Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Astros fire GM Dana Brown, Phillies ON FIRE, AL Wild Card chaos, Ohtani pitching soon?

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Fair Territory: Astros fire GM Dana Brown, Phillies ON FIRE, AL Wild Card chaos, Ohtani pitching soon? · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
0:04
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, back with you after a week of vacation,
0:08
Speaker 1: and it seems like I missed quite a bit and
0:11
Speaker 1: it seems like we have a lot of catching up
0:12
Speaker 1: to do. But before we get to that, I want
0:15
Speaker 1: to thank the people who filled in for me last week,
0:17
Speaker 1: first Alana Rizzo and Jesse Rodgers, then Katie Wou and
0:21
Speaker 1: Tim Kirchin. I'm appreciative to them, and basically, guys, I
0:25
Speaker 1: take two weeks off a year, one in August sometime
0:28
Speaker 1: after the deadline, one in December. Technically I could take more.
0:33
Speaker 1: I work pretty much seven days a week the entire
0:36
Speaker 1: season and even into the off season. But the reason
0:40
Speaker 1: I don't take more time off is because if you
0:42
Speaker 1: take a week or more off during this season, and
0:45
Speaker 1: in this particular sport, things happen and things keep going.
0:51
Speaker 1: So we begin today with the latest news news that
0:55
Speaker 1: just broke this morning. The Houston Astros have fired their
0:58
Speaker 1: general manager Dana Brown. Not exactly a surprise that they're
1:02
Speaker 1: moving on from Dana Brown, and enough of the mutual
1:04
Speaker 1: partings already, please, it's a firing, and Dana Brown, we
1:09
Speaker 1: all know Chandler Rome has been writing about this for
1:11
Speaker 1: The Athletic all season last year of his contract in trouble.
1:15
Speaker 1: What is surprising about this is the timing. Now. Obviously,
1:20
Speaker 1: the Houston Astros have had somewhat a disappointing season, but
1:24
Speaker 1: at the same time they are currently in first place
1:27
Speaker 1: in the American League West, albeit under five hundred, and
1:31
Speaker 1: albeit coming off an incredibly disappointing Homestand this is largely
1:37
Speaker 1: in terms of the timing symbolic. General manager doesn't have
1:41
Speaker 1: all that much to do from here to the end
1:43
Speaker 1: of the season, and I guess Jim Craine just figured
1:45
Speaker 1: we're gonna do this anyway. I'm ticked off about this
1:47
Speaker 1: home stand and let's do it now. In case you
1:50
Speaker 1: missed it, the Astros blue a sixth nothing lead to
1:53
Speaker 1: the A's yesterday. One of the worst teams in baseball,
1:57
Speaker 1: they had a three and six home stand against Seattle,
2:02
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Angeles and the A's three teams that have
2:05
Speaker 1: struggled in their division. Every team in that division is
2:08
Speaker 1: under five hundred. So from that perspective, Okay, yeah, Jim
2:12
Speaker 1: Crane's upset. Jim Crade once fired a general manager after
2:16
Speaker 1: winning the World series, and he's perfectly entitled to do
2:20
Speaker 1: whatever he wants to do. But this, in some ways
2:23
Speaker 1: seems to be a hissy fit coming to light, and
2:27
Speaker 1: it's a hissy fit that probably was gonna happen anyway
2:31
Speaker 1: and not going to be dramatically different for the Astros
2:34
Speaker 1: the rest of the way. They've got a committee including
2:37
Speaker 1: Jeff Bagwell, that will run the team from here on out.
