Latest / The 3-0 Take / Are the Mets…Competing?
Transcript
- 0:00Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
- 0:04all things Major League Baseball.
- 0:06Here's. Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes, It
- 0:11all starts. Right now.
- 0:17Welcome back to the Three O Take presented by Sick Geek.
- 0:20This is episode 425. I'll be your host, Kyle Corden.
- 0:23I'm here with my Co host, Nate Reyes.
- 0:28Nate. Hello to all and to all.
- 0:32Hello. That's it.
- 0:37That's all I got for you. No, no, no, no, no.
- 0:41Cut it. Cut it.
- 0:52You're banned. We're not start.
- 0:53We're not starting like that. We're not.
- 0:55You're banned on that. No, you're banned from you.
- 0:59You. I bring that energy and you hit
- 1:03me with like A50 Percenter Christmas tale.
- 1:10What are we? What are we doing?
- 1:12Yeah, yes. I came here to talk some
- 1:18baseball and not, not, not look back on the 12 days of
- 1:22Christmas. Hello to all.
- 1:29I got my. I got my finger right over it.
- 1:32Don't make me do it. Oh, what's up?
- 1:36Is that better Christmas remix? I thought you were a big
- 1:40Christmas guy. I am, but it's.
- 1:43This sounds awfully anti Christmas.
- 1:45It's April 17th. You still look forward to it?
- 1:49No, it's April 17th and I'm here to talk about some baseball
- 1:54because this is, after all, a baseball podcast.
- 1:59Look, I think we gotta. I gotta think, We gotta remind
- 2:01the people this will be your last episode for a good week and
- 2:061/2. You've got 123 episodes without
- 2:19me. Oh, yeah, you're right.
- 2:21Three. Yeah.
- 2:22Yeah. A week and a half.
- 2:23Yeah. Yeah, that's about right.
- 2:25Yep. What are you gonna?
- 2:27Do of next week and you get back the 29th 'cause you'll be on a
- 2:33Caribbean cruise, Damn straight. So we'll catch you at the end.
- 2:39We'll catch you to start off May.
- 2:42That's when Nate's baseball season starts.
- 2:45Yeah, basically may, yes. That that's when that's when
- 2:48Nate really gets tapped in. He's been, he's been out out of
- 2:51the mix a little bit. But yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 2:55But that's where we're at. Yeah, we're we're going to talk
- 2:59about stuff that I actually know about when we get into May
- 3:03today. I don't even know what we're
- 3:04talking about. I don't know half the things
- 3:06we're talking about. That's true.
- 3:07That's a great point. I didn't even give you.
- 3:09Well, I I did give you the rundown, but we didn't have our
- 3:12normal chat beforehand because I had to had to get it going.
- 3:15But before we get into those items that we're going to get
- 3:20into for Episode 425, we do have a voicemail, so.
- 3:23Yes, love it. Let's open up with that.
- 3:26Big fellas, AJ Taurus the 1:00 There's a lot of drama in
- 3:30baseball right now, and that's really an understatement.
- 3:33But you know what? It's back in the full swing of
- 3:36things. There's certain days where the
- 3:38only thing positive is the freaking coffee you have in the
- 3:41morning. And sure enough, there's
- 3:43baseball. Glad we're here.
- 3:46Instead of trash talking things like the White Sox organization
- 3:49as a whole, I wanted to mention a couple of things.
- 3:52Tough ricochet. First off, I got to give a shout
- 3:54out to John Sterling on his retirement.
- 3:57I hope he's healthy. I hope that he knows that
- 4:01generations of sports fans adored him.
- 4:04He wasn't a perfect guy as far as what he did in this craft,
- 4:08but he is an icon and I'm glad and hope that he's able to do it
- 4:14on his own terms. Unlike guys like Hawk Harrelson
- 4:18where they basically said your job's done and they moved on
- 4:22with them and it was swept under the rug and.
- 4:25Other White Sox are I just want. To give a shout out to all the
- 4:27second generation athletes out there and being a 90s kid, just
- 4:32like you guys, Kyle and Nate, we are seeing a lot more second
- 4:37generation baseball players and it's kind of cool.
- 4:40I mean, I understand that there's guys like Mark to share.
- 4:44For instance, his kids don't even watch baseball.
- 4:47They have no interest. But now we have the, I mean we
- 4:51got the guys in Toronto of course, but now we have Jackson
- 4:55Holiday and now Jack Lighter being called up.
- 4:59And just a note for the casuals out there.
- 5:02No team is wasting a first round pick on somebody just because of
- 5:07their name. Have some freaking respect for
- 5:10crying out loud. Just because MLBDNA is in you
- 5:14doesn't mean that you yourself are gifted.
- 5:17They worked their tails off all the way to the top and those
- 5:20guys were drafted top five overall.
- 5:24Why? Because they worked hard.
- 5:26Period. Nate, Congrats again.
- 5:29The marriage. Screw the mats and burnt down
- 5:32South side Chicago. They getting.
- 5:35Look at that. AJ knows.
- 5:38AJ knows is is Jack lighter catching heat.
- 5:44I know, I know, Jackson's off to a rough start, so I know there's
- 5:47some slander out there. But.
- 5:49We don't need to talk about Jackson holiday start.
