Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Mets & Yankees slump, Injuries for Brewers/Blue Jays/Astros, Mason Miller's Cy chances

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Fair Territory: Mets & Yankees slump, Injuries for Brewers/Blue Jays/Astros, Mason Miller's Cy chances · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. We've
0:04
Speaker 1: got a ton to get to. In fact, we've got
0:06
Speaker 1: so much to get to. I put some of it
0:08
Speaker 1: in print, actually a lot of it in print. Notes.
0:11
Speaker 1: Calm is up. It's actually free for everyone to read
0:14
Speaker 1: three thousand words on a variety of teams and topics.
0:18
Speaker 1: I advise you to take a look. Now we are
0:20
Speaker 1: almost one tenth into the season, still a very small sample,
0:25
Speaker 1: and outside of the Dodgers, who are doing their usual
0:28
Speaker 1: dominant thing, the world is a little bit upside. Now.
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Speaker 1: We've got the Minnesota Twins tied for first place. We've
0:34
Speaker 1: got the Pittsburgh Pirates in first place. We've got the
0:38
Speaker 1: Washington Nationals second in the major leagues in runs scored,
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Speaker 1: behind only the Dodgers. And finally we've got the Kings
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Speaker 1: of New York, the Sacramento Vegas A's who just rampaged
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Speaker 1: through Yankee Stadium and City Fields, winning five of six.
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Speaker 1: So for the first segment today, we're going to do
0:57
Speaker 1: a little bit of a concern meter, I should call
1:00
Speaker 1: it for some teams that are in a situation now
1:04
Speaker 1: that maybe they are concerned, even though it's only one
1:07
Speaker 1: tenth of the season, and we're going to start with
1:09
Speaker 1: the teams that the A's just rampage through, the Yankees
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Speaker 1: and the Mets. Let's start with the Yankees, losers of
1:17
Speaker 1: five straight. Actually, both the Yankees and Mets are losers
1:20
Speaker 1: of five straight. And the Yankees losing to the A's
1:24
Speaker 1: and then the Rays getting swept at Tropicana Field over
1:27
Speaker 1: the weekend, scored only thirteen runs in those five games.
1:30
Speaker 1: Jazz had that weird play on Saturday night to end
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Speaker 1: the game, the weird explanation afterward, and now they come
1:37
Speaker 1: back home to Yankee Stadium for four against the Angels.
1:41
Speaker 1: So the question is, am I worried about the Yankees.
1:45
Speaker 1: The answer to that is no, I'm not worried about
1:47
Speaker 1: the Yankees. Their rotation is too good. It stands a
1:51
Speaker 1: chance of getting even better when Garrett Cole and Carlos
1:54
Speaker 1: Rodin come back, and their offense is too good as well.
1:57
Speaker 1: Teams will go through these slides. We see it all
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Speaker 1: the time. No, I am not worried about the Yankees.
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Speaker 1: Now let's go across town to the other team in town,
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Speaker 1: the New York Mets. They are a team that also
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Speaker 1: is in the middle of a five game losing streak,
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Speaker 1: just swept at home by the A's twice shut out
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Speaker 1: during that series. The Mets have yet to really get
2:18
Speaker 1: it going out of course, for the last eight games
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Speaker 1: they've been without Juan Soto wan Soto's nursing in that
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Speaker 1: cave strain, They've averaged in those eight games only three
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Speaker 1: point four runs per game, so clearly the offense without
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Speaker 1: Soto is suffering. Jeff mcdeal had a big series coming back
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Speaker 1: to New York brand the NEMO is playing great for
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Speaker 1: the Texas Rangers, and now the Mets are off to
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Speaker 1: Los Angeles to face the Dodgers for three and then
2:43
Speaker 1: the Cubs at Wrigley Field for three. So am I
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Speaker 1: worried about the Mets. The answer to that is yes,
2:50
Speaker 1: and I've been worried about the Mets, and Mets fans
2:52
Speaker 1: have accused me of every atrocity under the sun for this.
2:56
Speaker 1: But I've had a couple of concerns. One is the
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Speaker 1: rotation still not convey David Peterson not pitching well. Senga
3:02
Speaker 1: just had that rough start. Mania is not even in
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Speaker 1: the rotation. They've got some issues there. I've been worried
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Speaker 1: all season about so many new players coming in, new
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Speaker 1: coaches coming in, and how it might take some time
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Speaker 1: for them to gel. I still believe that to be true.
