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The Orioles head to Toronto with the faintest of playoff hopes · Birdland Territory

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Birdland, we are in search of a playoff miracle. The
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Orioles have 15 games to go. That's five three-game series.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: And we're at the point now where winning series is
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: probably not good enough. Winning series means 10-5, means 81 wins,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: which may well come up short.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Although in the American League, it might not. Who knows?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: It's crazy.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: But the Orioles have a mathematical chance. We know three out.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: We know it's an incredible long shot. But we're saying
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: there's a chance, even if it's minuscule. And welcome into
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Birdland territory, Steve, Tim, and Brad. The Orioles won two
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of three against Cleveland guys. They needed three, so they're
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: three back.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: One back would have been with a sweep. They didn't
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: get it done.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: So at this point, Brad, you've probably been on teams
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: that have been in this spot. You're not eliminated, but
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: it looks bad. What is the mood you think in
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: there right now?
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what? Honestly, I think until the elimination
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: number said zero, you got to just play the season
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: and you just never know what can happen. I feel
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: like this year, especially they got to be thinking, I mean,
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: you really don't know what's going to happen with the
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: way the American league has been kind of going this year. So,
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: you know, it's, it's, it's definitely, they're up against it.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: And I think they know that I think it's got to,
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: at this point, you almost feel like you have to
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: win out. You know, you get 11 and four gets
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: to 82 and 80, and that might get you in
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, but I mean, they haven't had an 11
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: and four stretch. I don't think all year. So it's,
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: it's one of those things that's in the back of
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: your mind. You know, you're, you're not done, but you know,
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: you got to play really good baseball for the rest
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: of the year. And by really good, I mean, almost
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: perfect baseball. So it's, you definitely know that. Uh, but
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I think when you go out there, when the game starts,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: you're just trying to go out there and get a
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: win any way you can.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: Steve, I think you hit it perfectly.
• 1:50
  Speaker 6: Like if you just say on the surface, you want
• 1:53
  Speaker 6: a series against the team you're chasing.
• 1:55
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: That's good.
• 1:56
  Speaker 6: But There's not many games left, and we were talking
• 1:59
  Speaker 6: on the last episode on Tuesday how important a sweep was,
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: not only the fact that you get one game within
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: the Guardians, but you would have the tiebreaker over them.
• 2:10
  Speaker 6: Now it's reverse, and now you look at the teams
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: you're chasing, the three teams above you, the Guardians have
• 2:16
  Speaker 6: the tiebreaker, the Rangers have the tiebreaker. Obviously, there's six
• 2:20
  Speaker 6: games to go against the Blue Jays, and You're going
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: to have to go four and two, five and one,
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: maybe go six and oh, like you're saying, Brad. The
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: best 15 game stretch that this team has had all
• 2:32
  Speaker 6: year long was 10 and five. And that was a
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: part of that seven game winning streak was in there.
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: So maybe it gets it done.
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: I think you better plan on winning 11, 12, maybe
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: more games in order to try to give yourself the
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: best shot to get into October.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Every night's a must win. Doesn't mean they're going to
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: get it. 15-0 would be nice.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: They'd have 86 wins. They'd probably be in this thing.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: But the offense is still confounding, Oriole fans. This has
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: been six months of watching this. And so you can
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: put it in math. Like, for instance, they scored six
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: runs in four games against the Red Sox. One run
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: in the last three games. In the third inning last night,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: they scored eight runs.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: They topped.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Four games against the Red Sox in one inning. That's
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: how crazy and up and down the Oriole offense is.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: You might get eight, you might get one and be
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: prepared for either one. And Brad, I think that's going
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: to be, and Tim, they got this winter, they got
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: to figure out why that is and how they can
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: smooth this out a little bit because 21 runs in
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: one series and four in the next is not getting
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: it done.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: You know, it was funny watching that game last night
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: and that when they, the ending, they scored all the
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: runs is you feel like a team that's so analytically driven.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: That's so worried about launch angle and, you know, exit below.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: How many hearted balls do they have in that inning?