- 5:51He's gonna be just fine. And you know what it if this
- 5:54continues, it's actually gonna time out perfectly when you head
- 5:58out. And then I may have to bring
- 6:00Ryan on because Ryan will be able to bring bring people back
- 6:04down to earth and and ground them a little bit into the
- 6:09reality of Jackson Holiday and and that he he will be fine and
- 6:13there is no no reason to stress about that.
- 6:18But Jack Leiter, I mean we'll get into that a little later,
- 6:21but I'm excited and there's a little little off the field
- 6:26drama unrelated to to Jack Leiter.
- 6:29Well it is related to Jack Leiter involving you and I that
- 6:33we may have to revisit pertaining to his debut we may
- 6:40have to touch on but but yeah I mean he AJ touched on a on a
- 6:47handful of things there that we're gonna get into but except
- 6:51the white. Sox We're not getting, yeah.
- 6:54Not getting into the White Sox. Not enough time today.
- 6:57But Speaking of a team that's kind of trash, they haven't been
- 7:03playing like it. The New York Mets, let's let us,
- 7:09let us dive into the into the Mets.
- 7:10Do you have any. Well, before we get into it, do
- 7:13you have any thoughts on how the Mets have been doing?
- 7:17Do you are, are you are you moved emotionally by the Mets?
- 7:22Does it does it does it move the needle for you?
- 7:28Do you feel the same way about the Mets that you always have
- 7:30based on how they've started? Option C Yes, I feel the same
- 7:38way. Nothing fires me up about them.
- 7:46This won't stay consistent. Fresh off a sweep of the
- 7:52Pittsburgh Pirates, they have won ten of their last thirteen.
- 7:57They are 10 and eight, second in the division currently tied
- 8:02with. Well, at the time that I pulled
- 8:05these notes together they were tied with Philly for second in
- 8:08the division following their win today Wednesday.
- 8:13But look, I don't. I'm not.
- 8:19I'm not impressed and this isn't I I'm really trying to step out
- 8:22of the Mets hater mindset right now and the Mets hater point of
- 8:28view. But I'm just like, OK, you yeah,
- 8:34you're off to a you're off to a not half bad start.
- 8:41It's it's not sustainable though.
- 8:43No. It's not sustainable, no,
- 8:47because the reason you're ultimately playing or winning
- 8:52the games that you're winning right now, believe it or not, is
- 8:55actually due to the pitching. If you look at the numbers,
- 8:59offensively, the New York Mets are middle of the pack.
- 9:03Offensively, in the National League, even more so.
- 9:06Across all of baseball, they're middle of the pack, like in
- 9:09their own league, again, more so across the whole league.
- 9:13They're pitching, however. Six in Major League Baseball in
- 9:17ERA with a 315, They're third in all of baseball in strikeouts,
- 9:21176. They're tied for third in Major
- 9:25League Baseball and opponent batting average, which currently
- 9:30tied with the Dodgers and the Rangers opponents, starting 221
- 9:35off of them. But it's it comes down to, you
- 9:41know, again, small sample size. It's early in the season, but it
- 9:44comes down to a handful of good start, decent to above average
- 9:50to good. However, you want to classify it
- 9:52a handful of starts from certain guys such as Jose Bhutto.
- 10:02Yeah, who's this guy? Over 12 innings pitched, small
- 10:06sample size. He's got a he's he's sporting a
- 10:08.75 ERA. Jose Cantana, who I think was
- 10:12expected to be a a little more reliable than or or somebody
- 10:17that they were expecting to count on more than maybe a Jose
- 10:20Bhutto. He's he's sporting a 305 / 20
- 10:23and 2/3 and then Luis Severino is he's.
- 10:27I would, you'd probably be able to speak a little bit better to
- 10:30it based on how he finished in the Bronx, but I would, I would
- 10:33venture to say, shaking off the rust decently enough to start
- 10:38the season. Sevi has his flashes, don't get
- 10:41me wrong, like he has. He's Got Talent that at one
- 10:46point the organization was viewing him as an ace, but the
- 10:50health is not there. And so like, that's when I look
- 10:53at this rotation, I'm like, are you really going to do this over
- 10:57162? Sevi Kintana, Menaya, have we
- 11:06ever seen, I mean it's been, I don't know, Cantanas feels like
- 11:11it's been around for 15 years. But have we ever seen like a
- 11:15full lights out production type season from any of these guys?
- 11:20The answer is no. Fair.
- 11:24And I'm I'm not trying to come into the defense of the Mets
- 11:26here, but specifically looking at a guy like Sean Minaya.
- 11:30Wouldn't you say that this is probably the most we've heard,
- 11:34most buzz. I'll say we've heard about Sean
- 11:36Minaya in some time because he correct me if I'm wrong, but I I
- 11:43think he had a was it a he had like a decent spring if I
- 11:48recall. Or there were, there were some.
- 11:50There was some stretch of time this year where things.
- 11:55I think we're moving in the right direction with him
- 11:57mechanically, confidence wise, that I think we're we're giving
- 12:02Mets fans a reason to maybe believe that he could do
- 12:05something a little bit better. Yes, he did get a haircut.
- 12:07He cut it all. I gotta say, it looks a lot
- 12:09better. I know there's a lot of people
- 12:11clamoring, a lot of people clamoring for the flow to come
- 12:14back. I can understand both sides of
- 12:16it, but you have to do something.