3:17
Speaker 1: You're seeing a transition with Bashett, You're seeing some health
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Speaker 1: issues already with this team. So yes, I am somewhat
3:25
Speaker 1: worried about the Mets, as I have been the whole time.
3:28
Speaker 1: They have talent. They should be okay in the end,
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Speaker 1: but how okay that remains to be seen. Now, three
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Speaker 1: other teams I want to get to in this opening segment.
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Speaker 1: These teams, to one extent or another, are all dealing
3:43
Speaker 1: with injuries. One of these teams, the Houston Astros, is
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Speaker 1: dealing with an incredible run of injuries, and let's deal
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Speaker 1: with Let's talk about them and just where they are
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Speaker 1: right now, seven straight losses after a six and three start.
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Speaker 1: You see the tweet from Chandler Rome is in a
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Speaker 1: dreadful road trip by just about every measurable metric, but
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Speaker 1: watching Cam Smith play has been a bright spot. And
4:06
Speaker 1: then Channel has a story today ranking the Astros concerns
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Speaker 1: after their sixth and ten start. They've got a ton
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Speaker 1: of concerns. Mainly, the concerns are starting with the rotation
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Speaker 1: Hunter Brown down Christian Javier down Tatuya in mind just
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Speaker 1: went back to Houston because he too might be hurt.
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Speaker 1: And then Cody Bolton kind of an emergency starter on Sunday,
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Speaker 1: he leaves the game after getting only three outs because
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Speaker 1: of mid back tightness. So they built their rotation depth
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Speaker 1: during the offseason. They still feel like they have some depth.
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Speaker 1: But when you lose some of your quality guys, obviously
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Speaker 1: you're going to have some issues there. That's the biggest
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Speaker 1: concern with the Astros right now. Spencer Araghetty is coming.
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Speaker 1: They should be better with him, of course than without him,
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Speaker 1: because they need him right now. But this is still
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Speaker 1: a team that can be swept right now today by
5:00
Speaker 1: the Mariners end of a four game series. And they
5:04
Speaker 1: have a backdrop to this season as well, and that's
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Speaker 1: their general manager Dana Brown and their manager Joe Espada
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Speaker 1: during the final years of contracts. Now. I don't know
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Speaker 1: how anyone can hold this against them when so many
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Speaker 1: key players are hurt. Jeremy Panna has an issue as well,
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Speaker 1: but Jim cran and their owner, well, he once got
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Speaker 1: rid of a general manager after that general manager won
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Speaker 1: the World Series. That was Jim Crane, So there are
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Speaker 1: the Astros. I'll go to the Blue Jays two. Here,
5:30
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays are another team dealing with a lot
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Speaker 1: of injuries. Now, we saw Max Sjerzy yesterday. He's healthy,
5:37
Speaker 1: but he did not pitch well, allout eight runs in
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Speaker 1: two and a third. But they had in this series
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Speaker 1: a situation where Corbin Patrick Corbyn was the first starter.
5:47
Speaker 1: Eric Lower was the second starter. Max Scherzer was the third.
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Speaker 1: None of these guys was in the original plan. They're
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Speaker 1: dealing with, as I've said for quite some time now,
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Speaker 1: a tough deal in their rotation, because really they've got
6:00
Speaker 1: an entire rotation on the IL, five different starters. So
6:05
Speaker 1: where do they go from here? You Savage might be
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Speaker 1: back sometime next week, Jose Bidrios a little bit after that.
6:12
Speaker 1: So they're going to get some people back Bieber eventually,
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Speaker 1: I presume. But right now, with Gossman and Seas healthy
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Speaker 1: and the rest of it kind of in flux, you
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Speaker 1: do have to worry about the Blue Jays and you
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Speaker 1: do have to worry, Okay, how is this going to
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Speaker 1: work out? Now? Am I worried about the Astros? Yes?
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Speaker 1: Am I worried about the Blue Jays? Less so because
6:33
Speaker 1: these guys are going to come back and at some
6:35
Speaker 1: point it's going to be a better situation for Toronto.
6:39
Speaker 1: And I also think they're going to hit. They also
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Speaker 1: have two pretty prominent hitters on the IL as well,
6:45
Speaker 1: and I'm talking of course about Springer, and we'll actually
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Speaker 1: make it three prominent hitters. Springer is the third, Alejandro
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Speaker 1: Kirk and Addison Barger. All these guys are on the IL.
