Latest / Foul Territory / Postseason predictions, Philly@ATL preview, Cubs@SD preview, M’s fire Dan Wilson, Verlander’s sendoff

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Postseason predictions, Philly@ATL preview, Cubs@SD preview, M’s fire Dan Wilson, Verlander’s sendoff · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: The postseason has arrived. Here we go. We're in postseason form.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: One day before it all begins with the wild card
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: round and everything. We'll be 99.9% playoff talk, of course. But, AJ,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: can we start with JV, Justin Berlander? The Tigers know
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: how to put on a show when you are ready
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to say goodbye.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Hold on. Hold on. Before we get to that, can
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: we talk about something real quick? We're going to get
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: a little behind the scenes-y here. It's a playoff involved.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: It's a playoff involved.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: At my house, we have interns that come over and
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: they turn on some stuff. And when Scott breaks something,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: they fix it, right? Well, Caden, our intern today, thought
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: it would be a good idea to wear a frickin'
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Houston Astros jersey to my house today.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Today.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Out of all the bitches on earth. Caden. Caden.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Out of all the... This is like when Michael comes
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: over and doesn't wear shoes. It's weird, right? You'd come
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: over to someone's house. And also, apparently, he checked out
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: my garage. Like, he was casing the joint. I don't
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: know what he was doing in there, but that was
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: where he, like, his garage door was open. He, like,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: stuck his head in there, too. He didn't know I
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: was watching him, but I was. But then he had
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: the Astros jersey on. Astros, a Jordan Alvarez jersey today
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: of all days.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I have a question. Would you rather him be shirtless
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: working today or Astros jersey?
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, probably shirtless today. I'm not going to lie.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't want to know what's under
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: his shirt, but I mean, I'm sure he has another
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: shirt he could have worn. And then he started talking
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: a little trash. I'm like, did you bring your garbage can?
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Love it. I love, I love, I love playoff Persinski
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: because I'm not a hundred percent sure. I know he
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: wants the white socks to win. I'm not a hundred
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: percent sure if he wants them to win the world
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: series because he likes the growth and the development of
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: the organization.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Sure.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: They've had a fantastic year. They, they, they, They're the 60.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: They've had a wonderful year.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Boom.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Caden. We appreciate that for getting AJ's
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: week started off right. Quick one on JV. So he
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: says goodbye. Daughter comes out to, well, she threw the
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: first pitch on the day before and then comes out
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to remove him from his performance. Pretty cool. We'll probably
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: talk Max Scherzer later, but for Verlander and Max to
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: put together real performances here, AJ, you were with Verlander
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the other day and he didn't know what his arm
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: had in him.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, five and a third. By the way, five and
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: a third, what did he punch out, six or seven?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: A great performance by him. He said he was ready.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: This is really cool. His daughter got to come out.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I remember my last game, my son met me on
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the field. That was pretty cool. Not on the mound,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: but he came after the game was over. He came
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: out on the field with me, so that was really cool. Yeah, listen,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the best part of this game besides this and how
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: well Justin Verlander pitched, Laz Diaz, the other team, the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Pirates ran out of challenges, and Laz Diaz just started
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: calling everything a strike for Verlaine. That was good for you, Laz.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Your last game behind the plate, go out with a
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: freaking bang, dude. He was calling balls that weren't even close,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: and I loved it.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: He was willing. He was willing to assert his authority
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: one more time, Laz. You know what? This video, as
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: we keep watching it here, if you go back and
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: watch the start of the video, you could see, like,
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: they're like, okay, AJ's coming out. This is it. Like,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: like the deep breath. And then he looked over and
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: saw his daughter and it was immediate, like head down,
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: like shoulder shakes. Like it was just, it was a
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: cool emotion. Something that when you get kids out on
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: the field, I remember Barry Bonds, his son came out
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: when he hit his home run, met him at home plate.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: It's weird when kids are out on the field because
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: it's so different. It's not weird because, oh, that's weird.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: That's weird. Why are they doing it? It's weird because
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: it's so different and it's something we never see because
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: your family is always supporting you, but the field is
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: like the place for the players. So to see that
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: and to see his emotion was pretty cool.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Dusty Baker's son, Darren, was at home plate at one
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: point too. Different scenario.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: A little different.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: A little different, a little more dangerous. That cooked it
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: for everybody. Then they made an age limit on Batboys. And, yeah,
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: it definitely, whew, JT Snow with the save of the year.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: For the podcast crowd, we're looking at the resume for
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Justin Verlander, which is complete as far as a player.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: 128 ERA plus, 333 ERA. Really the bottom part is
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: where the good stuff is. Rookie of the year. He's
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: got an MVP, three-time Cy Young winner, two-time World Series champ,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: ten-time All-Star. I mean, he's got it all. You don't
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: even have to say it. It'll be first ballot Hall
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: of Famer, that whole deal. So congratulations to JV.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: Unanimous? All right. What?
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: No.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Unanimous?
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: No.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: That's not ever happening. It's not happening.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: It's ever. To me, I mean.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Which is dumb, but that's dumb. But it should, but
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: it won't because there's always somebody out there that wants
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: to say, oh, I was the guy that didn't vote
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: for Mariano Rivera.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Exactly. Or the guy that doesn't, but doesn't reveal their vote, right?
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: The Mariano. Or not the Mariano. Who was the one
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: that never revealed the vote? Was it Ichiro or Mariano
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: or both?
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: No, it was Ichiro that didn't do it. The guy
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: for Ichiro.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Ichiro's guy never revealed it. He wanted to have dinner,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: and the guy was not strong enough to say it
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: was him.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: The guy was like, no, I don't really want to
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: tell you it was me, so I'm not going to
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: tell anybody.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: That part of the process is a joke, but that's
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: an off-season topic.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: Last stat, nine straight seasons to start his career with
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: over 30 starts. So when you think somebody's going to
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: be somebody and they're like first five seasons, they made
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: 30 starts in three of the seasons, let's pump the brakes.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: That's why I'm a little bit more reticent to give
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: somebody the ace status until they start doing stuff like
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: this is ace type of stuff.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Well, somebody that faced him a million times, he was
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: an ace.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: There you go. Faced him a lot.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Faced him a lot.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: A guy who faced him almost as much as anyone,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: or maybe, I don't know what the current record was.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: He might have been the most. At one point, I
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: had the most played appearances against him, but then, obviously,
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: he kept going for a long time after I was done.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: But for a long time, I had the most.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: We can look it up at some point. All right,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: let's get to biz, shall we? It's a bowl count.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: It is time for a full count, fueled by a marathon.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: All right, let's charge. This is how we do it.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Let's look at the postseason bracket, MLB's favorite, and it
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: is officially set. It's real. There are four buys. The Rays,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: the Guardians, who win the Central over the weekend, the Dodgers,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: and the Brewers. So we have White Sox and Astros
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: matching up in the first round. Top half of the
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: bracket here. Red Sox are going to be in the Bronx.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Right side, Phillies sneaking in. on the last day while
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the Atlanta Braves will host them Cubs and Padres meeting
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: up in San Diego. All right. So let's do predictions
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: as we walk through what we think is going to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: happen here and how we think about the matchups, AJ,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: take us for a stroll.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Uh, we're going to start, we're going to start on
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: the left side, uh, top left side or what?
