Latest / Foul Territory / World Series eve: Rays Game 1 pitching plan curveball? Ohtani dodges surgery, Bibee MIA from ALCS

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World Series eve: Rays Game 1 pitching plan curveball? Ohtani dodges surgery, Bibee MIA from ALCS · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: What do you say, Kratz? One more sleep. One more sleep. Yes.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Are you pumped? I'm genuinely pumped. I don't care what
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the world thinks. I don't care that some people aren't
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: paying as close attention. I definitely don't care about the ratings.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: It makes no impact on my life. It makes no
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: impact on 99.99% of lives. I just want to watch
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: good ball. Last year's World Series was incredible. I'm not
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: expecting anything. the amount of twists and turns, but if
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: we just get good ball, like these two teams play, right?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Sweet defense, a little bit of small ball, a little
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: bit of pop. Got a big three. You've got good starters.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Perfect recipe for me. That's all I want to watch.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Good ball. And we've got the two best records in
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: baseball or ALNL.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: The moment, the opening day, opening night in the world
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: series is always awesome for me. And in Milwaukee, it's
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: going to be crazy. And then we get it doubled
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: down because when they go back to Tampa, you get
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: another crazy opening night because they haven't had it since 2008.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: So it feels like we get two first games of
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: the World Series coming up. I'm juiced about it. Me too.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: And we already have boots on the ground. FT is
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: getting set for pregame shows on Friday and on Saturday. Also,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: today is media day. We are going to run some
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: live press conferences, and we have Alana Rizzo on the
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: scene working on some interviews that you might see on
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: social media. But here's the deal. 6 to 8 Eastern,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Friday and Saturday. It's a free two-day pop-up experience. It's
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: run by Fox One. It's going to be awesome. You
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: get two live FTs in person with Alana out there,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Kevin Pillar, and former Brewers All-Star and FT Network closer,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Corey Knabel, who will be out at Catalano Square. So
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: if you're out there, Go say hi before the game.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: It's going to be fun. And if you're not there,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: this is just more FT content. Before the game, we'll
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: still have the post-game show too. Friday, we have three shows.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Our production team's pumped. We have one to three. We
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: have six to eight. And we have a post-game show
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: after game one. But this is it. This is the
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: World Series. And then Rob Manfred told us we won't
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: have baseball for a long time after that. So we
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: got to savor every moment.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I don't think they're pumped. But I'm waiting to see. Oh,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: there we go. I'm waiting for Slack to respond to the... Yeah,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: I love that. Love that. Don't think they're super pumped,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: but they are ready. Just like everybody's ready. It's the
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: World Series.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: I'm excited about this first topic. So it's got a
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: little bit of nuance and strategy to it. Let's hit it.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: It's a full count.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: It is a full count. It's fueled by a marathon
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and it's the Rays pitching plan. What is it? We're
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: going to find out what it is soon. So you
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: might be watching this, and by the time that you
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: check it out, we already have a decision. Either way,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: it's interesting because there is a clear-cut choice that needs
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to be made that I don't think is black and white, right?
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Drew Rasmussen game one or Drew Rasmussen game two. And
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: some people just heard that and said, are you crazy?
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Drew Rasmussen, the guy with the sub-2 ERA, top five
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: AL Cy Young probably coming up this year, of course
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: you start him in game one. Drew Rasmussen has been
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: heard a lot. in his career, and now he is
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: thriving with the Rays. Extra rest does help him. Are
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the numbers glaring? No, but there are a lot of
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: different details that Ken Rosenthal wrote about in that athletic
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: article that paint a picture that wouldn't be crazy if
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the Rays decide to go against the grain, which is
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: part of their MO. Could they go with Nick Martinez
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: in game one, on the road, grizzled vet, he pitches
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: better on the road, 36-year-old, he will not be phased
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in Milwaukee. Game two, Drew Rasmussen. Give him an extra day,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: which they've been doing. I mean, he's had a lot
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of extra days. He had 10 days rest for his
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: first start, eight days rest for his second start, and then,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: what was it, five for the third start. Then you'd
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: go with Freddie Peralta and take him away from the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: emotions of Milwaukee. Start him in game three in Tampa Bay.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Freddie would still be good to go for a game seven.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: You might be going, well, you're not going to have
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Freddie P if this series only goes six. I get it.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: You first, if your manager and your front office, as
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: they work in lockstep with the Rays, what would you do?