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, every single ball was off the fist. It
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: was just over the shortstop. It was just in the
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: center field. It was right in front of the center fielder. Like,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: it's just funny how baseball works. And I just wish
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: there was a way to like, have that brand of
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: baseball just a little bit more because I don't think
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: hitters realize how much pressure puts on the pitcher when
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: you just put the ball in play. Even that ball
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: that was hit to the second baseman, hard hit ball.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: I think Beavers ended up getting a hit. I think
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: it was Beavers ended up getting a hit on it,
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: but it very well could have been an error, but
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: you just don't know when the ball is put in play,
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: what can happen. And I just, I just wish that you,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: particularly the Orioles, but just across baseball, I wish that
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: approach was just taken a little bit more because you
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: don't know what can happen when you put the ball
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: in play. Yes, I know you want to hit the
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: ball hard. Yes, I know you want to hit home runs.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: But it's just when you do those types of things,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: I know over the long haul, maybe it doesn't work.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: But it's just funny when you're trying to win games
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: like they are right now, you put the ball in
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: play and you just never know what can happen.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: Well, and I think it's also situationally, Brad.
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: Steve, you've been chronicling the runners in scoring position numbers.
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: Last night's a perfect example of it. There's six for nine,
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: and they might go a week without six hits with
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: runners in scoring position.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: But they got it last night alone.
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: But, Brad, to your point, we know that this team
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: strikes out a ton, and they rank way up in
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: the list, top three, top five in strikeouts on the season,
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: but it's strikeouts with runners in scoring position. It's strikeouts
• 5:25
  Speaker 6: with two outs with runners in scoring position where You're
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: not giving yourself a chance. We talk so much about
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: unearned runs that the Orioles have given up, and they
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: lead the majors in unearned runs given up.
• 5:38
  Speaker 8: Well, who knows?
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: You put the ball in play more often and don't
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: strike out as much as you are.
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: Maybe more unearned runs go your way.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we see Tampa and Cleveland especially do this.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: You play those teams. They're so pesky, they're hitters.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: They seem to find those flares and bloops, and on
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the 3-2 pitch, they don't take a third strike. They
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: might chase one occasionally, but sometimes they dunk one like
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: that Beavers double, and it works out. And so it
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: was nice to see Shane Boz get runs, even though
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: he couldn't finish off a good start that was going.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: It was also a strange stat here. Eight runs, ties
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: for their biggest inning of the year. They did that
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: in the St. Louis series recently. And they had not
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: scored eight against Cleveland since 2008. So all kinds of
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: stats you could dig out when that happens. And Shane
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Botts had gotten 10 runs of support his last eight games.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: And then he gets eight in one inning. So that's
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: why we love baseball. It's these crazy things that happen.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: But I think you guys are on to the bigger
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: point here. Contact matters. And so the launch angle revolution is,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and bat speed and hit the ball for 60, that
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: looks good, but you can't count on that every night.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: But teams like Cleveland and Tampa do count on putting
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the ball in play every night. Yeah.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: And you know, it's funny. I go back to thinking
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: about watching the blue Jays last year during the playoffs
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: and especially in the world series. And I was hopeful.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: I thought teams were going to watch that and be like,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: you know what, maybe we don't have to hit the
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: big three on home or every single inning. Maybe we don't.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: If we make the pitcher work and we just put
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: the ball in play and we basically make a point
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: to just not strike out, look what can happen. I mean,
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: they were one pitch away from winning the World Series
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: last year. And I was watching that series in the
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: playoffs with them and just thinking, man, I wonder if
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: more teams are going to adapt this type of hitting philosophy.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: And obviously it didn't work out. And I feel like
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: it has a lot to do with like when you
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: watch the NBA playoffs, The regular season is way different
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: than the playoffs are. And maybe that's something goes into it.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: But yeah, when you look at Tampa, you look at
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Cleveland every single year, they are in it and they
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: don't have superstars. They don't have guys that, you know,
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: jump off the page when you look at it statistically,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: but they're there every single year, giving themselves a chance
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: to win baseball, no matter who you have on their roster.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: I feel like they overhaul the roster almost every single
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: year and every single year they're in the same spot.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: And it's just funny because it goes back. It's a
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: good pitching, good defense and putting the ball in play.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: And I just feel like the Orioles have those pieces.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: And it's I feel like it's almost like trying to
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: fit a circle into a rectangle or circle into a
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: square hole. And maybe sometimes you just need to have
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: a different philosophy or like think about something different. But
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: that's that's obviously a discussion for another day. But it's
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: just it's just interesting. I thought it was kind of
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: funny watching that inning last night. No hard contact, but
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: putting the ball in play with runners and scoring position
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: and good things happen.
