Latest / Foul Territory / Birdland Territory: O's sweep A's

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Birdland Territory: O's sweep A's · Foul Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: When the Orioles left St. Louis a couple days ago,
0:10
Speaker 1: O's fans, they were three games back for the third
0:13
Speaker 1: and final AL wildcard spot as they head now to
0:17
Speaker 1: Colorado because of a big comeback win Sunday in Sacramento.
0:22
Speaker 1: The Orioles are a game out. And now, for the
0:26
Speaker 1: first time since April, they're a game under the 500 mark.
0:30
Speaker 1: Can you believe it? The chase for 500. They're close now.
0:35
Speaker 1: If they get a win Monday night in Colorado, they'll
0:37
Speaker 1: be a 500 team. Welcome to the latest edition of
0:39
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory with Steve Molesky, Tim Barberlace, and Brad Brock. And, man,
0:45
Speaker 1: it was a grinded-out weekend, guys. The Athletics played the
0:48
Speaker 1: Orioles tough, and the Orioles had to do a lot right,
0:52
Speaker 1: and they did, and they gained two games thanks to
0:56
Speaker 1: the Royals beating Cleveland. So pretty productive weekend.
1:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. We kind of talked about going into this
1:03
Speaker 2: road trip. You're going up against the Athletics. You're going
1:06
Speaker 2: up against the Rockies. You've got to have those games.
1:09
Speaker 2: I mean, regardless of how they got it done, they
1:11
Speaker 2: got it done. They won three games there. It's a
1:13
Speaker 2: very young, scrappy team in Sacramento right now and kind
1:17
Speaker 2: of underachieving. I think they're getting a lot of their
1:20
Speaker 2: guys back. They came into this beating Houston and somebody
1:22
Speaker 2: else this series before. So it's no layover. We've talked
1:26
Speaker 2: about it a million times in the major leagues. You
1:28
Speaker 2: got to win every game. No game is ever going
1:30
Speaker 2: to be handed to you in the major league. So
1:31
Speaker 2: they went out there and handled business. And now they're
1:33
Speaker 2: right back in. And I'm going to make a sweeping
1:35
Speaker 2: declaration for myself. I'm done predicting what I think this
1:39
Speaker 2: team is going to do. If they're in, they're out.
1:41
Speaker 2: And if you're a fan of this team, just ride
1:43
Speaker 2: the wave. Like we've said, they're fully in this thing.
1:46
Speaker 2: They're one game under 500. And I talked about being
1:48
Speaker 2: 500 Memorial Day. I guess if you're 500 by Labor Day,
1:52
Speaker 2: you got a shot this year. And that's all that
1:54
Speaker 2: really matters at this point.
1:56
Speaker 3: Well, I'll say this. It's been a roller coaster season.
2:00
Speaker 3: We've documented it, you know, doing episodes, three episodes a week.
2:04
Speaker 3: But the Orioles took care of business in this series
2:08
Speaker 3: over the weekend, and it's setting up for what should
2:10
Speaker 3: be a really, really exciting September with meaningful baseball. And
2:15
Speaker 3: they're giving themselves an opportunity to get back to playing
2:19
Speaker 3: in the postseason. And after this series against the Rockies, Gosh, Steve,
2:24
Speaker 3: this upcoming homestand is going to be unbelievable. The Red
2:27
Speaker 3: Sox come to town for a four-game series, and then
2:29
Speaker 3: the Guardians come to town Labor Day. So it's shaping
2:34
Speaker 3: up for a really, really awesome homestand. Now, the job's
2:37
Speaker 3: not finished for the Orioles, and like we said, the
2:41
Speaker 3: time for treading water is well beyond this ball club
2:45
Speaker 3: at this point, and to pick up a three-game sweep
2:48
Speaker 3: of the A's was awesome. And the Athletics weren't coming
2:51
Speaker 3: in reeling. They had won four out of the last
2:54
Speaker 3: five games. And these were sort of 50-50 games that
2:58
Speaker 3: we've seen the Orioles drop a lot this year, guys,
3:01
Speaker 3: where Friday you win that game in extra innings, a
3:05
Speaker 3: one-run win. And Ben McDonald pointed out, I think he
3:07
Speaker 3: said on the broadcast today, guys, where the Orioles had
3:10
Speaker 3: the worst record in one-run games for so long, where
3:13
Speaker 3: I think they won five out of their last six
3:15
Speaker 3: one-run games. Yesterday, oh my gosh, were they walking the tightrope,
3:19
Speaker 3: you know, in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning. And
3:21
Speaker 3: then today you were trailing five to one and Chris
3:25
Speaker 3: Bassett looked like he was going to have a short outing.
3:27
Speaker 3: It was not pretty early on, but he was able
3:30
Speaker 3: to bear down and boy, did the bullpen really need it.
3:33
Speaker 3: It was a gutsy three game sweep from the Orioles.
3:38
Speaker 1: It feels like in the last few days, man, things
3:40
Speaker 1: have ratcheted up. All of a sudden we're scoreboard watching.
3:44
Speaker 1: We're checking our phones a lot. Look at the next
3:47
Speaker 1: few days, how exciting it's going to be Monday that
3:51
Speaker 1: Cleveland Guardians are off. The Orioles play in Colorado, so
3:54
Speaker 1: they could pull within a half game. Tuesday, Cleveland plays Toronto.
4:00
Speaker 3: Wow.
4:01
Speaker 1: The Orioles are right behind Cleveland and right ahead of Toronto.
