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Fair Territory: Examining postseason picture madness, AL MVP toss-up? · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone into the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
0:04
Speaker 1: Penn Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo and Alana. I want
0:07
Speaker 1: to start off by saying that it's not often in
0:10
Speaker 1: this job I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I can't
0:13
Speaker 1: catch my breath. The last few days I felt exactly
0:17
Speaker 1: like that. There is so much going on with the races.
0:19
Speaker 1: Then we're going to get to it all that. Yes,
0:22
Speaker 1: it's a little overwhelming.
0:24
Speaker 2: It is a little overwhelming. A lot to unpack can
0:27
Speaker 2: make it make sense.
0:29
Speaker 1: Well, let's start with the AL West, which was decided
0:32
Speaker 1: last night and decided in dramatic fashion, with Cal Rowley
0:35
Speaker 1: hitting home runs number fifty nine and number sixty for
0:39
Speaker 1: the Mariners as they clinched the AL West for the
0:41
Speaker 1: first time since two thousand and one. Think about that,
0:45
Speaker 1: first time since twenty and one, twenty four years. First
0:48
Speaker 1: division title for the Mariners. Congratulations they have won. Listen
0:52
Speaker 1: to this, fifteen of their last sixteen games, ten straight
0:56
Speaker 1: at home, and twenty of their last twenty two home.
1:00
Speaker 1: If they win today or if Cleveland loses, they get
1:03
Speaker 1: a bye. What a dramatic turn of events in the
1:07
Speaker 1: AL West, considering that a week ago, they went into
1:09
Speaker 1: a series in Houston tied with the Astros for the
1:12
Speaker 1: AL West. To see it right there, the Mariners are
1:14
Speaker 1: Al West champions. Now. Talk about a dramatic turn of events.
1:20
Speaker 1: It's almost impossible to describe how dramatic what has happened
1:25
Speaker 1: in the AL Central has been. On September eleventh, I
1:30
Speaker 1: believe it was or September twelfth, somewhere in early September,
1:34
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Guardians were eleven games behind the Detroit Tigers.
1:38
Speaker 1: Actually it was September fifth, eleven games. They were fifteen
1:42
Speaker 1: and a half games back in early July fifteen and
1:45
Speaker 1: a half. And here they are right now, after their
1:47
Speaker 1: wins in the last two games against Detroit at home,
1:51
Speaker 1: sitting on a one game lead in the AL Central.
1:55
Speaker 1: It's amazing what they have done. They traded Shane Bieber,
1:59
Speaker 1: they lost leads or tees to that gambling related investigation,
2:04
Speaker 1: and yet they're going with a six man rotation, including
2:07
Speaker 1: some pictures I'm sure most casual fans have never heard of.
2:10
Speaker 1: And that rotation has allowed two runs or fewer in
2:14
Speaker 1: nineteen straight games. If they do it again today against
2:18
Speaker 1: the Tigers, that will be twenty straight. That will tie,
2:21
Speaker 1: the record held by the nineteen seventeen Chicago White Sox.
2:26
Speaker 1: That was the dead Ball era of folks. Here's what
2:28
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. Sarah Langs, of course, was on this
2:31
Speaker 1: most consecutive starts with two or fewer runs allowed since
2:33
Speaker 1: the mound moved to its current distance in eighteen ninety three.
2:38
Speaker 1: You see the Guardians right there. Just a stunning, crazy
2:41
Speaker 1: turn of events. I want to show you a tweet
2:44
Speaker 1: as well from Zach Meisel of The Athletic in which
2:47
Speaker 1: he shows the evolution of the playoff odds for the
2:50
Speaker 1: Guardians over the last few days. It's rather amazing. Alana, October,
2:54
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, August twenty fifth, Fangrafs gave the Guardians a
2:58
Speaker 1: zero points zero chance to win the Ale Central September tenth,
3:03
Speaker 1: zero point one percent chance, and now Alana, the Guardians
3:07
Speaker 1: lead the Ale Central and own the tiebreaker over Detroit
3:11
Speaker 1: with four games remaining. You see the standings right there,
3:13
Speaker 1: and you look at those last ten. That kind of
3:16
Speaker 1: tells the story. Detroit's collapse has been staggering. They've lost
3:20
Speaker 1: eight straight, they've lost eleven of twelve, they've lost twenty
3:22
Speaker 1: of twenty seven. It's the opposite of last year Alana,
3:26
Speaker 1: when of course they led a charmed existence down the stretch.
