
24:17
Speaker 3: And I don't think I... I think I kind of
24:19
Speaker 3: missed that last year. I'm not going to miss it
24:20
Speaker 3: this year. So it's just one of those weird things
24:22
Speaker 3: as players. You just get so caught up in the
24:24
Speaker 3: day-to-day stuff. You just don't really go outside of your
24:27
Speaker 3: comfort zone. But I really think if you're one of
24:29
Speaker 3: these guys, he's one of those guys I got to follow.
24:31
Speaker 3: And I think they should do it from the beginning
24:33
Speaker 3: in spring training next year.
24:34
Speaker 4: Something that's been so unbelievable about Pete Alonzo's career is
24:39
Speaker 4: you just look year by year and he's so consistent, guys.
24:44
Speaker 5: And I remember.
24:46
Speaker 4: We talked about this during an episode months ago, John Meoli,
24:50
Speaker 4: who covers the O's for the banner. He did a
24:53
Speaker 4: story on Pete and it was after Pete broke out
24:56
Speaker 4: of that first month slump and he gave a great.
25:00
Speaker 5: Analogy, maybe a little cocky, but I like it.
25:03
Speaker 4: When you're flipping a coin, you know, it's a 50%
25:06
Speaker 4: chance it's heads, 50% tails, but you flip it 10 times.
25:11
Speaker 4: That doesn't guarantee it. But the more you flip it,
25:13
Speaker 4: the more it comes to the average. And he was
25:16
Speaker 4: basically saying, yeah, my season didn't start how I would
25:21
Speaker 4: like it, but I think my numbers are going to
25:23
Speaker 4: be my numbers at the end of the year.
25:25
Speaker 5: And boy, was he right.
25:28
Speaker 4: That slow month in March and April feels like an
25:32
Speaker 4: eternity ago because he's on the hottest streak of his really,
25:36
Speaker 4: really good season.
25:38
Speaker 1: For a few years at the BBWA Baltimore chapter, he's
25:42
Speaker 1: been thinking about starting a good guy award. which we've
25:46
Speaker 1: never given out, other teams' media will do that. He'd
25:51
Speaker 1: win that too.
25:52
Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.
25:52
Speaker 1: Amongst everything else this guy is doing. There's not a
25:56
Speaker 1: media guy who regularly covers that team that hasn't leaned
25:59
Speaker 1: on Pete Alonzo for help with stories, and he's been
26:02
Speaker 1: there 100% of the time. Too good to be true,
26:06
Speaker 1: except that he is. And it's been great to give
26:09
Speaker 1: him some props here today. We've got more to do.
26:12
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. Still some time left on this edition
26:17
Speaker 1: of Birdland Territory.
26:19
Speaker 4: I've been asked a couple times in the last week
26:23
Speaker 4: why Christian Encarnacion Strand is clicking so well.
26:41
Speaker 1: For the Baltimore Orioles. And the best answer I could
26:43
Speaker 1: come up with, and it may not even be the
26:45
Speaker 1: right one, is he's a classic case so far of
26:49
Speaker 1: a fresh start in a new town. He kind of
26:51
Speaker 1: ran his course in Cincy. He wasn't getting much chances,
26:55
Speaker 1: and he wasn't doing much with the ones he got.
26:57
Speaker 1: And then I think he went, oh, wow, I'm starting over.
27:00
Speaker 1: And to his credit, he stayed at AAA forever and
27:04
Speaker 1: kind of out of the limelight, and we wasn't hardly
27:07
Speaker 1: talking about him. And then I remember we said, well,
27:09
Speaker 1: they have an opening. Maybe they'll call this guy– ces
27:13
Speaker 1: as they call them 8 for 14 5 rbis in
27:16
Speaker 1: this series.
27:18
Speaker 3: Yeah and i just think he's kind of displaying another
27:21
Speaker 3: element of his game i think he was always known
27:23
Speaker 3: for his big power and you heard it he's got
27:25
Speaker 3: the light tower power he's coming from cincinnati and all
27:27
Speaker 3: the stuff but i really think it's just an extra
27:29
Speaker 3: year or an extra life in his career i think
27:32
Speaker 3: it's like a lot of times with uh when you
27:34
Speaker 3: are drafted by a team, you're developed by a team,
27:36
Speaker 3: you come up with that team, they become, you become pegged.
27:39
Speaker 3: You become just kind of in this slot. This is
27:41
Speaker 3: who you are. This is what you want. We want
27:43
Speaker 3: you to be. But a lot of times guys can
27:45
Speaker 3: be something else. They can kind of get a little
27:47
Speaker 3: bit older, have a better understanding of what they're trying
27:49
Speaker 3: to do at the plate. And I really think that's
27:51
Speaker 3: what it is. He, I mean, everything I've seen from
27:53
Speaker 3: him at the plate is just a, it's a veteran hitter.
27:56
Speaker 3: It's a guy that knows what he's trying to do,
27:58
Speaker 3: hit the ball to all fields. And I just think
28:00
Speaker 3: he's given it. He's been given an extra lease on
28:02
Speaker 3: life and he's, he's really enjoying it. And, you can
28:04
Speaker 3: tell that he's having a good time around these guys
28:06
Speaker 3: and just coming up in big spots and getting the
28:08
Speaker 3: job done.