- 12:18If you're Sean Mahaya, you gotta do something to mix it up a
- 12:20little bit. And so, for his sake, I'm glad
- 12:24he he decided on the hair, yeah. Yeah, but the the other stuff, I
- 12:31mean going back to offensively you said it's middle of the
- 12:33road. Like Pete Alonzo's gonna do what
- 12:35Pete Alonzo does, you know already got 6 jacks OPS over
- 12:39900. The the problem is that like the
- 12:43amount of money that they're spending, the best case
- 12:47scenario, this is a 500 ball club by the end of the year.
- 12:50That's best case. That is legit, the best case you
- 12:53can hope for in Queens. I don't see that happening the
- 12:58rest of this lineup. I mean like what?
- 12:59What is Lindor? What happened?
- 13:02What happened to Frankie Lindor? Did New York just ruin this guy?
- 13:08I told you when when that then when that move happened.
- 13:13Mr. Smile all happy. Go lucky in Cleveland.
- 13:21There's something about like it it it's it got sucked out of him
- 13:26when he went to went to Queens. So this is miserable slash line
- 13:30of 151 two 59219 in an OPS of 478.
- 13:38It's in a negative war right now.
- 13:40I know it's early, but like, this is not where the money is
- 13:44supposed to be going. He's he's been in these Trey
- 13:51Turner standing ovation esque talks as of late.
- 13:55Like, I've seen a lot of a lot of chatter from Mets fans on
- 13:58like we got a rally behind this guy and I think even recently it
- 14:02was supposed to be the day. Where was it this past?
- 14:06I think it was this past weekend that they sort of designated as
- 14:10the day. And I want to say it was Friday
- 14:13night's game if I recall and who know I don't.
- 14:18I don't think it's going to have the same impact.
- 14:20It's it's truthfully it's going to be hard to replicate the Trey
- 14:25Turner situation around baseball.
- 14:27And and I'm I'm I'm seeing a lot of fan bases.
- 14:30We may have touched on the whole standing ovation thing recently.
- 14:33Frankly I think it's getting a little bit out of hand like guys
- 14:36are guys are hitting like 220 and I see fan base.
- 14:40I see, I see people on Twitter like reposting graphics with
- 14:44like an announcement. It says like April April 21st
- 14:48standing ovation day. We got to rally behind this this
- 14:52guy and let him know we've got it.
- 14:53I'm like the dude went like two for his last 10.
- 14:58Let we can't just flip the the standing ovation switch anytime
- 15:03a guy decides that he's going to have a bad week.
- 15:08I I will admit that I don't know.
- 15:13There's a little ounce of jealousy in me of the bought in
- 15:19mentality that happened in Philly.
- 15:21That's happening in Philly. That continues to happen in
- 15:25Philly. New York fans are just
- 15:30miserable. That's that's what we are to our
- 15:35core. We're emotional, we're miserable
- 15:40and we haven't won in a long time.
- 15:43So make that like times 100 in Queens just not going to happen.
- 15:49And it's it's too far gone there that that perfect there was like
- 15:55that perfect point for Trey Turner.
- 15:57It was early enough into the contract.
- 15:59It was early enough into the move.
- 16:00It was early enough into the season.
- 16:05And you have like this, like huge superstar leader kind of
- 16:10leading the charge in that in that narrative in Bryce Harper.
- 16:13There's no one here that does that for the Mets.
- 16:18Pete Alonzo's halfway out the door.
- 16:22I don't know. There's just nothing exciting
- 16:24about this team I can't stand. I saw something that on Twitter
- 16:29that I'd. I'd hate to admit.
- 16:31I think Jeff McNeil probably has one of the most punchable faces
- 16:34in baseball. I can't stand that guy after the
- 16:37WBC. It's cool to see Hader like, you
- 16:41know, kinda doing his thing but like at the same time, again,
- 16:44these are like lightning in a bottle type guys.
- 16:46There isn't there. I'm, I'm waiting to see a full
- 16:48like 162. I don't mean to rain on their
- 16:52parade of whatever they're doing but like, I don't know the fact
- 16:55that we're talking about a ten and eight start.
- 17:00It's a $500 or 500 ballclub, you know all, all year if, if, if
- 17:06things go perfectly. I mean you just you just go down
- 17:11the lineup looking at OPS, Pete Alonzo, Pete Alonzo's nine O 5.
- 17:17DJ Stewart who only has 25 ABS, 932.
- 17:24Tyrone Taylor 841. It's just you know and then once
- 17:32the once the pitching starts to fizzle out because again as I
- 17:34mentioned as of right now they're they're they're trending
- 17:38to the towards the top of the league right now performance
- 17:41wise on the bump. Once that once that comes back
- 17:45down to earth. I mean the offense may
- 17:49presumably will will pick it up a little bit better than than
- 17:53the way they're swinging it now. But you're just going to have
- 17:55the you're just going to have the flip flop that it happens in
- 17:57baseball all the time. But the teams that go on to
- 18:01succeed and have runs of success over the course of 162 find a
- 18:06way to make both work. And I just don't think,
- 18:09especially with the Mets track record and the fact that again
- 18:13to revisit the conversation from the offseason, we're assuming
- 18:17that this is not a year that in which they're planning to
- 18:19contend. Even they're admitting that the.
- 18:22Ingredients just are not there for a postseason run.