3:29
Speaker 2: This is that it's insane. Ken. So you're saying there's
3:33
Speaker 2: a chance for the Guardians. You mentioned it's September fifth,
3:36
Speaker 2: eleven games out. Now they are the division leaders. Are
3:39
Speaker 2: there any parallels in your mind what the Guardians are
3:42
Speaker 2: doing in twenty twenty five to what the Colorado Rockies
3:45
Speaker 2: did in two thousand and seven.
3:48
Speaker 1: It's quite similar. And I don't recall the exact numbers
3:52
Speaker 1: with the Rockies and how many games they won in
3:55
Speaker 1: a certain amount of time. It was a lot right
3:56
Speaker 1: down to the end. But yes, that's kind of the
3:59
Speaker 1: parallel we're seeing here. But this is more historic than that.
4:02
Speaker 1: Even fifteen and a half game deficit, No team has
4:05
Speaker 1: ever lost that deficit and lost the division title or
4:08
Speaker 1: league in that scenario. Back before divisional play, it never happened.
4:14
Speaker 1: The Miracle Braves, not fifteen games, these seventy eight Yankees. No,
4:19
Speaker 1: it was a staggering thing to think about that this
4:22
Speaker 1: could happen, and it is happening. Now. We have some
4:26
Speaker 1: clinching scenarios that want to go through to as well
4:28
Speaker 1: as we enter Tonight's play. In today's play, the Cleveland
4:32
Speaker 1: Guardians are in a position right now where they can
4:35
Speaker 1: clinch a playoff berth not the AL Central just yet,
4:39
Speaker 1: with a win or Houston loss. Boston is in with
4:43
Speaker 1: a win or a Houston loss, and then Seattle clinches
4:47
Speaker 1: a bye with a win or a Cleveland loss. Houston
4:50
Speaker 1: has lost five straight. They are in real trouble here.
4:53
Speaker 1: They're one game behind the Tigers for the third wildcard,
4:56
Speaker 1: and the Tigers hold the tiebreaker. From Ravaldez, tonight could
5:00
Speaker 1: be his last start in an Astros uniform as a
5:02
Speaker 1: potential free agent if they missed the playoffs. This could
5:05
Speaker 1: be it. The Astros haven't had Erodon Alvarez in September fifteenth,
5:09
Speaker 1: they haven't had Jeremy Panne in the last three games
5:11
Speaker 1: because of oblique sorenus, and that is where they stand now.
5:15
Speaker 1: Here are the wildcard standings that we're putting the Yankees there,
5:18
Speaker 1: even though they're tied with the Blue Jays because as
5:21
Speaker 1: of right now, the Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker. But
5:23
Speaker 1: let's not forget the Al East. What is going on
5:27
Speaker 1: there is insane as well. The Jays have lost six
5:31
Speaker 1: of seven. The Yankees now tied with them for the
5:34
Speaker 1: division lead. Yes, with the Jays holding the tiebreaker, and
5:38
Speaker 1: the Jays are in this precarious spot right now where
5:41
Speaker 1: they're trying to avoid the wildcard series. The winner of
5:45
Speaker 1: this division is going to likely be the team that
5:47
Speaker 1: finishes with the best record in the American League and
5:50
Speaker 1: the number one seed. The Jays, why do they want
5:52
Speaker 1: to avoid the wildcard series? Remember twenty twenty, twenty twenty two,
5:56
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. They got swept in the wildcard round
6:00
Speaker 1: all three of those seasons. So there is so much
6:02
Speaker 1: at stake for these two teams. The Jays host the
6:06
Speaker 1: Rays this weekend, the Yankees host the Orioles, and of
6:09
Speaker 1: course the Jays have one more game left against the
6:11
Speaker 1: Red Sox and that has not been an easy series
6:13
Speaker 1: for them so far. So again, Alana, Man, it's spinning
6:18
Speaker 1: right now. It's spinning hard.
6:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, take a breath, Ken Rosenthal, It so. I always
6:23
Speaker 2: feel like there's one of those boards that have all
6:25
Speaker 2: of the different strings and photos and all of the
6:27
Speaker 2: different scenarios, kind of like you know, a beautiful mind,
6:30
Speaker 2: where all of the different numbers are going around. That
6:33
Speaker 2: is what I feel like. This postseason push is at
6:36
Speaker 2: the moment. Two weeks ago, we thought we had it
6:38
Speaker 2: all figured out right. The biggest thing we were talking
6:39
Speaker 2: about was seeding. Now it's like we don't even know
6:41
Speaker 2: who's going to get in. And that is the case
6:44
Speaker 2: for that final National League wildcard spot. Is it going
6:47
Speaker 2: to be the Mets? Is it going to be somebody else?
6:49
Speaker 2: Do the Dodgers win the division? Do the Padres win
6:51
Speaker 2: the division? What's going on in the senior circuit?