4:05
Speaker 1: So if the Orioles have a good week, a week
4:07
Speaker 1: upcoming against Colorado, they'll gain on somebody Tuesday and Wednesday
4:11
Speaker 1: in the wildcard race. And then, so Cleveland plays three
4:14
Speaker 1: against Toronto, three against Detroit. And then three at Baltimore,
4:18
Speaker 1: September 7, 8, 9. So in the next 10 days,
4:21
Speaker 1: there will be some pivotal, pivotal games that will have
4:24
Speaker 1: a lot to say about the final weeks of this season.
4:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it's September, and that's when you
4:30
Speaker 2: really start watching the scoreboard. You try not to in
4:33
Speaker 2: July and August because so many things can change here
4:35
Speaker 2: or there, like a bad week, and all of a
4:37
Speaker 2: sudden you feel like you're out of it. But it's September.
4:39
Speaker 2: It's go time. There's four weeks left in this season.
4:41
Speaker 2: There's no longer a marathon. It is a full on
4:44
Speaker 2: sprint from here on out. And when you go into Colorado,
4:46
Speaker 2: this series coming up, a lot of these guys, especially
4:48
Speaker 2: the Orioles, I feel like don't play there very often.
4:50
Speaker 2: And it's a difficult place to play. It's a difficult
4:52
Speaker 2: place to pitch and it's a difficult place to recover at.
4:56
Speaker 2: So it's one of those, it's a weird stadium. It's
4:59
Speaker 2: a weird city to play at sometimes. So they got
5:01
Speaker 2: to go in there and be ready to play and
5:02
Speaker 2: have tough games because obviously the Rockies play there 81
5:05
Speaker 2: times a year. And when you come in for just
5:07
Speaker 2: three games once every couple of seasons, it's definitely difficult
5:11
Speaker 2: and a different place to pitch, especially. And I know
5:14
Speaker 2: going there, your stuff plays different. So when you're playing
5:16
Speaker 2: flat ground, you want to get off the mound a
5:18
Speaker 2: little bit. But these bullpen arms have been used a lot.
5:20
Speaker 2: So it's going to be definitely a, you don't have
5:23
Speaker 2: the win until that 27th out is made in the
5:25
Speaker 2: ninth inning.
5:26
Speaker 3: No, it's definitely a good point, Brad. And look, this
5:30
Speaker 3: is the dog days of the season right now. Everyone's
5:32
Speaker 3: banged up at this point. And this Orioles team is
5:36
Speaker 3: in the midst of this three-city road trip, 16 games
5:40
Speaker 3: in 16 days. This is their last big chunk of
5:43
Speaker 3: games without an off day the rest of the season.
5:46
Speaker 3: And you can't just go in expecting a sweep, expecting
5:50
Speaker 3: a series win. But they got to find a way to,
5:53
Speaker 3: at a minimum, take two of three at Coors Field.
5:58
Speaker 1: So these winning ways the Orioles are on now, suddenly
6:00
Speaker 1: these numbers are looking a lot better. They've won three
6:02
Speaker 1: in a row. They've won seven of nine. For the
6:05
Speaker 1: first time this year, they had three straight series wins.
6:09
Speaker 1: That had not happened to the last three series. They
6:12
Speaker 1: had two, and then they tied. They had never won
6:15
Speaker 1: three straight series. So this happened today also, by the way.
6:19
Speaker 1: Gunnar Henderson, two homers and a triple. That's only happened
6:22
Speaker 1: a couple times in Oriole team history. Nelson Cruz did it.
6:26
Speaker 1: Chris Richards did it. Chris Richard, Jeffrey Hammonds, and Cal
6:30
Speaker 1: Ripken Jr., and now Gunner. Okay, charitably scored a triple.
6:34
Speaker 1: Probably was the same thing going in there, but the
6:36
Speaker 1: box score says it was a triple. He had a
6:38
Speaker 1: career-high 12 total bases, and I think when you add
6:41
Speaker 1: in the defense, he hasn't had a game like this
6:45
Speaker 1: in a long time.
6:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely not, and I think just the all-around game
6:48
Speaker 2: he played today was incredible, and the throw on top
6:51
Speaker 2: of it was against a lefty, and it's I mean,
6:53
Speaker 2: that swing he put on that slider for that second
6:55
Speaker 2: home run was, I mean, that is, if he could
6:58
Speaker 2: bottle that up here for four weeks, that is Gunnar
7:00
Speaker 2: Henderson in my eyes. Like, he stayed right on that
7:03
Speaker 2: breaking ball. Yes, it was a hanger, but it's against
7:05
Speaker 2: a lefty. It's tough to stay in there. He stayed
7:07
Speaker 2: right on it and drove it out to right center field.
7:09
Speaker 2: And it's funny, as that game's going on, I'm thinking,
7:12
Speaker 2: we've been waiting for, you know, the real Gunnar Henderson
7:15
Speaker 2: to show up. Every single Oriole fan will forget about
7:18
Speaker 2: his season stats if he can put together a huge
7:20
Speaker 2: month here and carry this team. I mean, it would
7:22
Speaker 2: be a great time for him to get going and
7:25
Speaker 2: a great time for him to carry this offense. And
7:26
Speaker 2: if you can obviously keep Pete doing what he does
7:29
Speaker 2: and the bottom of the lineup having games like they
7:31
Speaker 2: had yesterday. I mean, this really has the potential to
7:34
Speaker 2: be an exciting, exciting month in Baltimore for these Orioles
7:37
Speaker 2: to really just kind of put their stamp on the
7:39
Speaker 2: season and go into the postseason on a high note.
7:43
Speaker 3: Totally with you. Where Gunner, we know how frustrating of
7:46
Speaker 3: a season it's been watching him. He's talked about it
7:50
Speaker 3: ad nauseum, but that was vintage Gunner Henderson today. It
7:54
Speaker 3: really was with the glove, with the bat. And it's interesting.