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: Well, I remember when we had Ben McDonald on with us, what,
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: a couple weeks ago, and he always brings up the
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: stat when they play Tampa. Tampa's last in the majors
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: in that average exit velocity, and I'm not advocating for that, obviously. Look,
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: the Orioles lead the majors in hard-hit percentage. There's weird anomalies.
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: There's weird quirks. Obviously, you'd rather hit the ball hard
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: than not hit it hard, but the point that we're
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: getting back to is look, a stat that has been
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: severely undervalued, especially over the last handful of years, I
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: know you'd agree with me, Steve, batting average, you know,
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: no one really cares about batting average anymore. Like a
• 9:15
  Speaker 6: guy like Louisa rise, who not many guys hit over
• 9:19
  Speaker 6: 300 anymore.
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: He does.
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: And I feel like that type of player isn't really
• 9:25
  Speaker 6: coveted or mattered where what's the slug, what's the OPS,
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: you know, what's, what's the contact, the damage ratio. Like,
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: I just feel like getting on base, you know, hitting
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: the ball the other way, getting back to the basics,
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: a lot of teams could take from that.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: You want to get in frustrating arguments with young reporters,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: bring up runs batted in.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: RBIs. RBIs.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: RBIs are meaningless, I think we hear a lot. How
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: can that be possible when runs scored win the game?
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: It's... It's just funny how wins don't matter anymore. RBIs
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: don't matter anymore. Like, what actually matters? You know, like,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: what stat is meaningful? What stat is not meaningful? At
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: the end of the day, it's about getting wins, is
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: it not? Like, I just don't– the phrase a lot
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: of people always use is that, like, coaches would always
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: say to players, there's not a higher level. When you
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: get to the major leagues, you know, like you're having
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: a couple of good years. Like they would always joke like, Oh,
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: what are you trying to do? Get, this is the
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: highest level Brock. Like this is, this is as high
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: as you can go. There's no higher. Like if you're
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: not trying to win games any way you can at
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: the big leagues, whether it be batting average, whether it
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: be runs batted in starters, getting wins, or I just
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: don't know like when it matters anymore. Like that's the
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: weirdest part. I feel like as a former player, just
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: hearing about all these stats, not mattering is, what actually
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: matters in today's game.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: Well, I think, I think the reality of it is
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: guys like that's what makes a team. You don't want
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: your one through nine to all be the same profile.
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: You don't want them all to just match home runs
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: and strike out a ton. You don't want them all
• 11:04
  Speaker 6: to just be singles hitters. You don't want them all to,
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: you know, be speedy, quick guys with a lead off profile.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: Like you need to find that great blend and, and,
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: That's where it kind of gets back to our start
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: of this conversation.
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: For whatever reason, these pieces don't fit.
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: And it's hard for us to really put a finger
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: on it because they have a lot of really talented guys.
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: They have a lot of guys that were highly touted
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: coming up through the farm and to varying degrees at
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: the major league level.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: But for whatever reason, it has not clicked for this team.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Speaking of RBIs.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: One of the best RBI guys in the American league
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: in the second half is an Oriole who they didn't
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: even have on opening day.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: There's a tease for you.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: We'll touch on that and more when we continue on
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Birdland territory.