6:54
Speaker 1: Ken Well, the Dodgers are looking good. They're one win
6:58
Speaker 1: or one San Diego loss away clinching the division. Not
7:01
Speaker 1: that they've done it in particularly impressive fashion, but at
7:05
Speaker 1: least last night Sasaki out of the bullpen and Kershaw
7:08
Speaker 1: out of the bullpen both were extremely impressive. Now you
7:10
Speaker 1: look at the wild card race, all three of the
7:12
Speaker 1: top contenders for the third spot lost last night, The
7:16
Speaker 1: Diamondbacks and Reds in extra innings go down. The Mets
7:19
Speaker 1: lose to the Cubs, got trounced. Now the Mets are
7:22
Speaker 1: in a tough spot here, and they're in a tough
7:25
Speaker 1: spot because they are, believe it or not, with a
7:27
Speaker 1: three hundred and forty million dollar payroll running out of
7:30
Speaker 1: starting pitching. They're gonna go with McClain tonight. They're gonna
7:34
Speaker 1: go with sprot tomorrow. Then maybe Clay Holmes, who pitched
7:37
Speaker 1: in relief last night on Saturday, he would be the
7:39
Speaker 1: most likely option, and who knows where they go on Sunday.
7:43
Speaker 1: The Diamondbacks, they have had this incredible run, despite their injuries,
7:48
Speaker 1: despite their trades. They are playing their hearts out. They've
7:51
Speaker 1: got the Padres this weekend and they rearrange their rotation.
7:55
Speaker 1: What they're gonna do is go with a bullpen game
7:57
Speaker 1: tonight against the Dodgers. Got a situation where they're facing Yamamoto.
8:03
Speaker 1: They want to push Gallon, Edward Rodriguez and Brandan fought
8:06
Speaker 1: back to the San Diego series that will be in
8:08
Speaker 1: San Diego, so that will give them the best chances
8:11
Speaker 1: of winning those games tonight. Let's face it, you don't
8:15
Speaker 1: want to burn gown necessarily against Yamamoto, not when you
8:18
Speaker 1: need every win. They may lose tonight, or they may
8:21
Speaker 1: pull one out of their hats somewhere, but this is
8:24
Speaker 1: the way they're going in the Reds. Man I wrote
8:28
Speaker 1: about these teams earlier this week, both the Reds and Diamondbacks.
8:31
Speaker 1: They are two games over five hundred. They are only
8:33
Speaker 1: in this conversation because this is the National League Final
8:36
Speaker 1: Wildcard race, brought to you by the New York Mets.
8:39
Speaker 1: The Reds are now three and twelve in extra innings.
8:42
Speaker 1: They were looking good after they swept forward from the Cubs,
8:45
Speaker 1: but what has happened? They lost two straight to the Pirates. Now,
8:49
Speaker 1: obviously last night, with Skins pitching, you could expect it,
8:52
Speaker 1: but they took it the extra innings and they fell
8:54
Speaker 1: apart again. So tiebreakers people are gonna want to know
8:57
Speaker 1: that as well. The Reds hold them over the met
9:00
Speaker 1: and Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks hold it over the Mets, so
9:04
Speaker 1: the Mets have no tiebreakers. They need to keep winning here.
9:07
Speaker 1: They need to preserve that one game lead because otherwise
9:11
Speaker 1: they're out.
9:12
Speaker 2: Mets are a mess. Dodgers' bullpen is a mess, Ken Rosenthal,
9:16
Speaker 2: I mean I every time I look up, they're blown
9:19
Speaker 2: another save. And it pains me greatly to say that. Obviously,
9:22
Speaker 2: the Dodgers are in the postseason. They could still win
9:25
Speaker 2: the division. They could do it as early as today.
9:27
Speaker 2: This bullpen, though it must give you.
9:29
Speaker 1: Pause, it does. And yes, last night Blake tryin and
9:33
Speaker 1: got out of it. One batter, And yes, it was
9:36
Speaker 1: impressive to see Sasaki and Kershel what they did, especially
9:39
Speaker 1: Sasaki one two three Bingo that said, this is their
9:43
Speaker 1: achilles heel right now. And the last two nights they
9:46
Speaker 1: blew four to one leads, I believe in the eighth inning,
9:48
Speaker 1: both to the Diamondbacks. And you wonder just how effective
9:52
Speaker 1: they're going to be in the postseason. Yeah, they've got
9:54
Speaker 1: great starters. Stars aren't going to go nine innings. They
9:57
Speaker 1: never do in the postseason. They never do period in
9:59
Speaker 1: baseball anymore. So there is legitimate concern about the Dodgers.