7:59
Speaker 3: You look at his numbers in the month of August
8:02
Speaker 3: heading into today, and they don't jump off the screen
8:06
Speaker 3: at all. You know, 209 batting average, 696 OPS. But
8:10
Speaker 3: something that jumps out to me 19 walks to 15 strikeouts.
8:16
Speaker 3: So you're getting a much better quality of at that
8:21
Speaker 3: with Gunnar Henderson right now. I feel like he's chasing
8:24
Speaker 3: way less in the month of August. But like you said, Brad,
8:28
Speaker 3: if he can bottle this up for the next month, man,
8:31
Speaker 3: like that, that would be a humongous development for this
8:34
Speaker 3: ball club.
8:35
Speaker 2: And you know what I was going to say, too?
8:37
Speaker 2: Today was one of those games where he looked like
8:39
Speaker 2: he was having fun. Yes, I know he had success,
8:41
Speaker 2: and it's one game, and he had the triple, the
8:45
Speaker 2: two home runs, and made great plays in the field,
8:46
Speaker 2: but he was enjoying it. He was laughing on a
8:49
Speaker 2: couple of those plays, like, I can't believe I made
8:51
Speaker 2: that play. Hit the home run, goes to the dugout,
8:53
Speaker 2: gives Rob Wong a high five after he hits the
8:55
Speaker 2: home run. And that's like, I wish he could just
8:57
Speaker 2: stay somewhere in between the intenseness and the just still
9:01
Speaker 2: having fun, because I feel like that's when he's at
9:03
Speaker 2: his best. Anytime you've seen him go on these hot streaks,
9:05
Speaker 2: He's laughing more. He's enjoying his teammates a little bit more.
9:09
Speaker 2: And if he could just, like I said, it's at
9:10
Speaker 2: this point, the five months are the five months. It's
9:13
Speaker 2: all about this one month. And if he could just
9:14
Speaker 2: bottle that up and just go out there and play free,
9:17
Speaker 2: forget about what the season stats are going to be
9:19
Speaker 2: because it's going to be hard to make that up
9:21
Speaker 2: at the end of the year. You're already five months in.
9:23
Speaker 2: But if he could just have a good month here,
9:24
Speaker 2: he could kind of forget all that. And I think
9:26
Speaker 2: Oriole fans would forget it too.
9:27
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10:30
Speaker 1: And we couldn't really see this coming because coming into
10:33
Speaker 1: this game... Gunner had no homers and one RBI the
10:37
Speaker 1: last 14 games. Three homers since the All-Star break. That's
10:42
Speaker 1: in 39 games. So now it's 22 for the year.
10:45
Speaker 1: That's more than last year. And Kevin Brown pointed out
10:48
Speaker 1: on the telecast, by the way, he had not homered
10:50
Speaker 1: off a lefty since May 27th. But I'll point this
10:54
Speaker 1: out beyond that. He has now eight homers this year
10:57
Speaker 1: against left-handed pitching. Last year he had three. His slugging
11:02
Speaker 1: is better this year off lefty pitchers than right. So
11:07
Speaker 1: if you really start to do a deep dive on
11:09
Speaker 1: Gunner's stats coming up short, the stats against right-handed pitching
11:13
Speaker 1: is really where he's falling off. He's slugging better against
11:17
Speaker 1: lefties this year. So that's just not supposed to happen
11:22
Speaker 1: for a hitter. Gunner's got an under 400 slug against right-handers,
11:26
Speaker 1: so that's not good. But as you guys said, if
11:29
Speaker 1: he can pick it up for a couple weeks here, man,
11:32
Speaker 1: it'll wash away several months.
11:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll all be forgotten. And it's just, baseball is
11:37
Speaker 2: just such a weird sport. Like we've talked about, some
11:40
Speaker 2: of the stats make no sense. Like that stat makes
11:42
Speaker 2: no sense that he's slugging under 400 against righty, better
11:45
Speaker 2: against lefties. It's just weird. Some years are just, you
11:48
Speaker 2: see it better for whatever reason. I personally think it's
11:51
Speaker 2: just the lefties aren't able to get in as well
11:54
Speaker 2: as the angle from the right-handed pitchers. And like, I've
11:56
Speaker 2: talked about multiple times. I just feel like that's where
11:58
Speaker 2: he's kind of struggled this year is on that inner
12:00
Speaker 2: part of the plate. And for lefties, sometimes it's really
12:03
Speaker 2: hard to jam it in there from the angle for
12:04
Speaker 2: whatever reason. And he's able to stay on the breaking
12:07
Speaker 2: balls like he did today. And sometimes that plays into it,
12:10
Speaker 2: but he's just been working so hard. And I'm just
12:12
Speaker 2: glad to see him have games like this. And I
12:13
Speaker 2: hope he can continue it because every single person has
12:16
Speaker 2: said anything about Gunnar Henderson this year is the amount
12:19
Speaker 2: of work that he's put into his swing, into his at-bats.
12:22
Speaker 2: And like Tim, like you said, I think the plate
12:24
Speaker 2: recognition this month has been very, very good. So you
12:27
Speaker 2: hope that the results will come.
12:29
Speaker 5: Yeah.
12:29
Speaker 2: I think he's been a little unlucky to a lot
12:30
Speaker 2: of hard hit balls right at people. And I think
12:32
Speaker 2: the frustration comes from that part too, but when he's,
12:35
Speaker 2: he's still sticking to his process. And I think it's
12:37
Speaker 2: only a matter of time for a player like him
12:39
Speaker 2: is able to get out of it.