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Tell me that first and why.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I hemmed and hawed about this and I'm about 52%
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: in the direction I'm going, 48% the other direction. The
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: reason it swayed me is because we talk so much
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: about getting off to a hot start, being that team
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: that puts your team ahead or gives you a good start,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: whatever it is. And to me, Rasmussen, game one, up
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: against their team's best, bang, I got it. That's what
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: makes it for me because I don't think this is
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: a four-game series. I don't even know if it's a...
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I don't even think it's a five-game series. You want
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: to be able to say, if this is a six-game series,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta have thrown four of those games
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: for us. That's where... I need it. And again, I
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: can see the other side, but I need both of
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: those guys throwing my first four games.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Do you feel as if Drew Rasmussen would be better
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: with an extra day?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: You don't think it'll make a difference?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: I don't. And obviously we don't know that inner workings.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: We don't know what he felt like going into game
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: four where they threw Nick Martinez instead after the Because
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: we thought, oh man, rain delay, bang, cancellation, postponed, I mean, postponed. Oh,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: they're going to go right to Rasmussen, which I may have.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: But they talk about it and they go, hey, look,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: we feel good with Nick Martinez. I would feel good
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: with Nick Martinez. I mean, it's a pretty decent option.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: You're like, oh, who's the guy that we could go to?
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It's not like they're going Cleveland style and they're like,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: all right, we're going to go bullpen. We don't trust,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: we don't trust the guys that we're throwing out there
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: as starting pitchers. Like, no, like Nick Martinez is a
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: good option. Nick Martinez gives you, if your best Drew
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Rasmussen is in game two, then yes, I make that move.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: But in my opinion, because then also you're going Drew
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Rasmussen versus Logan Henderson, no shade to Logan Henderson, but
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Rasmussen has the advantage there. Now, Logan, you're expecting a
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: guy that gives up maybe two or three in a
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: game to give up one or two to match what
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Rasmussen does. But to me, unless they know, hey, Drew's
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: not feeling his best today in game one, he's going
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to feel better tomorrow than we go, then I would 100%
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: agree with it. So it's really internal what they're feeling.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: But the fact that they're talking about this internally... means
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: there's some kind of information that they're processing there.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: So, for example, Nick Martinez having pretty glaring home road
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: splits where he's been much better on the road. That
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: doesn't do anything for you. Rasmussen, for me, an extra
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: day does matter. How much does it matter? What's the percentage?
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Is he 5% better? Is he 10% better?
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: We haven't seen him go four days rest in this postseason.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: The quickest was the five like you're talking about, so
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: that at least gives us a hint as to what
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: they were thinking During that decision. And then Freddie P.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Do you think Freddie P pitches better in Tampa Bay
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: than he would in Milwaukee?