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Sure.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: So the top left side, you know who I'm picking,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: you know, who the, you know, who the wild card,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: you know, I mean my shirt, I mean, you, I mean,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: we don't even have to doubt. And I'm going to
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: go out on a limb, and I'm going to say
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: number 12 for the White Sox has been known to
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: get some big hits against the Astros in his career,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: including in the World Series at one time in 2005.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to say Colson Montgomery is going to
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: get some hits, and the White Sox are going to
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: win that one. I'm taking the Yankees over the Red Sox.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I'm taking the White Sox over the Guardians. Homer, pick.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: That's for you. Because they did win the season series
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: against the Guardians, I'm taking the Rays to beat the Yankees.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Let's go to the other side. I'm taking the Braves. Kratz,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: your Phillies are going home quickly. I'm taking the Padres
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: to beat the Cubs because I can never root for
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the Cubs. Then I'm taking the Brewers and the Dodgers.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: And then I'm taking the Brewers and the Rays in
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: the World Series. And I'm taking the Milwaukee Brewers to
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: win their first ever World Series. So, Kratz, I kind
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: of went not homer, but I also went homer for you.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: So I don't know what you can't really say anything
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: for me against me.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Well, you picked minuscule payrolls. Tampa's actually not a small market,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, but they're looked at it that way. I mean,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: them getting more attendance for a neutral site game than
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: their home attendance. We can have a conversation about that
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: at some point. But anyway, AJ, any more background to
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: why those two teams you think are the top two
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: that can get through the bracket here?
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Well, they had the best records in both leagues for
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: the whole year. I love the Brewers pitching. If Miz
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: and Logan Henderson and And their bullpen, Uribe and McGill
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: and some of those guys, Ashby, they stay healthy. I
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: like it. They play great defense, which I love. I
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: love the way Pat Murphy manages. And then the Rays,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's the closest team to where I live. Plus,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I'd love to go to a World Series in Tampa. And, again,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I think the way the bracket sets up is they
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: don't have to play the Yankees or Red Sox in
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: the first round. And if they get through LDS against
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: the Yankees or the Red Sox, Then their next opponent is,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, the White Sox, the Guardians, or the Astros.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: And I think they should beat any of those teams
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: pretty easily. So it seems pretty simple to me. It's not.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: And listen, I work for Fox. I work at Fox.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: And this would not be a very loved matchup for
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Fox because of the small market teams. But for me,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: it'd be kind of awesome. And we all know there's
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: also an underlying reason we don't need to talk about
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: why I'd love to see these teams. two teams play
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: in the postseason but we have a whole offseason to
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: talk about that.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah I mean the only thing I would disagree here
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: I feel like the Guardians are playing really good and
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: them being able to set up their rotation I guess
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Gavin Williams had a Gavin Williams had a stinker at
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: the end But I feel like the Guardians in a
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: three-game series, maybe the White Sox could wave their magic
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: wand and get it. But I feel like in the
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: five-game series, you're going to have to beat Gavin Williams
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: at least one time to get through them. So I
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: feel like the Guardians are the only thing I disagree
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: with in this bracket. We'll get to my Yankees pick
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: over the Rays, but I don't hate your Rays pick.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Well, follow up. Why is yours better?
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: Mine's better because I don't have a homer pick, and
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: all I have is knowledge and ball knowledge, and I'm
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: not swayed by the White Sox winning in the first round.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: It's going to be an exciting pick, and the only
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: reason that I have the Yankees moving on is because
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: the White Sox beat the Astros. If the Astros beat
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: the White Sox, the Yankees are cooked. But... so they
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: won't make it to the World Series. Everything's the same
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: for me. I think the Braves, if it's a three-game
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: series with the Braves and Phillies, I'd be surprised. The
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Yankees-Red Sox series is the one I'm really watching. I'm
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: juiced about that series. I think the Padres are going
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: to be too much, and then they'll fall a little
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: bit short because they have to play that series. They're
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: going to be a little exhausted against a rested Milwaukee
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Brewers team, and I think the I think the matchup
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: of the entire what will sway everything is going to
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: be the Braves and Dodgers beating each other up, and
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: then the Brewers going in and beating the Dodgers in
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: the NLCS to make it to their first World Series
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: against the Yankees and winning their first World Series. So
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: we are aligned in that, AJ.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Hold up. You said no homer picks. Brewers and Yankees,
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: those are like– Those are about as homer as it gets, dude.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, come on. So then I can go Astros.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: I can go Phillies. Every year, there's probably eight of
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: the 12 teams I'll have played for because most of
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: the teams that I played for were trying. And so, ex-effecto,
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: I'm going to have quite a few homer. I'm going
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: to have a couple jerseys that I can wear no
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: matter who's in what series. I could have picked the Rays,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the Yankees. The Brewers. Who else? The Guardians. Who else? Padres.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: I was in spring training with the Padres. I don't
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: know if that counts. They actually put me on the
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: roster and then traded me. So, yeah, there's a lot
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: of homerism. But I don't have the straight homerism. I
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: don't have the tattoo on my lower back of the
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: Chicago White Sox like you do.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I do not. I just have a ring from World
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Series on my back.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: In my safe. In your safe. On your finger? Not really.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: But in your safe.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Maybe later this postseason he brings it out if he
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: feels like it's worthy.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: That would take a lot for me to have to
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: put that thing on.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: The Phillies bounced. AJ, you proud of Krauts for knocking
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the Phillies out?
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: No, this is his reverse psychology pick right here. Notice
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: how he said, oh, I didn't think it would go
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: three games.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: We all know how it is. We all know what
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: he's really thinking. And deep down he's going tough. Phillies
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: are going to win this whole thing, but I can't
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: say that out loud because he knows I'll get called
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: on it. So he tried to do the old fake out,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: the old fake out on us. Yeah, the old look
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: at this one, look at this hand, and then punch
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: you with the other one.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Well, you know what? The Phillies are going to have
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: to hit if they're going to get past the Braves.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: And I think the only hope the Phillies have is
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: when you're playing in the division, you just– you know
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: these teams– So maybe they can run into it, but
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: nobody's going to sit there and go, okay, the Phillies
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: lineup is not as good as the Braves lineup. Okay,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: the Phillies bullpen is not as good as the Braves bullpen. Okay,
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: the Phillies, you know, they have all their pitching lined up. Oh, wait, no.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Wheeler had to throw to get in. They tried to
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: throw Nola on two days rest. Now Nola's going to
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: probably throw game one. They're not going to be able
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: to have Sanchez. Now, it could be smart that the
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Phillies are throwing– Nola game one against sale. I'm not
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: saying they're putting that game. I'm saying Sanchez was throwing.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: I thought they came out and said Sanchez was game one. Okay. Then,
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: then maybe I haven't heard that. I haven't heard that.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: But to me, if you throw Nola, I'm not saying
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: you're punting on that game, but Chris sales, a tough,
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: that's a tough matchup. Like the Phillies have not done
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: well against Chris sale. So if you're down, Oh one,
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: And you did throw Sanchez. If they lose the first
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: game and they did throw Sanchez, I just don't see
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: how they've been playing down the stretch that somebody can
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: choose them. Unless you go, okay, well, I'm getting $ 1, 500
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: for them to be the NLCS champions. Then maybe I
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: would be willing to throw a little cash that way
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: because that would be a total coin flip. Not even
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: a coin flip.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I can't believe they had to burn Wheeler. They still
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: were going on Sunday. Rays were taking it to them. Crazy, crazy. Hey,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: one more thing before we jump out of predictions, and
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: we'll do series by series previews too, but Whitmerryfield, our friend,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: calling something out that I think almost everyone on our
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: show has called out at one point too. Can we
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: please approve reseeding in the next CBA? Or maybe our homer,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: AJ Pruszynski, says no.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: No, you know why?