2:40
Speaker 1: But this was coming, and the shame of it is
2:44
Speaker 1: that this team still has a chance to do some
2:46
Speaker 1: big things. And yes, Dana Brown left them in a
2:49
Speaker 1: tough position with his pitching acquisitions during the offseason and
2:54
Speaker 1: even the deadline, they didn't do enough. So okay, we
2:57
Speaker 1: get it, but again, interesting time. Now the AL West. Yeah,
3:03
Speaker 1: that's quite a division. Every team in this division is
3:06
Speaker 1: under five hundred. You might have seen a couple of
3:08
Speaker 1: tweets over the weekend from people talking about the run
3:11
Speaker 1: differential to combined run differential in this division. It's almost
3:14
Speaker 1: negative five hundred, if I'm not mistaken. Not good. And
3:19
Speaker 1: the team that is supposed to be leading this division
3:21
Speaker 1: that we all thought was going to be really strong,
3:25
Speaker 1: is a more disappointing team, I would say than even
3:28
Speaker 1: the Astros, and that's the Seattle Mariners. Seattle Mariners. Yeah,
3:32
Speaker 1: they're three back in both the division and the wildcard.
3:35
Speaker 1: But my goodness, in two of the last six games
3:39
Speaker 1: they have been boat raced. They've had position players pitch
3:42
Speaker 1: in two of the last six games. One was a
3:44
Speaker 1: twenty two to zherings score. One was nineteen to two
3:48
Speaker 1: Seattle Mariners team that came within one game of getting
3:51
Speaker 1: to the World Series last year. And this is where
3:54
Speaker 1: they are. You see the standings right there. These are
3:57
Speaker 1: the wildcard standings the Mariners. Yeah, they're still in it,
4:01
Speaker 1: but they're behind three teams. We'll get by the way
4:03
Speaker 1: to the wild card standings in the inside dish and
4:06
Speaker 1: the whole race of the Turtles we've been talking about
4:08
Speaker 1: all season. But the Mariners had a great game on Saturday,
4:13
Speaker 1: a game that I would have been working at if
4:15
Speaker 1: I wasn't on vacation. It was the Fox game that
4:17
Speaker 1: I was assigned to, or would have been assigned to.
4:20
Speaker 1: Rose Raina leads off with a home run, walks off
4:24
Speaker 1: the game with a home run, has a great catch
4:26
Speaker 1: in between. He's had a remarkable season by his standards,
4:30
Speaker 1: and he's entering free agency. All good and people ask
4:34
Speaker 1: all the time, wow, can one game give a team momentum?
4:39
Speaker 1: It can in some ways, but often it doesn't work
4:43
Speaker 1: out that way. And Bright's Miller is the guy who
4:45
Speaker 1: started both the twenty two nothing game and the nineteen
4:48
Speaker 1: two game. He again had a disappointing start yesterday. The
4:52
Speaker 1: Mariners are a team that has not gotten out of
4:54
Speaker 1: its way the entire season, and if you're a Mariners
4:57
Speaker 1: fan and you're seeing the Dana Brown news, you might
4:59
Speaker 1: be wondering, what's gonna happen with our leadership? Jerry Depoto
5:04
Speaker 1: justin Hollander, I'm not sure that they're in trouble. Ownership
5:07
Speaker 1: seems to be on their side, and of course they
5:09
Speaker 1: are coming off a great season. But at the same time,
5:14
Speaker 1: this is the time of year when these questions start
5:16
Speaker 1: to be asked. So a lot going on in the
5:19
Speaker 1: AL West on this morning, and a lot going on
5:22
Speaker 1: as well in the A. I'm sorry, the NL East
5:26
Speaker 1: a little out of practice here, and the NL East
5:29
Speaker 1: is a division that has been dominated by the Braves
5:32
Speaker 1: pretty much all season. But here come the Phillies. The
5:35
Speaker 1: Phillies have won nine straight games, and if you saw
5:39
Speaker 1: their rally yesterday, It wasn't maybe as interesting as the
5:43
Speaker 1: A's rally in some minds, but in others I would
5:47
Speaker 1: say even more interesting. Down four to nothing with two
5:51
Speaker 1: outs in the ninth, the Phillies win this game six
5:53
Speaker 1: to four to run walk off by Schwarberg. Great bat flip,
5:57
Speaker 1: great helmet flip. Great drama in Philadelphia. Now, as I
6:01
Speaker 1: mentioned nine straight, they've dramatically transformed as an offense this month.