10:04
Speaker 1: This is a team. Remember at the start of the season,
10:06
Speaker 1: we were all talking about them ruining baseball potentially maybe
10:08
Speaker 1: winning one hundred and fifteen games.
10:11
Speaker 3: They're not even gonna win ninety five games. They're not
10:14
Speaker 3: even gonna get to ninety five. I think they can
10:16
Speaker 3: max out at ninety three. So yes, there are troubling
10:19
Speaker 3: signs for the Dodgers. And as we look at all
10:23
Speaker 3: of this and ponder it, Alana.
10:25
Speaker 1: And we consider what is going on right now, think
10:29
Speaker 1: about what is going to happen in October with all
10:31
Speaker 1: of this unpredictability, it's going to be just as unpredictable,
10:35
Speaker 1: if not more so in October especially, And I was
10:38
Speaker 1: thinking about this this morning with all of these bullpens
10:42
Speaker 1: in such disarray. And it's not just the Dodgers. There
10:46
Speaker 1: are any number of teams you can point to that
10:48
Speaker 1: have bullpen troubles. A number of teams also have rotation problems.
10:52
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're looking at a wide open postseason for sure.
10:56
Speaker 1: Coming up, Ken, it is.
10:58
Speaker 2: A beautiful mess exist exactly like we wanted at this
11:01
Speaker 2: time of the year. What would surprise you more before
11:03
Speaker 2: we get to break, don't forget, guys, get your questions
11:05
Speaker 2: in for Grill and Ken. Coming up after the break,
11:08
Speaker 2: What would surprise you more? The Mets don't make it,
11:12
Speaker 2: the Yankees win the division, the Guardians are the AL
11:17
Speaker 2: Central winners, or the Houston Astros don't make the postseason.
11:22
Speaker 1: Well, that's a great question. A lot oh would qualify
11:24
Speaker 1: as a surprise. The Guardians though, the biggest surprise. Last
11:28
Speaker 1: I checked this was yesterday. They are twenty seventh in
11:31
Speaker 1: the major leagues in runs per game, twenty seventh in scoring.
11:35
Speaker 1: They have no offense. They have Jose Ramirez, a little
11:38
Speaker 1: bit of Stephen Kwan, a little bit of some other guys,
11:40
Speaker 1: but that's it. They are doing this solely on the
11:42
Speaker 1: basis of well, not solely, but mostly on the basis
11:46
Speaker 1: of their starting pitching, which, as we detailed, has been
11:49
Speaker 1: utterly brilliant. And that is intriguing for the postseason because
11:54
Speaker 1: if they get there and continue on with these guys, okay,
11:57
Speaker 1: they could go on a little bit of a run.
11:59
Speaker 1: The Reds are in the same kind of position. Offense
12:01
Speaker 1: has been inconsistent. Kind of drives you nuts watching them play.
12:04
Speaker 1: But you go into a postseason series with Hunter Green,
12:08
Speaker 1: Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, Nicoldolo, you've got a shot. So
12:12
Speaker 1: if they can get there, they're interesting.
12:14
Speaker 2: This end of season drama is better than any reality show.
12:18
Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal coming up after the break, We're gonna talk
12:21
Speaker 2: to Ken about some questions that you guys have. Get
12:24
Speaker 2: them in. We'll be back right after this.
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13:32
Speaker 2: Get those questions in. We're taking questions from our YouTube family.
13:35
Speaker 2: We appreciate the conversation. Everyone's talking about it. Ken, You've
13:39
Speaker 2: been asked about it a thousand times, so has so
13:41
Speaker 2: have I al MVP Daniel brings up a good point though,
13:44
Speaker 2: can't judge, and Ralli be co MVP. If people think
13:47
Speaker 2: they deserve it, has happened before nineteen seventy nine. I mean,
13:51
Speaker 2: that was what forty six years ago. It could happen again.
13:54
Speaker 2: I doubt it's going to tell me more, Daniel.
13:57
Speaker 1: The reason it probably won't happen is just the way
13:59
Speaker 1: the vote voting is done. It's a point system, and
14:03
Speaker 1: you have thirty voters, two in each American League city,
14:07
Speaker 1: and the chances of a tie occurring are quite slim.
14:12
Speaker 1: Could it happen, Yes, it could happen. I just don't
14:14
Speaker 1: expect it to happen. The real question for me now,
14:18
Speaker 1: with Raleigh getting to sixty is if that pushes him
14:21
Speaker 1: over the top. And I know there is one hundred
14:23
Speaker 1: and seventy point difference in ops between Judge and Raleigh.
14:27
Speaker 1: Judge is having another historic season by a right handed hitter.