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: Because you've got to get something for winning the division. Sorry.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: After the first round, you want to reseed? Okay, I'm
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: fine with it. But you've got to give the people
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: who win the division something because what's the incentive? Then
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: you'd have teams that were like, okay, we don't want
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: to win the wild card or we don't want to
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: win the division. We'd rather be the wild card because
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: then we'll reseed and we'll get moved around. No, you
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: want teams trying to win the division.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's what he's asking for. After the
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: first round, you reseed.
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: Instead of... seeding based on it should be it.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Should be the lowest seed plays the highest seed like
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: that so i mean that's how i think it should
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: be but it's not it's just a straight bracket.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: Yep you mean you mean from the start of the
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: playoffs you think it should be lowest seed but i
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: think i think they.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: Have it right they do now i mean that's kind
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: of what they do now but i but then once
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: you get to the second round then you should be
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: able to that's what i'm.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Saying and that's what most people are saying can.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: We totally if the phillies if the phillies would win
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: that series in my opinion it's a travesty that the
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: brewers won 103 games and they can't play the worst-seeded team.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: If it's the Braves, and the Braves are the worst-seeded team, well,
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: I guess they wouldn't be the worst-seeded team in the bracket.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: Whatever it is, I think the team with the best
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: record should play the team with the worst record in
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: that next round.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Okay. Well, we'll see what happens in this one. That
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: is the bracket, and those are your predictions from AJ
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and Eric, and that is our new segment, Full Count,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: fueled by Marathon, where fun runs on full. Save up
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: to $ 1 a gallon with Marathon Rewards. Dan Wilson is
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: not returning as manager of the Mariners. They put it
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: as like he notified them. I mean, it's always the same.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: And also, in fairness, Dan Wilson brought them deep into
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the postseason last year, AJ. I know this was an
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: absolute bomb of a season, but if you take a
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: job like this and you're, you know, well-known within the organization,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: eventually every manager gets fired. This wasn't going to be
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: a 50-year or infinity-year job. So he's going to get
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: offered another job in the organization. It's unfortunate the way
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: it ended, but this has been a disaster season for Seattle.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: So he was fired.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Hired to be fired as a manager. There's very few
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: guys that get to go out on their own terms,
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: and we have Buck Showalter all the time. He was
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: a really good manager. He's been fired. Terry Francona's been fired.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Joe Girardi, one manager of the year, got fired. I mean,
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: there's been– everybody that gets this job, Ozzie Guillen, he was– well,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: he won't say he was fired, but he was kind
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: of fired, quit, whatever, however you want to put it,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: however you want to word it. But no manager goes forever,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: and Dan Wilson, it's why it's so hard when you
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: take these jobs in an organization where you're highly regarded.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: It makes it that much tougher for A, you to
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: be let go, and B, for them to let go
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: of you. And then the fans have to be like, man,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: do we like Dan? Do we not like Dan? It's weird.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: It's weird. AJ, you know a bunch of the managers
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: now because you go into the offices. When you played
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: and you looked at a manager, did you feel like
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: a team kind of adopted their personality? Because I don't
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: know Dan Wilson from Adams. But I watch the team,
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: and if a team plays lackluster, and I look at
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: the manager, and they're just like– it's a rash judgment.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: But did you do that as a player when you
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: looked across the dugout and you were like, eh, I
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: don't really like that manager. I don't like the way
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: he manages, or it looks like the team plays the
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: way he looks?
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know about that. There were definitely managers I
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: didn't like playing against. There was a guy in Colorado
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: that all he did was yell at the top of
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: his lungs all day long. um no matter what they
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: were not very good yeah you know how you guess
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: who his name is he crotch knows um but i
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: mean there was guys that you played against that you
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: liked and you didn't like um but you didn't really
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: know them um but then there's guys you played against
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: you're like man i'd really like to play for that
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: jim leland was a guy i'm like man i'd really
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: like to try to play for that guy one time
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: because i think he'd be really fun he knows the
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: game and um but then there's guys you looked over
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: and the guys the guys who don't do a lot
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: crowds i think sometimes that's just their personality in general
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: and then but then there's usually a guy behind the
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: scenes that's kind of pushing them a little bit right
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: like i played for robin ventura was like that and
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: then his bench coach was mark parent who was just
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: you know he tried to push us but he pushed
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: us the wrong way right and it was like what
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: is who is this guy what is he doing like
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: who are you so it just depends mark parent What
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: a red.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Okay. Where are we going? This is actually a good question.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: SeatGeek always helping us out on which seats we would
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: like to select for upcoming games. AJ, of the wild
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: card round matchups, you are able to go to one,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: one ticket. Where would you go? What's your series that
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: you're most excited to watch?
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: This is going to surprise you guys, but I'm not
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: going to the White Sox and the Astros. I know
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: you guys cannot believe it. I'm not going there. I'm
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: not going to go to Houston. I've spent enough time
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: in Houston. I love Gene Diaz. I love the White Sox, obviously.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I love Dykin Park. I love the Bobby Dynamite, the
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: guy who drives the train. He took me on a
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: train ride once there. But I'm actually going to go
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: to San Diego. I'm going to San Diego because I
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: think this is going to be a great matchup. And
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: weather in San Diego is nice. It's not so nice
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: up in the Northeast right now where you guys all live.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know why anyone would want to ever live
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: up there, but I'm going to San Diego and I'm
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: going to watch the Cubs play the Padres.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Shocker. AJ going on vacation, loves vacation. And he wants
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: to see the Cubs lose too. So I think that's
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: part of like his weird, like sick Chicago fantasy stuff.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: But I've already been to a Red Sox Yankees wildcard.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: It was a wildcard game, not a wildcard series. And
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: it is electric. I've never been to one in Yankee Stadium,
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: so I was a little– I wanted kind of– I
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: love Houston. I'm going to Houston. I want to see
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: the White Sox inexperienced face the Astros, possible last chance
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: at the playoffs type of atmosphere. Like this is– like
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: I want to be there. I want to see Jordan
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: if the White Sox try to use their magic wand
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: on them or if they just pitch a round.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: There you.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: Go.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll select San Diego, but just to give you
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: something else, yeah, I'm pretty excited about Red Sox and
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Yankees too. And we recently learned the pitching. Well, the
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: pitching part was weird. I'm like, what are you trying
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to do some gamesmanship and tell us no Schlittler? Or
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: were you seriously considering not pitching Cam Schlittler in game one?
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Either way, I thought it was kind of weak. On
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox side, Peyton Tolley game one, Sonny Ray
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: game two, Ranger Suarez game three was just announced.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Those are solid pitching matchups, by the way. Really good.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Solid pitching. And no judge, right? No judge? Do we
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: know that for sure? No judge?
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Not for sure, no.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: He took swings. Arise is ruled out.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Arise is out. We don't know about the Yankees roster yet.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: This was happening during the show, but apparently he took swings.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: So there's still a chance. I took swings.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Can I play? I took swings. Can I play too, guys?
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: You can play against Verlander. Yesterday. Territory 10. 10% off.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Go for it. Help me with this one, please, AJ.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: There's a story where inside of it, the Mets called
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: the Guardians after their August series. Mets played them well
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and suggested they adjust their pitchcom decibel levels. Like, AKA,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: as far as I read it, the Mets were hearing
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: their pitchcom. I'm sorry, what?