- 18:27Yeah, that's. I go back to my prediction I had
- 18:32in the Hot Takes episode. Pete Alonzo will not be
- 18:35finishing the year in this uniform.
- 18:37If he does, that is a major mistake by the Mets.
- 18:43A massive mistake. You need to offload him.
- 18:47You need to. You're not resigning him.
- 18:52You're already at your ceiling. Salary wise, it's not going to
- 18:56happen. A team that I'm a little bit
- 19:03more excited about from like a a genuine standpoint because
- 19:09again, can't stand the Mets and even when they succeed I I don't
- 19:17put much stock into it because it comes back to the fact that
- 19:20they're the Mets and not that that's that's not just me
- 19:24hating. I mean, I I just laid it out
- 19:25there for you. Statistically the odds of of of
- 19:29both sides of the ball figuring it out at the same time and and
- 19:34finding a groove are are not very good.
- 19:36They're they're finding ways to win ball games.
- 19:38But it's personally I don't think it's sustainable.
- 19:41A team that again a little more excited about the Cleveland
- 19:45Guardians following their win on Wednesday against my Boston Red
- 19:51Sox. They improved to 12:00 and 5:00,
- 19:54which gave them the best record in all of baseball.
- 19:58The Guardians have won nine of their first eleven Rd. games for
- 20:01the first time since 1948. Do you by chance know who won
- 20:06the World Series in 1948? Cleveland.
- 20:15So a good omen. A good omen for the ball club
- 20:19starting off strong on the road? That's always huge and
- 20:23especially. Especially early in the season,
- 20:26especially if if you've got long road trips that can really wear
- 20:31you down right out of the gate, that can really set a tone for a
- 20:34season. And the fact that that
- 20:36Cleveland's just making quick work of these teams, including
- 20:40Boston, I don't even think they're playing right now.
- 20:44The the Red Sox are playing like they want to be swept, So I
- 20:48could I could very well see that happening.
- 20:50It it even if they pull out a win miraculously tonight they'll
- 20:53probably drop the series tomorrow.
- 20:57So that's what the Sox are working with.
- 21:00But I I'm encouraged to see that with the the early news of Shane
- 21:09Bieber going down that they're still that that they seem to
- 21:13take that lump a little bit and and continue to keep the ship
- 21:17moving forward. Tanner Bybee had a a a nice
- 21:22bounce back start last night in Boston which you're gonna need.
- 21:26You're gonna need a lot more from him with with the Bieber
- 21:29news because that rotation can be a little flaky at times.
- 21:34So you're gonna need him to to tap into what he that that that.
- 21:39I don't want to call it an extended flash, but that that
- 21:44run that he gave you last year, you need him to tap into that a
- 21:47little bit, return to that form. But the the key to their success
- 21:57right now you look at the run differential entering Wednesday
- 22:00today they had a + 38 run differential, which was the best
- 22:04in baseball. I think the Royals with their
- 22:07one of their double headers or their first game of the double
- 22:09header today maybe dropped him down a notch.
- 22:13But entering today, they were that that was the best in
- 22:16baseball. So a lot of, a lot of good news
- 22:20coming out of Cleveland if you're if you're the guardians,
- 22:22especially in a, as we always say, a very winnable division.
- 22:25And to get off to a start like this, it gives you a little bit
- 22:29of cushion as we enter the warmer months.
- 22:32Yeah, I got to watch the series, the Yankees series last weekend.
- 22:42First off the I understand they walked it off to end the series
- 22:47and I don't know what is going on with that fan base on
- 22:51Twitter, but I saw some super out of pocket stuff and I I do
- 22:57think it's a good ball club though.
- 22:58And friend of the pod T Mac, I love to see Tristan McKenzie
- 23:03just kind of really break into the scene officially.
- 23:07He's flirted with it over the last few years.
- 23:09Obviously dealt with some injuries the last few years, but
- 23:11I'm ready to see him like kick the door in and be who he is.
- 23:16Is you know projected to be but a team that's just like, they're
- 23:21they're, they remind me a lot of the Diamondbacks.
- 23:25I won't say they're as talented roster wise, but like the pesky
- 23:32refuse to go away. Take the extra base.
- 23:37Don't beat ourselves mentality with Stephen Vogt at the at the
- 23:44helm who and we've talked about this many times.
- 23:49I will forever die on this hill. You and I both love veteran
- 23:54catchers turning into managers. They've they've seemed to just
- 23:59have a view and A and a finger on the pulse as a player and it
- 24:04just it's such an easy transition.
- 24:09But I love specifically of like Steven Vogt's career of just
- 24:15being like the underappreciated, undervalued workhorse mentality
- 24:25that I that there's something that that Cleveland overall, as
- 24:29an organization, as a roster, as a fan base, could, could buy
- 24:32into. And it could be very much like
- 24:36this. We're not even supposed to be
- 24:37here. No one expects us to win, so we
- 24:39might as well go out here and embarrass people.
- 24:43The my problem is they need, they need more Bop.
- 24:48That line up needs more help. J Ram is J Ram.
- 24:52A walking MVP candidate, a walking All Star.
- 24:55But when Josh Naylor is like your next power bat in that line
- 25:01up, there's an issue. I don't know where it's going to
- 25:05come from, but they need to find some pop.
- 25:09Pete Alonzo would be kind of wild there.
