Latest / Foul Territory / GM Territory: Jim Bowden breaks down the MLB postseason races

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GM Territory: Jim Bowden breaks down the MLB postseason races · Foul Territory

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome back in everybody to GM territory. Jim, the season's
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: almost over and we got some pretty exciting races coming
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: down the stretch, especially in the AL Central and the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: AL West. I want to start there. Talk to me
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: about these teams and what you expect.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been an amazing run and I kind of
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: feel for the Chicago White Sox who spent most of
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: the season in first place and then they were overtaken
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: by the Cleveland Guardians and who going into Sunday's action
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: has a one game lead over the Chicago White Sox.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Let's first of all, look at the schedules on who
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: these teams play this week in the final six games
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: of the regular season. So Cleveland goes to Boston for
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: three at Fenway park. That's not easy. They're going to
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: be a playoff team. So that's not going to be
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: an easy run. Then they have to go to Kansas
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: city for three games. So we're going to try to
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: play spoilers. So last six games for the guardians on
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: the road, The White Sox will have three games in
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Kansas City, just like Cleveland will, but they'll start their
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: week that way. And then they get home, they get
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Colorado for three at home to end the season. So
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: when you look at the schedules, you know, Cleveland has
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to face Boston three, Chicago gets to be home against Colorado.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: You would think from a schedule perspective that the advantage
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: would be White Sox. But here's the problem. Cleveland's right
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: now the better team. And if you look at how
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: well Cleveland has played over the last 30 days, they
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: have been a top five team in run score. They've
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: been a top five team in pitching out of the
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: 30 teams in baseball where the Chicago White Sox have
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: not been that case. I mean, they, they ran 10th
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: out of the 15 teams in the American league in
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: both categories over the last month. So when I'm looking
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: at the guardians and White Sox right now, I think
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: the guardians have the better team, but the White Sox
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: have a better schedule. So how much does the schedule matters?
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, that, That's what we have to find out.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: But keep in mind with Cleveland, a couple of things
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: have happened. Number one, Jose Ramirez is getting healthier by
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: the day and he's starting to really impact. That's huge
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: for them. Number two, Pat Bailey's done a great job
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: offensively hitting. So the Guardians are getting offense from catching,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: not just gold glove caliber defense. And then the young
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: players for Cleveland have gone off. Travis Pazana, Chase DeLauder.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Those guys have really added. Of course, Brian Rocchio with
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: four walk-offs. He has been a thrill to watch. And
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Joe Adele. providing the power. So Cleveland's gotten a lot better. Remember,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Cleveland's got three impact relievers at the back end, and
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: they've got three impact starters at the front end. And
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I think are well positioned for October, even more so
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: than Chicago. So I don't know what your take is
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: on this. Even with a more difficult schedule, I'm going
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: to take Cleveland as winning this division and the White
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Sox getting it as a wild card. That would be
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: my guess as of now. But with the schedule being
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: the way it is, Trey, I don't know. I mean,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Chicago's got a legit shot when they finish three against
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the Rockies at home. They got a legit shot of
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: pulling this thing out.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they do have a legit shot of pulling this out.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: If you look here on the screen, you know, who's
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: hot the last seven days for the Guardians? Travis Buzana
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: has been going absolutely bananas. Four home runs, six RBIs
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: in his last seven games. Stephen Kwan hitting. 333, you know,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: with a homer and three RBIs. And Brian Rocchio, who
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: has been unbelievable all season. I don't think any of
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: us expected Rocchio to have a season that he's having.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: And then, of course, Joe O'Dell, you know, he's hitting
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: 320 last seven games. Ramirez is starting to get hot again.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: You know, he just had his career 1,000th RBI this
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: past weekend, which was pretty cool. And then DeLauder, who
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: has been cold, 4 for 15, you know, the last
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: seven days. But, again, hitting 267 is not that bad
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. But I like what you said
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: about the schedules, right? You know, the White Sox have
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: an easier schedule, sure. But the Guardians have just got hot.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: And I think that is such an underrated part when
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: it comes to the end of September going into the postseason.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: You want your teams to be clicking on all cylinders, right?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: We saw the Phillies do it the last two seasons and,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: you know, it hasn't panned out for them in the postseason,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: but it definitely goes an extremely long way. Just like
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: when Arizona a couple of years back got hot in
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: September and made a World Series run.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. Also, it's been fun to watch Pete
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Halpin play center field for the Guardians. Boy, he is
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: a tremendous defender out there. Gold glove caliber, really. And
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: that has allowed Kwon to go back to left field,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: which now gives him a gold glover in center and
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: in left defensively. And that's really helped the pitching staff
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: as well, without a doubt. All right, let's go to
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: the American League West because Texas has overtaken Houston going
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: into Sunday's action. So let's take a look at the
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: schedules between Texas and Houston the rest of the way.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: The Rangers have three games at home against the New
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: York Mets, and then they go to Minnesota for three games.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: On the other side, Houston has to go all the
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: way to Seattle for three, and then they finish the
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: season in West Sacramento against the Athletics. So when I'm
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: looking at the schedule differential, Houston has to play the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: best team of the four in Seattle, but they also
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: have to play the worst team of the four in
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the athletics, while Texas has the Mets in Minnesota. I
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: think it's about a wash schedule-wise for me. I'm not
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: going to give an advantage one way or the other.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: I don't know what you think about that. But you
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: know why I think Texas is going to win the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: division over Houston? Why is that? because they fired their
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: general manager, Dana Brown, a month ago. For what reason?