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: I've never heard of this. I mean, I've heard of
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: this because my son played, when my son was playing
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: travel ball, there was a couple of teams that had
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: pitchcom and they'd be on second base and they could
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: hear them and they would. tell the hitter what was
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: coming and the other team couldn't figure out how they
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: knew it was coming. And it was because the guys
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: on second base could hear it in the shortstops and
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the second baseman's hat. But I've never heard of this
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: at the big league level. And then what I really
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: can't believe is that the Mets called the guardians to
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: tell them instead of the Mets calling every other team
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: in the division saying, Hey guys, when you're in Cleveland,
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: you can hear the, you can hear the pitch call.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: You guys need to come up with a system to
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: let people know it's coming. Everyone thinks it's in the
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: guy's glove and it's the shortstop behind him. And it
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: was like curve ball. And then, Guy on second's going, curveball, curveball, curveball.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: And the pitcher's like, I'm not tipping.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: What am I doing?
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's pretty crazy for me.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Cracks, come on.
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: What the heck? I've never heard of it.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: How does that– you guys talk all the time about
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: no calling people about tips. And that's like for one
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: individual pitcher. This is an entire team.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Somebody– I'm somebody– I don't know. Like, I was trying
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: to look at the schedule to see if, like, the
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: Mets were– if the Guardians were playing. I mean, they
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: played the Padres and the Rockies coming up. Nothing was
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: going to affect the Mets' schedule coming up. Like, I
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: don't know why they would have done that. Is this Lindor?
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: I've heard of guys– Lindor trying to give back to
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: the Guardians?
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: So, ever since I heard this, ever since I saw
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: this this morning, that's what I'm trying to think. Like,
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: who would have– why– what staff member would be like
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: on the mats was like, Hey, I know my job's
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: probably not too secure here. Andy green doesn't like me.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: So I'm trying to get over. I'm trying. Cause there's
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: plenty of people that ladder climb. And that is what
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: I'm probably I'm, I'm putting 90% on that because voters
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: voters are great dude voters. Somebody I would consider one
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: of my friends. If we were playing Steven vote and
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: we heard his pitch comp, I wouldn't tell him. Sorry, like,
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: that's not like, there's no way. There's not a chance,
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: I would tell.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: I'm shocked. Hearing the pitch comment does not surprise me.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: I was kind of waiting for something like that to
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: pop up, and I'm sure it's not the only time.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: But telling?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Tattling?
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: Somebody's looking for a job. Hey, remember when I did that? Hey,
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: remember me when Andy Green fires me.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: We didn't get to Max, but we should. We'd mentioned him.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: John Schneider going out to get him. Eventually really did
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: get him. This was the tweet about when he actually
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: went to get Max and bring him back in the
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: first time around. Did not go so well for Schneider,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: but he loved it.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: He was going, he was pitching to his arm, fell
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: off to his last possible start ever. So it was.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: He pitched really well, too. Much like him and Verlander,
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: both pitched really well in what could be their last start.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Good for Max. An unbelievable career. First ballot Hall of Famer.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: It would be kind of fitting if him and Verlander
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: went into the Hall of Fame at the same time.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know about Max. He might come back.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: I agree, but he pitched really good in the last
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: month or so. Maybe he figured something out that helped him.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Maybe he played extra piano. I don't know. Vlad's cheering
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: for him, though. Vlad's like, you're getting paid for what
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: you're doing now.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: And for the future, for the future, what's it going
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: to look like? I mean, I actually think my, my
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: bold prediction, I think Max is going to come back
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: one up Verlander one more season.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: He has to get more strikeouts in Verlander. I'm sorry.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: I don't see a competitor like that on the mound.
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: Just being like, okay, guy I've competed with. I don't
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: know what their relationship is now or what it was
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: then all that stuff. I'm just saying, He's going– and
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: if he comes back one more season, he goes into
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: the Hall of Fame by himself or with other guys,
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: not with Justin. So Justin gets his year. Max comes
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: back the next year. I just have a hard time
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: believing he doesn't come back for one more.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: It's a lot. It's a lot when you get to
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: that point. It's a lot when you get to that point, though.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: You get to that point and he's 40-plus years old.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: You're just like, okay, I got to go home and
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: talk to my wife. talk to my, he's got like
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: 10 kids to go home, talk to my 10 kids,
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: see what they want to do. And then, Oh, then
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: I got to get ready for spring training and I
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: don't want to just be a schmuck out there. So,
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: and then he's got to find the right place to play,
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: which this year was Toronto. He basically said, I only
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: want to pitch in Toronto, but Toronto bring them back. Right.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot more that goes into it other
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: than just, Oh, I want to pitch again. Sorry.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: And I just, it's a lot. It's a lot.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: He could come back in like July or August. The
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: whole game might not come back until then. If it
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: goes some people's way. but he could just prepare to
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: come back for a couple of months. David Robertson did
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: it post trade. What was it? Not post trade that
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: line post all-star, right?
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Reliever.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Hot corner time presented by the Fox one app. Let's
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: talk about the wild card series going down in San Diego.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: It's going to be nuts there. I mean, this turned
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: around AJ, there was a time two ish weeks ago,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: where we were like, ah, Padres are going to get
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: in or hopefully get in if they beat out the
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: D-backs and they're going to be on the road. Well,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: this is one of the bigger swings to me in
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: the playoffs to allow a team like this to host
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: a wild card where they were on the road last
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: year in Chicago and got bounced.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a rematch of last year's wild card
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: in Chicago. Remember, it was freezing and every game was
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: like one to nothing because it was so cold nobody
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: could hit a ball out of the infield. They get
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: to go to sunny San Diego. The Cubs got to
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: travel cross country from Tampa. After having that whole debacle
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: where they went to Boston and played that rainy doubleheader
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: and then had to fly to Tampa, now they've got
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: to go to San Diego. San Diego's known they've been
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: in for a while. They've kind of got to set
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: up their pitching. I think this is going to be
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: a great series. This, to me, is probably the hardest
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: series to pick because I just don't know what's going
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: to happen here. I don't know if the Padres starters
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: are going to have enough to get them to their bullpen.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Who's going to start for the Cubs? I mean, Alex Bregman,
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: I know he hit two home runs yesterday, but where
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: will he be? What Which offense for the Cubs will
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: show up? Which offense for the Padres will show up?
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: This one is the matchup when you look at it,
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: you say, man, this one's tough to pick for me. Yeah,
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: I agree.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: I agree. I think is the Padres hot stretch at
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: the end of the year? Are they riding that high?
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: Did they peak too soon? Is that, you know, those
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: are going to be the questions that will end up
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: spinning that narrative when we see what ends up happening.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: But this team on the surface looks like they've figured
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: out how to hit from like one through six. And
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: then Gavin Sheets comes back and only has two or
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: three games to play. He hits a dinger. His bat
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: looks like he could be rounding into form. Who's going
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: to start behind the dish? Marty Caswell told us it's
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: going to be Salas. We'll see. Michael King's personal catcher
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: has been Campisano, so he doesn't catch the first game.
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: There's a few question marks with the Padres, really, for
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: the Cubs. The only question mark is the ERA that
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: this team has given up. They're the 29th or 30th.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure where they finished in ERA for the team.
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: They have the best defense in the league. They have
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: the best offense in the league. But is this pitching
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: staff going to show up enough to be able to
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: push them past the Padres team, which has just an
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: incredible bullpen. They do not have Robert Suarez. For everybody
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: who called me out online, that is my bizzle, drizzle.