12:41
Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, I think another stat that, that really is
12:45
Speaker 3: so on Gunnar Henderson like is he's, You look at
12:49
Speaker 3: what he's done against four-seam fastballs this year. The damage
12:54
Speaker 3: that he's doing is significantly less compared to the rest
12:57
Speaker 3: of his career. I haven't looked at it in a
13:00
Speaker 3: week or two, but last time I checked, he was
13:03
Speaker 3: in below 200 on four-seam fastballs, which is really, really
13:07
Speaker 3: shocking for Gunnar Henderson.
13:11
Speaker 1: So let's shift gears to this stat, which is really
13:13
Speaker 1: impressive for the Oriole bullpen right now. Today, when Bassett
13:17
Speaker 1: didn't have it, he found it late, and that was big.
13:20
Speaker 1: A couple zeros he put up were big here to
13:22
Speaker 1: cut it out. The bullpen held the lead when Henderson
13:27
Speaker 1: got it for him. Three and a third scoreless, 068
13:31
Speaker 1: the last nine games. You've got Hoppe now pitching well.
13:35
Speaker 1: Cam Sanders is back throwing well. Cano, I think he
13:39
Speaker 1: pitched in every game this weekend. And so they're getting
13:43
Speaker 1: a lot of contributions. Rico Garcia's got it back going well.
13:47
Speaker 1: And Brad, this was big this weekend. I mean, the bullpen,
13:52
Speaker 1: every game, they had a big contribution to the win
13:55
Speaker 1: this weekend.
13:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. And I just feel like when it comes
13:58
Speaker 2: down to September, it really becomes a bullpen game. A
14:02
Speaker 2: lot of times the starters aren't able to go as deep.
14:04
Speaker 2: And especially when you're in it, you're quicker to pull
14:07
Speaker 2: the starter than you are to leave them in there
14:09
Speaker 2: and kind of let the score get to four or
14:11
Speaker 2: five runs, whatever the score is at the time. So
14:14
Speaker 2: bullpens are a huge part and it's not just one
14:17
Speaker 2: guy doing it, it's every single guy that goes out there.
14:20
Speaker 2: And I mean, just since the trade deadline, using the
14:23
Speaker 2: guys that got Hoppy, they got Sanders, I mean, they
14:27
Speaker 2: have some big, big-time arms in this bullpen now, and
14:31
Speaker 2: it's turned from having Helsley that throws 100 miles an hour. Obviously, Rico,
14:35
Speaker 2: he can pump it up there, but he's starting to
14:37
Speaker 2: throw 97, 98. You have Nunez that throws 98. Hoppe
14:40
Speaker 2: throws 100. Foster can get it close to 100. I mean,
14:43
Speaker 2: these are just some really powerful arms that they have,
14:46
Speaker 2: and I think this might be one of the gems
14:48
Speaker 2: that comes out of this season is finding some big-time
14:51
Speaker 2: arms that can pitch big-time innings for this team moving forward.
14:54
Speaker 2: And you don't know if Kitchers is going to be
14:55
Speaker 2: here next year, but it's, when you look at the
14:57
Speaker 2: guys they've been using late in games, it's almost like you,
14:59
Speaker 2: you found what you need for here moving forward. And,
15:02
Speaker 2: and this month, especially they have multiple guys that can
15:05
Speaker 2: throw out there. And even today, the lefties, his name's Walker.
15:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, Walker.
15:11
Speaker 2: He's been a huge, huge addition to this bullpen from
15:14
Speaker 2: the left side, giving Wolfram a little bit less have
15:18
Speaker 2: to be out there every single time a lefty comes in.
15:20
Speaker 2: So it's been really, really fun to watch this bullpen develop.
15:23
Speaker 2: And it's kind of how I felt about it in April.
15:25
Speaker 2: I really feel like they're one of the more elite
15:27
Speaker 2: bullpens in the league right now. And that's a great
15:29
Speaker 2: spot to be here moving into September.
15:32
Speaker 3: It's really shocking what they've done. And this isn't just like, oh,
15:36
Speaker 3: this is cute. This is a couple weeks stretch. You
15:38
Speaker 3: can go back over three months now, guys, May 22nd,
15:42
Speaker 3: where they're one of the top bullpens in terms of
15:44
Speaker 3: ERA in all of baseball. And it's even more unbelievable
15:49
Speaker 3: how well they're performing since the trade deadline when you
15:52
Speaker 3: trade away Tyler Wells, which was one of your better
15:54
Speaker 3: bullpen arms. And Helsley, you really haven't gotten much out
15:58
Speaker 3: of him the entire year because he's dealt with so
16:00
Speaker 3: many injuries. This was the biggest concern of this team
16:05
Speaker 3: heading into the year. And it's one of their bigger strengths.
16:09
Speaker 3: It really is shocking just how good they have been
16:13
Speaker 3: for the vast majority of the season. And it's not
16:16
Speaker 3: with the sexy names. A lot of these guys are
16:19
Speaker 3: journeymen and DFA. And, you know, Alex Hoppy, you brought
16:24
Speaker 3: up him, Brad. I remember the stat, I think. The
16:27
Speaker 3: Mariners were 4-20 in games that Hoppe pitched in, and
16:31
Speaker 3: now he has a save over the weekend in a
16:35
Speaker 3: huge moment. It's crazy what they've been able to do
16:39
Speaker 3: with this pen.
16:41
Speaker 1: Nunez has had a couple good outings, and Kittredge has
16:45
Speaker 1: been pretty reliable when they put him in some big spots.
16:48
Speaker 1: He's the veteran who's got the most experience closing games,
16:51
Speaker 1: and so I'll throw another name into the mix. Felix Bautista.