6:07
Speaker 1: They enter the month and Matt gallib and Charlotte Vaughnes
6:10
Speaker 1: have written about this in The Athletic. They entered the
6:13
Speaker 1: month last in the majors in on base percentage three
6:16
Speaker 1: oh three. Starting in August three three OBP last in
6:20
Speaker 1: the majors. This month, they're at three seventy. That is
6:25
Speaker 1: tops in the majors and with the lowest strikeout rate
6:28
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. Okay, all good, and they've had
6:32
Speaker 1: some really good things happen offensively, not just with their
6:34
Speaker 1: bigger players, but with some of their supporting cast as well.
6:38
Speaker 1: The caveat here as they sit three games back in
6:42
Speaker 1: the nlast just three games back of the Braves, is
6:45
Speaker 1: that the Phillies have been playing weaker opponents. Now you
6:49
Speaker 1: have to beat the teams in front of you. We
6:51
Speaker 1: all understand that. But this month they've played only one
6:55
Speaker 1: team above five hundred, only one. That's the Marlins, and
7:00
Speaker 1: that's not a team that's far above five hundred. The
7:02
Speaker 1: Cardinals are out five hundred now in part because the
7:05
Speaker 1: Phillies put them there, but the schedule for the most
7:09
Speaker 1: part has been easier.
7:10
Speaker 2: Now.
7:10
Speaker 1: Next the Phillies go on a road trip Seattle, Los
7:15
Speaker 1: Angeles Angels, and then Arizona. Arizona team right in the
7:18
Speaker 1: thick of the NL Wildcard race, the best of that
7:21
Speaker 1: group of clubs that we'll see on this road trip
7:24
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a test once they get
7:25
Speaker 1: to Arizona, maybe even Seattle if Seattle wakes up for
7:29
Speaker 1: a series, but the schedule will remain somewhat easy for
7:32
Speaker 1: the Phillies. What happens after that is what gets interesting.
7:37
Speaker 1: Seven games left with the Braves, who have stopped hitting
7:41
Speaker 1: for whatever reason. The Braves offensively have not been quite
7:45
Speaker 1: good for about ten twelve games now. Then after that
7:50
Speaker 1: they conclude the season with a six game homestand against
7:55
Speaker 1: the Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. That's not going to
7:58
Speaker 1: be easy, and I don't expect necessarily races will be
8:01
Speaker 1: decided by then, so that the Brewers and Rays might
8:04
Speaker 1: be easing up a little bit. So a lot that's
8:07
Speaker 1: going to happen still in that analy East, and it's
8:10
Speaker 1: going to be fun to watch, no doubt.
8:15
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8:17
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9:12
Speaker 1: Before we get to the break, we want to go
9:14
Speaker 1: into one more thing, and it's the Dodgers and the
9:16
Speaker 1: nl West and what is going on with the Dodgers pitching.
9:20
Speaker 1: You might have seen the news yesterday. Shohe Otani had
9:23
Speaker 1: a bullpen on Saturday that went well. He's expected to
9:26
Speaker 1: have one more bullpen session this week and possibly return
9:30
Speaker 1: to the rotation Sunday against the Tigers. Now, Otani has
9:34
Speaker 1: not pitched since July third. He will be built up
9:38
Speaker 1: the way he was built up last year. If you
9:40
Speaker 1: remember when he came back from the major elbow surgery,
9:43
Speaker 1: it was one inning increments. He'd start with one inning,
9:46
Speaker 1: go to two, go to three, etc. The Dodgers have
9:50
Speaker 1: said Dave Roberts has said that this one might be
9:53
Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive in the way they go
9:55
Speaker 1: about it to get him to the point where he
9:58
Speaker 1: is ready for five innings by the start of the postseason.
10:01
Speaker 1: And if the Dodgers' rotation stays healthy, it's pretty formidable.