- 25:11That'd be kind of interesting. I don't know if they could pull
- 25:14that off. I don't know what their farm
- 25:15looks like, but they need some pop in the lineup.
- 25:20But outside of that, man, they just they don't make mistakes,
- 25:22they don't beat themselves, they play good defense and they
- 25:25refuse to strike out. It's it's there for the taking.
- 25:33Yeah. I mean I tell you what they and
- 25:35I, I think Guardians fans would would agree and they they would
- 25:38tell you the same thing. They pop has never really been
- 25:47part of their MO. They're very much going to.
- 25:49They're going to they they have emphasized bat to ball.
- 25:54They've emphasized gap to gap. And I'll tell you what man, they
- 25:57can hit some double. SI mean I'm looking at the
- 25:59numbers right now. I'm seeing I'm seeing 543 like
- 26:02they're up and down the lineup. They're hitting double S But you
- 26:06mentioned Josh Naylor. He's leading the team right now
- 26:08with four, yeah. And don't get me wrong, Josh
- 26:10Naylor looks really good right now and sure could very well
- 26:14settle in as like the middle of the order threat across the
- 26:18league compared to other guys. I just feel like they need more
- 26:21length, they need more depth in that lineup.
- 26:23I don't know where it would come from though.
- 26:32I mean when you when you talk about like thumpers like Jose
- 26:36Ramirez and Josh Naylor. That's not what comes to mind.
- 26:39You know what I mean? That's.
- 26:43But like if you have to, if you have to put somebody into the
- 26:47conversation, like if you have to submit some names that's what
- 26:50you're putting out there. And I I just don't know how that
- 26:52compared. Not to take anything again not
- 26:54take anything away from Josh Naylor.
- 26:55He's been he's been off to a great start.
- 26:57Jose Ramirez is Jose Ramirez. We we know what he is, what he
- 27:01brings to table and what he does year in and year out.
- 27:04But that's kind of where it when you talk about pop and like
- 27:11forget numbers, when you talk about the intimidation factor of
- 27:14a line up and what what a starting pitcher has to go
- 27:18through and like what what goes into his preparation and and
- 27:21what he's thinking about leading into a start against the
- 27:23Guardians. Like yeah, they they're going to
- 27:27pepper the ball around but they just need to for their sake I
- 27:33hope that they can extend. I say this for everybody but
- 27:37it's it just goes without saying.
- 27:38I hope that they can extend this to the deadline and possibly go
- 27:41out and add and add a a power bat to this line up.
- 27:46That can then hopefully start to shift the narrative a little bit
- 27:50with the Guardians and and have them be more of a a big bopper
- 27:54team as opposed to we're just gonna we're gonna slap balls
- 27:58down the line go gap to gap and I.
- 28:02Think that's that's why I used that that Diamondbacks
- 28:06comparison. It does remind me of that.
- 28:10They're not as talented as the Diamondbacks, and the
- 28:13Diamondbacks had issues pop wise as well and they went and fixed
- 28:18it in the offseason. They plugged those holes.
- 28:22So I don't know, maybe they can figure it out.
- 28:25I don't put too much stock into it.
- 28:28It kind of just seems like the organization just runs out a a
- 28:32roster and they're like, here's what it is for the year.
- 28:35I wouldn't expect any sexy, flashy ads at the deadline, but
- 28:40I could be wrong. I don't know.
- 28:44I'd like to see it. Poor Cleveland.
- 28:47What else you got going on? You know what I mean?
- 28:49Like give them something I. Saw I saw the Browns went back
- 28:52to white face mask today that so that's that's big news for
- 28:55Cleveland sports yeah that's that's kind of that's that's
- 29:00where the vibes are at right now for Cleveland so.
- 29:05Looking. At some dudes that have been
- 29:10balling out, I I will say I think last year and maybe even
- 29:14the year before when I when we would do these or these segments
- 29:17rather where we talk about, you know, some performances around
- 29:21the league, I would mix in. I would mix in some guys that
- 29:24had been really struggling and we'd kind of go in on them a
- 29:28little bit. I feel like I've almost
- 29:32exclusively focused positive performances.
- 29:36Returning a new leaf. How about that, huh?
- 29:40And Speaking of positive performances, there's a lot to
- 29:43go around and I'm not even going to be able to get to all of
- 29:46them, but just just a handful here that I wanted to touch on.
- 29:50Ronaldo Lopez. And I'm not just hyping them up
- 29:57because I've added them. The free agency in fantasy.
- 30:03Just admit that you are. That's just.
- 30:05A coincidence? 18 innings, 18 KS, just one run
- 30:13allowed. Sporting an ERA of .50.
- 30:22And might I add, I tweeted this last night with that rotation in
- 30:31accounting for injuries as well. But with that rotation, he's
- 30:35been their best starting pitcher to this point, Yeah.
- 30:37That's crazy. They need it, dude.
- 30:42They need it. Somebody like Strider goes down.
- 30:45Like people have to step up. They need it.
- 30:51He has certainly done that. He's he's rocking the third best
- 30:54ERA in baseball. Oh, this.
- 30:56OK, this is what I wanted to get into.
- 30:57Had a little. Pulled some.
- 30:59Pulled some notes here because I I was thinking when I noted that
- 31:05he was he had third best ERA in baseball, I was like OK, what
- 31:09are what does the top ten look like?
- 31:10So I pulled the top 10 of the top ten.