16:58
Speaker 1: He pitched twice this week at AAA, two scoreless innings,
17:03
Speaker 1: Thursday and today, no runs, no walks. Today, he touched 97.6,
17:11
Speaker 1: was his fastest pitch, and he averaged 96. So again,
17:16
Speaker 1: we're not seeing 100. We didn't see it when he
17:19
Speaker 1: came back from Tommy John. But if he can throw strikes...
17:24
Speaker 1: they'll have a spot for him in September.
17:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And I think if you can get
17:29
Speaker 2: an effective arm in there to help out some of
17:31
Speaker 2: these days, like today, I mean, that bullpen was running
17:33
Speaker 2: on red, like having multiple guys throw two games in
17:36
Speaker 2: a row and they really haven't thrown. I'm just like,
17:38
Speaker 2: I wish I pitched in this era where you don't
17:40
Speaker 2: pitch three days in a row. It's just amazing to
17:43
Speaker 2: see that you're able to get through a season like that.
17:44
Speaker 2: But Cano was the first time today they threw somebody
17:46
Speaker 2: three days in a row. And so, I mean, really
17:48
Speaker 2: running on red and they're able to get through with
17:50
Speaker 2: a win. And if you can add arms that are
17:52
Speaker 2: going to be effective to, give a guy a day
17:54
Speaker 2: when he needs one here. They have multiple weapons and
17:57
Speaker 2: it's been like, it just came out of nowhere. Like
17:59
Speaker 2: really in the last, since the trade deadline, these guys
18:02
Speaker 2: have stepped up in a huge way and it's awesome
18:04
Speaker 2: to see. And I really think they're feeding off each
18:06
Speaker 2: other and kind of just being like the teams I
18:09
Speaker 2: was on. It was like, I, like I've said multiple times,
18:11
Speaker 2: you just don't want to be the guy to give
18:12
Speaker 2: it up. And I think that's kind of where they're
18:13
Speaker 2: at right now. They all know when they go out there,
18:15
Speaker 2: regardless of a guy comes in after you, they're going
18:17
Speaker 2: to get the job done. And that's a, becomes really
18:20
Speaker 2: fun and really cool to be a part of a
18:22
Speaker 2: group like that.
18:23
Speaker 3: Brad, when it comes to Felix, though, and obviously the Orioles,
18:26
Speaker 3: as they should, got to handle this guy with kid gloves,
18:29
Speaker 3: considering the injuries that he's had over the past couple
18:33
Speaker 3: of years. And it's great to see him bounce back
18:36
Speaker 3: in a big, big way after it was, you know,
18:38
Speaker 3: shaky in that first rehab outing. How long do you
18:42
Speaker 3: expect him to be on this rehab stint? Like, when
18:46
Speaker 3: do you think we could see him? And obviously this
18:48
Speaker 3: is all speculation.
18:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I would just imagine that he, You've got
18:52
Speaker 2: to give him a couple more weeks, I would think.
18:56
Speaker 2: I don't know. And the other thing is, too, when
18:58
Speaker 2: you pitch him one day, you pretty much know you
19:00
Speaker 2: can't use him the next day. That just becomes really
19:02
Speaker 2: hard in a pennant race, in my opinion, for a bullpen. So,
19:05
Speaker 2: I don't know. Maybe they have a plan. Maybe they've
19:07
Speaker 2: had this plan from the beginning where he comes up
19:10
Speaker 2: and he's able to pitch the 730th inning and knowing
19:12
Speaker 2: he can't pitch the next day. Or they have these, like,
19:14
Speaker 2: I don't know if you guys remember Java Chamberlain rules
19:17
Speaker 2: that they have with the Yankees, like, he throws X
19:19
Speaker 2: amount of pitches. He can't pitch. Maybe they have this
19:21
Speaker 2: plan all along, but I mean, if you can get
19:23
Speaker 2: Felix Bautista back at not even a form, but if
19:26
Speaker 2: you can get them back at P B plus, I mean,
19:28
Speaker 2: he'd be a great arm to have in this bullpen,
19:30
Speaker 2: but yeah, you're right, Tim. I, I don't know if
19:32
Speaker 2: they have a plan or even if he's going to
19:33
Speaker 2: be one of these arms they bring up. But like
19:35
Speaker 2: Steve said, if he is able to throw strikes and
19:37
Speaker 2: he gets close to throwing 97, 98, and you put
19:40
Speaker 2: them in a big league mountain, I guarantee you, he
19:42
Speaker 2: gets closer to a hundred than he does down in
19:44
Speaker 2: triple a. So the velocity to me, wouldn't be a problem.
19:47
Speaker 2: I just more. So I would just, the recovery and
19:49
Speaker 2: throwing strikes would be the biggest thing for me.
19:51
Speaker 1: Depending how it goes, Tim, I was going to say
19:55
Speaker 1: a week.
19:56
Speaker 2: Really?
19:57
Speaker 1: I tell you it's possible.
19:58
Speaker 5: Yeah.
19:58
Speaker 1: They pitched him Sunday in Bowie, three days off Thursday
20:02
Speaker 1: at AAA. two days off Sunday at AAA. So I
20:07
Speaker 1: think now, this week, we might even see twice within
20:10
Speaker 1: three days, one day off and pitch him. I don't
20:14
Speaker 1: know if he'll go back-to-back in AAA, but I don't
20:17
Speaker 1: think they're going to waste too many bullets. They're going
20:20
Speaker 1: to know better than anybody how he looks, how he's throwing,
20:24
Speaker 1: how he's feeling, all these things. And, I mean, we
20:27
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of time left, but they're not
20:29
Speaker 1: going to rush him because of what you guys said.