10:06
Speaker 1: It's Otani Yamamoto, Scubable, glass Now and Snell, and not
10:10
Speaker 1: necessarily in that order, they're all really good. Glass Now
10:13
Speaker 1: is on the verge of returning, so the Dodgers look
10:17
Speaker 1: to be rounding into form. Will Smith also on his
10:20
Speaker 1: way back. But while it's not going to necessarily affect
10:23
Speaker 1: the division race, here come the Padres yet again. And
10:28
Speaker 1: the Padres are a team that for most of this
10:30
Speaker 1: season was incredibly disappointing. Right the Stars weren't playing well,
10:35
Speaker 1: they had all these pitching injuries, they were a mess.
10:39
Speaker 1: Well right now, they've won twenty one of twenty eight
10:42
Speaker 1: and with the exception of Manny Machado, who still really
10:44
Speaker 1: isn't hitting to his expected levels, this team is back
10:49
Speaker 1: Fernando Tetti's juniory. He is totally back. Two home runs yesterday,
10:53
Speaker 1: seventeen for the season, twelve in the last thirty two games.
10:58
Speaker 1: They've gotten great work out of Ty France and some
11:01
Speaker 1: others as well. They're pitching with the additions of Mice
11:04
Speaker 1: who might be hurt now and Robbie Ray and the
11:07
Speaker 1: possibility of Joe Musgrove coming back, it's looking better. Buellers
11:12
Speaker 1: pitch better, Randy Vasquez, and of course they have the
11:15
Speaker 1: best bullpen in the sport. I don't know that they're
11:19
Speaker 1: going to be a threat to the Dodgers even in
11:21
Speaker 1: the postseason, but right now they've got a two game
11:24
Speaker 1: lead over Arizona for the third wildcard in the National League,
11:28
Speaker 1: and they look once again to be a formidable team
11:32
Speaker 1: as we get closer to October. All right, that is
11:35
Speaker 1: it for the first segment. We're going to be back
11:38
Speaker 1: with the Inside Dish right after this time. Now for
11:47
Speaker 1: the Inside Dish, and today we're going to talk about
11:50
Speaker 1: a subject that might be near and dear to many
11:53
Speaker 1: fans hearts, the race of the Turtles, the race for
11:56
Speaker 1: the third American League wildcard spot, and it is quite
12:00
Speaker 1: a race. Indeed, race might be overstating it at this point,
12:04
Speaker 1: but it is the last full week of August, and
12:07
Speaker 1: in the American League. You can see it right there.
12:10
Speaker 1: The two teams tied for the third wild card are
12:13
Speaker 1: both below five hundred, as is of course every team
12:17
Speaker 1: in the American League West. It's quite a league we
12:20
Speaker 1: have in the American League this season. And let's get
12:23
Speaker 1: into it, and let's talk about just where this might
12:25
Speaker 1: be going. I want to start with the Tigers because
12:28
Speaker 1: they have collapsed, and people might think, well, of course
12:31
Speaker 1: they've collapsed. They traded Terrek Schoubel and Casey Miize, but
12:36
Speaker 1: in losing five straight at Pittsburgh and Kansas City and
12:39
Speaker 1: eight and nine of nine overall, it really hasn't been
12:43
Speaker 1: the starting pitching. It's been the injuries to some of
12:46
Speaker 1: their hitters Riley Green and Matt Vierling and Carry Carpenter
12:51
Speaker 1: that have kind of compromised the Tigers most. And they
12:55
Speaker 1: actually in the month of August since the deadline, I
12:57
Speaker 1: should say since the deadline, they are ranked seventh in
13:01
Speaker 1: rotation eer surprisingly enough even without Schooble and Mies. But
13:06
Speaker 1: they have completely gone backwards here with that streak I
13:09
Speaker 1: just told you about. On August thirteenth, they were two
13:13
Speaker 1: and a half out in the Central they held the
13:15
Speaker 1: third American League wildcard spot. Well, since then, that streak
13:19
Speaker 1: has happened the eight of nine and they're now three
13:22
Speaker 1: and a half back. They're trailing four teams in the
13:25
Speaker 1: wildcard race, and it doesn't seem like with the fourth
13:28
Speaker 1: worst record in the American League they're going to be
13:31
Speaker 1: the team that comes back. So I don't want to
13:35
Speaker 1: rule out anyone in the race of the Turtles, and
13:37
Speaker 1: maybe the Tigers do make a run here, but certainly
13:40
Speaker 1: they've gone backwards in the last ten days or so.