28:10
Speaker 4: It's something we've talked about a lot this year is look,
28:14
Speaker 4: this Orioles season hasn't gone how we would hope or,
28:17
Speaker 4: or Orioles fans would hope up till this point. But man,
28:21
Speaker 4: if there've been a lot of cool storylines and guys
28:24
Speaker 4: coming out of nowhere, whether it's Jeremiah Jackson in the
28:27
Speaker 4: first month of the season with all those big hits
28:29
Speaker 4: and Nunez and, you know, Cam Sanders of late and, and,
28:33
Speaker 4: You know, so many got Brandon Young just coming out
28:37
Speaker 4: of nowhere. And CES absolutely is on that list. And
28:42
Speaker 4: to think that if Blaze Alexander didn't go down with
28:46
Speaker 4: that injury, we probably wouldn't have seen him.
28:50
Speaker 5: And earlier this episode, guys, he's been so good. We're talking, well, geez,
28:55
Speaker 5: how does he factor into the 2027 Orioles?
28:57
Speaker 6: Yeah.
28:59
Speaker 5: This guy wasn't on our radar in May or June.
29:03
Speaker 4: And now we're talking about him having a possible role
29:05
Speaker 4: on this team in 2027. So you give CES so
29:10
Speaker 4: much credit for taking this opportunity and running with it.
29:17
Speaker 1: You sure do. All to his credit. And the organization,
29:21
Speaker 1: I got to give credit because we always want the
29:24
Speaker 1: like the sexy up and coming prospect who's 21, who's
29:27
Speaker 1: the next Kobe Mayo type of thing. And sometimes the
29:31
Speaker 1: organization sign these veteran guys at AAA who have some
29:35
Speaker 1: major league experience. And if they come up, they won't
29:38
Speaker 1: be out of their element. They're least have been around
29:41
Speaker 1: you know they won't be afraid then let's just see
29:43
Speaker 1: what they can do and this guy's been running with
29:46
Speaker 1: his chance it has been fun to watch.
29:49
Speaker 3: Steve, I was going to add one more thing about
29:50
Speaker 3: all this. I think this kind of storyline is going
29:53
Speaker 3: to end up being a huge silver lining for the
29:55
Speaker 3: twenty twenty seven season moving forward. When you think about
29:58
Speaker 3: Blaze Alexander, you think about CES, you think about some
30:00
Speaker 3: of the arms that have kind of developed at the
30:03
Speaker 3: big league level this year. I just think if you
30:05
Speaker 3: look back at the start of spring training, you tell them, OK,
30:08
Speaker 3: this is going to be a record at the end
30:09
Speaker 3: of the season. But we had these performances from these
30:12
Speaker 3: guys moving forward to 2027. I just think you would
30:15
Speaker 3: kind of, you don't want to have a bad year,
30:18
Speaker 3: but I just think moving towards 2027. I think you
30:21
Speaker 3: have a lot of guys that can play a big
30:22
Speaker 3: role in this team. And I just think the biggest
30:24
Speaker 3: problem is going to be trying to find where they
30:26
Speaker 3: fit in next year, which I just think with the
30:28
Speaker 3: record and how the year is kind of gone, you'd
30:30
Speaker 3: be disappointed. But I think it's very exciting moving forward
30:33
Speaker 3: and looking at this team into 2027, just because so
30:36
Speaker 3: many guys have showed up and you got to, and
30:39
Speaker 3: we keep talking about Gunnar Henderson, not having the type
30:41
Speaker 3: of year. So you have him at it on Jordan
30:42
Speaker 3: Westbrook come back from injury. Then these other guys who
30:45
Speaker 3: have kind of just kind of stepped up, taking their
30:47
Speaker 3: game to a next level. I just, To me, it's
30:49
Speaker 3: exciting to be an Orioles fan moving towards the end
30:52
Speaker 3: of the season, whether they make the playoffs or not,
30:53
Speaker 3: because I just think a lot of guys have taken
30:55
Speaker 3: the next step and kind of come out of nowhere
30:58
Speaker 3: where they are serious pieces for next year. And I
30:59
Speaker 3: think that's an exciting thing as a fan and as
31:02
Speaker 3: an organization moving forward. Sorry to interrupt.
31:04
Speaker 1: No, that's a great interruption, a great note to end
31:07
Speaker 1: it on. And you're exactly right. For me, and this
31:10
Speaker 1: is for another show, Mayo, Westberg, CES, All these infielders,
31:17
Speaker 1: I don't know how they're going to deploy all these guys,
31:18
Speaker 1: but it's a good problem to have. You would always
31:21
Speaker 1: like more talent than you have spots for, and you'll
31:24
Speaker 1: sort it out. And so it's been fun to watch
31:27
Speaker 1: this guy with the long name that we shortened to
31:31
Speaker 1: three letters producing, like he's producing right now. O's fans,
31:35
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed that one. Stay with us in a
31:37
Speaker 1: couple days when we come back to you, probably Sunday,
31:40
Speaker 1: and see how this road trip is going. The O's
31:42
Speaker 1: need to reel off some W's here. and stay in
31:45
Speaker 1: the hunt in the wild card race. Talk to you
31:47
Speaker 1: next time on Birdland Territory.
31:51
Speaker 3: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
31:53
Speaker 3: Check it out right here. And make sure you subscribe
31:56
Speaker 3: to Birdland Territory for more Orioles coverage like this multiple
31:59
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