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: I do. That's the one that I thought that really
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: swayed me. Not Nick and his home road splits. Because
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: you're getting what you're getting out of Nick. Which is
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: above average. But when you're talking about the other two
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: guys who have just been elite. Then he's a step
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: down for sure. And to me it's Freddie P in Milwaukee.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: The fact that his induced vertical break is almost two
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: inches more in Tampa. The fact that you're showing that
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: team almost a different pitcher. Before the show, I was
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: trying to look it up. Who would be the difference
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: between a 17 average induced vertical break and 19 inches
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: of induced vertical break? And I was trying to find
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: two pitchers and I couldn't before the show started. But
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: you're talking about an average fastball with good life at
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: his increased velocity that he's throwing right now. I think
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: he's up to, his average was 96.9, which is the
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: highest it's been entire season in his last start. And
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: then you're adding a little extra zoop on that fastball.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Like that takes an adjustment. That takes a time through
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: the order. to adjust to. And so that's a huge advantage.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: You're essentially telling me that the team's 10-0 in his
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: last 10 starts with him on the mound. And then
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: you're like, oh yeah, and we give him a little
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: bit extra because we're in Tampa. Yeah, I get that.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I get that part of it. But the fear that
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: he is sitting on the bench for game six, if
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: it's a winner-take-all game, and I didn't have him before that,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: that's where that's where I'm afraid I want or for
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: him to close out game six for us.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Which is possible right he'll likely pitch in between his
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: two starts we just saw it it went well for
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: him he'll likely give them an inning right.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah oh I meant close out I don't mean close
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: out the game I mean close out the series The series.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: He throws game two. We're winning 3-2. We go into
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: game six in Milwaukee. Now you get your shot of
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: adrenaline against your old team. Bang. Win it for us.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Why do you think there's better vert for him in
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay than there is on the road? Controlled environment inside.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: This isn't, also, I get it. Some people are going
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: to say, well, Milwaukee's inside too, right? It's going to be.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Different inside.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: It's, it is a, I don't know what it's called,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: but it's something based, you know, because they have, you know,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: they have the air conditioning going, they have everything going
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: where in Milwaukee, it's actually just a open environment with
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: a roof. Like they can have the, they can have
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: the windows open. So it's less, it's less controlled. It's
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: still more controlled than Wrigley field, but it's less controlled.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: And so that vert is, I didn't compare his induced
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: vertical break from Milwaukee to Tampa, but from New York,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: where he had a lot of his starts, to Tampa,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: it is a huge, huge advantage. People don't understand the advantage,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: but we had Vinny Pasquantino on, and he said it.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: He was like, oh yeah, when he goes back to Tampa, hey,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: you're going to have a little extra advantage. extra induced
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: vertical break. And so like players know this, they know
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: you got to swing a half a ball on top,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: a ball on top to be able to get on
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: top of this fastball.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: It's a good exercise. It's a good job by Ken.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: And he didn't say that the Rays. Yeah, but he didn't,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: he didn't say in his article that the Rays are
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: heavily debating this. It was at least proposed as a
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: thought exercise, but I will say this, the Rays definitely,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: are talking like this behind the scenes. I mean, you
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: spent a little bit of time in the organization. They
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: do not leave a stone unturned. And to me, this
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: is very different from the Yankees trying to be cute
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: and maybe even coy about Cam Schlittler for game one.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: That was different. I mean, you're lining up your pitching.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: For me, that one never made any sense. This one,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: to me, I just wanted to emphasize to everyone, at
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: least is worth a good hangout inside the trap with
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the front office and the coaching staff. Let's kick it back.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Let's have lunch and let's talk about our pitching plan.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: This is what I've said so many times when people
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: ask or we even talk about it on the show.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: What is the difference between the Rays, the Brewers, the
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Guardians that's different than other teams? These kind of discussions
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: are had and some other teams who are good, who
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: are really good other teams, those discussions are had, but
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: there's like a hierarchy of, come on, bro, like, Come on,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: don't bring up clown questions. Don't bring up clown ideas.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Where the Rays, I tell the story all the time.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: We came out early one day and we were trying,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: it was first and third because somebody had brought it
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: up in one of their meetings. It was first and third.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: We had our pitchers automatic pick to third because there's
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: no more high school third to first move allowed. Automatic
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: pick to third, but as he picks, we would have
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: the base runner from first stealing And it was all
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: on a timing basis. How fast could we make that pick?
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: You know he's stealing from first. You pick to third
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: so that he can get it and get the guy
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: out at second. Would it be a play that we
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: wanted to institute into games? And never did. But it
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: was something that, you know, what's that timing? How fast
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: can we make that play? Because it was something that
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: was brought up. It wasn't eyewash. It was something that
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: was brought up and was like, hey, what if we
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: can get that Quick, easy out. 3-2, two outs type
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: of thing.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Experimentation is more accepted there than some other spots. Is
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: that a good way to put it?