• 11:56
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  Speaker 1: On my sub stack today, I wrote about Christian Encarnacion Strand.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: That's 27 characters in his full name That's the longest
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: full name in the history of Major League Baseball.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: So we go with CES. That's a lot easier. And
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I had heard he's not keen on interviews.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: So when I approached his locker yesterday, I did so
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: with some trepidation. And when he told me he had
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: to go to the field pretty soon, I thought there
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: was going to be a no. But then he was
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: very accommodating and said, while I'm getting ready, if you
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: got a few questions, fire away. And he was wonderful
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: to talk to. And he explained to me in Cincinnati
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: in two years, and then I went and looked it up,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: he had a lot of injury issues. He played 65
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: total games, 24 and 25, and he wasn't healthy, and
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: his OPS was 564. He's very healthy and not going
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: to win for him in 2026, and his OPS with the.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Orioles is 786.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, since the All-Star break, he's
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: sixth in the American League with 32 runs batted in.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: That's sixth.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: That's Pete Alonzo territory since the break. Dependable, great stats
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: with runners in scoring position.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: And what does this.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Mean for 2027 with CES?
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: That's a great question, Steve, and I think that's something
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: that the Orioles need to kind of figure out because
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: we talked about on last episode just kind of the logjam,
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: especially on the infield, where is going to be a
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: spot for him. And I feel like at this point
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: he's at least earned a chance– to be on the
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: opening day roster next year, let alone getting every day
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: at bats. I just feel like he's proven himself at
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: this point. He's been dependable, playing a good third base too,
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: which I don't know if what was really expected of
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: him when he came to the Orioles, kind of out
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: of absolute necessity to come up because of injuries that
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: had happened and everything. So I don't know. I just
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: feel like he's really proven himself and he's been a
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: very reliable bat, especially like you said, with runners and
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: scoring position, he's done an amazing job. And I just
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: think They need more of those guys. I think this
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: lineup has to have more guys that are better at
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: hitting with runners in scoring position. He's done exactly that.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: I think he's given them everything they could have expected
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: and way more since he's come up.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think way, way more.
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: Brad, you said it in terms of he wouldn't have
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: gotten an opportunity if Blaise Alexander didn't get hit by
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: Lucas Ersig the game before the All-Star break and then
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: CES made his Orioles debut that very next series in Houston,
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: and you never really know what to expect. He had
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: good numbers in Norfolk. He got off to a hot start,
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: but okay, is this just a flash in the pan? Well,
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: we have a decent enough sample size here.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: It's 45 games. He mashes left-handed pitching.
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: He has an OPS over 1,000 against left-handed pitching, but
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: the runners in scoring position numbers are off the charts.
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: He is. 350 batting average with runners in scoring position.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: 304 batting average with runners in scoring position and two
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: outs and just very good in high leverage situations at
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: the bare minimum.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this guy, look, do all these pieces fit?
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: Like we were saying last episode, I doubt all of
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: these guys are here on the opening day roster, but
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: that's where it's a good problem to have. If you
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: have too many good hitters, too many good position players
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: where it necessitates a move, that's fine. But Christian Encarnacion-Strand,
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: because of his level of play, it's causing this conversation of, okay, well,
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: how does he fit in the next year? We weren't
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: talking about him in the 2027 Orioles in July, even
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: a couple months ago.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: Right. Right.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: And I remember when that injury happened, we were just
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: speculating on the show who might call up. Well, maybe
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: they'll call up the guy with the long name. We'll
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: see what he's got. You know, you could look at
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: his record and see he hit some homers with the Reds. Yeah,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: he had a little bit of a resume there. And
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: when he told me, I thought it was a very
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: mature answer. I said, well, man, you kept putting up
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: numbers at AAA and you kept not getting called up.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: You know, how was that? He basically said, I needed
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: the reps after two years of injuries.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: I needed to play every day.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: So I was just happy with my opportunity. I was
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: getting my rhythm and my getting in a groove back.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I was getting a play at third base, which I needed.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: And he said that was all needed. And then the
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: time came and he met the moment and he started
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: six for 12, which if he started one for 12,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: maybe it's harder to get those next 20 at bats.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: So sometimes when that when they're when they put you in,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: you better hit the ground running.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Hey, and I feel like I've mentioned multiple times in baseball,
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: it's really about getting an opportunity and running with it.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: I mean, when you're not a guy for a team,
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: you're going to get a shot at some point along
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: the way. And if you're able to run with it,
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: you're going to get a little bit of a longer
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: leash and then a little bit longer after that. And
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: I think it's just part of the part why I
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: love baseball so much and especially when I started playing
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: and getting a chance, it's like, it's just cool seeing
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: guys that like he, I remember when he first came up, just,
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: I think it was because of the long name. And
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: I remember seeing his Jersey with the reds and like,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: they barely could fit all the letters on like a
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: semicircle around his back. And I remember him having pop
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: and thinking this guy has a shot. And unfortunately in
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: these injuries kind of derailed his career there for a
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: little bit, but it's good for him. It's good on him.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: And it's really, it, like you said, it shows a
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: lot of maturity saying that he needed those, a bat,
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: those at bats and triple a and, just because baseball
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: is a 162 game season and you just, you don't
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: know how to do it until you do it. So
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: it's a good for him to go down and really
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: just kind of take the triple a at bats and
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: run with it and get an opportunity in Baltimore.
