Latest / The 3-0 Take / MVP Debate: Schwarber vs. Ohtani

Transcript

MVP Debate: Schwarber vs. Ohtani · The 3-0 Take

0:00
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take where we talk
0:04
all things Major League Baseball.
0:06
Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes.
0:10
It all starts right now. Welcome back to the Three O Take
0:16
presented by Chinook. Cedry, This is episode 564.
0:19
I'll be your host, Kyle Corwin. I'm here with my Co host Nate
0:22
Reyes. Nate. 564 the amount of career
0:33
total home runs that Kyle Schwarber will have when he's
0:38
all What do you think of that? He'll be a crazy receipt, by the
0:42
way, if that ends up. I'll make a mental note to log
0:46
that one away. 5-6. Four, save it for later.
0:49
What are we at now with that? Where are we at with the career
0:54
total for Kyle Schwarber? Actually, I'm more curious,
0:57
where are we at on the all time leaderboard with college?
1:00
I mean, I know, I know, he's still got a ways to go, but I'm
1:05
going where does he rank rank in the pantheon of of all time?
1:13
Sluggers. He's 32.
1:19
I didn't ask how old he is. And 333 is the total.
1:28
He's 120th. He is he just with it with his,
1:33
his showing this weekend surpassed Moises Alou and Bobby
1:40
Bonds. Actually, he, I mean, it was a
1:44
four Homer game. So really, he passed.
1:49
He passed Andrew McCutcheon, JD Martinez, Derek Lee, Hank
1:53
Greenberg, Bobby Bonds, Moises Alou and One Night.
1:58
One night, simple as that. I'm glad you brought up Kyle
2:03
Schwarber because I was 60. 4. I was planning it's.
2:06
My final guess, crazy if he does that because I mean that's let's
2:11
see, let's say I mean DH wise, let's just say he plays till
2:14
he's 40. So we'll say 7 years left. 300
2:18
and. 564 -, 333 is 231 home runs.
2:24
Divide that by seven years. That's only 33 home runs a year.
2:31
Sprinkle in a couple 44 seasons on the front end.
2:38
It's not outlandish. I mean, what was what was
2:40
Nelson? No, Who am I thinking?
2:43
Yeah, What? What was Nelson Cruz putting up
2:46
at the end of his career? Let me see.
2:48
Yeah. These are important questions.
2:54
Nelson Cruz, at the back end of his career, he put up.
3:00
He put up 32 homers. He retired in 2023, but in 2021
3:09
put up 32 homers. Yeah, that's well within reach
3:12
for Kyle Schwarber. Then I feel like Schwarber.
3:18
It seems more effortless in a way.
3:20
Didn't Boomstick? Really does.
3:23
Yeah. Just a flick and and Schwarber
3:26
is going to I, I'll go ahead and say Kyle Schwarber is going to
3:30
age gracefully. And I say that sort of tongue in
3:33
cheek because after all, it is Kyle Schwarber.
3:36
But I feel like with Kyle Schwarber, what you see is what
3:39
you get. And I feel like that that
3:41
physique, you tell me that physique is not going to age
3:44
well over the next 7-8 years. I'd like to look up the family
3:49
tree and see if Babe Ruth is somewhere in there 'cause that's
3:54
it's the same body. It's going to be the same body,
3:57
it's going to be the same build, it's going to be the same skill
3:59
set. You don't have to worry about
4:01
speed. Nope, you don't have to worry
4:04
about lateral movements in the field.
4:09
It's just what he is. He is what he he's just the he
4:13
is. I mean, I don't want to get like
4:16
too recent by recency bias here, but like he's just a he just is
4:24
who he is. He's a flat out power hitter.
4:28
Have we talked? Have we talked ourselves into
4:33
Kyle Schwer being the all time home run leader when it's all
4:35
said and done? No 'cause my guess is 560.
4:37
Four. He might go on.
4:38
He might play at least 50. I need that to hold.
4:44
That's a That's an aggressive but strong bet 560.
4:51
Four, I think we need to make note of that.
4:56
We'll revisit. This in seven.
4:58
Years. I have a lot of predictions that
5:00
are way off. This one feels right.
5:02
Remind me, what does 7 years get us to 40?
5:04
Is that? Is that what you said?
5:07
By 39, yeah, he's 32 right now. So 3940.
5:11
I don't know when his birthday is, but like I don't think it's
5:16
crazy. Like Boomstick played till what,
5:17
42? Like D Like when you have ADH
5:21
that provides that juice late in the career, it's like you're
5:25
going to continue to get shots. I don't know if he'll be a
5:27
Philly. Phillies fans are going to be I
5:32
I saw a tweet in response to a game this week or no, I guess it
5:37
was while Friday's game was going on with the OR was that
5:40
Thursday, the four Homer game? I think it might have been
5:43
Thursday. I saw a tweet where it was like,
5:45
thanks whoever was like broadcasting the game.
5:49
Thanks for letting us know that Phillies fans would be upset if
5:51
they didn't resign Kyle Schwaber.
5:53
It's like, yeah, every everybody wants Kyle Schwaber right now.
5:56
Dumb Red Sox included. Come back home, Kyle.
6:00
Come back home. But wow.
6:04
This feels like home. Don't say that.
6:08
Yeah, don't say that. Yeah, it does.
6:12
No, no, but I'm glad you brought up Kyle Schwarber.
6:14
Granted, we're going to I was going to maybe bring him up
6:16
second. But since we're on the topic,
6:18
let's just let's dive right into Kyle Schwarber this MVP
6:21
conversation. Forget, forget being the first
6:24
guy ever in hit baseball history to hit 800 plus homers.
6:28
Because it sounds like based on what we just sort of analyzed
6:32
that that's where this is headed, which will be something
6:35
worth talking about when, if and when that time comes.
6:37
However, the here and now Kyle Schwarber Shohei Otani MVP race
6:45
or lack thereof, I don't know, Nate, where, where do we fall?
6:52
Where do we fall on the Kyle Schwarber Shohei Otani MVP
6:55
conversation? Because I think I went back and
6:59
forth a minimum of three times and preparing for this
7:05
particular segment. And I'll be quite honest with
7:07
you, I'm still on the fence about it.
7:08
I'm. Pretty on the fence.
7:10
I can't, can't exactly say on the fence.
7:13
You want to know why I'm? I'm sort of on the fence.
7:16
Why is that, Kyle? Because from a pitching
7:21
standpoint, Shohei Otani is not really giving you a much more
7:28
than what Joey Bag of potatoes in AAA could provide you.
7:35
And that's no disrespect to Joey.
7:36
No disrespect to Joey, no disrespect to show Hey, but for
7:40
the longest time or potatoes, we love, we love Idaho.
7:46
No, no disrespect to show hey. But this year being a transition
7:51
year for him getting back to the mound, which good for him,
7:55
honestly, the fact that he's back, the fact that he's at the
7:58
very least giving him innings mad respect, crazy respect to
8:03
Shohei. And again, he's a Unicorn.
8:05
We know this. It's been well established.
8:07
It's been in the league long enough that this conversation
8:10
has, I want to say, run its course in terms of reminding
8:14
people that he he yes, he also does pitch like I think most
8:17
baseball fans, most people in the world even know that he
8:20
pitches. However, if what you were doing
8:23
when you go out there on the year is to a tune of a 418 ERA
8:29
with a whip of 1/21, Mr. Bag of Potatoes in AAA most likely
8:40
could offer you something equal or even better in value.
8:44
Yeah. So with that said, for me the
8:50
two way advantage that Shohei would normally hold in this
8:55
situation slash conversation it's.
8:57
Not in the argument this year. Kind of goes out the window.
9:02
So ultimately we're talking about two DHS and at that point
9:05
you can have the conversation of like, OK, then who's having the
9:08
better season offensively? Shohei to date has a war of
9:12
five. 5.6, Schwarber 4.4. Shohei has more hits, 4 fewer
9:21
homers, fewer RB is I'm not doing that math.