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Yes. For the victory, though. Some teams experiment things because
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: they're like, well, I want to be the one to
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: put this stamp on this, and I created it. No,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: the shifts kind of started in Tampa. It was because
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Joe Maddon was like, I was sick and tired of
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: seeing these huge hulking dudes mishit home runs and hit
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: grounders through the right side. So we're just going to
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: take that away. And so we put our third baseman
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: in right field. It wasn't because like, ooh, I wonder
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: if this is going to work. Let's throw it against
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: the wall like I think some organizations are doing. That's
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: not how– it's about winning. It's about winning and not
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: just I put my stamp on this. Look what I did.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and those were the extreme and consistent shifts. Some
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: people might say, well, they shifted against Ted Williams. No,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: this brought a different era to the sport for a while.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: And they were starting up the consistent openers too with
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Ryan Stanek.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Loved it. Ryan Stanek got paid by so many of
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: his sponsors because of all the starts that he made.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: They had a change. Ryan Stanek had a change like,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: contracts with shoe companies and glove deals. Cause he was
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: making more starts than the starters who they were paying
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: bonuses to. Anyway, that's another story, but yeah, he was
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: throwing a bunch of openers to get his team through
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: the tougher part of the lineup. And then that starter
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: then only faces that one through three one time.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: And the funny thing is with what they have right now,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: they don't need openers. They don't do openers to me.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: That was part of the funny thing too, is they
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: recognize that the time, right. that part of the problem
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: was they didn't have a traditional starter they trusted to
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: start a game. This is the debate we have sometimes when, again,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: some teams get cute and they say, oh, here's our
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: top prospect. Let's give him an opener to make him
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: feel a little bit more settled in in his first
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: season and we're not even a competitive baseball team. Like, no,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: of course you want your starter to try and prove
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: that he should be giving you seven, eight innings or
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: whatever it is as your ace. In Tampa Bay's case, look,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, the debate is on, but... They have four
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: starting pitchers for this World Series. Four that you feel
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: really good about, right? You've, of course, got Rasmussen and
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Freddie P as the one-two punch. Nick Martinez is a
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: really good three. And then Griffin Jacks has great stuff.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: And he's going to continue to develop as a guy
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: that will give them more length down the road. But
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: you feel really comfortable with him starting games, too.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: For your side of it, too, for your side of
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: the argument, game one, I can kind of unload my bullpen.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Because even if Rasmussen... Lays an egg, which he has not.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: But if he lays an egg, we got an off
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: day the next day. So guys can go back to
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: back and then you go off day. So you're hedging
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: to get the most outs. Basically, you're saying we need
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: four games of 27 outs. What is the best way
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: to do that? So we give our offense a chance
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: to get the lead. And that's how we're going to
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: win this World Series.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: And I'll finish it with this, kind of the way
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I started. If you watch this segment for the last
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: 12 minutes or whatever it was and say, these guys
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: are so stupid, they would be wasting putting out their
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: first four guys in six games. I can understand your point.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: I am a big proponent of an extra day of rest.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: There are many pitchers. Chris Sale barely pitched on regular
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: rest the entire year. This is not uncommon in the
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: sport today. I'm sorry. You might be old school on this.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: This is where I'm new school. I think extra rest
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: for many starters, especially ones that are a little older
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: or dealt with a significant injury history, thrive with an
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: extra day. It's something to consider, and it would be
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: something here for Drew Rasmussen, among some other topics that
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: we just went into here.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Good talk.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Full count, fueled by Marathon, where fun runs on full,
• 17:31
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• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Marathon rewards. Hey, today's Seat Geek question of the day.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Where in the stadium would you want to sit for
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: a World Series affair? I can see you smiling. You
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: like this. You have to be a behind-home plate guy
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: based on your prior job.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: No 100 i always have i've always said that and
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: in philly when we went to the world series it
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: was actually the 300 level the bottom of the 300
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: level it's the just above the press boxes high basically
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: we consider it high home it's not super high i
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: don't mind super high but i love that height where
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: i can see the entire field i don't mind down
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: below Right there, but sometimes the overhang gets there. I
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: don't want to be right on the field. I feel like,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: for me, that's too pretentious of seeding, and I'm cheap,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: so I don't want to spend that much. But I
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: guess I could go to SeatGeek, and they'll give me
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: a discount, 10%. But I love high home. If you're
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: not watching high home, to me, you have to go
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: for the, what are the chances of a souvenir? So
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: you've got to try to catch a homer. But for me,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: all nine innings, high home.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: What would be second place, since you're incredibly biased on
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: this topic and behind home is your happy place? What
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: would be second place and or underrated?