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: And instead of hiring an interim GM, the owner has
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: taken over the role of GM. So he and his
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: son are down there watching BP You know, they've got
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Jeff Bagwell and some assistants. Everybody right now is reporting
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: to the owner. But how much experience does the owner
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: have in going down to the clubhouse and talking with
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: the manager before and after games? How much experience does
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: he have going down and talking to the trainers and
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: the medical people and the analytic people and putting all
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: those pieces together to make sure every single game is
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: being run properly? Like he doesn't have the experience of
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: doing that. And I just kind of feel like firing
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: your GM and not replacing him with somebody. I think
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: having that lack of experience overseeing the operation with a
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: week to go. might be what keeps the Astros from
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: making October and the playoffs. So I know it's a
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: bizarre reason and kind of out-of-the-box thinking, but just based
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: on my experience and knowing that the Rangers have Chris
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Young as their leader and Skip Schumacher as the manager,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: I think that's a huge advantage for the Texas Rangers,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: and the schedule is doable for them. Mets, Twins, that's
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: a doable schedule for them. So I'm going to take
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Texas over Houston. How about you?
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: I'm going to take Texas over Houston as well. And
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty much just riding the hot hand here, right?
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, Texas has won four of their last five games.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens later on today. But they're having
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: guys starting to pick up some steam. Danny Jansen hitting
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: 430 over his last seven games. Josh Jung hitting 333
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: with two homers last seven days. And Corey Seager is
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: finally starting to get hot again. And that is someone
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: that I know that we mentioned earlier in the season
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: that they needed to get hot and he's getting hot
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: at the right time. So look, I think Texas, like
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: you said, definitely has, I think an advantage when it
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: comes to the schedule coming up. Um, but yeah, it's
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: so bizarre, you know, Dana Brown, you know, getting fired
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: about a month ago in the middle of the season
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: while they were still in a race, obviously that we
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: don't really see that often. Right. like ever.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: So they were in first place at the time. Like what?
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. So,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: you know, I think Texas is definitely going to have
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the upper hand. You know, the only thing is I
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: know they lose the tiebreaker outright, you know, if they
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: tie because Houston is nine and four against them this year. But,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: you know, finishing the season with the Mets and the
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: twins to me just feels like they can walk right
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: over them and win this division.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: With all these teams clenching postseason bursts, geez, a lot
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: of teams have already clenched. You know what that means?
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: SeatGeek.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: You can plan ahead and start buying your postseason tickets
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: on SeatGeek.
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: Just because you're not a fan of those teams, though,
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: doesn't mean that these last games of the season aren't
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: going to be electric. It doesn't matter who you're playing.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: You're playing the worst team, your game matters. You're playing
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: the best team, the game matters. You've got to get
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: on SeatGeek and look ahead for when your team's in
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: the home.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Find the seat you want.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: If it's green, it means a good deal. If it's red, eh,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: not so much, but you might love the seat and
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: you might love the angle and you might get a
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: foul ball. So go on SeatGeek, find the game you want,
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: find the matchup you want, and go watch the game
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: because it's Major League Baseball and it matters down the stretch.