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Speaker 1: They'll be back eventually as well. So less worried about
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Speaker 1: the Blue Jays than the Astros. And finally, the Milwaukee Brewers.
7:03
Speaker 1: Now here are the Brewers. They got off to a
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Speaker 1: tremendous start, and yet they too are dealing with some
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Speaker 1: physical questions. Christian Yelich being the latest. They've been without Cheerio,
7:14
Speaker 1: they've been without Vaughan. These guys will be back, all
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Speaker 1: of them. But the Brewers after getting swept at home
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Speaker 1: by the Nationals, like the Mets and Yankees, have also
7:23
Speaker 1: lost five straight. They're the Brewers. They always seem to
7:26
Speaker 1: find a way. But you see the quote from manager
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Speaker 1: Pat Murphy, tough times. We haven't been in these waters
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Speaker 1: much in the last three years. Just have to get
7:34
Speaker 1: through it. Can they get through it? Yes? They can.
7:38
Speaker 1: Am I worried about them, Yes, a little bit. And
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Speaker 1: I'm worried about them because as we've seen over the years,
7:45
Speaker 1: they've eaten into their depth and trading Freddy Parol, they
7:48
Speaker 1: trading Devin Williams, trading Josh Hater, and they've always seemed
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Speaker 1: to rebound from this. But right now they're pitching staff
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Speaker 1: with Quinn Priester Down is inexperienced. The death is not
8:00
Speaker 1: exactly there. Obviously, Brandon Woodroof is still there. Brandon Woodroof
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Speaker 1: is not what he once was, but a quality pitcher,
8:08
Speaker 1: and they've got others as well, including the miz. But yes,
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Speaker 1: I'm worried about the Brewers because at some point we've
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Speaker 1: all thought this is going to catch up to them.
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Speaker 1: I'm not saying this is the year. I'm not convinced
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Speaker 1: of that, but they operate, unlike some of these big
8:23
Speaker 1: money teams, on a thinner margin for error because they
8:26
Speaker 1: don't have the depth. So at some point, Cheerio Vaughn
8:30
Speaker 1: and hopefully Yellow's come back pretty soon. That should take
8:33
Speaker 1: care of the offense. It's going to be the pitching
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Speaker 1: that is the question. So there you have it. Worried
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Speaker 1: about the Mets, less worried about the Yankees, not so
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Speaker 1: worried about the Blue Jays, a little worried about the Brewers,
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Speaker 1: and very worried about the Astros. That's the first segment.
8:49
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with the inside dish after this.
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Speaker 4: Well, where will wal.
10:01
Speaker 1: Time? Now for the inside Dish, the part of the
10:03
Speaker 1: show where I talk about maybe a story I've written,
10:05
Speaker 1: maybe a trend in the game, maybe something else entirely,
10:08
Speaker 1: And today I actually want to use as a launching
10:10
Speaker 1: point a story. One of my colleagues at The Athletic
10:13
Speaker 1: wrote Dennis Lynn about the possibility, just the thought of
10:18
Speaker 1: Mason Miller winning the Cy Young Award. Now, the comments
10:21
Speaker 1: today Dennis's article were fairly negative, and basically all of
10:26
Speaker 1: them were saying, it's early, man, we can't talk about
10:28
Speaker 1: this yet. I get it, it is early to talk
10:31
Speaker 1: about Mason Miller winning the cy Young Award. But really
10:34
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the concept now of a
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Speaker 1: reliever winning the cy Young Award and can it happen,
10:41
Speaker 1: because that is an issue we may see come up
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Speaker 1: at some point, whether Mason Miller continues this incredible start
10:48
Speaker 1: to the season or not. And I'm going to suggest
10:50
Speaker 1: to you that we're not going to see a reliever
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Speaker 1: win the Cy Young Award ever again, and I'll tell
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Speaker 1: you why as we go through it. Now, let's talk
11:00
Speaker 1: relievers winning the SI and how often it has happened
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Speaker 1: in baseball history. Not often, in fact, not since two
11:06
Speaker 1: thousand and three, when Eric Ganye won fifty five for
11:09
Speaker 1: fifty five and save opportunities. That's right, kids, fifty five
11:13
Speaker 1: for fifty five for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was
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Speaker 1: a year that was such an outlier, so brilliant that yes,
11:20
Speaker 1: he won the Cy Young Award. But you go to
11:22
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen Zach Britton for the Orioles, a zero point
11:26
Speaker 1: five four era wasn't even in the top three. Now
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Speaker 1: here's Miller. Let's show you his stats so far, just
11:32
Speaker 1: to show why this is even a thought in people's heads,
11:36
Speaker 1: if it's a thought at all. His stats are incredible.