9:25
More swipes, hitting for a greater average, higher OBP,
9:30
greater slug, greater OPS, greater OPS plus.
9:42
However, can I spring something on you?
9:46
Shout out to over for at least that.
9:47
I mean he has 10 swipes like that's like.
9:51
Yeah, maybe. Maybe I need to apologize.
9:54
Maybe I need to backtrack a little bit.
9:55
I just said earlier, so you don't have to worry about speed.
9:59
Maybe he took that personally. Slash is taking it personally.
10:03
Yeah. Because once he gets moving, he
10:06
can move what? Were you going to say?
10:11
I'm going to, I'm going to bring up a conversation that we have
10:14
never talked about on this podcast ever.
10:21
We we haven't even thought about talk like we haven't had the the
10:25
thought to even think about talking about this particular
10:27
topic on the podcast. And that is what is the V in MVP
10:33
stand for? We've definitely never talked
10:37
about this before. And this definitely is never
10:39
something that we talked about this time of year every year.
10:43
So for the first time, let's talk about it.
10:50
Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Otani, who is more valuable to their
10:54
team right now? I'll be honest with you.
10:57
I think I we, as I said, we know what Shohei is.
11:01
We know what he brings to the table.
11:04
But I was a little genuinely surprised when I you take a
11:08
little bit closer of a look at what the team is doing
11:11
offensively or maybe not doing offensively and you're going,
11:14
OK, well, maybe you know, the the typical value that we
11:19
associate with Shohei. It might be even a little bit
11:22
more this year, given how decimated they are with injuries
11:25
and and just in the third. But to you, sorry, I didn't mean
11:30
to didn't mean to preface it or, or qualify it.
11:32
But to you, who's more valuable to their team right now?
11:42
I think it's still show hey, but my I see like I don't
11:48
necessarily feel like I can go the value argument.
11:52
I think it's what's naturally going to happen for those
11:56
writers that are on the fence is what you have already brought
12:02
up, like show hey winning, you know, the the the last two
12:06
years, the first year being dominant on both sides last year
12:11
being so dominant as just ADH that it's like you can't help
12:17
but vote for him this year. It's like, like you said, like
12:21
pitching is kind of a non factor and it's it's not.
12:26
I think the argument against show hey is like, you're not
12:30
voting for show Hey versus Schwerber, You're voting this
12:35
year's show Hey versus the last few years show Hey.
12:39
Like what? You know what I'm saying?
12:41
Like what have we seen as far as dominance out of this guy?
12:47
Because the way he's dominated in the past isn't what's
12:51
happening this year. And I I don't think that you can
12:57
avoid that conversation in your head.
12:59
It's not as simple in black and white as how is he against Kyle
13:03
Schwarber in this argument or what the value is necessarily.
13:06
It's like we're used to full on dominance one way or another,
13:14
whether it's both on the mound or in the box or just so
13:17
dominant in the box. We don't care about the mound.
13:20
This is like a tweener for both. Really good offensively.
13:25
I can't tear him down for, you know, approaching 50 home runs
13:28
potentially this year. But you're like, I've seen
13:35
things, I've seen better things from this guy before.
13:39
So if I'm understanding you correctly, this isn't Shohei
13:42
Otani versus Kyle Schwarber. This is this MVP race is Shohei
13:46
Otani versus himself. That's right.
13:50
That's an interesting take. Got to hand it to you my friend.
13:54
That's an interesting take, one I hadn't considered because.
13:57
Your point said. We've, we have never talked
14:00
about that before. I've actually brought something
14:02
that I don't think we've ever officially talked about before.
14:05
Legitimately have never talked about before.
14:07
That's an interesting point. And you're right with how
14:10
dominant he was, whether he was doing it both ways or just
14:14
offensively, the level at which he played, the performance
14:18
output that existed in those seasons in which he won MVP, it
14:23
was almost an automatic unanimous.
14:26
So if you're a voter, you're kind of you're, you were looking
14:30
at Shohei Otani in 2025 and saying, how does that stack up?
14:34
Because if that's unanimous, if that's worthy of, of, of my vote
14:37
and and everybody else's vote, then he's your MVP.
14:41
But if it falls short, then OK, it lends itself to a, a, a maybe
14:45
a broader conversation to include a guy like Kyle
14:47
Schwarber. Exactly.
14:50
And I think that the like, if you go across the other league
14:54
and say like, OK, well, why isn't that argument for Aaron
14:57
Judge? Is that like you've seen other
14:58
aspects of his game get better, right?
15:00
Like you've seen the average creep up.
15:04
You look at Shohei and it's like you, he's pretty much doing
15:10
similarly to what he always does.
15:12
The double s are way down. He's at 17 double s this year
15:15
compared to 38 last year. He's at 45 home runs compared to
15:19
54 last year. He's not going to do that.
15:22
RB is are down. I understand the, you know,
15:24
shifting into the lead off spot, but everything else is like
15:29
right around what he's averaging all the time, whereas Aaron
15:32
judge, it's like, OK, well did the batting average is going up,
15:35
the strikeouts are going down. The home runs are still the
15:37
same. The OPS is still the same, but
15:39
other aspects of his game are are developing and it's weird to
15:46
sit here and argue against that. But like, obviously because of
15:51
the surgery and like the change in game plan with Shohei, you're
15:58
you're kind of taking away from his skill set in a way this
16:00
year. Obviously a massive drop in
16:03
stolen bases, right? And we're putting you on the
16:09
mound, but we're only going to do a few innings.
16:11
And it's like, I think the luxury of having a show, hey,
16:16
and, and being the LA Dodgers, this is like, I don't care how
16:21
you do during the regular season.
16:23
If we can get you to a point where you're going to be super
16:26
productive on both sides of the ball come post season time,
16:29
that's the main focus. I think that's great.
16:33
But when we're talking MVP of a regular season, he's kind of
16:37
fighting against himself because you see this show, hey, and
16:41
you're like, that's not the full on show, hey, that we're used to
16:46
that. I don't know if that necessarily
16:47
means that you just, oh, you give it to Schwarber, but I feel
16:52
like the, the there's a crack in the door more than most years.
16:56
Yeah, maybe there's a little more reluctant.
16:58
Reluctance isn't the right word, but you know, it's not, it's not
17:01
as like, OK, here you go show. Hey, like kind of since day one,
17:05
we knew this was this was common.
17:07
It's maybe more of like a you're giving it to him, but you also
17:10
got an eye on over on 4. But you're going.
17:13
I maybe could have thrown my vote that way.
17:17
But regarding his pitching, I know, I know what I said earlier
17:19
about, you know, Joey bag of potatoes and all that, But it
17:22
it's it's possible that he's turning a corner with that.
17:24
We still have a month left, presumably limited time to to,
17:30
you know, write the shit. But he is coming off and outing
17:32
against the Reds from this weekend.
17:35
I believe where he went, five Indians had nine KS and then two
17:40
starts, excuse me, three starts before that had eight KS and
17:45
four innings against the Cardinals.
17:46
So he's he's sprinkled in some of, you know, vintage Shohei on
17:50
the mound that, you know, like I said with it, maybe if he builds
17:55
off that in this last month, it it brings the the overall
17:58
counting numbers down a little bit and presents a prettier
18:01
picture that maybe does make this decision a little bit
18:05
easier. But as of right now, it just to
18:07
me, outside of the fact that he again, can physically do it and
18:14
at the very least is giving you innings outside of that, I don't
18:19
know how much value it's it's it's really bringing all.
18:21
Right. I think that's what's always
18:23
lost been in the argument. It's always lost in the
18:26
conversation because everyone in on in social media that's in the
18:30
Otani camp is going to say he can hit and pitch.
18:34
That's just like when you dumb it down to that every year.
18:38
You can't just give him the MVP every year because of that.
18:41
Obviously it's impressive, but I think the performance in the
18:47
past almost hinders his ability to take home the award this
18:52
year. And to your point about dumbing
18:57
it down that I think that's for a lot of people, that's where
18:59
the fatigue sets in. Yep.