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: World Series game, my second place to be would be
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: right behind your team's dugout. On the road, not at home,
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: on the road. Because on the road, when your team
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: hits a home run, it is the most satisfying sound ever.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: to have just the dugout and the small little family
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: section for your, if you're the Rays, your family section.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: And the rest of the stadium is just crickets. And
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: all you hear are those sections. That is so satisfying
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: because there is no noise in the stadium except for
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: those annoying road fans. And then the second, my second
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: would be catching a home run ball. Like, bro, are
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: you serious? A home run ball of like your favorite player.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: So if your favorite player is Cheerio, Maybe go to
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: right center because he might take one oppo.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: That was good answers. SeatGeek is the number one rated ticket. app.
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• 20:10
  Speaker 1: can use it later. Thanks to SeatGeek for supporting FT
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: all season long. That's what he said. That's what he
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: said is presented by Lorraine Co. Let's get to this
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Shohei Otani update from the Dodgers. So teams get knocked
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: out and then within a few days, you usually get
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the news and the post-season, end-of-season press conference action. So
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Andrew Friedman, leading the front office, said surgery not on
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the table for Shohei. Said it was a whack-a-mole between
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: the knee and then the biceps throughout the year, but
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: he fully expects him to pitch next year. So this
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: is about as good as it gets for news. No surgery,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: and they're planning on him pitching.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Surprised. Very surprised. But I'm also not surprised playing with
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Masahiro Tanaka. Not saying they're the same person, but Japanese
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: players do an incredible job of being able to have
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: alternate surgery plans. Not saying that's what he's doing, but
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: talking to Masa about it, like surgery doesn't always have
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: to be the answer. And for kids who don't know
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: what whack-a-mole is, the mole pops up and you hit it.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: And then another one comes over here, pops up, and
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: you hit it. Well, his knee started popping up, which
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: then fired up his bicep. They got the knee calmed
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: down is what they're saying. And then he couldn't get
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: going with the bicep. To me, he looked inhibited. It
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: looked like something in his lower half was inhibiting him
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: from being who he was. And then he miraculously hit
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: first and hit a ball. 313 miles per hour, almost
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: out of the stadium. So I guess he doesn't need surgery.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: You hope it's something that doesn't crop up again because
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: it's not fixed in the offseason. The offseason's the time
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: to do it. I'm not worried about the arm. I'm
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: worried about the knee, the leg, the lower body, if
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: there was something there. But they say there wasn't, so
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: he's good to go.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: He looked compromised.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Compromised. It looked like he was... Again, talking to one
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: of his hitting coaches that he respects, that Shohei respects
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: very well. It looked like his lower half was not engaged.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Does that mean it's something from his core? Does that
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: mean it's something from his lower half? I don't know.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: I have a hard time believing that if this were
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: hockey season, he wouldn't have had a lower body injury. Like,
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: don't have to be. It's very nondescript. But the off-balance swings,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: you see them from Shohei, but you don't see them
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: the same way. The way the hitting coach explained it
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: to me, you don't see his inability to stay on
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: his legs or transfer his weight like he was having
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: during the postseason, during his struggles. Because he'll have some
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: flailing swings during the season, not like it was in
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: the postseason.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Here's the next big question, and I think it's an
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: important one. If you're the Dodgers, do you approach Shea
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Hoyetani about pitching halfway through the year and say, hey,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: can we go with more of the two years ago plan?