11:39
Speaker 1: Seven to the third innings, nineteen strikeouts out of twenty
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Speaker 1: four batters faced. Obviously he is not allowed or run yet.
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Speaker 1: Now if he continues this run throughout the whole year,
11:50
Speaker 1: yeah we've got something to talk about. But of course,
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Speaker 1: Paul Skins and Christopher Sanchez and all the other great
11:55
Speaker 1: starters in the National League are going to have something
11:58
Speaker 1: to say about that. The biggest reason why I don't
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Speaker 1: think a reliever will ever win a psigh again is
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Speaker 1: because there are awards now for relief pitchers in the
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Speaker 1: National League and American League. We have the Trevor Hoffman Award.
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Speaker 1: We have the Mariatta Rivera Award. These awards came to
12:18
Speaker 1: pass in twenty fourteen, that's when they were introduced, and
12:23
Speaker 1: because relievers have their own awards now, there is a
12:25
Speaker 1: clear spot for them. In addition to those two awards,
12:29
Speaker 1: the Baseball Writers Association of America this year twenty twenty
12:33
Speaker 1: six is introducing its own Reliever of the Year awards
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Speaker 1: for both leagues as well, so by the end of
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Speaker 1: the year there will actually be more awards for relievers
12:44
Speaker 1: than starting pitchers if you reserve the Cy Young for
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Speaker 1: starting pitchers. Now. Dave Roberts made the point over the weekend,
12:52
Speaker 1: or actually maybe last week when talking about Mason Miller,
12:56
Speaker 1: and this was a fair point. This is what he said.
12:58
Speaker 1: He said, if you're going to do it, if you're
13:00
Speaker 1: gonna have a reliever win this award, you're gonna have
13:02
Speaker 1: to really separate yourself. Now, Mason Miller theoretically could do that.
13:08
Speaker 1: He could pitch, I don't know, seventy innings or so,
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Speaker 1: seventy five innings or so. Have these ridiculous numbers. Maybe
13:15
Speaker 1: the padres go to the playoffs and maybe this becomes
13:17
Speaker 1: a conversation, But even then I'm sort of doubting it
13:20
Speaker 1: because of what I just said. These other awards that
13:23
Speaker 1: are in place for relief pitchers. And while the cy
13:27
Speaker 1: Young is a vague description best pitcher, and you can
13:31
Speaker 1: argue certainly a reliever is the best pitcher, I'd still
13:35
Speaker 1: even with starting pitchers not throwing as many innings as
13:38
Speaker 1: before Corgan Burns winning this award with one hundred and
13:40
Speaker 1: sixty seven innings a few years back, it's still a
13:44
Speaker 1: greater amount of bulk, and you still would lean toward
13:47
Speaker 1: the starting pitcher anytime for a cy Young Award. I
13:50
Speaker 1: want to show you believers who have won the SI
13:54
Speaker 1: in past years and show you just what they did,
13:57
Speaker 1: because from a bulk perspective, all of them pitched more
14:01
Speaker 1: than relievers do today. Let's look at this and you'll
14:04
Speaker 1: see what I'm talking about here. All right, there we go,
14:09
Speaker 1: All right, let's go back to nineteen seventy four. This
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Speaker 1: will get you Mike Marshall, a relief pitcher through two
14:15
Speaker 1: hundred and eight and a third innings. And you see
14:17
Speaker 1: over the years Sparky Lyle one hundred and thirty seven,
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Speaker 1: Willy Hernandez one hundred and forty and a third, and
14:23
Speaker 1: now the most recent reliever to win ASI was Eric
14:26
Speaker 1: Gane that was eighty two and a third. That's probably
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Speaker 1: the lower limit. Eck won it with eighty innings in
14:32
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two. And also you can see here three
14:36
Speaker 1: of these pitchers, the ones that are highlighted, they won MVPs. Eckersley,
14:40
Speaker 1: Willie Hernandez and roleygh Fingers. And actually, I've always thought
14:45
Speaker 1: that the MVP makes more sense for relievers than the
14:48
Speaker 1: Cy Young does. If you are Dennis Eckersley in nineteen
14:51
Speaker 1: ninety two and you had that huge an impact on
14:54
Speaker 1: your team, You've pitched in probably seventy games or so,
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Speaker 1: you're more and most player candidate in my view than
15:02
Speaker 1: a Cy Young candidate. Can a reliever win that award MVP?