14:31
Speaker 1: And I know also that Raleigh has done some things
14:35
Speaker 1: defensively that we cannot even measure. So it's an incredibly
14:40
Speaker 1: close race. In my opinion. I have said all along,
14:43
Speaker 1: there is no wrong choice. I know Yankee fans say, oh,
14:46
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. Judge is much better offensively, okay, And I
14:49
Speaker 1: know people who root for the Mariners say it's ridiculous.
14:53
Speaker 1: Cal Raley does things defensively and plays the most physically
14:56
Speaker 1: demanding position, and has done things as a catcher. No
14:59
Speaker 1: one has ever done things as a switch hitter. No
15:02
Speaker 1: one has ever done which is the MVP. They're both
15:06
Speaker 1: MVPs to me. So, Daniel, maybe the solution is a tie.
15:10
Speaker 1: I just don't expect it to happen.
15:12
Speaker 2: I mean, no answer is wrong, Ken, I mean, it's
15:14
Speaker 2: as much of a coin flip today as it has
15:16
Speaker 2: ever been. Really, do you think, though, if it's all
15:20
Speaker 2: comparison apples to apples, the tie goes to the catcher.
15:25
Speaker 1: First of all, it's not apples to apples. That's the
15:27
Speaker 1: whole problem. A lot of we're talking about, as you
15:29
Speaker 1: just said, a catcher versus a right fielder and a
15:32
Speaker 1: right fielder who was a DH for about a month
15:34
Speaker 1: Raleigh DHS two. That is the problem here, that you
15:39
Speaker 1: can't really measure what cal Raley is doing. And we
15:42
Speaker 1: have war. But war is an imperfect measure, even when
15:44
Speaker 1: you like it, and even when you use it to
15:48
Speaker 1: compare players, it's imperfect. It's especially imperfect because all the
15:52
Speaker 1: things that Rally does to handle a pitching staff in
15:56
Speaker 1: involving game calling, all these different things they can't be measured.
16:00
Speaker 1: Measure framing, and you can measure throwing and all that,
16:03
Speaker 1: but there are elements to his game that just are immeasurable.
16:07
Speaker 1: That is the problem here. That is why it's difficult
16:09
Speaker 1: to compare them. It's always been a subjective vote, it
16:13
Speaker 1: always will be as long as it's most valuable player.
16:16
Speaker 1: But this one is particularly difficult, even more difficult than
16:20
Speaker 1: last season when it was Judge versus Bobby Witt having
16:22
Speaker 1: an amazing season of his own.
16:25
Speaker 2: It's funny, Chrome Fan in our chat says Judge equals
16:28
Speaker 2: most valuable hitter, Rawleigh equals most valuable player. Interesting take
16:33
Speaker 2: on that Chrome Fan Again, I don't think anybody has
16:35
Speaker 2: be like, how could they give it to Aaron Judge?
16:37
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Can let me ask you another question
16:40
Speaker 2: from Vincent about the Dodgers. He wants to know from you.
16:43
Speaker 2: Can the Dodgers repeat? Even though I know they have
16:46
Speaker 2: not played their best baseball yet? Vincent, we're running out
16:49
Speaker 2: of calendar, Vincent.
16:51
Speaker 1: The question is a good one and the answer is yes,
16:54
Speaker 1: they can repeat. The reason I believe they can repeat
16:58
Speaker 1: is their starting rotation with Tany just pitching at an
17:01
Speaker 1: extremely high level Yamamoto, top five cy young finisher most
17:05
Speaker 1: likely and Blake Snell being sick and half Blake Snell.
17:08
Speaker 1: That is a great place to start. And then you've
17:11
Speaker 1: got Glass. Now for game four, if you get to
17:13
Speaker 1: a best of seven NLCS, they have to figure out
17:17
Speaker 1: their bullpen if they can do that, and last night
17:20
Speaker 1: again was encouraging just seeing Sasaki handle himself the way
17:23
Speaker 1: he did and Kershaw of course as well. If they
17:27
Speaker 1: can get that group straight and right now it's not straight,
17:30
Speaker 1: then actually they are a team that certainly can win
17:34
Speaker 1: the World Series, will be a big time threat to
17:36
Speaker 1: win the World Series. I still don't like them as
17:38
Speaker 1: much as the Phillies and maybe even the Brewers, but
17:42
Speaker 1: the Dodgers are going to be there if again that
17:44
Speaker 1: bullpen gets fixed.
17:46
Speaker 2: Ken, are you a fan of piggybacking starters in that
17:49
Speaker 2: situation in the same game, if it means that you
17:52
Speaker 2: can go to your bullpen less.