13:43
Speaker 1: So who do we like in the race of the Turtles?
13:47
Speaker 1: Which Turtle might prove the fleetest if you want to
13:51
Speaker 1: call it that. Well, the two teams in the league
13:54
Speaker 1: right now are the Cleveland Guardians and the Texas Rangers.
13:57
Speaker 1: The Guardians have won four straight all be it against
14:00
Speaker 1: the Giants and Rockies, and they are a team that
14:03
Speaker 1: coming out of the deadline I thought was in pretty
14:06
Speaker 1: good shape. Now, granted, they're very young, especially on the
14:10
Speaker 1: position player's side, and they are offensively challenged, as they
14:14
Speaker 1: are seemingly every year. Jose Ramirez not the same coming
14:18
Speaker 1: off Hamdmaid surgery, but they've added Joe Adele, Nathaniel Lowe
14:22
Speaker 1: and Foster Griffin. Those are good additions, and Adele and
14:26
Speaker 1: Lowe helped the offense, and then Griffin joining Parker Messic
14:30
Speaker 1: and Gavin Williams and Joey Cantillo in that rotation, it's
14:34
Speaker 1: a pretty formidable group. And I know they have not
14:38
Speaker 1: played like it and maybe they're not going to play
14:40
Speaker 1: like it, but I still like the Guardians here in
14:43
Speaker 1: either race Al Central or even the Wildcard, especially the
14:48
Speaker 1: Wildcard the AL Central, the White Sox have something of
14:50
Speaker 1: a cushion. So then there are the Rangers. Starting pitching
14:54
Speaker 1: has been good, really good lately, even without Nathan Valdi,
14:57
Speaker 1: who's been injured. The offense as it's been problematic really
15:01
Speaker 1: since the second half of twenty four and is no
15:04
Speaker 1: different right now. Two or fewer runs in four straight
15:07
Speaker 1: games before Sunday, as well as eight of the last twelve. Again,
15:12
Speaker 1: two or fewer runs scored in eight of your last
15:14
Speaker 1: twelve games. Hard to win that way. Now, now they're
15:18
Speaker 1: going to Chicago to play the White Sox and then
15:21
Speaker 1: they have the Brewers in Milwaukee, So that's going to
15:24
Speaker 1: be a difficult little stretch here coming up for the Rangers.
15:28
Speaker 1: And really all season they have not proven capable of
15:31
Speaker 1: getting hot. I'm not in love with the Rangers. Actually,
15:34
Speaker 1: I'm not loving any of these teams, but we talk
15:37
Speaker 1: about them because one of them is going to make
15:39
Speaker 1: the playoffs as we go forward. Now, what about the
15:42
Speaker 1: Blue Jays. The Blue Jays are still a threat, and
15:45
Speaker 1: Soriano did not pitch well yesterday, but he gives them
15:48
Speaker 1: a good one too, with Dylan sees who is a
15:51
Speaker 1: leading candidate for the al Cy Young Award. Schuzer and
15:54
Speaker 1: Bieber behind them, and no depth after that. The Savage
15:58
Speaker 1: is on the IL, Patrick Corbin others on the IL
16:01
Speaker 1: as well. Jamison Tyrone another one they acquired him. He
16:04
Speaker 1: goes on the IL. They just went three and three
16:07
Speaker 1: on their trip to Tampa Bay and New York. Pretty good.
16:09
Speaker 1: Could have been better, of course, but good. Their offense
16:13
Speaker 1: has been better, and the best thing with the Blue
16:16
Speaker 1: Jays right now is they've got one of the easiest
16:18
Speaker 1: schedules remaining overall, so we'll see if they can find
16:23
Speaker 1: some offense. They've not hit for power really the entire season.