19:02
Not saying that I, I or you or or anybody around us has fallen
19:06
victim to that necessarily, but for for people that are like,
19:09
OK, we get it. He does both, but is he doing
19:15
them both well enough to warrant the praise it is getting and up
19:20
to this season he had when he was doing it both ways.
19:23
But this year, like I said. Like just just take the stolen
19:26
bases stat category by itself. Like it, it sucks and I again, I
19:33
don't blame the Dodgers for having this game plan of keeping
19:36
him healthy and focusing on like getting him back to being a
19:40
pitcher. But when you know that he has
19:43
nearly 60 stolen bases in the tank and you, you're you're only
19:47
getting 17, he may finish at 20 this year.
19:52
Like it it, it feels weird to to sit here and say that like, Oh
19:57
yeah, that's the show. Hey, we're used to, but it's not
20:01
you're getting, I don't know, to quote the Jazz Chisholm crap
20:06
like you're getting the 70%. You know what, I and and that's
20:10
insane and I that is still impressive.
20:13
The fact that he's still favored it as the MVP in odds, the fact
20:16
that we're still having it's a two man race at this point.
20:18
But like the fact that we're still having that conversation
20:21
and you're not even getting 100% show.
20:23
Hey, speaks incredible volumes to the player He is in the
20:27
generational talent. But I think when we look at this
20:32
like in a vacuum and like have to kind of focus on what this
20:35
year is and what this regular season means, I think it there's
20:41
a window here that you could vote Schwarber.
20:45
And to that point, baseball fans are vultures.
20:48
We are hungry for competition. We are hungry for drama.
20:51
And when Shohei Otani is as dominant, has been as dominant
20:55
as he has over the last however many years, we finally have a
21:01
year where there's a little bit of a chink in the armor.
21:03
Kyle Schwalberg's having a career year.
21:05
And we're going, OK, there actually could be a legitimate
21:08
race here. Let's dive deeper into the
21:11
conversation. And depending upon which side of
21:13
the fence you fall, you may just end up staying there by the end
21:17
of the season. But at least leading up to the
21:20
conclusion of the regular season, it's at least a
21:23
conversation as it pertains to show Hey, possibly earning
21:27
another MVP or not. And I think that's why we're
21:29
just so eager to have this conversation and to to really
21:33
latch on to this because it's, it's very possible that show Hey
21:36
just goes back to being show Hey next year.
21:38
And we don't even, we don't even, there's not even a
21:40
conversation we had. I don't envy the writers this
21:43
year. These are two very tough races
21:47
to call, and maybe these last few weeks really just give some
21:51
clarity to that. But I don't want to envy that
21:55
vote, man, That's tough. Look, man, they, I mean, I'm
21:58
not, I'm not saying that they would collude to, to redirect
22:03
narratives or anything, but given what we talked about last
22:07
episode, given what we talked about with the, with the
22:09
Schwarber and Judge race, with Otani and Schwarber.
22:14
Callum. Callum, Judge.
22:16
What did I say? You said Judge and Schwarber.
22:18
You said Schwarber both leagues, which is good for Schwarber,
22:22
good for. Schwarber doing it, you know,
22:24
show, Hey, can, can can pitch and hit, but Schwarber can get
22:27
it done in both leagues. You're already realignment.
22:29
You're like, yeah, I. Mean he'll be there, he'll be
22:32
there, or he'll just be in Boston.
22:34
Either or. No, but between Judge and
22:38
Raleigh Otani and Schwarber, the writers have a real opportunity
22:43
to make a, a, a joint statement here.
22:45
You know, in both leagues. It's not just like, OK, we'll
22:47
show. Hey, well, let's just focus on
22:49
the American League because Show has run away with this.
22:50
Like, no, you have two opportunities here to really
22:53
take a stance on what the V in MVP stands for, to really take a
22:58
stance as to whether or not you believe this is just the best
23:01
player award, the Most Valuable Player award, the highest WAR
23:05
award, the most homers award. There's a chance to take a
23:10
stance here. My friend.
23:16
To your point, though, I don't envy it.
23:18
I don't envy it. All right, enough, Schwarber.
23:24
I could talk about Schwarber all day.
23:25
Love that guy. But let's talk about these,
23:29
these few division races that we've got in the mix right now,
23:33
Three of which are within three games.
23:36
The Jake coming into Monday, starting the week fresh Labor
23:40
Day Coming into Labor Day, you've got the Yankees three
23:43
games behind the Jays, the Mariners two games behind the
23:47
Astros, and the Padres 2 games behind the Dodgers.
23:55
Which of these races? Well, it's kind of like I should
24:01
have already known the answer to this question, but try to take
24:04
off your your hat. We can't.
24:08
Beat anybody that matters, so I don't.
24:11
Look at this objectively. No, I'm not even going to say
24:14
which of these teams could overtake.
24:16
I'm simply asking, of these three races, which of these to
24:20
you is most? Which of these is most
24:26
titillating? Like which of these just tickles
24:28
your fancy a little bit where you're like, you know, if I was
24:31
just, if I was the Rob Lowe wearing the MLB hat and I didn't
24:38
really care one way or another. Didn't have a dog in the.
24:41
Race like now, like a massive Dodger fan, by the way, if you
24:44
notice that, yeah. We're going to ignore that for
24:46
for the sake of this exercise. You're Rob Lowe wearing the MLB
24:49
hat. OK.
24:51
Which of these three races that, again within three games,
24:57
interests you most? I'm trying to remember in in.
25:02
You can maybe tell me if you can remember off the top of your
25:06
head. But I feel like when we were
25:08
talking about second-half schedule difficulty a few weeks
25:15
ago, I think you mentioned that the Dodgers and the Padres were
25:18
like, neck and neck, like ranked one after another.
25:26
They were, yeah. As far as schedule difficulty
25:28
goes, right That has. Since changed the Dodgers
25:31
entering Monday, Labor Day, the Padres have the easiest strength
25:36
of schedule. Of all baseball.
25:39
Correct, Yes, In baseball, the 30th, 30th toughest schedule.
25:44
The Dodgers are 26th. So a little bit of a gap has,
25:50
has come into play here, but not much there in terms of, you
25:54
know, similarly the, the, the, the narrator, the conversation
25:57
still still exists there. It's still valid.
26:01
Yeah, I mean, I can't. I can't help, but I think it's
26:03
the best rivalry in baseball. I think I can't help but want to
26:10
see how this ends every year, whether it is a divisional race
26:15
or whether it is a match up in the post season.
26:16
Like I can't it is must see TV. This gives me like patriots
26:23
giants vibes in in the you know, late twenty 10s like this is
26:33
this is the one to watch 100% is both have some both have some
26:40
Achilles heels. Both have star power.
26:45
Like I, I don't know, I can't keep my eyes off of that one.
26:52
Remind me, what was the first year we saw the expanded post
26:56
season 2022? I was going to say one, but
27:03
2022. Expanded from 10 team, 10 teams
27:07
to 12. OK, so this is interesting.
27:09
Hear me out, follow me track with me.
27:14
The most recent expansion as we mentioned 2022, the last time we
27:20
saw the Dodgers, not when the division was 2021.
27:30
So this was pre expansion or you know, post season expansion in
27:38
the three years or no, excuse me, in the four years since
27:45
then, we've seen the Dodgers win the division.
27:50
I would be curious to see as it relates to this two game spread
27:55
between the Padres and Dodgers. I would be interested interested
27:59
to see what a Dodgers not getting a first round bye would
28:03
look like and what impact if any that would have on a series with
28:10
the Padres and and flip flop how it would affect the Padres.
28:16
Same thing. I don't, I don't think.
28:18
I think there's less of a pitching depth question with the
28:22
Padres. But like, yeah, I mean, when you
28:26
look at the Dodgers, you you got to wonder, can they make it
28:31
through that long of a run? Can they do it without the the
28:36
extra time off? Can you just offensively
28:42
bludgeon teams the first couple rounds and not necessarily need
28:46
to worry about pitching depth like?