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: I know it's not as easy to just jump into
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the mix as a pitcher, but we'll ease you in.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: The plan two years ago worked well, and you can
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: do an inning, then two innings, right? Let's get you
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: loaded up for October, you're not going to be a
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Cy Young winner with us. But how many World Series
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: titles do you want? And how much of a difference
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: is it if your percentage chance of being hurt heading
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: to the playoffs is lower? We just saw a season
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: where clearly the pitching and the hitting from start to
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: finish caused a problem. Can we minimize this to about
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: a half a season or even less, given that the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Dodgers usually put a really good product on the field?
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: If we took Shohei Otani's first half of pitching out
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: of the Dodgers regular season, guess what would have changed?
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Just about nothing. The Dodgers would have been in the playoffs.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Maybe we would have had a better version of Shohei Otani.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: These are all what ifs. You can't predict how a
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: certain body part is affecting something else. But I think
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: simple math, maybe my second point here was correct. Simple
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: math tells you a second half Shohei Otani on the
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: mound versus a full season of Shohei Otani on the
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: mound should make him a better Shohei Otani in the
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: playoffs as a pitcher and a hitter.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: For sure. I mean, I think Shohei Otani struggled in
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: the first series against the Phillies. So there's the struggling
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: of the hitting. And this is where I say I
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: get what people are saying. Why doesn't he just hit?
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Or why don't we just try to keep him healthy
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: so he can hit? Hitters go in slumps. His pitching
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: this year showed me This dude wasn't going in a slump.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: It was going to be an injury that took him down.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: So I do think the value in Shohei for this
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: team is doing both. To what level does it compromise?
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Is it compromised? I mean, we're looking at the numbers
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: right now. 178 ERA in 85 innings. Can you get
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: what Scott's proposing is, can you give us 85 innings
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: from July on? But then does that put him where
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: he was this year before? in the beginning of June
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: when they threw him 111 pitches and his body started
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: to break down. Now all of a sudden we shifted
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: it from instead of April to June, now we're July
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: to October. He's hurt again. That is the issue. And
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: the reason he did this, the reason he pitched like
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: this and wanted to push it, was because he wanted
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: to win a Cy Young. So if you're going, your
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: first original question in your list, in your last sentence
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: of words was, do you approach Shohei about it? Heck yeah,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: you approach Shohei, but you approach him and not in
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: an asking way. You approach him in a informational way.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: The plan.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: You're saying there's a chance that he breaks down by
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: October if you do the June plan. So what do
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: you want? You want July? You want August? What's your plan?
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: If Shohei Ohtani... Comes up to you, right? This is
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: our mini two-minute role play here. You are Andrew Friedman
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: plus Doc Roberts. And you're going to call Shohei Otani
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: and the trainers. You're going to call Shohei Otani next week.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: And the understanding that you got from Otani, I know
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: this isn't real life, is that he will do whatever
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: you say. What is the plan where it's your job
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to win a World Series and nothing else? You're not
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: worried about Shohei's accolades or anything. You're just worried about
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: getting to the finish line and being the last team standing.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: What is your plan for Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: and hitter?
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: 65 innings. I want you to start as a DH.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: I want you to give us 65 innings, essentially 12
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: starts based on his innings and based on how he
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: would have to build up during the season. And I
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: would say, all right, you're hitting all year. What does
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: it take for you to, because you can't just go, oh,
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: I'll start pitching. He has to be throwing the whole time.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: So there's throwing during that entire season. Whenever he's not
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: pitching and hitting, he's also throwing. He's throwing bullpens. He's
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: getting his arm. So there is some wear and tear
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: in that sense because you can't just turn it on
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: and go. He's going to be 32 or 33 years
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: old next year. Here's where I would present him. I
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: would say, look, we feel like 65 innings is about
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: your your sweet spot, so that we can have you
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: healthy for the postseason and get another 18 innings out
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: of you in the postseason. That's 10 to 12 starts.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Do you want to start the season? Three or four,
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: take a break. Three or four, end of the season,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: three or four. We'll conversate about this. We're not going
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: for a Cy Young. We gave you your opportunity. We're
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: not going for a Cy Young. Is this, what is
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: the best value? Do you want all your 10 starts
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: to be All-star break and afterwards. Do you want to
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: build up in the big leagues and make those starts?