16:27
Speaker 1: That's been the biggest detriment offensively, but the Blue Jays
16:32
Speaker 1: still cannot be ruled out. The Twins just got swept
16:35
Speaker 1: by San Diego. Okay, San Diego is red hot, hottest
16:38
Speaker 1: team in baseball, and this was after the Twins swept Atlanta.
16:43
Speaker 1: They're seven and thirteen in August right now. Seven and
16:46
Speaker 1: thirteen not a good August. This is the team that
16:49
Speaker 1: really has surprised us all season by being in the
16:52
Speaker 1: position that they're in. They're one of these teams that
16:55
Speaker 1: is in this position because of course the competition is
16:59
Speaker 1: so weak, but the Twins cannot be ruled out. They've
17:02
Speaker 1: next got the A's in Sacramento, then their home for
17:06
Speaker 1: what looms as a big home stand against the White
17:10
Speaker 1: Sox and the Tigers. So I think the Twins have enough.
17:14
Speaker 1: No I don't, but good for them for competing, good
17:17
Speaker 1: for them for adding at the deadline. Dean Kramer's been
17:20
Speaker 1: really good for them so far, kind of surprisingly, and
17:24
Speaker 1: they have had I would say, an encouraging season simply
17:28
Speaker 1: because they're back in the mix and because their new
17:30
Speaker 1: control person, Tom Pohlad, has shown more shown more of
17:34
Speaker 1: an inclination toward trying than his predecessor did. So they
17:39
Speaker 1: are the Twins, and finally the Orioles. Actually, where there's
17:43
Speaker 1: one more team after the Oriols, but we've already talked
17:45
Speaker 1: about them. That's Seattle. The Orioles are a team that,
17:49
Speaker 1: like all of these others, has a really hard time
17:53
Speaker 1: finding any measure of consistency. They've won six of seven
17:57
Speaker 1: against the Rays the last two weekends. It's pretty good.
18:00
Speaker 1: Raised the best team in the American League. But in
18:03
Speaker 1: between those two series against the Rays, they lost three
18:07
Speaker 1: in a row. To the Yankees at home. Got swept
18:09
Speaker 1: at home by the Yankees. Now comes a pivotal moment
18:14
Speaker 1: in their season, a nine game trip to Saint Louis, Sacramento,
18:19
Speaker 1: and Denver. For the Rockies, this is a trip in
18:22
Speaker 1: which they will be playing a weaker competition. They should
18:25
Speaker 1: be able to do some things. Pasia is back now.
18:29
Speaker 1: Felix Bautista, out all season and most of last season,
18:33
Speaker 1: is on a rehab assignment. Don't know what he'll be
18:35
Speaker 1: able to provide, but he could help the bullpen obviously,
18:38
Speaker 1: and Blaze Alexander on his way back from injury as well.
18:42
Speaker 1: The Orioles Pete A. Lonso's been magnificent for them. They
18:47
Speaker 1: still have a ton of talent, but they've got a
18:50
Speaker 1: way to go here, So we'll see how this all
18:52
Speaker 1: plays out. In the race of the Turtles, I've already
18:55
Speaker 1: discussed the Mariners. I don't know what's going to be
18:58
Speaker 1: with the Mariners. They are capable of any time of igniting,
19:02
Speaker 1: but Julio Rodriguez seems sometimes to be half asleep out there.
19:08
Speaker 1: The entire team has just not ignited this season. There
19:12
Speaker 1: is immense talent in Seattle, immense and yet for whatever reasons,
19:18
Speaker 1: and there are multiple reasons, of course, there always are.
19:21
Speaker 1: They have not done what all of us expected they
19:24
Speaker 1: would do coming off again that season last year in
19:28
Speaker 1: which they came within one game of winning the World Series.
19:31
Speaker 1: So who is going to win the race of the Turtles?
19:35
Speaker 1: I couldn't tell you. It's one of these things where
19:38
Speaker 1: somebody has to be there. But you're going to see
19:41
Speaker 1: eventually one of these teams command that third wildcard. The
19:44
Speaker 1: Yankees and Red Sox are kind of entrenched for the
19:47
Speaker 1: top two and likely would meet in the first round
19:51
Speaker 1: unless the Yankees somehow overtake the Rais, which is possible.