28:49
There's some questions there. I'm wondering less even about
28:52
the depth and more more about the mindset, more about the
28:56
approach. Like this is obviously a a very
28:59
strange year for the Dodgers when when talking about health
29:03
and and things of that nature and and not necessarily running
29:08
away with the division as they've done in years past.
29:11
You throw, you throw all those wrenches into the mix.
29:14
Why not throw another wrench into the mix?
29:17
Not, not saying again, you never, you don't want to go into
29:22
the last month of a season being like, no, let's, let's shoot for
29:25
that wild card. We don't want the division that
29:27
that's not what I'm suggesting. But if you're the Dodgers and
29:30
you do end up with the wild card spot, why not just roll with it?
29:34
Be like, we it's been a minute since we've been in a situation
29:37
like this. It's already sort of a weird
29:39
year. Let's, let's, let's build, let's
29:44
let's roll into the wild card as as hot as we can and take
29:49
advantage for once, if not having to sit on our sit on our
29:52
heels for a week and see how things go.
30:00
You'd almost certainly get the Cubs whoever doesn't win.
30:08
I mean, I it just barring anything crazy and anything can
30:11
happen in, in, you know, the, the four or five weeks that we
30:15
have left. But you know, that second place
30:19
wild card spot in the NL currently has a three-game lead
30:22
over the Mets for that last card, that last wild card spot.
30:27
You're getting the Cubs. And like, look, the Cubs would
30:30
be near the top of most divisions at the moment, but the
30:35
Brewers have just laid a little smack down on the entire league.
30:42
So it's not like the Cubs are just anything to, like, you
30:45
know, just shrug off. Not at all.
30:47
Let's put a pin in that though, because I I, I have a, I've got
30:51
a. Yellow something.
30:52
Got a, a thought on that, that I want to get your, your take on
30:55
here in just a minute. But before we move, before we
30:58
move on to that, looking at these other two races, you've,
31:01
you've made your thoughts about the Yankees and and their
31:03
chances abundantly clear. And if if you're listening and
31:07
you recall, I sort of had to come to that same realization
31:12
after the series with the Sox. And I was like, oh, OK, I.
31:16
Kind of get it. We're just not that good.
31:18
I kind of, I kind of get it why Yankee fans get so pissed off
31:22
with this team so often. I I after watching them a little
31:27
more closely. This is 7 game win streak take
31:30
by the way too and and but when you look at it, it's like it's
31:33
the Nationals and the White Sox. Correct.
31:37
Yeah. I saw, I saw something the other
31:39
day, like their record against teams over 500 in the last like
31:43
2-3 months or something. I, I don't remember what the
31:46
time frame was, but it's like, yeah, do they go on these runs?
31:49
Sure. But when you really look at who
31:52
it is that they're going on, they're supposed to win these
31:55
games. Of course I'm not, I'm not
31:56
taking that away. But like, it's I all, let's say
31:59
I get why Yankee fans are more irritated than not.
32:05
Think there's a little degree of being a little over the top, but
32:08
I I get it. I get.
32:10
It you see where I'm coming from.
32:12
So I won't even ask you about that.
32:14
But with this Astros, Mariners division race, correct me if I'm
32:21
wrong, but were we not fully anticipating yet another
32:29
instance of the Astros just running away with it?
32:32
And the fact that we've got a month to go?
32:35
It's still, it's still within the realm of possibility, but
32:39
the fact that we have now entered the month of September
32:42
and the Mariners are still hanging around.
32:46
Bring up the strength of schedule again with with some of
32:50
these AL teams. The Mariners have the 24th
32:54
toughest. So the what?
32:56
The 6th easiest schedule and all the baseball they've got three
33:00
against the Dodgers, three against the Astros, three
33:04
against the Royals. But they've got, on the flip
33:06
side, their easiest opponents. They've got three against the
33:09
Rockies, three against the Braves, four against the Angels,
33:12
three against the Rays and three against the Cardinals.
33:19
Not trying to be a Homer here, but this Yankees Astro series,
33:22
it's about to start tomorrow. For some of you listening even
33:25
today that that holds a lot of weight for both divisions.
33:34
And the Yankees, very interesting.
33:36
The Yankees, the Yankees are part of the problem for the
33:38
Astros. They've got the 13th toughest
33:40
schedule. They've got the Romanian,
33:43
they've got three against the Jays, three against the Yankees,
33:45
three against the Mariners, six against the the Rangers, who you
33:49
know, can can be peskier than not.
33:52
And they they've only got 3 against the Braves, three
33:55
against the A's, four against the Angels.
33:58
So little bit tougher of a go for the Astros and again, remind
34:03
you 2 games separating the 2. So again, the only reason I
34:07
brought brought up this race is not to say that like, oh, I'm
34:10
I'm I'm more intrigued by this one because I think most people
34:13
would say more attention should and and presumably will be given
34:19
to the Dodgers Padres race. Because whether or not people
34:21
won't admit it or not, the best rivalry in baseball right now.
34:26
I think I think that's a safe a safe bet, yeah.
34:29
Again, the only reason I brought up Astros, Mariners is just
34:32
given the lack of distance between these two teams with
34:37
just them with under a month left to go.
34:39
And something to know about the Yankees.
34:42
I remember hearing this and I wanted to look it up.
34:46
Two of their last three series of the season is against the
34:50
Orioles. So when you talk about like the
34:54
Yankees, like strength of schedule being easier, the
34:56
Orioles have been a lot better then what the first half has
35:02
pegged them as. They've been a lot more
35:04
competitive. And not to mention it, it is an
35:06
in division matchup that like the Yankees just have been
35:11
terrible against their division this year.
35:14
So the last two weeks are really going to say a lot for the AL
35:22
East, and I don't know what the Jays and what the Red Sox look
35:27
like as far as their matchups go, but that makes things very
35:32
interesting and something to absolutely watch out for because
35:35
the Orioles are not rolling over by any means.
35:38
No, and like outside of it and I'm not I'm not doing this to be
35:41
smart. The outside of a four-game sweep
35:44
to the Red Sox. I mean the Red Sox there for a
35:47
while we're just rolling. So like, I'm, I'm not
35:49
necessarily saying that plays a factor here, but they
35:53
objectively, I do think they had, like you said, I think they
35:56
have been better than maybe what people remember the first half
35:59
Orioles being. You know, they took a they took
36:01
the series against the Mariners. They took a series against the
36:06
Astros right after. And you know, like I said, the
36:11
four games to the Red Sox hit a little bit of a stumbling block
36:14
there. They dropped this weekend
36:17
against the Giants. Yeah, they dropped that one.
36:19
Not not particularly close either.
36:22
But All in all, Will could, could play spoiler here down the
36:28
stretch. And I, I think this wouldn't be
36:31
the first time the Orioles have done that either.
36:32
They they like being, they like being pesky, especially when it
36:35
comes to other divisions. Yeah, other division teams for
36:40
sure. Going back to what I I had put a
36:44
pin in, I wanted to get your take on it.
36:47
Buy or sell The post season field today is already set.
37:03
Not necessarily placement, just the field itself.
37:05
Not placement. Just field.
37:08
I'll buy that. You're going to, you're going to
37:13
buy that, you're going out on a limb and you're going to say the
37:16
teams that currently hold a post season spot today, we'll be
37:22
playing in October. Yeah, no disrespect to the to
37:30
the Reds or the Rangers or even the Royals.
37:35
Are those, let me ask you this, are those your three bubble
37:38
teams? You're not including the Giants,
37:41
not including the D backs, just, you know, just because they're,
37:45
they're not including the Cardinals and not including the
37:50
Guardians. Correct.
37:53
So your three bubble teams that could upset that take would be
37:56
the Rangers, Royals and Reds. Is that, is that fair to say?