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: And it's just another reminder of, yeah, this game is
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: so humbling, right? Like, you know, he experienced some early
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: success and then it didn't go well and he got
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: sent back down, but that wasn't the end of his career. And,
• 18:54
  Speaker 6: He gets this other opportunity and for him to really
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: run for it. And now who knows what this is
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: going to look like, you know, next season.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: He also said the term change of scenery, he'd heard
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: a lot. And he didn't think that was going to
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: be true for him. And then he found out it
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: was true for him. And part of that was the
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Orioles were so welcoming to him. He just felt part
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: of the team the day he walked in the clubhouse.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: And I'll add this final note on Strand. 346 minor
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: league games. His career minor league slug is 572. His
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: career minor league OPS is 929. That's for his entire
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: minor league career.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: He can hit as we have seen in Birdland.
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: Brad, I was going to say, Brad, I did want
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: to ask you about that change of scenery. And and
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: maybe that doesn't work for every player but I mean
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: you for example coming over from San Diego and then
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: you know your career really taking off in Baltimore and
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: I'm sure you you have stories for teammates how how
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: much is that you know to a change of scenery
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: for a player.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it can be big. And I think for like,
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: especially I can relate to his story because you're going
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: from the organization that drafted you, developed you, got you
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: to the big leagues for a little bit and things
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: just kind of don't end up working out. And I
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: think a lot of times when you're on the team
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: that drafted you, it's like, Well, just do what you
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: know how to do. Do what you did in the
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: minor leagues. And it's really hard to kind of like
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: reset your mind and think, okay, what was I doing
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: that gave me the success that, you know, when I
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: first came up? And I think when I got to
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: the Orioles. it wasn't much, but it was just enough
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: that like there, it was the same type of message,
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: but said in a different way. And I think that's
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: kind of what ended up happening. I was throwing more
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: across my body when I left San Diego, one of
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: the coaches of Baltimore just said, Hey, let's, let's straighten
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: your lineup. I still throw through across my body, but
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: it was, let's straighten your line a little bit. Dang.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: Like I'm not kidding five miles an hour from one bullpen.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: And all it had to do was with wine. But
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: I think when you get new eyes on you, they're
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: willing to take the, the, four or five week chance
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: to fix it. As opposed to when you're with the
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: team that first draft you, like we want to get
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: there as quick as possible. And I think that's what
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: maybe can happen with him, especially going down to Norfolk,
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: being with the minor league guys, kind of looking at
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: maybe some video and saying, Hey, take a look at
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: this video. Like We think this is what is what
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: made you successful before. And that's really all it can be.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: And I just think getting a new shot at life
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: and a new shot at a career is just kind
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: of reinvigorating. And I think when I came to Baltimore,
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: it was just kind of one of those things like, hey,
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: we think you could be a big piece here. It's
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: going to take some work, but we think that you
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: could do it if you do X, Y, Z. And
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: it just kind of all worked out. And that's kind
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: of what I'm seeing here with Christian and Christian Strand.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: Like he got a little bit of a leash. He
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: got a few adjustments here or there and he was
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: ready to roll. And it's really cool to see.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Speaking of ready to roll, the Oriole bullpen last 20 games,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: 214 ERA. When we continue, we'll touch on a couple
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: guys who are making those numbers happen on Birdland territory.