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Speaker 1: It would be difficult, especially in this age of Otani
15:09
Speaker 1: and Aaron Judge and Bobby Wait Junior and Jose Ramirez
15:12
Speaker 1: and all of these great position players, but that to
15:16
Speaker 1: me is a more likely category, and I don't still
15:19
Speaker 1: think I don't think that is particularly likely given that,
15:23
Speaker 1: of course, we have again the relief Pitcher of the
15:27
Speaker 1: Year awards, both presented by the league and this year
15:30
Speaker 1: by the BBWAA. So it's going to be something that
15:35
Speaker 1: might come up if Mason Miller continues it. And yes,
15:38
Speaker 1: it's early, and he's probably not going to continue striking
15:42
Speaker 1: batters out at the rate that he is nineteen out
15:46
Speaker 1: of twenty four so far. Now, that's probably not going
15:48
Speaker 1: to happen all season. But the whole concept of a
15:53
Speaker 1: reliever winning the SI, that's a concept that probably is
15:56
Speaker 1: going to disappear from all are talking points at some
16:02
Speaker 1: point in the near future. Now the standards have changed
16:06
Speaker 1: for starters. We know that I just mentioned it. Corpyn
16:08
Speaker 1: Burns one with one hundred and sixty seven, Blake Snell,
16:11
Speaker 1: who's two cy Youngs. They were one hundred and eighty innings.
16:14
Speaker 1: Each one was one to eighty. One was one eighty
16:16
Speaker 1: and two thirds. And as the starters' workloads decrease and
16:21
Speaker 1: relievers are more prominent, and they certainly are more prominent
16:25
Speaker 1: than they've ever been before. You can make the case that, yeah,
16:29
Speaker 1: they are more meaningful than they were in the past.
16:33
Speaker 1: That's why again, I still think it's more of an
16:37
Speaker 1: MVP discussion with relievers than a cy Young discussion. So, yes,
16:42
Speaker 1: the standards are changing. The standards are changing for starters,
16:45
Speaker 1: they're changing for relievers as well. But at the same time, again,
16:51
Speaker 1: this is a tough conversation to have when you have
16:54
Speaker 1: the reliever awards and when you have still starting pitchers
16:57
Speaker 1: who are prominent and who are really good. So for
17:00
Speaker 1: those who reacted to Dennis's articles saying it's ridiculous, no,
17:03
Speaker 1: the discussion is not ridiculous. It's interesting still the idea
17:08
Speaker 1: of an outlier season from a reliever like an Eric
17:11
Speaker 1: Ganye in two thousand and three, making that reliever part
17:15
Speaker 1: of the side discussion. But again, it didn't happen for
17:17
Speaker 1: Zach Britten in twenty sixteen after the Rivera and Hoffman
17:21
Speaker 1: Awards were instituted. And even if Mason Miller goes crazy
17:26
Speaker 1: and has an amazing year and strikes out I don't
17:28
Speaker 1: know ninety percent of this hitters that he faces, it's
17:33
Speaker 1: still going to be an uphill battle. So for the
17:35
Speaker 1: inside dish, that is it. Don't yell at Dennis, don't
17:38
Speaker 1: yell at me, don't yell at anyone. Just read baseball
17:41
Speaker 1: articles and actually just think and be happy. All Right,
17:44
Speaker 1: we'll be back with Grill and Ken right after this.
17:53
Speaker 1: All right, time now for Grilling Ken, the part of
17:55
Speaker 1: the show where you get to ask me questions. Let's go.
17:58
Speaker 1: Let's get started. First question comes from Richard Procter, who says,
18:02
Speaker 1: do you think the Rays are reverting to small ball?
