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O's sweep A's to pull within one game of final Wild Card and .500 · Birdland Territory

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