38:04
I, I would like to have the guts to agree with you, but I feel
38:15
like as short of a window of time, less than a month feels
38:19
like, I feel like on the flip side, it also allows for there
38:27
still is time at the end of the day.
38:30
And I feel like one of these teams could just, it's going to
38:34
be. Flounder.
38:35
No disrespect to the Marlins, but like you think back like a
38:38
few years back when it was like, what was that?
38:41
Was that? Is that 2020-2021 where it's
38:44
like the Marlins get in, It's like what do you do?
38:46
Or even. It's 2020.
38:48
Was it last year that the Braves, like, backed their way
38:51
in that double header? Was that last year?
38:54
Yeah, that was stupid. Where it's like, what are you
38:56
doing here? It it's, it's, it's like, yeah,
39:02
no, it you were going to have we're going to have a case of
39:07
that. And it's just a matter of who is
39:09
that going to be? The Reds, is it going to be the
39:12
Rangers? Is it going to be the Royals?
39:14
And like you said, no disrespect.
39:16
Rangers four games over 500 right now, eight and two in the
39:20
last 10. They won five straight playing,
39:21
playing good ball at the right time.
39:25
But do we feel like they're more deserving to be in than these
39:30
other wild card teams? I don't know.
39:36
Could I see a Cincinnati Reds team squeaking into a wild card
39:39
series and getting swept out? Absolutely.
39:46
So as much as I want to say that the field is set, I don't know
39:50
that I can commit to that right now.
39:52
But I it's understandable. How many, how many, how many
39:56
games do the Mets have on the road left?
40:01
Let's see, they're currently 28 and 37 on the road.
40:07
What is that? That's. 60. 565 So they have 17
40:14
games left on the road? No, that'd be 12 games.
40:23
Holy smokes, why is that so? Hard, sometimes 16 games. 16
40:29
games left on the. Road 81 -, 6516 Games.
40:32
Tough, tough. That's a tough look. 16 games
40:36
left on the road out of how many games left this season?
40:40
What's the record? 73 and 64. 70 Three 64137.
40:49
That's how many they've played. They played, Yeah.
40:53
Hold on, 160. I see where you're trying to get
40:57
to. I don't know why I just didn't
40:58
finish that for you. What did I say?
41:00
162, We're going to get there. 162 -, 25 games.
41:06
So of the 25 games left this year, 17 of them are on the
41:10
road. Let's say 16. 16 of them are on
41:13
the road. Yeah, and they are 9 games under
41:21
500 on the road this year. We're talking Mets, correct?
41:25
We're talking Mets 4th dude. Let's look at the Let's look at
41:32
this a little more closely. 4th selfish Romanian schedule in
41:34
baseball. Three against the Tigers, four
41:37
against the Padres, 3 against the Cubs, three against the
41:40
Padres, 3 against the Rangers and three against the Reds.
41:45
It ends with the Reds. That's what it says that that's
41:51
well, that's the that's the last team listed at under the selfish
41:54
opponents column. Let me, let me see.
41:57
Hold on. Well, let's not.
41:59
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
42:00
I wish Reds ends. Reds end against the Pirates and
42:03
the Brewers. No, they their final three
42:08
series against the Nats. Flash 4 series.
42:12
Padres, Gnats, Cubs, Marlins. The Reds are actually this
42:20
coming weekend in Cincy. The Mets might cough this up,
42:29
man. Is there, is there a, is there a
42:31
situation, a scenario where the Mets aren't playing postseason
42:34
baseball in 2025? Wow.
42:38
There is a scenario. Wow, wow, wow.
42:46
I think we're just blindly accepting the fact that the Mets
42:48
are going to be in the PO the postseason.
42:51
I don't know that that's a lock. They've been bad on the road.
42:57
16. 16 of their remaining 25 games are on the road against
43:05
some tough teams. So, OK, So what did we say 16 of
43:09
their? Last 25. 25 OK, so let's figure
43:14
out OK, so this is interesting. Oh OK, so they're playing the
43:19
Tigers right now. Game one of the of that series,
43:23
they play the Tigers On the road, they play the Reds on the
43:26
road, they play the Phillies in a four-game set on the road,
43:35
they play the Cubs on the road they play the the only the only
43:40
games that they have left at home are against the Nationals.
43:48
And they're great at home, so like, you can almost chalk up
43:51
that to be at least a series win, if not sweep.
43:55
Right. But it's the teams that are
43:56
playing on the road that are only going to add to their
43:59
headaches, I feel like Which? But you got to mention you also,
44:03
you also got to bring up the fact that it's a three-game
44:05
deficit. So the Reds, the Reds need to
44:08
play good ball. Can't just be the Mets lose this
44:11
thing, the the Reds need to also really compete.
44:15
Yikes dude, the Reds have the second toughest schedule in
44:18
baseball, even worse than the Mets.
44:22
This is like if you, if the Reds get in, this is where you watch
44:26
out because once they're in, if this is what they had to fight
44:30
through to get in, that's the team of destiny that you love to
44:33
mention that you. Like, I love it.
44:35
Look out. So that's fun to watch, man,
44:40
that's fun to watch. Side note, and I'm I'm just
44:43
going to sprinkle this in any opportunity I can.
44:46
Suck it, NL suck it. We talked about how much how
44:50
much better the NL was than the AL all year.
44:54
So what are you basing this off of?
44:57
What? What's the What are the grounds?
45:00
Look at the AL teams, look at the overall records, look at
45:06
that wild card race. I think the I think the AL is
45:09
better. I think there's more teams in
45:11
the hunt, think it's just a better league.
45:14
It's a better race. Trying to see here, I'm really
45:22
just trying to, I'm looking at it through the lens of the eye
45:25
test, like which of these teams, Like how many of these American
45:30
League teams could you see winning the World Series versus
45:32
how many of the national? League teams.
45:35
I'm more so just like looking at like the fact that the 70 win
45:39
Royals or three games back, you know, then was this just a some
45:52
some people to get in? Was this just a result of the
45:54
National League cooling off over the last month?
45:57
Like so. Kind of coming back down a
46:00
little bit, I. Think This is why.
46:02
It's just, This is why I love, I love, love, love baseball, man.
46:06
You got to play the full season. It's a marathon.
46:09
We seem to, and I fall victim to it all the time, but we as a fan
46:14
base just forget this is a marathon.
46:19
There's a reason we play 162. Don't ever change that, By the
46:22
way. No need to drop it down.
46:27
This is perfect. And it's going to bring drama
46:29
these last few weeks and it's going to they're going to see
46:32
teams that need every, every inning of these remaining 25 to
46:36
27 games left, whatever they have.
46:41
I don't know what I would do with my time if they reduce the
46:44
season even by like 30 games. Yeah, no thanks.
46:50
We need this. What?
46:51
We, yeah, base we had as baseball fans, we have nothing
46:54
else. It's literally just our baseball
46:56
teams and that's kind of it. And it shows you how just how
47:01
close competitively all of these teams are.
47:07
Then again, we fall victim to like the the Sprint mentality
47:10
versus marathon all the time. We we rode off the Mariners
47:14
weeks ago and they're two games back.
47:18
I don't know we is the accurate. Descriptor that you did more
47:22
than I did. Hi, I recalled.
47:25
No such thing. Moving on.
47:27
Yeah, Yeah, let's let's move on. Before we do that, though, let
47:31
me take it one step further and then we'll move on to our next
47:34
topic. All right, so you were buying
47:38
that the postseason field is already set and you actually
47:40
alluded to it in trying to clarify the question.
47:42
Let me take it a step further. Buy or sell The postseason
47:47
seating as of today is already set.
47:50
So I must sell that. What it what's causing what?
47:59
What is happening in the standings, or which scenario?
48:04
Which aspect of the standings would lead you to sell?
48:07
The AL East, I don't know what that's going to end up being,
48:16
but there's a lot going on there.
48:22
I'll be honest with you, and I'm not just saying this to, to, to
48:26
rub salt in the wound. Well, maybe a little bit, but I
48:31
am your friend. So not, not to the fullest
48:33
extent. If you weren't sure.