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: But 65 innings is where we feel like you should
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: be during the season because you broke down right at
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: the 75 to 85 limit last year.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: I don't love the fire it up, cool it down,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: fire it up, cool it down. If you're not even
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: giving him that option. Yeah, but can't you just have
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: him start throwing in July? And then pitch at some
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: point in July through September?
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: You're saying he's not going to throw any lives. He's
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: not going to throw anything.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, he could do some.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: He could do some of that. Some of that. I'm
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: saying no big league throwing until July. Then you'd rather
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: him pitch in a big league game than chill. Like,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm not the expert on this. But
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: let's finish with this.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Let's finish with it. You're much more of an expert than– 99.9%
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: of the people. Your options are, now we've gotten past this,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: we agree, not a full season. up, down, up, down
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: in terms of pitching in the big leagues or just
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: keep throwing. It's as if you have a very extended
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: off season and then you ramp up for July, August,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: whatever it is to get you that 65 innings before October.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Isn't that the better option plan B?
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: That's totally the better option. But you're telling a guy, hey,
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: you got to keep practicing pitching for four extra months here.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: And then we're going to start throwing you. That's why
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: I need him to know that there's options. But the
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: options are all surrounding our 65 inning limit, our 10
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: to 12 starts. So we're giving you options. We're allowing
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: you to have these options. But This is where we
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: see it, and this is what... Because they have all
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: his reactions during those starts. They have ways of being like, hey,
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: what's your pain level? Hey, you went six days rest.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: You went seven days rest. We really pushed you here.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: There has to be a conversation, but there also has
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: to be the adult in the room that says... Shohei,
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: you can't push it like you did last year because
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: we can't afford to not have you. Not because you
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: can't do it. It's because we can't afford to not
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: have you in October at as much 100% as we
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: can have you.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Good discussion. I like it. Also, if you had him
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: pitch a little bit at the beginning of the year
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: and then he goes like three starts, 21 innings, no runs,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: people are going to freak out. So this would just
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: take a lot of that away. Good chat.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, good chat.
• 31:22
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• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Let us slap hands. Last couple minutes that we have here.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Just thought of this randomly, Kratz, because I didn't get
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: to do the post-game show after the ALCS ended. And
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I listened to it.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: It was great.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Where was Tanner Bybee in the ALCS? I don't think
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: the Guardians have done their end-of-season presser, but I'm curious
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: to hear if he's okay physically. They didn't want to
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: use him at all in the last couple games there?
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: I said I needed to see him in game five. If,
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: you know, the fact that they didn't trust him in
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: game five and he didn't show up in game six,
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: I think there's something that we don't know. I hope
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: it's not serious. His one outing, he struggled a little bit, but,
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, he was nibbling, so it wasn't like he
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: was big misses. He was nibbling. It looked like he
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: was in control, but who knows? It's a good cue.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: If not, were they scared? The only other thing I
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: can think of is the Rays had a really big
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: difference between splits against righties and lefties. And I know
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: the Guardians were trying to exploit that, but like at
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: some point you got to use your boys.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: Who's your opening day starter? Like to me, I don't
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: think he had that bad of a season. I know
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: he lost games. I get it. Like his record wasn't great,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: but I hope he's healthy.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The Brewers, I don't think are going to get
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: that obsessed with that particular stat. They also can't. I mean, the,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: First two guys going for them, they're righties. Do your thing. No, no.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Just throw your big boys. Throw heat. Make them hit it.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: If you are in the BetMGM app tonight, you're not
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: betting on a World Series game this evening, but you
• 33:38
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• 33:40
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• 33:42
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• 33:45
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• 33:47
  Speaker 1: We've got all kinds of games firing up, right? This
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: is that time of the year. I think we've got
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: like the sport equinox next early next week. I think
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: next Monday with NHL, NFL, NBA, and of course the
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: world series going on during that time. So if you
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: have a gambling problem or concern, always remember there's help.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: 1-800-GAMBLER is the number.