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: They do not have him. But they are a very
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: good bullpen, even without Estrada right now.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: The story with the Padres, too, this season, has to
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: be the turnaround on offense. It feels so long ago
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: at this point, but it wasn't. Their offense in the
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: first half of the season, AJ, was not good. Like,
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: towards the bottom in many categories, right?
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: Well, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis remembered how to hit again.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Manny picked it up big time. They had some guys
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: that had track records that really weren't doing anything, and
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: they all picked it up. Cronenworth got better. They figured
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: it out somehow. Ty France had a big year. I mean,
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Steven Souza, who was their hitting coach, We were all like, whoa, man,
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: does this guy know what he's doing? He figured something out.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, this is one of those turnarounds that you're like,
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: holy crap, I didn't see this one coming. So good
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: for the Padres. Yeah, we'll see how it goes. We'll
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: see how it goes. And, you know, if I get
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: to go to San Diego, I'll get to hang out
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: with Don Orsillo, my boy. Maybe he'll take me fishing.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: He won't, but at least I can ask him and
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: give him grief for not taking me.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: It's like a lot of the things that people were
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: worried about with San Diego ended up getting fixed. What
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: does the rotation look like? It looks pretty good. And
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: that was also.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Robbie Ray.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Robbie Ray was good since he got over there. Pavetta, King,
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Robbie Ray. That's three pretty good ones he got to
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: start with.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: The bullpen wasn't the question. It's still not a question.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: The offense should be much less of a question. And
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: it was a huge question last year heading into the postseason. Like,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: are they going to score enough? That's not a question.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: I can even go this far, Kratz. I know you'll
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: get a little giggle out of this one. Remember last year,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: the viral moment with the Padres getting into it with
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: the umpires? Yes. Over in Chicago, even that's not going
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: to be a problem anymore.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Challenge system, baby. You don't like it? Tap your head.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: And you better have some remaining for late in the game.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: You better. It's the same thing I asked Garfinkel earlier.
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: How does Craig Stammen work this? It's not going to
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: be him all making the decisions. A lot of these
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: decisions are going to be ahead of time, made ahead
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: of time. But when you have, to me, I think
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: they're starting three, whoever they choose. have been pitching well,
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: but how soon do they go away from them? Do
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: you trust Michael King in a one-nothing game in the
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: fifth inning to get out of it, or do you
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: go straight to the vaunted bullpen? Does Craig Stammen's inability
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: of being a manager, a coach of any sort, and
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: now being in a winner-take-all type of situation, is that
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: inexperience going to Help him because he's just going to
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: be like, I don't care what everyone else has always done.
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: This is what we've done all year, so we're just
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: going to stick with it. It'll be interesting to watch
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: for sure.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: The thing is.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: There's no off days. There's no off days, though. You
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: have to manage your bullpen differently. That's the thing. You can't–
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: because most guys don't throw three games in a row.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Mason Miller is not going to give you three games
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: in a row. So you've got to– if you win,
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: you just have to figure it out. Like if you
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: win game one– you almost have to say, okay, well,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: we get to game three, we got to be able
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: to save some of our bullets. So that's the difference.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: When you get to the DSs, you have off days
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: built in, so you never have three games in a row.
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: So that's a major difference for me.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: You don't think– I think Mason could do three in
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: a row. He's one of those guys where it's like next.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Day– I mean, he could, but you don't want to.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: I just– I mean, he could, but then– You know,
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: you just don't– you got to be careful. That's the thing.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: If he throws 30 pitches in game one and they win,
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: and then game two he throws 25 more and you're like, ah,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: we need you in game three. You're like, ah, ah.
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think they're going to. I think they
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: should have. Anytime you watch the Padres game, at least
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: in August and September, that was close or they had been–
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: when they had won two of the previous games that
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: were close and they used up a lot of those guys,
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: that was the major conversation in the fourth, fifth, sixth inning.
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: They're not really going to be able to go to
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: their three high leverage guys, which I get it. That's
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: what a lot of teams go through. The question will be,
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: should they have pushed that limit a little bit in
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: the season so they know what it feels like to
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: pitch three in a row? I don't know. I'm not
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: a manager, but I would say it would be based
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: on what the players tell me. And I have a
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: hard time believing that Mason Miller would say, Craig, you
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: know what? I'm going to need game three if there's
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: a situation where you need me to close it out.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: I'm going to need the day off, but I'll be
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: ready game one of the NLDS if we make it. No,
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: I think all these dudes are going to be, yeah,
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: they haven't been there, and it could lead to some problems,
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: but I think they're that good that they can overcome
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: maybe not being at 100% just because it's three days
• 35:57
  Speaker 3: in a row.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you think? This is the World Baseball Classic?
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, every guy in those situations. Every guy will say
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: they're okay. Every guy will say they're okay.
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: Of course. Yeah, 100%. They're all going to say they're okay.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's the manager's job. The manager's job is
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: to look out. And this is where I think managers
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: sometimes get it wrong in this day and age is
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: they can't see the game on the field. I think
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: Craig should be able to see the game on the
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: field because he was a bullpen guy. Does he look
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: the same back-to-back days? Does he look the same on
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: the third day if we need him? How do you
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: look at the end of that second game? And right
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: when I bring him out, is he looking eh? Okay,
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: we got to get somebody hot. This might not go
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: well after the first three batters. So you got to
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: be able to read the game on the field.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Last part here. So for me, I know it's a
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: tough one to decipher for some people. I actually really
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: think the Padres should be favored more than they are.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: in this one based on what we talked about that
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: got fixed over the course of the season based on
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: momentum winning 17 of 20 based on being home. Do
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: I buy that sometimes?
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: No.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: With San Diego, it's not just being home for me, Kratz.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: It's home at night, right? You're the nightcap game. To me,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: that stands out. You can speak to the home field advantage.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: And sometimes I don't want to say it was a disadvantage,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: but for the Phillies, we looked at it and I
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: think obsessed over it so much that it ended up
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: not being a factor sometimes for them. I don't, I
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: don't know. If I have the best math for this,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: but it feels a little bit different. Also, it should
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: feel different with San Diego just based on home road
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: records this year. Philly's just using that comparison because so
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: many people do. They'll say, oh, Philly and San Diego
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: is different. And I've been to both of them and
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: I agree. They feel different from almost any other park, right?
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: In terms of having a big home game. My thing
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: is just look at this year. The Padres were, what
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: did that number, final number end up being? It's a
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: ridiculous number. It was 20-ish games over 500 at home.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: The Phillies weren't like that. So for me, I think
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: there's a real advantage, AJ, we were talking about, to
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the Padres actually being at home playing the nightcap. 10 p.m.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Start.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Your 2 p.m.
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: Little thing.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: Exactly. 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 o'clock out there. This is
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: going to be roaring. And the Padres have thrived at home.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: The Phillies have not always thrived at home. They just
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: have a wild home environment.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, the Padres just can't wait because the Padres fans
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: the whole time are going to be chanting, beat LA.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: They're just ready to play the Dodgers.
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: Oh, wait. Okay, maybe they have to focus on this series.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: I would say yes. The home field advantage there I
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: think is a real thing. I think the excitement is
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: going to be a real thing. It didn't have a
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: home game last year. All real things. And I asked
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: this to Marty and she kind of poo-pooed it a
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: little bit, but When I look at their record against
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: teams over 500, that's where I'm fearful of the Padres
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: making a deep run. You look at the last month
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: of the season, how many of those teams that they
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: were playing had a record over 500? They're 33 and 42.
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: They're nine games under 500 against teams that have a
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: winning record. So Do they step up in the playoffs?