- 31:16I just want to see how many that you could that you could guess.
- 31:21Oh boy, I know I'm. Putting you on the spot here,
- 31:23but it this is a this is gonna be a fun, fun exercise.
- 31:26Qualifier and we have qualifiers mixed in.
- 31:29Or are we talking like relievers that have thrown 2 innings?
- 31:33No, no, these are all, these are all starters.
- 31:36So these are these are guys that have three to four starts in the
- 31:43in the boys. OK, let's.
- 31:45Go You know, I've this is the least amount of baseball I've
- 31:52watched ever in my life. I know.
- 31:54Which is why I. Said.
- 31:55I'm putting you on the spot. Give me.
- 31:56Scooble. Is he in there?
- 31:59He's actually not. Wow.
- 32:00OK, which I'm glad. You said that because it's it's
- 32:04it's confirming my point and that's why I pulled this list
- 32:07together. It's it's rather fascinating
- 32:09interesting. Give me Blanco with the Astros.
- 32:12Correct give. Me when you want to.
- 32:18Tap out. Just tell me and I can give you
- 32:20the rest of the list. Give.
- 32:22Me. Well, we did.
- 32:30Is Severino in there? We were just talking Mets.
- 32:33He's. Not he's not in there.
- 32:36Close. I don't even.
- 32:37Know if give me Jared. Jones.
- 32:41He's not on this list, Jared Jones.
- 32:44Isn't. He's not.
- 32:46He's dicing. Give me Reagan.
- 32:58It's not. Dude.
- 32:59I'm dropping like that's I. Know that's that's entirely my
- 33:03point. And that, and even that's The
- 33:05thing is even the guys that you've listed are like I they're
- 33:10still doing well. No, no, no.
- 33:12But they're not. They're doing superstar names.
- 33:13That's what I'm. Saying like I didn't want to say
- 33:15they're nobodies, but like for all intents and purposes,
- 33:18they're not necessarily household names.
- 33:20The top. Ten.
- 33:23I can't stress this enough. Small sample size, I understand,
- 33:26but with four, a handful of these guys have four starts
- 33:30under their belts. So like we're we're getting into
- 33:32that part of the season where we can, we have enough data
- 33:36accumulated, enough innings accumulated, that we can start
- 33:39making some early conclusions. Top ten ER as in baseball as of
- 33:46Wednesday. Starters.
- 33:48Paul Blackburn. Sure hasn't.
- 33:52Given up a run all season. Let's go Ace, Cutter.
- 33:56Crawford. Sure, cool name he's given.
- 33:59Up one run Ronaldo, Lopez, Rennell Blanco, Reed Detmers,
- 34:10Jose Brios, Seth Lugo. Oh, Cody.
- 34:15Bradford OK. Tyler.
- 34:18Anderson Oh. With the angels, Christian.
- 34:22Javier and Brady Singer. So rounding out what I mean,
- 34:28Javier and Singer are tied for for 10th, but.
- 34:32So 11 guys, but nobody on that list, I would argue is really a
- 34:42household name. I There's a lot of potential for
- 34:46that to be the case by the end of the year and even have even
- 34:50by the break. But right as it as it stands
- 34:53right now, no. Who do I?
- 34:55Want to I want to pat. Who do I want to pat on the back
- 34:58in that list? I want to pat Seth Lugo on the
- 35:00back because when you drop that name, like it.
- 35:05I don't know why it feels like he's 48 years old.
- 35:10Hold on, we got to revisit this 'cause this note was or these
- 35:16notes were. I was pulling these notes
- 35:21together this afternoon. I need to confirm it was brought
- 35:26to our attention that Blackburn threw today.
- 35:35Did he give us something up? I understand.
- 35:37Corrected. He let up three runs today, 5
- 35:402/3, but even then that like that's a great outing.
- 35:42Seven stage 5 2/3 I'm going. To assume the ER as still in the
- 35:46top 10 still top. 10 Let me. Let me Pat, Seth, Lugo on the
- 35:51back. Let me Pat, Tyler Anderson on
- 35:55the back. Look at you, Tyler Anderson get
- 35:59a little resurgence rolling. Who else is on there?
- 36:03I mean, Blanco, we know that was crazy.
- 36:05This first two starts is insane. Brady.
- 36:09Singer. Same thing.
- 36:11Like two guys that like, those are two guys.
- 36:14If you play fantasy baseball and you look at the waiver wire in
- 36:17the past you've looked at them and been like, I could maybe try
- 36:21and add you for a for a start to try and sneak a win out.
- 36:24But I know what you are. You're not sticking around on my
- 36:28lineup very long, but look at them, Look at that and.
- 36:35I I I didn't do these guys the service of sharing the ER as but
- 36:41just know that Brady Singer, Christian Javier and Brady
- 36:44Singer at the bottom of that list again as of Wednesday
- 36:47afternoon, tied for 10th at 1.54.
- 36:52I love. That so.
- 36:53Everybody above them is under 154I love that.
- 37:00I love that. Also in the afternoon, another
- 37:02reason that no one needs to really worry about the Astros.
- 37:07Two of those names being in that that list that you aren't going
- 37:11to necessarily choose at the beginning of the season when
- 37:14you're talking Astros rotation. I would argue for Christian
- 37:18Javier's case. Ronelle Blanco off to a great
- 37:23time, no hitter. I don't.