20:32
Speaker 1: but even if they have to baby in the final weeks,
20:36
Speaker 1: that's still, this guy just walking in the clubhouse is
20:39
Speaker 1: going to uplift things.
20:42
Speaker 3: Steve. Now, now you really got my mind working here.
20:45
Speaker 3: How crazy would it be if Felix came back for
20:49
Speaker 3: that guardian series and how electric that would be him
20:53
Speaker 3: coming out? Like, wow, that would be a heck of
20:56
Speaker 3: a scene at Camden yards. The fans would lose it.
20:59
Speaker 3: And you're totally right, Steve. Like, It's just like the
21:02
Speaker 3: clubhouse would have to be through the roof. The fans
21:06
Speaker 3: at Camden Yards would be through the roof. It would
21:08
Speaker 3: be such an emotional boost just to see him out there.
21:12
Speaker 3: It's a good point.
21:13
Speaker 1: It would be cool if the first time is at home. Yeah.
21:17
Speaker 1: And that could get this guy the the applause and just,
21:20
Speaker 1: you know, that would uplift an entire ballpark. That would
21:23
Speaker 1: be thrilling. It would be that appearance. Hey, we got
21:27
Speaker 1: a lot of other things to talk about, including defense.
21:30
Speaker 1: The Orioles are playing good defense. Knock on wood if
21:34
Speaker 1: you want, but they've been doing it. We'll touch on
21:36
Speaker 1: that in a minute here on Birdland Territory.
21:40
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21:53
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21:55
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22:40
Speaker 1: So the Orioles are catching the baseball. Nine straight games
22:46
Speaker 1: through Sunday's game without an error. That's the first time
22:50
Speaker 1: they've gone that long a stretch in July 19th, 28th, 2023.
22:53
Speaker 1: They won the American League East that year, by the way.
22:56
Speaker 1: That was a really good defensive team. And they're surprising me, guys,
23:01
Speaker 1: because I thought some of these guys could definitely play
23:04
Speaker 1: better defense. But I wondered about overall, if the team
23:09
Speaker 1: is looking that bad and they were in the first half,
23:12
Speaker 1: can they get better? But they have.
23:15
Speaker 3: Yeah.
23:15
Speaker 2: And I, I really think it comes down to just
23:17
Speaker 2: kind of solidifying who they're playing, where we talked about
23:21
Speaker 2: a lot of times that they, I feel they kept
23:22
Speaker 2: like moving guys left center, right. Kind of, I feel
23:25
Speaker 2: like it's been a little bit better, like better the
23:28
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks of finding a position, keeping guys there.
23:31
Speaker 2: And I swear that plays such a big part in
23:33
Speaker 2: all of this. And now you have blaze Alexander back
23:35
Speaker 2: into the mix and he's going to add defensively. And
23:38
Speaker 2: CES has done a great job at third base too,
23:40
Speaker 2: every time he's played too. So it's been a lot
23:42
Speaker 2: of big things. And I, I, I think back to
23:44
Speaker 2: the throw on Friday night, Dylan Beavers' throw from left field.
23:48
Speaker 2: To me, you lose that first game of the series,
23:50
Speaker 2: you don't know what's going to happen the next three.
23:52
Speaker 2: He threw, I mean, an absolute missile to home plate
23:55
Speaker 2: to keep that game tied or whatever the score ended
23:58
Speaker 2: up being there in the eighth inning. But that can
24:00
Speaker 2: end up going down as one of the bigger defensive
24:01
Speaker 2: plays they've had the entire season. But it's just been
24:04
Speaker 2: way more crisp all the way around the diamond. And
24:07
Speaker 2: it's been fun to watch. It was such a frustrating
24:09
Speaker 2: brand of baseball to watch there in the middle months
24:12
Speaker 2: of the season where– every single game, it seemed like
24:14
Speaker 2: we were talking about something that they did defensively. And
24:17
Speaker 2: we haven't talked about that in a while now. Even
24:19
Speaker 2: when they have made errors, I feel like it's just
24:21
Speaker 2: been more of a misplay as opposed to, I feel
24:23
Speaker 2: like a lot of the errors early on in the
24:25
Speaker 2: season were mental and not getting yourself in the right
24:27
Speaker 2: position to make the play. And I feel like we
24:29
Speaker 2: haven't talked about that in at least a couple months now.
24:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you can go back, you know, just
24:35
Speaker 3: over these last couple of weeks, and I'm thinking while
24:37
Speaker 3: you're talking, Brad, just different games in which defensive plays
24:44
Speaker 3: ended up saving the game. Tyler O'Neill had a couple
24:47
Speaker 3: of plays late, throwing runners out at third and the
24:52
Speaker 3: diving catch at the end of that game. You mentioned
24:54
Speaker 3: Dylan Beavers on Friday. Unbelievable outfield assist. That was his
24:57
Speaker 3: first one of his career, I'm pretty sure. Last night,
25:01
Speaker 3: CES turning that double play in the eighth inning. That
25:04
Speaker 3: was spectacular. This team has given up the most unearned
25:09
Speaker 3: runs in baseball. And Now those plays, those 50-50 plays especially,
25:16
Speaker 3: they're going more in their favor as opposed to before
25:20
Speaker 3: where they were going against them and being reasons they
25:22
Speaker 3: lost all games.
25:25
Speaker 1: Let's throw another stat or two into the mix here.
25:27
Speaker 1: And this is kind of a weird thing. The Orioles,
25:29
Speaker 1: as we said, are one game under. This is the
25:31
Speaker 1: first time since April 30th. That was also the last
25:35
Speaker 1: time they were 500. It was a doubleheader. And when
25:39
Speaker 1: they won game one, they were 15-15 on April 30th.