18:05
Speaker 1: Bunting and stealing for example? Seems like they would appeal
18:08
Speaker 1: to the older baseball fans if you watch the Rays
18:11
Speaker 1: Yankees series. Certainly they bunted quite a bit. And they've
18:15
Speaker 1: got a guy, Chandler Simpson, who is an ultimate small
18:19
Speaker 1: ball player. He is a speed guy, he is an
18:22
Speaker 1: exciting guy. Wrote about him last year. Fun to watch.
18:25
Speaker 1: They can do this and they will take advantage of it.
18:28
Speaker 1: The Cardinals with Victor Scott. I was with them this
18:31
Speaker 1: weekend in Saint Louis, and Victor Scott is working diligently
18:36
Speaker 1: to improve his bunting and expand that part of his game.
18:39
Speaker 1: He's another guy like Chandler Simpson who can do these
18:42
Speaker 1: kinds of things. I don't know that we're going to
18:44
Speaker 1: see it come back into vogue, but for certain teams
18:47
Speaker 1: in certain situations, yes, why not bunt? And it's kind
18:52
Speaker 1: of absurd that the bunt has sort of faded from
18:56
Speaker 1: the game because it can be a weapon. Now, yes,
19:00
Speaker 1: times you don't fund and I remember Brian Kenny on
19:02
Speaker 1: MLB Network used to wear that shirt stop bunting, stop
19:05
Speaker 1: giving away out. Yes, there are guys though, Simpson Scott,
19:10
Speaker 1: others who can bunt for bass hits, who can use
19:13
Speaker 1: that as a different sort of tool in their offensive arsenals.
19:18
Speaker 1: So yes, from that perspective, the Rays certainly put it
19:21
Speaker 1: to good use over the weekend. I don't know that
19:23
Speaker 1: it's coming back entirely, but it would be wise of
19:27
Speaker 1: teams to use that when they have the players to
19:30
Speaker 1: do it, and at opportune times in the course of
19:34
Speaker 1: a game. All right, Next question, This one comes from
19:37
Speaker 1: Sicilian eighty seven. Ken critics are stating Toronto may have
19:41
Speaker 1: overachieved last season. Would you happen to agree with this
19:44
Speaker 1: or are they being too harsh? The Blue Jays certainly
19:49
Speaker 1: in the postseason played at an extremely high level, a
19:52
Speaker 1: higher level than they played during the regular season. I
19:56
Speaker 1: don't know that I would call it overachieving. I would
19:58
Speaker 1: call it a team playing to its absolute max, and
20:02
Speaker 1: that is, in my view, not overachieving. Now you look
20:05
Speaker 1: at them this year and you say, well, what's going on?
20:08
Speaker 1: Why aren't they as good? I explained it a little
20:11
Speaker 1: bit in the first segment. Their pitching injuries have been
20:14
Speaker 1: really destructive in many ways so far. And also they've
20:19
Speaker 1: lost Bobaschett, They've replaced them with Okamoto, they haven't gotten
20:22
Speaker 1: off to the greatest of offensive starts. They've been without
20:25
Speaker 1: Kirk now they're without Springer, they're without Barger. All these
20:28
Speaker 1: things are happening. They are still a very good team,
20:32
Speaker 1: and going into the season people believe they were a
20:35
Speaker 1: very good team. So yes, I would say that those
20:38
Speaker 1: who are saying the Blue Jays overachieved last season are
20:41
Speaker 1: being too harsh. You are what you are. You are
20:44
Speaker 1: what your results say you are. The Blue Jays came
20:47
Speaker 1: within two outs of winning the World Series. I would
20:50
Speaker 1: say they had a pretty good year and if they overachieved, well,
20:54
Speaker 1: I don't know. They played to their max. All right.
20:56
Speaker 1: Next question, this one comes from foul terrator. Are the
21:00
Speaker 1: Mariners back, well, they certainly look good against the Astros.
21:04
Speaker 1: The Astros are depleted. As we've discussed, they are starting
21:08
Speaker 1: to do some good things. They had to walk off
21:09
Speaker 1: with JP Crawford the other night, and he with the
21:13
Speaker 1: bases loaded is absolutely incredible. I've got a note about
21:16
Speaker 1: him in my notes Calm today, thirty three for seventy
21:19
Speaker 1: with the bases loaded in his career. JP Crawford, Brian Kenny,
21:24
Speaker 1: don't tell me that clutch hitting is not a thing.
21:27
Speaker 1: Certainly a thing for some players. He's pretty good at
21:29
Speaker 1: it all right now. The question overall though about the Mariners.