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: I don't know. If they get if they get five
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: innings out of their each of their three starters they're
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: going to be they're going to be almost unbeatable because
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: of how good that bullpen is and how good the
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: lineup's hitting to be able to score enough.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Runs quick counterpoint look at the Dodgers schedule since late
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: July they haven't been anyone good in a series for
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: months they've beaten nobody good for months.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: Which is why they're not perfect We're not talking about perfect.
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: To me, the only perfect team doesn't hit home runs
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: and it's the Brewers. So when you talk about the playoffs,
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: that's what everyone's going to go bang right to. Don't
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: hit enough home runs until you do, until Jackson Churrio
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: hits one of his 20. All right.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: We have a lot of coverage. We'll be doing our
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: thing on FT. We'll also be watching and listening to
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: Cubs and Padres shows within the FT network. Experts on
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: the topic. Sadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, they report on
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: the Cubs all year long. They've got Northside Territory, Jon Lester,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: making appearances there as a regular contributor. Check out that
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: show if you want the Cubs perspective or if you're
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: a Padres fan and you want to learn more about
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: what you're about to face. Same thing, Cubs fans, if
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: you want to tune into Friar Territory, this would be
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: the time with Marty and Darren. It's part of the
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: FT Network. Also, that was Hot Corner presented by Fox One.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: The postseason's here. We have your front row seat to
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: the wildest walk-offs. Lights out pitching and clutch plays all
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: October long. At home or on the go, lab or
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: on demand, never miss a moment. Stream now. Start your
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Fox One three-day free trial today at foxone.com. Go get it. Hey, AJ,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: it was just emotions running wild in Toronto on Sunday.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: George Springer was teary and said he was happy sad
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: because I don't know if he's retiring. I don't think
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: he should, but it sounds like he's done with the
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays.
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, yeah. Is he retiring? I didn't
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: know he was retiring. It says last MLB game. Torch
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: Springer's retiring?
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Could be.
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: No, I don't think he's retiring. I didn't think he
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: was going to be retiring. I talked to him earlier
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: in the year. He feels like he still has some,
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: but his run in Toronto, will it be remembered as successful?
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: Go back and look at the length of his five-year contract.
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: And I would say, I would say it is. But
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: when you get a contract for five years, fans, teams
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: are not saying, well, you make it to one world
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: series and you finish in the top 10. I think
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: he faced, I'm not sure, finish an MVP. Maybe it
• 41:59
  Speaker 3: wasn't that successful. I think it's successful. Obviously I'm biased.
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: I really like George and I'm an ex-player. So I
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: guess I lean in that, lean in that way.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: It was definitely successful. First of all, you can listen
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: to the fans to know if it was successful yesterday
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: and the ovation he received. He wasn't terrible. He just
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: wasn't a superstar throughout the whole contract. But last year
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: he was a superstar and he got hurt. Last year, AJ,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: he was a superstar. And I mean, that is alone
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: worth what they were able to do. They don't make
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: it that deep, not even close without George.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I agree. I don't even know why this is a question.
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: You know what else that contract did? He was the
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: first guy that was a free agent that kind of
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: went there and he set the tone. It was like
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: when Jason Wirth went to the Nationals, right? And he
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: kind of set the tone. Pudge Rodriguez went to the Tigers.
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: He set the tone. He was that first guy, that
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: piece that set the tone. Imagine if this team would
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: ever get Anthony Santander on the team. I mean, now
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: that contract has not been a success. You guys forgot
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: he even played for the Blue Jays.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: He was trying to come back at the end of
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: the year. I was following that storyline just for fun,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: but it didn't work out. So, yeah, Santander so far,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: brutal contract. I mean, a couple years ago, he was
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: banging like 40-plus homers for the Orioles.
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, when the Blue Jays signed him, they were like, oh, man,
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: this offense was Springer, Vlad, Bowe, Santander, all these guys. Santander,
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: people forgot he even plays for the Blue Jays at
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: this point.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Springer and Gosselin, good contracts.
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: Santander definitely got paid for what he did, not what
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: he's doing now.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: Next up on the preview list, it is Atlanta hosting Philly. So, Kratz,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: you got to see.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: Do we have to put a quarter in that thing?
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: Because that's in New York where you put the quarter
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: in the little things. Does Producer Lady make us put
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: a quarter? Does she take a quarter out of our
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: paycheck every time she runs that front end?
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: You can use Apple Pay or whatever. Yeah, you can
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: do a lot of different things. It can go cashless.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: In Philly, are they okay?
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: I got the next one, Producer Lady.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Are they okay in Philly? I know they
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: got to celebrate and it's the whole celebration is like, oh, well,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: who cares? We got in. I mean, they had to
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: do some burning of pitching and the offense besides basically
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: one game in the last week and change was really
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: bad under pressure situations. And this to me has been
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: the biggest problem. I know the bullpen has let them
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: down at times the last couple of years, but to me,
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: the biggest problem has been where is the offense in
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: clutch moments for Philly when they've had a good team
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: in the regular season and they've been bounced earlier than
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: they wanted to.
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: Believe me, I have no idea where it's been. I
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: watched part of the game yesterday just when Nick Martinez
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: was in. Once he left the game, I left like–
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: that was the best bat-to-ball game I've seen in the
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: last six to ten games that I've watched of the
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: Phillies in the sense of you're facing a really good
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: pitcher and you're not getting dominated. Because the nights before,
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: they were getting dominated. And some people will say, oh, wow,
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: you know, they really– decreased their strikeout rate and everything.
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: And I was one of those in August. I'm like, whoa,
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: to be able to make this change. And in September,
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: it really looked like a team that they decreased their
• 45:17
  Speaker 3: strikeout rate, but they definitely decreased their exit velocity. Like
• 45:21
  Speaker 3: the balls that they were hitting were very, it just
• 45:24
  Speaker 3: looked like a lot too many team non-competitive at bats.
• 45:28
  Speaker 3: Kyle Schwarber was ice cold coming down the stretch here.
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying the team goes with him, but if
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: he's hitting leadoff, if he's hitting second, the team kind
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: of does go by him. And it shows that, you know,
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: Bryce Harper was hot, but if he's not able to,
• 45:47
  Speaker 3: if they're not able to get to him with anybody
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: in one, he's not able to drive guys in like
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: that stuff is that stuff's real. And if Trey Turner,
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: is it your first or second hitter? He just has
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: had a bad down year. So it feels like once
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: those guys set the table, then it's like, How are
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: we moving from there? And on top of all that,
• 46:08
  Speaker 3: when they do hit well, they're one of the worst
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: base running teams in baseball. So it's like you get
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: guys on and all of a sudden it's like, oh, wow,
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: we got another hit. Oh, we tried to take an
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: extra base. So it's an epidemic. But if they go
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: and beat the Braves, you're going to say the last
• 46:25
  Speaker 3: game of the series, I really saw a lot of turnaround.
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: Last game of the season, I saw them really making adjustments.
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: They were trying to make an adjustment before that and couldn't.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: No arrives in this series, AJ. Lizardo is going to
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: be the opener in game one. He pitched on Sunday
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: in the eighth inning. He hadn't pitched in probably about
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: three weeks when he had the shutout and the two-hitter.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: Then he came back. Things just started to take a
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: turn for them.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing. The Diamondbacks kind of gave the
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: blueprint for how to beat the Phillies in 23 when
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: they just were like, you know what? We're not going
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: to throw you a heater. We're just going to curveball
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: you and slider you and split you and change up
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: you to death. And since then, when they– I mean,
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: I haven't exactly looked at the numbers, but I know this.