- 37:26Know of anyone considering him a no?
- 37:29No, no, no, I I'm not. I'm not saying that to start the
- 37:32season you're putting either those two names in the end of
- 37:36season top 10 ERA conversation. I'm simply saying Christian
- 37:40Javier 1. Would assume he would be better
- 37:44if you're getting his best stuff.
- 37:47They haven't. Even they haven't even caught
- 37:49their stride yet. Verlander coming back soon, he.
- 37:53Starts Friday. Yeah, people.
- 37:55That are sweating. People that are sweating.
- 37:57The Astros are making fun of the Astros.
- 37:59Start. Just relax.
- 38:00They're they're coming. It's coming.
- 38:03I hate to say it's coming, but it's coming.
- 38:08Yeah, that's reality. I wanna wanna show some love to
- 38:16and and I know there's a a list here that I just read off of
- 38:19guys that we could certainly dive into a little bit more of.
- 38:22But I need to you all need to cut me some slack and allow me
- 38:27the this one opportunity to to share a positive about my Boston
- 38:31Red Sox and that is Cutter Crawford.
- 38:34He's been just a play to the watch.
- 38:37That's a top. Five name in baseball, I mean.
- 38:39Come on, a name like Cutter Crawford and he's Dyson up the
- 38:44league. That's that's the.
- 38:48Habit. He has a cutter.
- 38:49Yeah. Yeah.
- 38:51Did we know his? That's as far.
- 38:52OK, that's. That's perfection.
- 38:55Cutter Crawford, after four starts, as I mentioned, is
- 38:58rocking a four, two ER .42 ERA over 21 in a third innings.
- 39:03He's only allowed nine hits, one earned run, and has 24 KS.
- 39:08The take away, however, And not that this matters because we've
- 39:13established that we don't care about this anymore.
- 39:17But it's just. Indicative of where the Boston
- 39:19Red Sox are at as a team and what they're able to provide the
- 39:25staff that's pitching so well right now, he doesn't have a
- 39:29single win to show. 4. Starts 24 KS.
- 39:35He's only given up one run. Doesn't have a win that I'll
- 39:40tell you what I. I.
- 39:42Just said it exactly. I just said it.
- 39:46We don't care about wins, but I care about wins in situations
- 39:50like this. I absolutely care about wins
- 39:52shows. That shows a lot more, yeah.
- 39:56Like, that's so glaring. You've got one of the better
- 39:59Staffs in baseball, one of the better pitchers in baseball, and
- 40:02Cutter Crawford, and he doesn't have a win to show for it.
- 40:05Like that's whatever shambles. Shambles is the word that comes
- 40:13to mind. For me it's.
- 40:15Tough, man. It's really, really, really
- 40:17dumpster. Fire a couple more words.
- 40:21Actually, I'm not even gonna argue that.
- 40:23I'm gonna. You know what?
- 40:33I'm with you. I'm with you.
- 40:34And I didn't even see your. Hands move when you when you
- 40:39made that happen. Impressive.
- 40:42How about that the way the Red Sox are playing right now it's
- 40:48it actually sparked an idea today that I'm gonna workshop
- 40:51while you're while you're gone. OK.
- 40:57No I was gonna get I was gonna maybe give like a little teaser
- 41:00but I I think I'm gonna keep it. But just just know that like my
- 41:04I'm I'm in a weird I'm in a weird headspace right now with
- 41:07the Red Sox like I'm I'm I'm just trying to find everything
- 41:11within me to be positive and like you know what we can we can
- 41:15still turn this thing around. But when you watch the team play
- 41:19defense, they look like AT ball team with four players and those
- 41:27four players don't have any arms or legs.
- 41:33Yes, right. That's what it That's what the
- 41:36Boston Red Sox defense looks like in 2024.
- 41:43Just want to see some emotion out of Alex Cora.
- 41:45That guy looks dead inside. He's.
- 41:48Well, when? The best was when Cassis got
- 41:53like picked off at third the other day with no outs.
- 42:01Trying to steal third? Trying to swipe a bag?
- 42:03Dude, you're like looks? So baffled dude.
- 42:08He's like the the freaking abominable snowman.
- 42:12He's like the a Yeti. You're not stealing bags.
- 42:18Tristan Kossis stay at 2nd. By the way do you have do you
- 42:24have a take for the end of the episode?
- 42:26I forgot to ask you to to bring one to the table because.
- 42:29I could bring, I could, I could pull out a few for you because I
- 42:32think. I I I think I have one related
- 42:35to this topic but I'll I'll save it.
- 42:37Good. But to to put a bow on what I
- 42:39was saying about my idea. I think I'm gonna workshop it,
- 42:41and it's related to the negative, the negativity that
- 42:44I'm trying to fight with this Boston Red Sox team and just
- 42:49some ways in which I'm trying to to keep my head above water.
- 42:53OK, so that. Segment may be coming soon.
- 42:56I'm gonna workshop a little bit and I'll I'll bring I'll.
- 42:59I'll present it when the time is right.
- 43:04Another name. Want to give some props to
- 43:06Albert Suarez made his not really debut but basically a
- 43:14debut. He's been away from Major League
- 43:16Baseball for 2395 days. What made a made a start for the
- 43:26O's. He went five and 2/3.
- 43:29Allowed just three hits. No runs, zero walks and four KS
- 43:38and left the field to a standing O.