• 9:03
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• 9:06
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• 9:09
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• 9:14
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• 9:16
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• 9:18
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• 9:21
  Speaker 2: All right, let's talk wildcard now, because what happens if
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Cleveland and Chicago have a bad week? The Toronto Blue
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Jays have a chance at least to sneak in. I mean,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: what are your thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays possibly
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: getting in here, Trey?
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they're potentially the shakiest team currently. you know,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I still think that they can get in. And like
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: we've seen the last couple of weeks, they're another team
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: that has gotten hot, especially behind the plate. Vladdy Guerrero Jr.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: not too long ago finally hit his first home run
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: at Rogers Stadium this season. And look, I think this
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: is a team that did a really good job during
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline and it's starting to pan out for him.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: So I would love to see Toronto make a run
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and sneak in. But, you know, time will tell. What
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: are your thoughts on the Blue Jays?
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, they got a shot. They do. I mean,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: that's what's fun. We're going to the last week and
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: they got a shot here. And You know, I think
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: one of the things when you look at their schedule,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: they got to go into Camden Yards and play the
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Orioles three times in Baltimore. But they finished the year
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: with three games against the Reds at home. So if
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: they can be in the hunt that final weekend, I mean,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: there's a possibility that they could find a way to
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: sneak in. Either way, it's just going to be so
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: much fun to watch the AL Central, AL West, and
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: AL Wild Cards. Final playoff spot in this final week
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: of the season. All right, let's shift gears. Let's go
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: to the National League. We know who the playoff teams
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: are going to be in the National League, right? So
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves are all getting
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: in as division winners. We know the wildcard teams at
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: this point are going to be the Padres, the Cubs,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: and the Phillies. But that's not what the pennant races
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: are for. Now what everyone is fighting for is home
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: field advantage in the wildcard round and seeding, right? So
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: let's kind of go through this because, look, San Diego, Chicago,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: and Philadelphia keep mixing it up. So who knows where
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: they're going to be on a nightly basis. All three
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: of them were locked yesterday. They were completely locked in
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: a tie. Now that's changed a little bit. And the
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: tiebreaker is going to be a factor too. As an example,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: if the Padres and Cubs end up tied, the Cubs
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: will end up getting home field. But keep in mind
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: that of these three wildcard teams, only the wildcard team
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: with the best record will get the three home games, right?
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: It looks like Atlanta will play the third place wildcard team.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: So whether that's San Diego, the Cubs, or the Phillies,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: that's who Atlanta will play. You're going to have a
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: bye with both the Dodgers and the Brewers. And so
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: the thing that you want to do, though, is you
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: want to be the first wildcard team, not the second,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: because the first wildcard team is going to get three
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: home games, all three home games. That's a huge advantage
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: when you're playing two out of three, right? Um, so yeah,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: that part's going to be fascinating. And then, and so
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I want to get your take on how you think
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: that's going to line up. And then also we need
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to talk about, you know, the Dodgers in Milwaukee because
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: the Dodgers still have a chance to get home field advantage.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: They're only a couple of games behind Milwaukee right now.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: So this final week is going to be important for
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: that as well. That might be a factor when we
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: get all the way to the LCS level. But for now,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: let me get your thoughts on Padres, Cubs, Phillies. How
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: do you rank them? How does it look to you?