48:38
The Yankees have fewer losses and thus are half a game up on
48:43
the Red Sox. However, I cannot look past look
48:52
beyond envision a scenario where this is any other division race
48:59
other than the Jays and Red Sox right now.
49:01
I don't know why and people may look at me and go what are you
49:05
talking about? Yankee fans will be like, what
49:07
are you talking about? Maybe the delusional ones, but
49:12
for some reason, I just, I feel like the Red Sox are poised
49:19
right now, positioned to really take off or not even take off,
49:23
but to build off of this momentum that they've they've
49:25
built up, I would say since the deadline been playing noticeably
49:30
better ball. But the Yankees, I feel like
49:33
we're just kind of hanging around.
49:34
Do you do you see a situation or scenario where the Yankees get
49:40
hot over this last month? Because if not, it's because
49:44
it's going to be the. What they do to me this, they do
49:46
this to me every year. They give me false hope every
49:49
year. So yes, I could see a hot streak
49:52
and I could see me buying back in because I'm here to sign up
49:56
for the misery over and over and over.
50:00
We're sick in the head. We are sick in the head.
50:08
So sign me up, sign me up to break my heart once again.
50:12
Get hot, win the division, sign me up.
50:18
I'm here for it all over again. Like a sickness.
50:22
This is what we are. This is what we do.
50:26
I know you're talking Yankees, but you you probably described
50:30
like half of the league right there.
50:32
I feel like a lot of people resonate with that.
50:35
Yeah. Yep.
50:37
The only part where maybe maybe some people had to bow out is
50:40
when you're like win the division because there's
50:42
probably half of the league was like, well, that's not even on
50:45
our on our goal sheet to start the year.
50:48
Sure. Or just happen to be above 500.
50:51
Right. Yeah, I, I resonate with that.
50:55
I'm sticking the head for sure. All right, moving along here, we
51:05
got a little taste of vintage Verlander this weekend.
51:08
That was really cool to see. That was really cool to see.
51:11
He he and Scherzer, and I think I've mentioned that somewhat
51:16
recently, I've sort of given a little bit of a nod to those
51:19
two. Scherzer, I mean, outside of
51:21
yesterday, kind of kind of crapped the bed a little bit.
51:24
Fortunately, it didn't cost me in the Fantasy League
51:27
semifinals, because that would have been.
51:28
Almost tough emotionally. I don't think you could ever
51:33
support Scherzer again if a fart start kept you out of the
51:36
championship. Yeah, that would have been, that
51:40
would have been real topic. I deleted the app yesterday.
51:45
I I, I was watching. I said this is this is where it
51:49
ends. I was like, should I even?
51:52
Should I even put Scherzer up against the Brewers?
51:55
I was thinking that man. Shut up.
51:57
Shut up Ben. Shout out our guy Ben outscored
52:02
the entire league that this regular season by what like 400
52:06
points or? Something like 1000?
52:07
But yeah, an unbelievable showing and just decimated by
52:13
injuries. Real quick on that look, and
52:15
this is me just giving giving props to our some somebody in
52:19
our fantasy league. I know certain people maybe like
52:21
I don't care about your fantasy league, but for those that are
52:24
fantasy sickos that you know, we're just geek out about this
52:27
kind of stuff. Let me just share with you the
52:31
fortune I had. He lost.
52:35
Oh, he dropped them. He was sure he was clear in
52:38
space, but from what I from what I recall, he had to he dropped
52:44
Zach Wheeler, Nate Evaldi. There was somebody else I feel
52:51
like too just decimated with not just like guys having Goodyear,
52:58
like career years gets hit with that and you just you know, I
53:05
that's why I can't even I can't even take any shots because I'm
53:08
like, you know, if those guys could even stand upright and
53:12
contribute to that team, I'm probably not winning.
53:14
But any who's you know, that's baseball, Susan, as I say, but
53:19
let's talk, let's talk about arms.
53:21
Let's talk, let's talk Verlander here verse the O's Yesterday,
53:25
Sunday, 5 innings, 10 KS. Nate, do you know how many
53:29
pitches he threw yesterday? I don't.
53:36
Melvin let Verlander go out there for 121 pitches.
53:42
Hello. Grandiose crossed 5 innings as I
53:47
mentioned. So, you know, do with that, do
53:49
with that what you will, but getting them in line for the for
53:52
the win. Speaking of Beaumel, by the way,
53:54
not to go too much random here, but do you see that little spat
53:57
with him and Willie Adonis in the dugout?
54:00
Yeah. What was that about?
54:01
I never saw what that, what that stemmed from, or what it
54:04
amounted to. I don't know.
54:05
It's hard for me to not just like if I put myself in
54:08
Beaumel's shoes, I'm just like, I'm taking him down to the
54:11
tunnel. We're not going to do this with
54:14
camera. Like cameras pick up everything,
54:16
Mike's pick up everything. We're not going to do this.
54:19
You're not going to like, that's like you're not just going to be
54:21
openly disrespectful. I can understand having spats
54:24
with managers. There's grown men versus grown
54:27
men there. It's like, I think we kind of
54:29
forget that. But like, we're going to go talk
54:33
and then we're going to make this private.
54:34
You're not just going to openly yell at me in front of the team?
54:37
And I, I have a take to that. I could even understand getting
54:42
in a, in a spat in front of the cameras with like a first or
54:45
second year manager. Not that I'm condoning that, but
54:48
we're talking about Bob Melvin here.
54:50
Yeah. I don't know, been around the
54:52
block. Like let's, let's, let's read
54:54
the and I get it, like sometimes cooler heads don't always
54:57
prevail. But like read the room a little
54:59
bit. Like let's to your like you
55:01
said, take it to the tunnel. But anyway, yeah, good for, I
55:05
mean, like, what? I think Verlander's just chasing
55:07
stats now so like let him do whatever he wants.
55:10
Literally. But what was cool about that 121
55:14
pitches? I saw that it was the most he's
55:15
thrown in a start since I think 2018, which, you know, love the
55:20
love to see moments like this. And honestly, we, like I
55:23
mentioned Scherzer, it's been really cool to see not only like
55:28
pitching well, but doing it for a team where it actually means
55:32
something and matters. Like he could be throwing
55:38
important innings through this team in October, which is. 100%
55:41
which is really. Cool, given the, you know, the
55:43
arc of his career. Very cool.
55:48
You got any other notes on that or you?
55:49
No. OK, well, Speaking of throwing
55:54
impactful Indians in the postseason, Red Sox locked up
55:57
and rolled as Chapman. Who?
56:01
Big Chapman guy? Let's hope, let's pray that
56:05
he'll be throwing impactful lanes in the postseason.
56:08
Big. Chapman guy, I said no such
56:11
thing. Oh yeah, you are.
56:12
This is about this. Wow.
56:14
He's the best closer in baseball right now.
56:17
Big Chapman guy. Oh well, the turntables.
56:24
Yeah, I'm not. I'm I'm kind of a big, I'm kind
56:29
of a big Chapman guy right now. I'm not going to lie.
56:31
You know, we can look past the the booby honking.
56:35
Sure, sure. If you're, if anything for Dobbs
56:41
baby, you know, I don't condone whatever that was, but you know,
56:46
if I'm I'm willing to look past it, if if we can get some extra
56:51
dubs out of you, you know, did you see, by the way, did you see
56:54
that video floating around where Buster Olney was explaining like
56:57
why he's gotten so much better this year?
56:59
Did you see that? No, I don't think so.
57:01
Very interesting. And whether or not mechanical,
57:04
what is it? Apparently it's like mental.
57:07
Whether or not you want to believe it is another thing.
57:09
I mean, it's supposed it's what Buster Olney is saying, but
57:13
apparently Rhodus Chapman just was unaware that he had the
57:18
freedom to to spot fastballs for the majority, if not the
57:23
entirety of his career. He just thought, well, because
57:27
because I have my fastball and because of the speed at which I
57:30
can throw said fastball, I don't need to spot it.