25:43
Speaker 1: When they lost game two, they were 15-16. So April
25:46
Speaker 1: 30th is actually the last time they were one under,
25:49
Speaker 1: and it was the last time they were 500. It's
25:51
Speaker 1: just kind of a weird thing because of a doubleheader. Now,
25:55
Speaker 1: with our time remaining, let's jump around on a couple
25:58
Speaker 1: quick topics. Trey Mancini, this was exciting news this week,
26:02
Speaker 1: is going to sign a one-day contract for Saturday, September 19th,
26:06
Speaker 1: pregame ceremonies at the Yard. special ticket packages are available
26:10
Speaker 1: at orioles.com slash Mancini and uh it's going to give
26:15
Speaker 1: me goosebumps to watch that kid get an ovation at the.
26:18
Speaker 2: Yard yeah absolutely I think I mean Trey deserves it
26:21
Speaker 2: the just obviously the baseball side of things he meant
26:24
Speaker 2: so much but just what he had to go through
26:26
Speaker 2: I mean we everybody went through a lot obviously during
26:28
Speaker 2: COVID times but I don't think many people can equate
26:31
Speaker 2: to what Trey had to go through during that time
26:33
Speaker 2: and It's going to be great to see him go
26:35
Speaker 2: be back in the black and orange and get the
26:37
Speaker 2: ovation that I don't think he was able to get
26:39
Speaker 2: as he was leaving. A lot of times when you
26:40
Speaker 2: get traded in the middle of the season, fans don't
26:43
Speaker 2: know when it's going to be your last game, but
26:45
Speaker 2: it just kind of puts a bow on his career.
26:48
Speaker 2: Just a great Oriole, great teammate, great friend, great person
26:51
Speaker 2: all around. One of those guys that really deserves to
26:54
Speaker 2: go and get his ovation from the fans and just
26:57
Speaker 2: the appreciation from everybody in Baltimore.
27:01
Speaker 3: It's definitely one of the more beloved Orioles, especially recently
27:05
Speaker 3: because he was a really good player, but just a really,
27:09
Speaker 3: really good person and was kind of a bright light
27:13
Speaker 3: during a dark time in this team's, you know, recent
27:17
Speaker 3: run where he got called up, I want to say
27:20
Speaker 3: the end of 2016. So that was the last playoff year.
27:24
Speaker 3: And then of course went through the rebuild and, and,
27:27
Speaker 3: You mentioned coming back from cancer and he was in
27:29
Speaker 3: the home run derby, ended up being a finalist. I
27:32
Speaker 3: think he went up against Pete Alonzo, if memory serves.
27:35
Speaker 3: Pete ended up winning it. But you think back to
27:40
Speaker 3: his final at bat as an Oriole at Camden Yards and,
27:46
Speaker 3: you know, the relationship that he had with Mo Gabba
27:49
Speaker 3: and it was Mo Gabba day and. For his last
27:52
Speaker 3: at-bat to be an inside-the-park home run, it gives you chills.
27:57
Speaker 3: I remember doing the show, it was a day game,
28:00
Speaker 3: and the amount of callers that we got on the
28:02
Speaker 3: fan following that, that was one of the more cool
28:06
Speaker 3: shows I've been a part of. Obviously, that just tells
28:09
Speaker 3: you what Orioles fans think of Trey.
28:14
Speaker 1: I think I told you guys I got to meet
28:15
Speaker 1: his parents, so I told Trey the next day after
28:18
Speaker 1: I met him in spring training, I know how you
28:19
Speaker 1: turn out so well now, kid. I met your parents.
28:22
Speaker 1: And his mom has thanked me many times for writing
28:27
Speaker 1: articles about Trey. But the one she liked the most,
28:30
Speaker 1: to make it all about myself for 30 seconds, was
28:32
Speaker 1: the one I wrote about Trey getting his degree at
28:36
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. When he went to pro ball, he was
28:39
Speaker 1: a couple semesters short, not just one or two classes.
28:43
Speaker 1: And this kid went back during the minor league off
28:45
Speaker 1: seasons and online classes, in person, whatever.
28:49
Speaker 2: He needed all of it.
28:51
Speaker 1: And he got his degree from Notre Dame, so that
28:53
Speaker 1: is a sheepskin that holds up pretty well. And I
28:56
Speaker 1: think at an early time, we could tell a lot
28:59
Speaker 1: about this kid.
29:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's funny you say that, Steve, because my
29:03
Speaker 2: aunt and uncle grew up across the street, or they
29:05
Speaker 2: lived across the street from Trey's parents. So I always
29:08
Speaker 2: heard about Trey Mancini when he was in the minor
29:10
Speaker 2: league system, but you know how it is. You hear
29:12
Speaker 2: of names and all this stuff, and my pitching coach
29:14
Speaker 2: from Monmouth, he was the pitching coach at Notre Dame
29:16
Speaker 2: at the time, and he ended up throwing to Trey
29:18
Speaker 2: at the Home Run Derby. So I had all these
29:20
Speaker 2: like kind of just small world crazy connections and hearing
29:24
Speaker 2: about Trey and you just never know how it's going
29:26
Speaker 2: to turn out. But he had an unbelievable big league
29:28
Speaker 2: career and it was great to finally like get to
29:30
Speaker 2: play with him as a teammate and just see the
29:31
Speaker 2: work that he put in. And like you said, graduating
29:34
Speaker 2: from Notre Dame, it's you don't you don't meet many
29:36
Speaker 2: guys graduating from those uh top universities in the big
29:39
Speaker 2: league so I mean he just just a great all-around
29:42
Speaker 2: person and it's great to see him get his like
29:44
Speaker 2: I said his ovation from the fans because like I
29:46
Speaker 2: said it's you hear all these stories and you're like
29:48
Speaker 2: oh my son it's like yeah I know he's in
29:50
Speaker 2: high a but now he's now playing with him his
29:52
Speaker 2: first game he gets a home run over our bullpen
29:55
Speaker 2: and came to yards and it was just he had
29:57
Speaker 2: a great run for the Orioles and it's, I was
29:59
Speaker 2: glad to be a part of some of it.