21:34
Speaker 1: They are going to be fine, and Julio's going to
21:37
Speaker 1: come out of it, and Cal Rowley's going to come
21:39
Speaker 1: out of it, and they're going to be the team
21:40
Speaker 1: we thought. Josh Naylor horrible start as well. It's all
21:44
Speaker 1: kind of combined on them at once. I did, though,
21:47
Speaker 1: have an interesting conversation yesterday with an executive who told
21:51
Speaker 1: me he thinks the A's are going to win the
21:54
Speaker 1: division because their offense is that strong and if they
21:57
Speaker 1: get any kind of pitching, which they have over the
22:00
Speaker 1: past week, they've got a shot. And this executive thought,
22:03
Speaker 1: you know what, the Mariners maybe aren't as good as
22:06
Speaker 1: we thought. Maybe they overachieved, if that's the word you
22:09
Speaker 1: want to use for them last year. I don't believe that.
22:12
Speaker 1: I still believe the Mariners are the class of that division,
22:14
Speaker 1: and I still believe that they're going to be back.
22:16
Speaker 1: But the A's are certainly a team to watch. Next question,
22:22
Speaker 1: This one comes from Sean Michael, who says, are the
22:24
Speaker 1: Tigers back? Sean is a big Tigers fan. We've heard
22:27
Speaker 1: from him a lot over the years. They're going to
22:30
Speaker 1: be fine too, and they're going through or had gone through,
22:34
Speaker 1: what was a difficult stretch for them. They lost Parker
22:36
Speaker 1: Meadows of course, to that terrible collision the other night.
22:39
Speaker 1: But the Tigers with McGonagall, with Riley Green, with everything
22:44
Speaker 1: that they've got going on, and the possibility of Max
22:46
Speaker 1: Clark coming later, they too are going to be fine.
22:49
Speaker 1: They're pitching is really good, They're coming off a good weekend,
22:53
Speaker 1: and I just expect that, Yes, they're going to be
22:57
Speaker 1: right in the thick of the Ale Central, if not
22:59
Speaker 1: the team to beat in that division. Let's see if
23:01
Speaker 1: we got one more here before we break out, all right, Kenny,
23:04
Speaker 1: how much of a leash do you think the pirates
23:07
Speaker 1: will give to Connor Griffin? Hmm? Do you think they'll
23:10
Speaker 1: let him figure it out in the majors or demote
23:12
Speaker 1: him by May June if he continues to struggle offensively.
23:15
Speaker 1: Griffin certainly has not produced big numbers. It's a small sample.
23:19
Speaker 1: You've committed one hundred and forty million to him, You've
23:22
Speaker 1: brought him to the major leagues, and yes, you have
23:25
Speaker 1: to expect that some of this is going to occur.
23:28
Speaker 1: Mike Trout, if you remember, struggled when he came out,
23:31
Speaker 1: got sent back to the miners, one of many, many
23:34
Speaker 1: examples in that regard Connor Griffin. If they believe he's
23:38
Speaker 1: getting overwhelmed and somehow mentally getting kind of in a
23:43
Speaker 1: bad place because of this, overwhelmed would be the word
23:46
Speaker 1: to use. Yes, at that point they can and will
23:49
Speaker 1: send him down. But they're not there yet. He's terrific defensively,
23:52
Speaker 1: as we've seen, and he should be at some point
23:56
Speaker 1: given the chance. Not at some point, he should be
23:58
Speaker 1: given the chance to figure it out. If he doesn't.
24:01
Speaker 1: If this continues, okay, you take a deep breath. You
24:04
Speaker 1: let him go back to the miners, get his feet
24:05
Speaker 1: back on the ground and then go from there. All right,
24:08
Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for watching him for listening.
24:10
Speaker 1: Foul Territory coming up at one pm Eastern. It's AJ
24:13
Speaker 1: It's Aeric Kratz and Scott Brown hosting twins infielder Tristan
24:17
Speaker 1: Gray and the athletic spencer Nustbam who covers the Nationals
24:20
Speaker 1: for US. They're going to join and we'll be back
24:23
Speaker 1: Thursday with Alana for our normal live Thursday show. We'll
24:27
Speaker 1: talk to you then and again. That notes column is
24:29
Speaker 1: up and it's free to read. Have a great week everyone.
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