• 22:05
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• 22:30
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• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Tim, this morning you were noting Josh Walker. And in
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: a second, I want to note Rico Garcia. But Walker's
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: on a roll for an Oriole bullpen.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: That is on a roll.
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Josh Walker, guys.
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: Another guy, and really you can say this entire bullpen
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: at this point, taking advantage of this opportunity. And his
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: last 15 appearances have been scoreless. 12 and two-thirds innings,
• 23:31
  Speaker 6: 14 strikeouts, zero earned runs.
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: And I think.
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: We talk about runners in scoring position with batters all
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: the time, but especially bullpen guys, you can't afford to
• 23:42
  Speaker 6: give up runs. His numbers with runners in scoring position,
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: 160 batting average against him.
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: That's really, really strong.
• 23:51
  Speaker 6: And then I was diving into his baseball savant page,
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: and Brad, you've been really talking up his slider and
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: his numbers. I wanted to make sure I wasn't looking
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: at a misprint. Obviously, he hasn't been with the club
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: all year long, but opposing batters are just three for
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: 28 off his slider, 107 batting average. He has 11
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: strikeouts on that pitch. So Josh Walker, he's really finishing
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: the year strong.
• 24:19
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: You know, it's just another guy that's kind of, you
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: can call him a castaway. You can call him just
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: not getting comfortable in a situation, but him and Rico Garcia,
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: both have really just taken this opportunity with the Orioles
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: and run with it. And it's, It's another cool thing
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: to see. I love seeing bullpen guys that just don't
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: find their place in the league, and they come to
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: a team, they get comfortable. He's pitched great innings, and
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: I think a lot with his slider being effective, they
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: want to talk about fastball extension, and he has one
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: of the best in the league at that. But I
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: think when you're able to get that close to home
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: plate and get as far down the rubber and the
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: mound that he does, the slider's in the zone that
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: much longer. And I think that's what has been making
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: that pitch that much more effective is because he's able
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: to get the ball so close to home plate that
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: you see it as a strike the whole way. Next
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: thing you know, you're taking a swing and oh man, that's,
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: that's not a strike. So I think he's just done
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: a great job and he's been thrown in the fire
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: a lot. I think he, he's been coming in with
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: guys on base almost every single outing. It's I feel like,
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: and he's just done a great job and him and
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Rico Garcia to me are both big pieces moving forward.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: I think having a lefty step up grant role for
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: him was that guy for a long time, but Josh Walker,
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: I feel like has taken over that number one role
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: as a lefty and both of these guys, I feel
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: like our big piece is moving forward. And, You got
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: to hope for next year. Helsley is healthy. And then
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: you can kind of slot these guys in behind them,
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: but really credit to them because there was a little
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: bit of a stretch there in the middle of the
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: season where I feel like the bullpen as a whole
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: is struggling and they've turned it around tremendously. They started
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: the year really strong. I feel like they went through
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: some struggles and as a whole, collectively, this group has
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: been phenomenal. I would say the last half of the season.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: And Rico Garcia has gotten on a roll too. We're
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: going to touch on him next.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: And haney three deep live on youtube monday through friday
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: six till six search 1057 the fan baltimore and never
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: miss a moment of coverage on the teams you love.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: So rico garcia guys on the year these numbers are
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: really good era 303 average against 180 whip is 096
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: that's for the entire season we know he got off
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: to the crazy great start struggle a little in the
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: middle 06 ADRA now since June 2nd, or that's when
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: ZRA was on June 2nd. Then it went up. Now
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: it's coming down. Last 14 games, 07-1. He got the
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: save last night, a five-out save, by the way, his
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: seventh save. His stat cash page, Brad, is ridiculous. I mean,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: he's one of the best in the game at getting
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: swing and miss. He's in the top 21% in strikeouts.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: He's in the top 20% in barrel percentage, meaning it's
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: hard to square up his pitches and average exit velocities
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: in the top 9%. I mean, these are, these look
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: like all-star stat cash numbers.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: And honestly, I think if he didn't have that couple
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: of weeks stretch right before the all-star game, he might've
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: had a shot at going there. His stats were that good. And,
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: He just kind of ran into a little bit of
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: a stretch where he was giving up home runs. And unfortunately,
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: that's kind of bullpen life. You go through really good
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: stretches and you just hope to make those bad stretches
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: a little bit shorter. And I'm sure that's going to
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: be one of the things he looks back at this season.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: But overall, just an unbelievable year. And like you said,
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: all those stats on baseball savant, when you go look
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: at his thing, it's red is really good. Blue is bad.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: And he has read up and down his entire chart.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: And that, that goes to show that he's been really
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: tough to hit. And I think him having that really
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: good three pitch combo with the curve ball and the
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: change up has made him really effective. And I think
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: that's something that going into this off season, he's just
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: got to hone in and make it next year and
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: just improve and keep improving on this year. But he
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: has a lot to be proud of this year. And
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: he has a lot to look back and say, man,
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: that was, that was a great run. I had this season.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: He's been, one of, if not their best bullpen arm
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: this entire season.