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: A lot of these guys, if they're not getting heaters
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: over the plate, and a lot of times– this was
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: like the old Yankees back in the day and even
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: the Yankees now. When you don't face the best pitching,
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: When you face the underbelly, we used to call it
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: the weak underbelly of a team, when you get into
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of teams' fourth or fifth starters, and then
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: you get into their long relievers, and you're not facing
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: their A guys, this is when you do a lot
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: of their damage. And for me, like Chris Sale, look
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: at his numbers against Phillies.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: Because he's an A guy. He throws his A stuff
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: at you every time. And then they go Sale to,
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: you know, whoever, to Iglesias, and that's how they win
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: the game. Well, the reason they do that is because
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: Sale has good stuff, and he can throw multiple pitches
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: for strikes. When the Phillies do a lot of their damage,
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: it's against guys that are behind in the count. They
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: can't throw a breaking ball. They've got to throw a heater,
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: and wham, someone hits a home run. And the Yankees
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: do a lot of the same. Do I think the Yankees'
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: lineup is better than the Phillies? Yes. But I feel
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: like this team is so dependent on their starting pitching. Sanchez, Wheeler,
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: Lizardo when he was healthy. These guys had to give
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: them six, seven, eight innings every timeout.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Braves talk, Kratz, tell me what you like. We've been
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: kind of crapping on the Phillies, but with the Braves,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: we can have a starting pitching conversation in a moment,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: but let's start with their offense and with game one,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Chris Sale, and what should be a good game two,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: Tyler Motley, too.
• 48:34
  Speaker 3: All right, well, then I'll go offense right out the gate.
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: If Ronald Acuna does what Ronald Acuna did the last series,
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: and I get it, it was in Philly, so he
• 48:42
  Speaker 3: loved playing the villain card. If he does that, to me,
• 48:48
  Speaker 3: this will be a two-game series and it'll be two
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: and Q for the Phillies. I think Matt Olsen, while
• 48:55
  Speaker 3: he had a little bit of a down part of
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: his season, he's a 40-plus home run guy. He started
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: getting a little bit hotter as the season went on.
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: He's going to tire. He's going to get extra rejuvenated
• 49:08
  Speaker 3: here when the postseason starts because he plays every single day.
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: Albies played every day. Those are guys that are going
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: to be out there. To me, the Phillies can't let
• 49:18
  Speaker 3: Acuna and Olsen beat them. Is Austin Riley going to
• 49:22
  Speaker 3: be able to come up with big at-bats wherever they
• 49:24
  Speaker 3: hit them in the lineup, seven through eight? Are they
• 49:27
  Speaker 3: going to be able to keep the game close enough
• 49:34
  Speaker 3: where they have a lead, Phillies have a lead, and
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: the Braves have can't keep adding on because the Braves
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: lineup is clearly much better. But if you let Ronald
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: Acuna beat you, like he did in that Philly series,
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: then I think it's going to be, I think it's
• 49:51
  Speaker 3: going to be a quick series for him.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: Is there more pressure? Is there, has there ever been
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: a start that's not a, Winner take all start, then
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: Chris Sale starting game one. I mean, listen, Tyler Malley's
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: had a really nice year since he's got to Atlanta.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: But if you're the Braves and, you know, Lozardo's starting
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: game one, I'm assuming that means Sanchez is going to
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: start game two. Chris Sale doesn't go out and pitch
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: very well. I mean, again, Tyler Malley's done a great job. But,
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, is there more pressure on one guy than
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: Chris Sale taking the ball in game one here?
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, pressure because they have to win it.
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: That's what I mean. That's pressure.
• 50:34
  Speaker 3: But not pressure like in the– I think some people
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: when they hear pressure, they're like, Chris Sale doesn't have pressure.
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: He's been the best.
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: No, no, no, no.
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: They have to win it. So I think the team
• 50:43
  Speaker 3: knows they have to win it. Would it be a
• 50:45
  Speaker 3: death blow if the Phillies somehow figure out how to
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: beat Chris Sale for the first time in the last
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: six years? I think he's 5-0. I think in games
• 50:56
  Speaker 3: he's started, the team's lost twice. The team has lost twice.
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: in games he's started. So they haven't been able to
• 51:05
  Speaker 3: do it yet. They haven't been able to do it
• 51:06
  Speaker 3: in his last four starts. So it's going to be tough,
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: but would it be a huge blow? Yes. Because then
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: you get to what AJ alluded to with the Phillies lineup.
• 51:18
  Speaker 3: They're not throwing out another Chris sale. They don't have
• 51:21
  Speaker 3: Martine Perez. They don't have, they don't have a yes.
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: Tyler Mallory did great against them, but All of a sudden,
• 51:29
  Speaker 3: you open the door for these guys to not face
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: that number one, that ace, and that's who they've been
• 51:37
  Speaker 3: able to really do damage against when they do damage.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: By the way, Tyler O'Malley's had success because he just
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: throws a split to him like every pitch. It's kind
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: of what I said. I mean, what's he done since
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: he came over to Atlanta? He started throwing a split more,
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: and he's had more success. Guess what he did against
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: the Phillies? He threw the split more. That's why he's
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: had success.
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, can we show that graphic? CJ Nedkowski was defending
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: the Braves during their trade deadline. Well aware. He is
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: their TV broadcaster. We've had him on. He's really good.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: And he's really opinionated. He will definitely criticize when it's worthy.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: But the Braves were big believers in Mali. They thought
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: the velocity was taken up at the right time. They
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: thought they had tweaks to make, which AJ is talking about.
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: And look, if you're just going off ERA, starting pitchers
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: traded at the deadline. He finished on top. 199 earned
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: run average. We'll see what all that looks like at
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: the trade-off line.
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: Freddy Peralta also had to pitch his first start in
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: Colorado and gave up a ton of runs. I mean,
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: come on.
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry. I mean, I'm sorry.
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: I get what he's doing here. I get it, and
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: I love CJ, but, I mean, yeah. Less games started.
• 52:45
  Speaker 3: I mean. I love the last stat in this line
• 52:49
  Speaker 3: that we're looking at. The last stat is opponent's average.
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: To me, that's the biggest. That's a precursor. What kind
• 52:56
  Speaker 3: of damage are you letting up? and his quality starts,
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: that means you got to go a little deeper into
• 53:01
  Speaker 3: the game. When I watch a Tyler Mallee game, and
• 53:04
  Speaker 3: maybe I'm completely wrong, with the bullpen that the Braves have,
• 53:09
  Speaker 3: I have a hard time believing that if it's a
• 53:12
  Speaker 3: close game, they let Tyler Mallee go past five innings.
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: Prove me wrong, I just think without a huge lead,
• 53:21
  Speaker 3: I think they're going to go right to that bullpen,
• 53:24
  Speaker 3: especially since I'm assuming Sale's going to go seven or
• 53:27
  Speaker 3: eight innings the night before.
• 53:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, if they win game one, he might go two
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: innings if they can get to the bullpen. I mean,
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: it's going to be wham, bam, thank you. Let's hurry
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: up and get to the bullpen as fast as possible,
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: especially if they have a lead. If they have a lead, oh,
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: you're going to see the cavalcade of all of them
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: coming in one after the other, fast as they.
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: Can get to it. One runner on, and it's going
• 53:53
  Speaker 3: to be that quick hook. And that doesn't mean that
• 53:56
  Speaker 3: Tyler Malley's not good. That is not what that means.