57:34
But apparently with the as he's as he's begun to use this pitch
57:37
com system more apparently, I think Buster said Connor Wong
57:42
was catching him in a game like spring training or early in the
57:46
season and apparently he like having the location preference
57:52
fed to him. Really.
57:54
Reemphasize, reemphasize mentally, like, OK, like this is
57:58
where I need to look. And, and Buster only went on to
58:00
say that they they, they think that he's adopted the whole aim.
58:05
Small miss, small mentality, which didn't exist before, and
58:09
now we're looking at a walk rate that is less than half of what
58:14
it was in seasons prior to this year.
58:18
So something got tweaked, something got fixed that has led
58:21
him to be the closer that he's been this year.
58:25
And that's the least analytical story you've ever told me.
58:28
And I know it involves stats and I know it involved things like
58:31
that, but like, that's the part of the game that like you can
58:35
equate that you can't predict. And it's just a little mental
58:38
tweak that that that's why our sport is great.
58:43
Then also, like when you you're used to seeing pitchers get to
58:46
this age and having to recreate themselves because they've lost
58:49
velocity. He's recreating himself while
58:52
still having the velocity, which is insane.
58:55
So doesn't even feel legal. Yeah.
58:57
What was the deal again, Rodney? $13.3 million deal, just one
59:03
year for the 2026 season. That includes a 2027 investing
59:07
option. Chapman will be guaranteed 26
59:10
mil over 2 years if he pitches at least 40 innings next season.
59:15
Yeah, yeah. I'll be honest with you, I don't
59:18
even know how many innings he has this year, so I'd be curious
59:21
to see where that. I guess it's over.
59:23
He's. No, no, no, for sure, for sure.
59:24
But I'm just like, he's curious how, how, how far ago we
59:28
surpassed that. So he's got 53 innings and we
59:32
got a month left in the season. So, you know, assuming health,
59:34
health checks out next year, I don't know.
59:39
I don't see why that wouldn't kick in.
59:42
Takes care of his body better than 99% of the league so.
59:47
Which is crazy considering the build.
59:49
I mean, I get it, I guess it, if you're, if you have that kind of
59:51
build, you you have to take those extra steps to protect
59:55
that. But that could easily go South I
59:59
feel like real quick because not many guys have that kind of
1:00:02
build. Speaking of the Red Sox recently
1:00:07
released Walker Bueller signs with the Phillies will be
1:00:11
eligible for the postseason. And I'm just going to go ahead
1:00:16
and say right now, I think you and I maybe agree here.
1:00:22
I just feel like it's a guarantee that we're going to
1:00:24
see Walker Buehler throwing meaningful innings for the
1:00:27
Phillies in October. Yeah, whatever role he's going
1:00:31
to absorb, I see him locking in. Would not be surprised.
1:00:42
In thinking about why it just didn't work in Boston.
1:00:46
Yeah, tell me what you observed, because I'm like, I'm been
1:00:49
tapped out on Walker Bueller's performance this year.
1:00:52
So what have you seen? Well, he was just he was
1:00:55
constantly overextending himself.
1:00:57
He was working deep in almost every count.
1:01:00
Just walking guys was not limiting traffic was not, you
1:01:04
know, maintaining any level of efficiency.
1:01:07
They tried pushing him to the pen didn't exactly work out
1:01:10
there. I think he had a couple out one
1:01:11
or two outings in the pen just didn't didn't really work.
1:01:15
So I, I saw that Craig Breslow wanted to let him go out of
1:01:19
respect for what he's done in his career so that he could
1:01:23
just, you know, latch on right away with somebody that wanted
1:01:26
to give him another chance to Philly's apparently he, he, when
1:01:30
the Red Sox went to Philly, he threw the ball well, Dombrowski
1:01:35
was quoted as saying. Like, we liked what we saw.
1:01:37
We, we, you know, we've had some conversations with him.
1:01:40
I think they like a video call or something talking with their
1:01:43
pitching coach. They've identified some things
1:01:46
that they feel like they can maybe work on, maybe change.
1:01:48
Hopefully, you know, right, the ship a little bit.
1:01:52
But in thinking about why it didn't work in Boston, I'm like,
1:01:55
OK, maybe it's just like, you know, too far, too Far East.
1:02:00
Forgetting that even though he was a Dodger, like he's from
1:02:04
Kentucky. So it's not like, it's not this
1:02:06
like culture shock where, you know, well, like, whoa, like I,
1:02:10
I was this, you know, Socal guy for forever.
1:02:13
And to a degree he, he was for some, some period of time, but I
1:02:17
thought that maybe that was it. So then I was like, well, then
1:02:20
maybe Philly's not going to work either.
1:02:22
But when you think like, I mean, you know, he, he's from
1:02:24
Kentucky, maybe it's not a, a location thing.
1:02:27
It it, it, it brings me back to the middle where I'm like, OK,
1:02:30
you know, maybe, maybe it could work out.
1:02:32
And it's it's possible, it's quite possible that it he he
1:02:36
finds success in Philly for the because he is a like he's a
1:02:39
postseason pitcher. And I think if Boston had the
1:02:42
flexibility too, I mean, they just caught up Peyton Tolley on
1:02:46
on Friday. Cool call up story.
1:02:48
Very excited about, yeah, yeah, very cool story there.
1:02:52
But I think if they had the flexibility, if they had, you
1:02:56
know, if they're leading the division by X amount of games,
1:02:57
they had some some opportunities to, you know, play around with.
1:03:01
Yeah, you might have seen him stay.
1:03:02
Maybe they ride it out and be like, well, let's just get him
1:03:04
docked over and and then we'll count on them there.
1:03:06
But they they, we just can't afford that right now.
1:03:08
But I think I think he finds, I think I think he'll do OK.
1:03:13
I think he'll be serviceable for the Phillies.
1:03:15
I do. Yeah, I'm with you.
1:03:18
I do closing the book here unless you got anything else on
1:03:23
on Chapman or Bueller. Corey Seeger is out for an I
1:03:29
think I said like ultimately an undisclosed amount of time he
1:03:32
had an appendectomy, which been there.
1:03:40
I, I, from what you told me, from what I've read, I don't
1:03:44
want to experience that. I, I was. 7:00 So I remember too
1:03:48
much about it, but. Does not sound fun.
1:03:52
Yeah, it's it's what's scary is that like, if it does, if the
1:03:55
appendix does explode, blow up inside you, you have like a
1:03:59
limited amount of time before. Yeah, yeah, it needs to get out.
1:04:05
Yeah. Why?
1:04:06
I don't know. That's like your core dude.
1:04:08
Like, that's. Yeah, it's hard to say.
1:04:13
I have no idea. This guy just can't stay
1:04:17
healthy, though. It sucks.
1:04:19
It really does suck. I was unaware of the
1:04:22
circumstances surrounding this. Apparently he was pulled from
1:04:26
the game and what was a blow out and I think I think Bocce
1:04:32
included thought that, you know, this was just a situation of
1:04:36
like, OK, let's, you know, fans and, you know, people that were
1:04:40
tuned into the game thought like, oh, this is just like a
1:04:42
load management kind of thing, like keep him off his feet for a
1:04:44
few innings. Games out of hand.
1:04:46
But apparently it was because Sega was just like, yeah, no,
1:04:49
like something's off. And so they, you know, I guess I
1:04:53
don't know how it works entirely, but I guess ran some
1:04:55
tests and realized like, oh, shoot, like we got to, we got to
1:04:58
get this done. So big blow for the Rangers,
1:05:02
who, you know, whether or not you think they're going to
1:05:05
squeak in doesn't help, even though he's having the
1:05:10
pedestrian year for his standards, I think, yeah.
1:05:13
But he's a spotlight guy for sure.