30:01
Speaker 3: That's so cool. I was thinking Steve, his first career
30:06
Speaker 3: home run and, and Madison had that shot of Trey's
30:10
Speaker 3: parents and just how elated she was.
30:12
Speaker 2: She just lost it.
30:14
Speaker 3: It was a really, really cool moment.
30:17
Speaker 1: She became a star that night. So we're going to
30:19
Speaker 1: the clubhouse. We're walking out of the clubhouse and PR
30:22
Speaker 1: pulls me aside and says, Trey's mom wants to talk
30:25
Speaker 1: to you. And I'm like, She wants to talk to me.
30:27
Speaker 1: She just became the biggest star in Baltimore. And that
30:31
Speaker 1: was about the Notre Dame stuff. She said, I had
30:36
Speaker 1: to meet you because you wrote about Trey graduating. And
30:39
Speaker 1: I thought that on this night of all nights, you know,
30:43
Speaker 1: meet Lisa, that shit, you know, really cool. And so,
30:46
Speaker 1: so happy for Trey and Sarah and Sadie. Got a
30:49
Speaker 1: nice family now and couldn't happen to a better guy. So, guys,
30:55
Speaker 1: in a minute or two left, September 1, they can
30:58
Speaker 1: add a pitcher and a position player. Kate Povich, according
31:02
Speaker 1: to the Baltimore Banner, might be coming to town. So
31:06
Speaker 1: what about the additions coming up?
31:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, even after the game today, Albert has
31:13
Speaker 2: gave TBD on tomorrow. So maybe it is Kate Povich tomorrow.
31:17
Speaker 2: It's kind of. seems like it's leaning that way. We
31:19
Speaker 2: were talking about Bradish's innings getting really high. And I
31:22
Speaker 2: don't know, it's going to be interesting to see what
31:23
Speaker 2: they do with that. And then obviously adding somebody else
31:26
Speaker 2: on the bench. And in that, I think that last
31:29
Speaker 2: picture too could kind of be a multitude of guys.
31:31
Speaker 2: It could be a starter, send it back down for
31:33
Speaker 2: a little bit, kind of use another guy that could
31:35
Speaker 2: be extra innings. I mean, Albert Suarez resigned. I could
31:38
Speaker 2: imagine him coming back to give the bullpen some length too.
31:41
Speaker 2: So I feel like that pitching position in the, on
31:44
Speaker 2: the roster is going to be a little floating there, but,
31:47
Speaker 2: position player will be interesting too, to see what they
31:48
Speaker 2: do to add to this roster here in September. And
31:51
Speaker 2: it's going to be interesting. It's going to be a
31:52
Speaker 2: fun ride here. I'm really looking forward to this last month.
31:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously all signs point towards Cade coming up. And
32:00
Speaker 3: at that point, do you go to a six band
32:02
Speaker 3: rotation the rest of the way? It makes sense. We
32:05
Speaker 3: talked last episode just about pretty much all of these
32:08
Speaker 3: guys in the starting rotation have exceeded their career high
32:12
Speaker 3: in innings pitched in a single season. But I'm really
32:15
Speaker 3: fascinated on who that position player is going to be.
32:19
Speaker 3: I know we've speculated a lot on the fan and
32:23
Speaker 3: fans that like, is it Heston Kerstad? Does he get
32:27
Speaker 3: one final shot because he's going to be out of
32:29
Speaker 3: options after this season? So they're going to have to
32:32
Speaker 3: make a decision on him. Could it be Enrique Bradfield Jr.?
32:38
Speaker 3: I'm really interested on who that position player is going
32:41
Speaker 3: to end up being.
32:42
Speaker 1: And I think it's going to be an outfielder because
32:44
Speaker 1: with Blaze now back and Kobe swinging it so well,
32:48
Speaker 1: they're kind of covered in the infield. And here's why
32:51
Speaker 1: I would give Bradfield the edge. You could put him
32:53
Speaker 1: in at the end of the game to play defense
32:56
Speaker 1: or to run. He tops Heston in both. Hester's a
33:00
Speaker 1: better hitter, and Heston can hit it out and Bradfield can't.
33:03
Speaker 1: But late in the game, close games, you need to
33:06
Speaker 1: squeeze out a run or preserve one. Bradfield could be
33:09
Speaker 1: the guy. Fans have been clamoring to see this kid.
33:12
Speaker 1: So maybe the Orioles are going to give him what
33:14
Speaker 1: they want. We'll see. We're going to know soon enough.
33:17
Speaker 2: And no better place than Coorsville because that outfield is
33:21
Speaker 2: gigantic there.
33:22
Speaker 3: It's just singles.
33:23
Speaker 2: Turning doubles, doubles turning triples there. So who knows? Maybe
33:26
Speaker 2: he's the one tomorrow to patrol center field and just
33:28
Speaker 2: give him some more range.
33:31
Speaker 1: Going to be fun, man. O's head to Colorado Monday
33:34
Speaker 1: and then home for a very important homestand. Cleveland will
33:38
Speaker 1: be in town after Boston. Thanks for watching. Keep subscribing
33:42
Speaker 1: and following us on Birdland Territory and we'll see you
33:45
Speaker 1: next time.
33:48
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