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: To me, I think the Cubs are the safest team here.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: They have a plus 144 run differential right now this season.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Definitely the best underlying numbers in the whole NL field.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: And they're arguably right now down the stretch playing the
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: best baseball out of the teams that you mentioned there.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: The Padres have a plus 37 run differential tied with
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Chicago on the scoreboard, comfortably ahead of the cut line.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: And when it comes to Philly, they hold that third
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: and final spot But we didn't mention this team. The
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Diamondbacks are four games behind Philly as of right now.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: They would need a near perfect final week and help
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: from someone else losing to get into the playoffs. But
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: that's a real, real long shot.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: It's a long shot, but also think of this, right?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: It's possible only because the Phillies have the hardest schedule.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: They've got three against the Brewers and three against the Rays.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: The two teams with the best record in each league.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: That's how the Phillies finished their six games. So it
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: is possible. I don't think it's going to be the case.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Four games is too much with a week to go,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: as you know. But you never know. You can go
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: 0-6 and the other team goes 6-0 and you're in.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's happened before. But I would think, based
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: on the schedules, my guess would be Cubs, Padres, Phillies,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: in that order. Cubs would host the Padres in round one.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: And the Phillies would go to Atlanta for three games.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: At least based on schedule and how they're playing, that's
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: kind of how it looks up. But don't forget, Padres
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: have been the hottest team in the league the last
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: couple of weeks. So I'm not counting them out. But understand,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: they still got three against the Dodgers and three against
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: Arizona to finish the season. That's not an easy week.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: No, that is not an easy week at all. You know,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: my hot take, looking at how this playoff picture's shaping out.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: I love that matchup for Philly and Atlanta. I personally do.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Give me Sanchez, give me Wheeler, you know, and give
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: me a vintage Aaron Nola in game three, if it
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: goes that way, if they decide to start them. But yeah,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I would say right now, Cubs by far and away,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: they're definitely the favorites in my head. And last year
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: we had a Cubs Padres matchup at Wrigley field. So
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: that'd be fun to see those two teams square off
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: yet again, But you had a good point. The Padres
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: have been getting really hot towards the end of the season.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Tatis is looking really, really good. Yeah, it should be
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: a really, really exciting playoffs, and I'm excited to see
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: how all of this shapes up.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and if I had to power rank them right now,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: and I'd love to get your take if you agree
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: or how you would do it differently. If I were
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: to power rank the National League right now, I'd go
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Brewers 1, Dodgers 2, Braves 3, Padres 4, Cubs 5,
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Phillies 6. And in the American League, if I had
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: to power rank them right now, I would go Yankees
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: if Judge is healthy, Rays 2. But I'd go Rays 1,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Yankees 2 if Judge is not healthy. So keep that
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: in mind. And then I would go Guardians, Red Sox,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: and the rest. Yeah. How about you?
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for me, you know, in the NL, I know
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: you're not going to like this take here. But naturally,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I'd go Dodgers 1, Brewers 2. Phillies three, Braves four,
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Cubs five, Padres six.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: I really like Philly. Okay.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Yep. I really like Philly in the postseason. They've been
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: there multiple times. This will be the third or fourth
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: year in a row. And this team is due to
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: make some noise in September and October. And, you know,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I just think with that lineup and that pitching staff,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: it's going to be hard to beat the Phillies team.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let me give you a little pushback if you
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: don't mind. I know Jesus Lizardo started to throw today,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: but not having Lizardo there, who literally was their best
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: pitcher until he was injured, that's a huge setback for me.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Number two, I really worry about their bullpen in a
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: short series, their bullpen depth. Do I think the offense
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: can get them there? Yeah, I do. But their offense
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: is not even close, in my opinion, to the Cubs
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: or the Dodgers or the Brewers. I just don't, I'm
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: not convinced. Can they win? Sure. It's possible with their
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: starting pitching and their star players, Schwarber, Turner, Harper, could
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: they carry them? I see a scenario where it could happen.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: But the bullpen and the lack of lineup depth are
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: two huge issues. And Lozardo is the one that really
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: makes me hesitate. You know, because to me, that would
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: have been key. So that's my little pushback there. What
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: are your thoughts there in the other league, in the
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: American League?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, in the American League, you know, I like just
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: how this is ranked here. I would go Rays 1,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Yankees 2. Even if Judge is healthy, I'm going Yankees 2.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Guardians 3 for me. You know, they're getting hot at
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: the right time. And they're just such a fun team.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Red Sox 4. And like you said, the rest. But
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: if I had to name them, I'd probably go Rangers 5.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: White Sox six, uh, and the Astros seven. That's, that's
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: probably how I would rank them. Uh, what are your
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: thoughts on that? Yeah. Yeah.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: That's fair. I get it. You know, it's too bad
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: with the White Sox because what a great season. Well,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Venable should be manager of the year, but to be
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: able to go from 102 losses and then your first
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: all year, I hope they make the playoffs. We'll have
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: to see how this week plays out. It's going to
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: be very, very fascinating. But, wow, we're in the final
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: week of the regular season. A week from today, you
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: and I will be breaking down the playoff series and
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: previewing all that. I can't wait for that. In the meantime,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: let's all enjoy the final stretch, Major League Baseball pennant races.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: He's Trey Bowden. I'm his dad, Jim. Ciao and chillax.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Guess what?
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: We gone.