1:05:15
Yeah, definitely. You don't want to lose a guy
1:05:17
like Seeger, but it's I don't think he's been ruled out for a
1:05:20
potential postseason run, but. Could I could, I could see him
1:05:24
coming back for the postseason if they get in, But I, I would
1:05:28
say like see how these next few, few weeks go.
1:05:30
And if it if you don't, if you're not closing the gap, I
1:05:33
don't see the point in bringing it back.
1:05:37
I agree, get him back for next year.
1:05:40
Which sucks because that's like that.
1:05:43
That's the whole like we just talked about the last few weeks
1:05:46
of the season are always dramatic and must watch TV.
1:05:50
So it's it stinks not having a true down the stretch vet like a
1:05:57
Corey Seeger. Speaking of a vet, Aaron Judge,
1:06:05
Pretty cool moment in Yankee history.
1:06:07
Now among the top five all time Yankees on the homers list.
1:06:14
Very cool tide. Yogi Berra with 358 over the
1:06:18
weekend against the White Sox. Dude, I don't.
1:06:24
It's kind of hard to fathom. That's what I'm saying.
1:06:26
I got it. Where did the time go?
1:06:28
Yeah, like where did the time go?
1:06:30
I think that's what's also impressive too, is that it
1:06:32
hasn't been like this like 15 year career with them like he
1:06:36
has just he hasn't been there very long.
1:06:38
It shows it how impressive that is.
1:06:40
But like I they read something off on the in the broadcast.
1:06:43
This is like the first change in the top five list for Yankee
1:06:47
home run totals since like the late 50s.
1:06:53
Yeah, so. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah 'cause he,
1:07:01
he passed a rod, I guess, like. Just the top five.
1:07:06
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:07:06
I was looking. They've got a rod here on the
1:07:09
list, but I guess he's now 6th. Or he passed him a while ago, I
1:07:15
guess. But Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle,
1:07:17
Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.
1:07:19
So yeah. I mean, it's been a, it's been a
1:07:21
minute. They had to.
1:07:22
They had to shake the dust off this list for sure.
1:07:24
Crazy. It's cool, cool company.
1:07:27
That's what I think he's like creeping into that like part of
1:07:30
his career. I think that's what made me so
1:07:33
excited, obviously because of his how good he is, but like him
1:07:35
coming back as a Yankee, like you're going to start seeing
1:07:38
some all time Yankee great type stats being thrown out there as
1:07:42
his career continues. So it's it's cool to see it's
1:07:46
fun. He'll be. 4th by the end of the
1:07:48
season, Joe Damat, he's it. He's sitting at 3:58.
1:07:50
As I mentioned Joe Damaggio 361 so he will be He will have the
1:07:55
4th most homers in the Yankees franchise history looks.
1:07:58
Like he's starting to heat up, too.
1:07:59
That was a an O2 slider down in a way that he hit.
1:08:05
Yeah. It's like, all right to left
1:08:08
center. It's like, all right, you're
1:08:09
going to start getting going here.
1:08:11
Yeah. For the sake of baseball,
1:08:14
obviously as a Red Sox fan, I would, I would never want Aaron
1:08:18
Judge to be playing in the league longer or have come up
1:08:22
earlier. But for the sake of baseball,
1:08:24
and I know we talked, we we've talked about this more than
1:08:26
lots, but I would have loved to have seen him be able to come up
1:08:29
as like a 21 year. Old would have been insane.
1:08:33
Man. Like we were five years onto his
1:08:37
career. I feel like we were robbed
1:08:39
because of that. I feel like we were robbed and
1:08:42
he may still get to that point. It'll just be later.
1:08:45
And then ultimately, you know, not having those years on the
1:08:47
back end will get robbed of, you know, what would be beyond what
1:08:50
would lie or exist beyond that, but makes you wonder.
1:08:55
And lastly here report came out over the weekend.
1:08:59
Emmanuel Class A and Luis Ortiz will remain on non disciplinary
1:09:03
paid leave until. Further notice that announcement
1:09:07
is brought to you by DraftKings. Love it.
1:09:13
No forgets. No forgets.
1:09:17
I think we mentioned it when this news first broke, but
1:09:20
there's there's, you know, respected journalists floating
1:09:25
the question of have we seen the, I mean, you know, say a
1:09:28
tool about Luis Ortiz or whatever.
1:09:29
But obviously with the with the run that Emmanuel Class A has
1:09:32
had, I guess more of the taking more of the spotlight here, but
1:09:37
I have like, is it possible we've seen the last of Emmanuel
1:09:40
Class A? That's very possible.
1:09:43
And that sucks. That sucks.
1:09:47
What are you doing? No disrespect, but like, I'm not
1:09:51
broken up about Luis Ortiz, like, right.
1:09:54
Yeah. Yeah, I'm, I'm with you.
1:09:55
Talking about a guy got so young votes dude.
1:09:59
Like that's dominance. That sucks.
1:10:06
It's too bad. We've lost some.
1:10:10
We've lost some incredible baseball talent to nothing more
1:10:13
than stupid decisions. Yep, Yep.
1:10:19
And we've had to have stupid conversations about said stupid
1:10:22
decisions. I know at least this
1:10:24
conversation isn't as deep and dark as some others, but no
1:10:29
doubt still sucks. He's still likely done crazy.
1:10:36
If he does come back it's like how's how is it up there?
1:10:40
You know what? I mean, how are the mentals?
1:10:42
Yeah, that's that's all I got unless you got any unless I
1:10:48
missed any other items. Think that sort of covers it got
1:10:53
got a little under a month ago, as we mentioned, so we'll see
1:10:56
how the rest of this season shakes out.
1:10:58
I want you know, I'm just sort of planning publicly here.
1:11:02
I wanted I want to in a in an episode coming up here soon.
1:11:06
I want to do as as the playoff field sort of begins to, you
1:11:13
know, come more into picture here.
1:11:15
I want to do an episode where we look at maybe a singular reason
1:11:21
as to why every team, you know, you get these articles all the
1:11:24
time, like one reason why your team could win it all.
1:11:27
I want to sort of do something like that for the the
1:11:30
perspective playoff field as it were.
1:11:35
So you know, be thinking of that and if you're.
1:11:37
Listening to the positive side of things where we're we don't
1:11:40
typically find ourselves too often.
1:11:43
I feel like this was a generally positive.
1:11:46
So it's good. Maybe, maybe September, we
1:11:48
turned a corner. Step in the right direction.
1:11:51
Step in the right direction. But yeah, make a note of that.
1:11:54
Be be on the lookout for that. I think that'd be, that'd be
1:11:57
something good to, to do here and the come in, come in sods.
1:12:04
That's all I got. Unless you got anything else, be
1:12:06
sure to check out the merch3otake.com/shop.
1:12:11
Happy Labor Day, I'm going to go get into merch.
1:12:15
I'm going to go eat some ribs. There you go.
1:12:17
It's BBQ day. Let's let's, let's face it, if
1:12:20
there's a there's a Monday national holiday, then the
1:12:24
weather's even somewhat remotely warm.
1:12:27
It's for BBQ. It is 78 and sunny here.
1:12:31
Let me guess, 167? Close one O 5 today.
1:12:38
We're getting there by next Friday.
1:12:40
I think we're down in the 80s and that much of A drop.
1:12:44
Yeah, dude. That's like a 20° drop.
1:12:47
That's where it's like, boom, we're good.
1:12:49
Once we hit that, you're set. So by next Friday, you'll be
1:12:54
wearing winter. Coats, hoodies.
1:12:56
Hoodies plus show. Yeah, wait.
1:12:59
Speaking of hoodies, go go grab one of those.
1:13:01
That's nice. I'll grab one of those
1:13:05
sweatshirts from the shop. It's recommended.
1:13:08
I'm getting mine in hopefully soon.
1:13:11
I can't wait to wear that thing. Yeah, I got to order it.
1:13:14
I guess that's important. That part too, all right?
1:13:18
Don't get chasing curveballs, folks.
1:13:19
We love. You all and it's always looking
1:13:20
forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
1:13:22
Until next time, stay filthy.