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: This is sort of a similar-ish conversation to Josh Walker
• 28:08
  Speaker 6: and Sanders and Hoppy and all these guys. For Rico,
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: this started last year. They blew up the bullpen at
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: the deadline. It was the land of opportunity down the stretch.
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: I remember there was that game at Fenway Park. It
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: was bases loaded, nobody out situation. He got out of
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: that jam, not giving up a run.
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: You're thinking... oh man, who the heck is this guy?
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: And then he pitched really well to end the year.
• 28:33
  Speaker 6: And then heading into spring training, earned a spot on
• 28:37
  Speaker 6: this 26-man roster and was fantastic. It was first 21,
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: 22 outings, gave up one earned run. It was unbelievable stuff.
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: He's had a fantastic year. He's had a really, really
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: good year. And I think it goes back to last
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: year when they acquired him.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're right. Lively fastball, mid-90s. He can
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: probably touch a little more. Very proud of his roots
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: from Hawaii. There aren't many major leaguers from Hawaii. He's
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: very proud of that. And Brad, he adjusted this year.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: They were starting to sit on his changeup, which was
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: so spectacular early that he sort of shifted his pitch mix.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: A little more curve, a little less change in the
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: second half.
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: And, you know, I think a lot of times, like
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: I was very similar, especially towards the end of my career.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: My changeup was my go to pitch. And I think
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: a lot of times your default is to go to
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: your best pitch, but you still got to use all
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: of them. And there's a reason why your changeup is
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: so good is because you use your other pitches. And
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: I think when he found himself struggling, I noticed he
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: was using his changeup a lot more. It was kind
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: of up in the zone a little bit. Could have
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: been fatigue. Could have just been not, you know, locating
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: where he wanted to. But that's Since he's made the
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: adjustment using his curveball a little bit more, the changeup
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: has gone back to being elite. And I think that's
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: something that when he goes in the offseason and going
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: into next year, just kind of look at your pitch usage.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: Don't fall in love too much with the changeup. Your
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: pitches are all good because of all three of them.
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: And I think as a reliever, having that third pitch
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: is the X factor. And he just has to lean
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: on that a little bit more. Not that I mean,
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't change much he did this year. But I
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: think if he looks at his pitch mix, just kind
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: of use your change up, which is use it in
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: the better spots and the right spots. And don't just
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: fall in love with it and try to throw it
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: as your default every single pitch.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: So a lot going on in Birdland, even though the
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Orioles are flickering with their playoff hopes, as we touched
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: on a few times in this show. So we'll be
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: back at you guys with another show in a couple days,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: probably have our Sunday show coming your way, and the
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Orioles head to Toronto for three.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: A sweep would be nice, no pressure, just like we
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: said against Cleveland. Just win, baby. That's the message right now.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: And let's see where it takes them, right?
• 30:48
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Thanks for watching, O's fans.
• 30:49
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• 30:53
  Speaker 1: as well as YouTube, Birdland Territory.
• 30:56
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• 30:59
  Speaker 3: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 31:01
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• 31:06
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