19:55
Speaker 1: But the race for the third wildcard, again, someone's going
19:59
Speaker 1: to win it. We don't know who. That team likely
20:03
Speaker 1: eighty two to eighty five wins. I don't know that
20:05
Speaker 1: we will call them worthy. That's it for the inside dish.
20:09
Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. All right on deck.
20:18
Speaker 1: We have this week on Fox Red Sox at Yankees,
20:22
Speaker 1: actually on Saturday. It will be the second game of
20:24
Speaker 1: a day night double header. And the Yankees remain as
20:28
Speaker 1: always a fascinating team. As we await the return of
20:32
Speaker 1: Aaron Judge. He's picking it up. He has things that
20:36
Speaker 1: he's been doing, but he's still not back and it's
20:39
Speaker 1: looking like September for sure for him. Cody Bellinger did
20:42
Speaker 1: come back over the weekend, but they have more injury concerns,
20:47
Speaker 1: specifically Giancarlos Stan looks like he's not coming back. He
20:51
Speaker 1: injured his other calf and some really good stuff was
20:54
Speaker 1: written that article by Chris Kirshner. I thought was excellent,
20:58
Speaker 1: just about Stan and his poor luck with injuries and
21:02
Speaker 1: what he has meant to the Yankees when healthy, particularly
21:05
Speaker 1: in the postseason. I know a lot of fans get
21:07
Speaker 1: frustrated with him because he's not on a field. He's
21:10
Speaker 1: frustrated because he's not on the field, but he has
21:13
Speaker 1: had his moments with the Yankees, some really good moments,
21:16
Speaker 1: and they're a lesser team without him, So this hurts.
21:19
Speaker 1: The fact that he's not coming back, it definitely hurts,
21:21
Speaker 1: especially when they're already without Judge, and when Judge returns,
21:25
Speaker 1: it'll be a situation where he hasn't played in more
21:28
Speaker 1: than two months. I know he's aren Judge the best
21:31
Speaker 1: hitter in the sport, but hey, it's not easy just
21:34
Speaker 1: to walk into a major league season in the middle
21:37
Speaker 1: of a penal race and dominate. Yankees also have some
21:40
Speaker 1: injury concerns with their pitching staff. Max Freed back on
21:44
Speaker 1: the injured list boone bruise in the elbow. Sounds like
21:47
Speaker 1: this is going to be a minimal stint. Always sounds
21:50
Speaker 1: like that, until the stint gets extended a little bit longer.
21:53
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's going to happen that way, but
21:56
Speaker 1: until three is back out there and pitching healthily and effectively,
22:00
Speaker 1: we don't know. And then Ryan Weathers that's the bigger blow.
22:03
Speaker 1: He won't throw for two to four weeks. He has,
22:06
Speaker 1: I believe, an elbow issue, and he's a guy that
22:09
Speaker 1: obviously was expected if their rotation was fully healthy, to
22:13
Speaker 1: possibly go into the bullpen with Will Warren, But with
22:17
Speaker 1: the rotation now not fully healthy, it's going to have
22:20
Speaker 1: a different look. So that's where the Yankees are as
22:24
Speaker 1: far as right now regarding their injuries, and we'll see
22:27
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks just who returns, what state they're
22:30
Speaker 1: going to be in. Obviously, George Lombard Junior has been
22:33
Speaker 1: a breath of fresh air, particularly on the defensive end.
22:36
Speaker 1: Especially on the defensive end, they've had some good things
22:39
Speaker 1: going on Bellinger coming back being one of them. But
22:42
Speaker 1: they're still kind of not really fully whole. We know that,
22:46
Speaker 1: all right, mlbon Fox is streaming on Fox one. The
22:50
Speaker 1: Race to October starts now, and we have your front
22:52
Speaker 1: row seat to the wildest walk offs, lights out, pitching,
22:55
Speaker 1: and clutch plays all season long at home or on
22:58
Speaker 1: the go, live or on demand. Never miss a moment
23:01
Speaker 1: stream now, start your Fox one three day free trial
23:04
Speaker 1: today at foxwe dot com. All right, time now for
23:14
Speaker 1: Grilling Ken, the part of the show where I answer
23:16
Speaker 1: your questions. I'll answer one that I saw on X
23:19
Speaker 1: this weekend. This one was Ken, Are you alive? Yes,
23:22
Speaker 1: I'm obviously alive. I just took a few days off.