17:54
Speaker 1: Yes, and that's certainly something that will explore. They've got Glass, now,
17:59
Speaker 1: they've got img, they've got Kershaw. They can piggy back
18:02
Speaker 1: to their hearts the light and maybe that's one way
18:04
Speaker 1: to stay away from some of their lesser options. But
18:07
Speaker 1: a guy like Alex Vesti. He's been pretty good for
18:09
Speaker 1: most of the year. Now he had a rough night
18:11
Speaker 1: last night. Do you trust him? You do trust him?
18:14
Speaker 1: Blake Trining after last postseason? Do you trust him? Dave
18:18
Speaker 1: Roberts does. Dodger fans don't, So it's going to be
18:22
Speaker 1: really interesting to see how they handle it. Bilana, you
18:24
Speaker 1: raise a great point. Because they have this starting pitching depth,
18:28
Speaker 1: they can piggyback and maybe eliminate or reduce the number
18:32
Speaker 1: of bullpen endings they need.
18:33
Speaker 2: That way, all right, Mark Mead has a good question, Ken,
18:36
Speaker 2: I don't know if you know how much home field advantage.
18:38
Speaker 2: I have my answer, but I'm interested to know yours.
18:41
Speaker 2: What team is going to benefit most from home field
18:44
Speaker 2: advantage in the playoffs?
18:47
Speaker 1: I would say Seattle right now because of how hot
18:49
Speaker 1: they are at home. I would say Toronto if they
18:52
Speaker 1: get there, because their home crowd has been great all
18:55
Speaker 1: season long. Really, most teams would benefit, of course, and
18:58
Speaker 1: don't forget Sandye now, they're not going to open at home,
19:01
Speaker 1: and they lost Ramo Loreano last night to a fractured finger,
19:05
Speaker 1: which is going to hurt their offense. But should they
19:08
Speaker 1: get past the Cubs and what looks like will be
19:12
Speaker 1: a first Round series at Wrigley Field. Then they go home,
19:16
Speaker 1: of course, and have home games in the division series.
19:19
Speaker 1: And Peco Park right now is one of the best
19:21
Speaker 1: home parks or home environments in baseball. So those three
19:25
Speaker 1: come immediately to mind. If I'm forgetting anyone, I'm sorry
19:28
Speaker 1: to offend you.
19:29
Speaker 2: The only forgetting I think is the Phillies Ken. I
19:33
Speaker 2: think Citizens Bank Park is unbelievably a phenomenal home field advantage,
19:38
Speaker 2: which actually leads me to my next question. In terms
19:41
Speaker 2: of the Philadelphia Phillies, let's talk about the pitching here.
19:45
Speaker 2: FtF Benji two wants to know do the Phillies really
19:49
Speaker 2: trust bringing in three lefties for the postseason with Lozardo, Sanchez,
19:52
Speaker 2: and Suarez only have one Writy in Nola, and Nola's
19:55
Speaker 2: had his struggles recently. Feel like that's too many lefties,
19:58
Speaker 2: especially with Aaron the struggles.
20:01
Speaker 1: All right, First of all, sorry to forget Philly in
20:03
Speaker 1: my list of great home parks. It's amazing. Now this
20:06
Speaker 1: question is your classic rich people's problem. Yes, I'd rather
20:10
Speaker 1: have another Writy in there, and I don't know that
20:12
Speaker 1: you want Nola pitching Game three. But the way to
20:15
Speaker 1: change this up is to start Sanchez in game one,
20:19
Speaker 1: Suarez in game two. Who is more less or less reliant?
20:23
Speaker 1: I should say on velocity he's more of a crafty
20:25
Speaker 1: left hander, and then bring Lizardo in for Game three.
20:29
Speaker 1: That to me is probably what they should do in
20:31
Speaker 1: the Division series. Now, maybe they'll see a good matchup
20:34
Speaker 1: for Nola and maybe they'll like him on the road.
20:37
Speaker 1: It's possible. Rather than Lozardo in game three, I can
20:41
Speaker 1: see them turning to Nola, who has had his moments
20:44
Speaker 1: since coming back, but it has been largely inconsistent. At
20:47
Speaker 1: the same time, those three lefties are really good. Yes,
20:49
Speaker 1: you'd prefer one of them to be right handed, But
20:52
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna weep too much for the Phillies over
20:54
Speaker 1: this particular issue.
20:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can. I don't think anyone's crying for the
20:57
Speaker 2: Phillies or these big market teams. They'll figure it out
20:59
Speaker 2: as always have done. Okay, coming up after the break,
21:02
Speaker 2: we're talking about our dude and dork of the week.