• 53:59
  Speaker 3: It just means that bullpen is so good, and it
• 54:02
  Speaker 3: means the trust that they have in that bullpen is to,
• 54:05
  Speaker 3: thank you, Chris Sale. We're all rested, ready to go.
• 54:09
  Speaker 3: I can get two from Dylan Lee. Rysel Iglesias can
• 54:12
  Speaker 3: give us two. When you start giving your best pitchers
• 54:16
  Speaker 3: two innings, if you get two of your best pitchers
• 54:18
  Speaker 3: two innings, that's four innings that the bullpen is covering already. Like,
• 54:23
  Speaker 3: it just is... That's how it's going to go. That's
• 54:26
  Speaker 3: going to be the recipe for the Braves to win
• 54:28
  Speaker 3: this series outright in the first two games, which would
• 54:31
  Speaker 3: help them setting themselves up for the next series.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: For coverage on those two teams besides us, the Philly Show, Todd, Ruben, Jim, Zalecki, Amaro, Salisbury,
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: type it into wherever you get your shows and your
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: podcasts or QR code right side. Braves, most downloaded Braves pod.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: Hammer territory. There's four of them. You're seeing two on
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: the screen right now. It's Brad, Scott, Steven, and Sean.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Part of the FT Network. Go get them for more
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: coverage on this series. Kirby Yates, congratulations. He is calling
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: it a career. You know, he didn't debut, Kratz, until
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: he was 27 years old. 12 seasons, two-time All-Star. Had
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: a really nice career that started late, which you know
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: something about.
• 55:19
  Speaker 3: Definitely know something about. I played with his brother. And
• 55:23
  Speaker 3: when I saw his brother at the all-star game in Texas,
• 55:26
  Speaker 3: when Kirby was there, I forgot how large of a
• 55:30
  Speaker 3: man he is. And Kirby is a tiny man. And
• 55:33
  Speaker 3: so you would have thought his brother would have had
• 55:36
  Speaker 3: the longer career. And we joked about that, but just incredible, incredible.
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: And it wasn't even that, you know, he broke in late.
• 55:43
  Speaker 3: He had some ups and downs at the end there too,
• 55:45
  Speaker 3: and rehashed himself, rebuilt himself to be who he was.
• 55:50
  Speaker 3: tremendous career and an incredible person.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: Too yeah and they let him start i mean that
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: was a great game aj they let him start so
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: it's his last he goes one and two thirds gets
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: the ovation ends up a walk-off win for the tigers
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: on the other side of it there was just a
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: lot going on there.
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah well this is when baseball is right right sometimes
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: at the end of the year even if your team
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: is out of it you can still do the right
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: thing and both teams did the right thing it was
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: cool don kelly was there for verlander's last start they
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: were teammates obviously for a long time so This is
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: when baseball gets it right. All the people that bitch
• 56:22
  Speaker 2: and moan about certain things, baseball does get it right
• 56:25
  Speaker 2: every once in a while. Yeah.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: Baseball's able to do this a little bit differently too
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: than most other sports. They're not having this whole salute
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: for the linebacker on name that team at the end.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can do something, but not like baseball can.
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: Baseball has the ability to make these bigger moments during
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: a game.
• 56:45
  Speaker 3: This is rare. This is rare. Like A.J. got to
• 56:49
  Speaker 3: take his own jersey off his own back. I got
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: to take my own jersey off. Normally, teams just don't–
• 56:57
  Speaker 3: like they take it from you. So for these guys
• 56:59
  Speaker 3: to be able to go out on their terms, yeah,
• 57:01
  Speaker 3: nobody wants to go out. Everyone wants to keep playing
• 57:03
  Speaker 3: at the highest level. But to go out on your
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: own terms and be able to do this, it definitely
• 57:08
  Speaker 3: is something that you don't see very often, but you
• 57:12
  Speaker 3: do see it a little more often in baseball than
• 57:14
  Speaker 3: in other sports.
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: We just happen to have some really good goodbyes. on
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: Sunday as the season closes for a number of teams.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: And then we focus here on the postseason.
• 57:25
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: We got time for one. Hey, congratulations. This one from
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: how he rose, who is retiring himself to many others
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: that are, now calling it a career. Buck Martinez, Mike Kruko,
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: Tommy Hutton, Rick Riz, all signing off, either yesterday or
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: earlier this season.
• 58:00
  Speaker 2: It's a lot. It's a lot. Cool for Howie Rose
• 58:03
  Speaker 2: to send this tweet out, but that's a lot of
• 58:06
  Speaker 2: big-time broadcasters that are being replaced, guys. It's going to
• 58:10
  Speaker 2: be weird not having Dwayne Kuyper and Mike Kruko together
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: in San Francisco. Rick Riz, always fun to see him
• 58:15
  Speaker 2: in Seattle. uh, all those, all those names on that list.
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: Buck Martinez. Awesome dude. I mean, Tommy, I never really
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: knew Tommy Hutton, so I can't really speak on him
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: that much.
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: He's a good time. He's fun.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: Is he? Yeah. Very opinionated.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: You would like that. Very opinionated.
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: Uh, and how he rose himself and iconic voice in
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Queens and for New York Mets fans and a really
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: nice guy. So congrats to all of them. What an
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: incredible career for all of them too. Um, And you're right, AJ,
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: it's crazy how many of them with careers that's been
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: many decades are all calling it a career on the
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: same year.
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: That's more than we usually get. I usually feel like
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: we're good for like maybe one or two of these
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: and we just got five or six really, really well-known voices, respected, legendary.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know if any of them are officially in
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: the hall of fame, but most of them should be
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: if they're not the whole deal.
• 59:12
  Speaker 2: I just don't know how, how, you know, guys, I
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: don't know how many guys will see do it for 40,
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: 50 years. Like Rick Riz did 50 years. Like I
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: don't know how many guys are going to see do
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: 50 years of one team. I agree.
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: I think you'll have less of that. I don't, I
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: don't want to get into all the reasons why, but
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: I do think we'll have less of that. And also, FT,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: done for the day. Little music. Kratz, did you do
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: anything special for us?
• 59:37
  Speaker 3: No, nothing special. I was just making sure. I just
• 59:42
  Speaker 3: stay hydrated during the show. That's the biggest thing.
• 59:47
  Speaker 2: I took the Eagles to win tonight and cover the spread.
• 59:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, Case Keenum is the quarterback. I hope the
• 59:52
  Speaker 2: Eagles win. If the Eagles can't win this game, then
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: they might never beat the Bears.
• 59:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, especially with that gunshot wound that Cale Williams
• 59:59
  Speaker 3: suffered last week.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: Right? I mean, I can't believe he survived. He's still alive.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 3: He's still alive. Chicago magic.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 2: Brave men have died from much less injuries than him.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 2: But he survived.
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: AJ and Kratz will be on a post-game show tonight
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: following that game. And then for your baseball post-game shows...
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: White Sox and Astros, 4 o'clock matchup tomorrow. We'll be
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: on live after that one. We'll likely do the Cubs-Padres
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: postgame on Wednesday.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 3: Thursday.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: Who's we? Who's we? Who's we? That's way too late
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 2: for some of us.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you've seen.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: FT Network has over 80 hosts, so we is we.
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: We might not be you. There's no you and we.
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: There's me. For BetMGM, you can get an odds boost
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: token within the app. So make sure you check that out.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: Score a bigger payout on a winning bet. So they'll
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: be all over postseason action and giving you some little
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: perks within the BetMGM app. If you have a gambling problem,
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: there's help. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Make sure you do that if
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: there's an issue.