23:26
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the questions. First one comes
23:29
Speaker 1: from Chris Meeks fifty two to seventy two? Do you
23:31
Speaker 1: think the Rays have run out of steam? They don't
23:33
Speaker 1: have a true ace on the staff, more innings eaters
23:36
Speaker 1: than anything else. I don't know if we have the
23:38
Speaker 1: arms for October. I don't believe that they've run out
23:43
Speaker 1: of steam. They have not played as well of late.
23:45
Speaker 1: And yes, you go through periods in a season where
23:48
Speaker 1: this happens. And I also would disagree with the idea
23:52
Speaker 1: that they don't have an ace now they don't have
23:54
Speaker 1: Trek Schoubel true. Nick Martinez, who was good again yesterday,
23:59
Speaker 1: has been really good. Drew Rasmussen really good. McClanahan has
24:03
Speaker 1: had his moments. So yes, they're not a dominant, necessary
24:08
Speaker 1: group necessarily as far as this rotation goes. But they're
24:11
Speaker 1: pretty good. So I'm still bullish on the Rays. I
24:14
Speaker 1: still love what they do, still see them as a
24:17
Speaker 1: pretty significant threat in the American League playoffs. All right,
24:21
Speaker 1: next question. This one comes from Ryan, who says, with
24:24
Speaker 1: all the dramas around and can tell Marte, what do
24:27
Speaker 1: the Snakes need to do to lock down the final
24:30
Speaker 1: wildcard spot in the National League? It is more Is
24:32
Speaker 1: it more about what the other teams do or what
24:34
Speaker 1: the Snakes can accomplish? Okay, good question. Now the issue
24:38
Speaker 1: right now for that last National League wildcard is as
24:41
Speaker 1: I discussed earlier, Padres are really hot. The Diamondbacks have
24:46
Speaker 1: shown at times that they can be that kind of team,
24:50
Speaker 1: and certainly without Marte, it becomes more challenging. We don't
24:54
Speaker 1: know when he's coming back, if he's coming back, how
24:57
Speaker 1: this is all going to play out? The diamondback. The
25:00
Speaker 1: one thing that might play in their favor is if
25:04
Speaker 1: some of their injured pitchers come back, Corbyn Burns, Zach
25:08
Speaker 1: Gallan now again. Burns has been out more than a season,
25:12
Speaker 1: Tommy John Gallen wasn't good even before he was hurt.
25:15
Speaker 1: But if they get these guys back and any contributions
25:19
Speaker 1: at all from them while picking up the offense, then
25:23
Speaker 1: perhaps they can be that third wildcard team. I wouldn't
25:26
Speaker 1: guarantee it, and the Marte thing looms over them. It
25:29
Speaker 1: was a distraction the entire week kind of screwed the
25:32
Speaker 1: team up, really and they might not admit that, and
25:36
Speaker 1: it might not all together show on the field, but
25:40
Speaker 1: there's no way something like that can happen and the
25:42
Speaker 1: team not be affected. His sheer absence affects them all right.
25:47
Speaker 1: Thanks for everyone for watching, for listening, and I will
25:51
Speaker 1: be back Thursday at the usual time twelve thirty foul
25:54
Speaker 1: Territories coming up at one eastern. The hosts aj Perzinski,
25:58
Speaker 1: Jason Kipness, and Scott Braun. The guests my colleague at
26:01
Speaker 1: the Athletic Brendan Cuddy, as well as Pirates pitcher Luke Weaver.
26:05
Speaker 1: As I said, fair Territory returns Thursday, twelve thirty Eastern.
26:09
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you.
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