21:05
Speaker 2: Who are we giving flowers to? Who are we saying?
21:08
Speaker 2: What are you thinking? We'll be right back.
21:11
Speaker 4: FTFAM Superpower believes that every human has one hundred year
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21:26
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21:33
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21:35
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21:38
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21:42
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22:12
Speaker 2: Dude, Dude, dude, Okay, Ken, who's your dude of the week.
22:23
Speaker 1: I'm going to go a little bit off the board here.
22:25
Speaker 1: You have any number of candidates. Cal Ralely, Aaron Judge
22:29
Speaker 1: right down the line, and Mundo Soso, the Philadelphia Phillies
22:32
Speaker 1: first shortstop in Phillies' history last night to hit three
22:36
Speaker 1: home runs in the game. He comes off the Ils
22:39
Speaker 1: to do this. Here's Jason Stark's tweet about it. The
22:42
Speaker 1: Phillies shortstops to have hit three overs in a game.
22:45
Speaker 1: There's only one. And also, I want to acknowledge Edmundo
22:49
Speaker 1: Sosa as one of the more popular players in his
22:52
Speaker 1: own clubhouse. The players on the Phillies love him, and
22:55
Speaker 1: they love him because he's a great teammate, great guy.
22:57
Speaker 1: He just comes to work every day, doesn't care what
23:00
Speaker 1: role is. And again that is classic due to the
23:04
Speaker 1: week stuff, both his performance and the way he is,
23:07
Speaker 1: just his personality and Mindo Sosa due to the week.
23:11
Speaker 2: Hang on, I'm calling Jimmy Rawlins right now and be like, man,
23:14
Speaker 2: you couldn't hit three home runs in a game? What
23:16
Speaker 2: is wrong with you?
23:17
Speaker 1: J rowl?
23:19
Speaker 2: All right, So my dude of the week, the Cleveland Guardians.
23:23
Speaker 2: I know I'm not going out on a limb here,
23:24
Speaker 2: but what they have been able to do, Stephen Vote.
23:26
Speaker 2: Obviously coming off Manager of the Year award last year,
23:30
Speaker 2: this team was left for dead. Absolutely unreal what they've
23:35
Speaker 2: been able to do. I love this picture, by the way,
23:38
Speaker 2: but think about it. Yes, you mentioned they don't have
23:39
Speaker 2: any offense to speak of, but their pitching is getting
23:42
Speaker 2: it done and for whatever reason, they now lead the
23:45
Speaker 2: Al Central And that's unbelievable to think about, Ken, considering
23:49
Speaker 2: where they were Cleveland. Nice job, all right, Time now
23:53
Speaker 2: for the dork of the week. Okay, Kenny, who do
24:03
Speaker 2: you have?
24:05
Speaker 1: Well, a lot of the Colorado Rockies are sitting one
24:10
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen. They're run differential negative for twelve. It's
24:16
Speaker 1: the worst in modern Major League history Colorado Rockies. Need
24:20
Speaker 1: we say any more dorks of the week?
24:24
Speaker 2: Okay, that's your dork of the week. I'm always on
24:27
Speaker 2: board when you use that franchise as a dork of
24:29
Speaker 2: the week is more of a network situation, and again
24:33
Speaker 2: I can see it from both sides, but mine is
24:35
Speaker 2: going to be the fact that in what is probably
24:38
Speaker 2: going to be Clayton Kershaw's last start ever at Dodger Stadium.
24:42
Speaker 2: If you think about the fact that they're probably taking
24:44
Speaker 2: him out of the bullpen. In the postseason, we didn't
24:48
Speaker 2: get to see Clayton's last regular start as a Dodger
24:51
Speaker 2: at home because it was on Apple TV. And I
24:54
Speaker 2: understand that it's not Apple TV's fault, but I wish
24:57
Speaker 2: there would have been a scenario in which everybody, in
25:00
Speaker 2: terms of milestone moments like this, at least whether it's
25:03
Speaker 2: the last inning or the last out. I guess you
25:05
Speaker 2: don't know exactly when the last inning is going to be,
25:07
Speaker 2: But the point is I would have loved to have
25:08
Speaker 2: been able for the masses to be able to see
25:10
Speaker 2: that moment for Clayton, a man who has spent his
25:12
Speaker 2: entire career in one jersey for eighteen years. Let's let
25:16
Speaker 2: all the fans be able to witness that. Another possible
25:19
Speaker 2: scenario ken if the Boston Red Sox do not clinch today,
25:22
Speaker 2: if Houston doesn't lose, or the Red Sox don't win today,
25:26
Speaker 2: they could clinch tomorrow on a Friday night, which would
25:28
Speaker 2: also be on Apple TV. I get Apple pays a
25:31
Speaker 2: bazillion dollars for it. I get it, it's not their fault.
25:33
Speaker 2: I just wish in moments like that, as we want
25:36
Speaker 2: to grow the sport I think that's important for everybody
25:40
Speaker 2: to be able to see it. So that that is
25:43
Speaker 2: my do or excuse me, my dork of the week.
25:45
Speaker 2: All right, if you are watching on TV, thank you
25:47
Speaker 2: so much for joining us. We appreciate you guys. As always,
25:50
Speaker 2: we will see you next time. Can I ask you
25:52
Speaker 2: this question? Who is the best pitcher in baseball right now?
25:58
Speaker 6: Well, it's pretty obvious right now it's Paul Skeins. He's
26:02
Speaker 6: the only pitcher in baseball, the only starting pitcher with
26:05
Speaker 6: a sub to era. He is at one point nine
26:07
Speaker 6: to seven after his final regular season start last night
26:11
Speaker 6: against the Cincinnati Reds. His innings are not at the top,
26:15
Speaker 6: but certainly among the league leaders. He's at one hundred
26:18
Speaker 6: and eighty seven and a third.
26:19
Speaker 1: I believe this has become appointment viewing when he pitches,
26:23
Speaker 1: it is something where the entire sport is paying attention,
26:27
Speaker 1: kind of like Doc Gooden when he came up as
26:29
Speaker 1: our producer. Mark Winter mentioned earlier today, that's exciting. And
26:34
Speaker 1: what's really unfortunate about the Skien situation is the team
26:38
Speaker 1: he's playing for. And I'm not saying anything bad about
26:41
Speaker 1: the Pirates in terms of their fans or what they
26:45
Speaker 1: are trying to do as individual players. But this team
26:48
Speaker 1: is wasting brilliant performance, historic performance from a pitcher that
26:54
Speaker 1: they might not have for a long term time. I
26:57
Speaker 1: believe Skeens has four more years of controlf to this one.
27:00
Speaker 1: The clock is ticking and with him you have to
27:04
Speaker 1: do your best to build a team around him. They
27:06
Speaker 1: have not done that. I just posted a story about
27:10
Speaker 1: all of the teams that could be facing changes in
27:12
Speaker 1: their heads of baseball operations or their managers, and of
27:15
Speaker 1: course I included Pittsburgh in there. They have to decide
27:18
Speaker 1: do we want Ben Sherrington to continue as general manager?
27:21
Speaker 1: Do we want Don Kelly to continue as manager? Are
27:23
Speaker 1: we going to put a team around Paul Skeins because
27:27
Speaker 1: right now they're wasting a very, very valuable resource.
27:31
Speaker 2: And just to play Devil's advocate, does Paul Skins have
27:34
Speaker 2: those numbers in a different division.
27:38
Speaker 1: I have not looked at his breakdown of starts how
27:41
Speaker 1: it kind of is relative to the NL Central versus
27:45
Speaker 1: everywhere else. I believe he would. He's that good. And
27:49
Speaker 1: if it wasn't one point nine to seven pitching in
27:51
Speaker 1: the NL Central, if it was, I don't know. In
27:53
Speaker 1: the Ana least two point two zero or whatever it
27:56
Speaker 1: might be. He's still the best and Schoobles really despite
28:00
Speaker 1: his unfortunate start the other night in Cleveland. Obviously, Christopher
28:05
Speaker 1: Sanchez has had a great year. Garrett Crochet, brilliant season,
28:09
Speaker 1: all good. They're not Skeens and that's not an insult
28:12
Speaker 1: to any of those guys. Like I said, they're elite.
28:15
Speaker 1: This guy is a level above all.
28:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, no question about it. Paul Skins, what a tremendous year.
28:21
Speaker 2: We appreciate being able to watch your career. Ken Rosenthal,
28:23
Speaker 2: it's been a pleasure. Try to take a deep breath.
28:25
Speaker 2: I know it's unbelievable trying to keep all of this separate.
28:28
Speaker 2: We appreciate you. Ken of course is back on Foul
28:31
Speaker 2: Territory tomorrow, a fresh episode with Ken by himself on Monday,
28:35
Speaker 2: A Fair Territory. Foul Territory is next. Some great guests,
28:39
Speaker 2: We of course have Aj Prunski here at krat Scott
28:41
Speaker 2: Ron Padrey's manager Mike Schilt is on the show Guardians
28:45
Speaker 2: Pitcher Slade Chaconi, which I love to say, and of
28:48
Speaker 2: course Jim Bowden will join him as well. Have a
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