- 43:40No pun intended. The rich get richer over there,
- 43:44you know, That's what I'm. Saying I'm kind.
- 43:49Of enjoying it. We love Ryan, but at the same
- 43:58time it's I could see this pissing me off here in a couple
- 44:01months, you know in what? Way though like explain that
- 44:13what are you saying? It's purely out of jealousy.
- 44:18There's no other what's happening in Baltimore.
- 44:22I don't know if I've ever. I don't know if I can genuinely
- 44:26remember any other instance in sports where all things are
- 44:37aligning the way they are there. You're talking about a new owner
- 44:45taking over. You're talking about all this
- 44:48young talent stepping in. You're talking about the
- 44:53reintroduction of the most legendary name the organization
- 44:57knows and Ryan's dad suddenly becoming more involved in having
- 45:03fun and doing commercials. And but you know what I'm
- 45:08saying? Like, I don't.
- 45:09Everything is just all going their way.
- 45:14Everything. So for any fans that are, like,
- 45:19worried about Jackson Holiday, it's like, who cares?
- 45:22Because everything's going right for you guys right now and it's
- 45:25just a matter of time before he gets right.
- 45:29I it's just insane. Who I've never even heard of
- 45:33this guy and comes out and just dices.
- 45:37It's it's it's wild what's happening over there.
- 45:42I'm fully jealous. Oh, Jackson Holiday's hitting
- 45:47like 100 on the season. It's OK.
- 45:50They've got a guy named Albert Suarez who's taken shutout ball
- 45:54into the 6th inning like that's. That's what I'm saying.
- 45:58That's what I'm saying. How do you.
- 46:00Yeah, but whatever. Actually, I'm not.
- 46:04I think you're not gonna lie, I lied.
- 46:08I just pulled that number out of a hat that Jackson.
- 46:10I don't even think. Jackson Holiday's close to
- 46:12hitting 100, I don't think. He's either.
- 46:13I thought that was a generous number.
- 46:15Yeah, that was. Out there.
- 46:16Yeah. He's.
- 46:17He still only has the one hit. Yeah.
- 46:19Correct. Yeah.
- 46:20Yeah. Just the lone hit.
- 46:22Oh, man. Oh, yeah, he's hitting.
- 46:25I was even close. He's hitting .04.
- 46:28OK. Point 4.04 It's so weird to like
- 46:34try to say that bad in average cause usually like oh the the
- 46:37guy hit like 320 or whatever. How how do you say that I'm
- 46:40hitting O 40? No 40 He's not hitting forty.
- 46:45He's hitting O forty O 40. O40 No, he'd be the.
- 46:50He'd be, he'd be the talk of the town, right?
- 46:52I mean, he is the talk of the town.
- 46:53But for he'd be he'll be fine talk of the town for the for a
- 46:56good reason. If he was hitting 40, yeah.
- 46:59Albert Suarez. Remember the name.
- 47:04Wild did. He have more of that story by
- 47:06the way or just he just was gone for?
- 47:10I'll be honest with you 6. 1000 days, whatever you said.
- 47:16It was. It's 2395, stupid.
- 47:22So ridiculous. Welcome back.
- 47:24You know it's been good for him. It happened.
- 47:27It happened so quick today because they also played a day
- 47:30game and like I didn't really catch the news until the start
- 47:35was on our way, the walk off. SETI.
- 47:40Mullins walk offs. Seti.
- 47:41Mullins. Yes, Sir, Yeah, Spencer said it
- 47:46best in the In the Facebook chat, he said Vibes are
- 47:49Immaculate. In Baltimore, it's, I mean.
- 47:51It's Immaculate is. It's almost an insufficient
- 47:55word. That's that's how amazing things
- 47:58are over there. It's absurd.
- 48:01I hate it and I love it, and I'm jealous and I don't want to talk
- 48:06about it anymore. Except we're gonna have to talk
- 48:09about it every freaking episode for the rest of the year,
- 48:11because that's how it's gonna go.
- 48:13You got a week and a half break from this podcast, so.
- 48:16You you can. Build up some some stamina some,
- 48:21some Oriole stamina while you're gone and then I'm just gonna
- 48:24we're we're gonna go head first then when you get back.
- 48:28So according to baltimorebaseball.com, Suarez
- 48:30spent five years in Japan and South Korea before the Orioles
- 48:33signed him last September. He received an invite to spring
- 48:35training, where he had a 517 in five games but struck out 19
- 48:39batters in 15 and 2/3. I love those stories.
- 48:43I wish they happened more and I hope he sticks around.
- 48:51He was. He was with the Orioles, I
- 48:54thought, right? Like he he used to be.
- 49:01I thought he was with the Orioles before this, this break,
- 49:03but it's his. His last MLB game was with the
- 49:07Giants. I don't know if if he was with
- 49:10the OS before that, but anyway. Yeah.
- 49:14I mean, like I said, your big name, some of your big names,
- 49:18Jackson Holiday shrug a little bit.
- 49:20It's it's the next, it's the next man up mentality with the
- 49:23OS. It Someone's going to get you.
- 49:25That's what that mentality is. Someone is going to get you.
- 49:29And who would have thought the next man would have been Albert
- 49:31Suarez? Not not I, Not I.
- 49:35Michael Bush. Chicago Cubbies.
- 49:38Yes. He's having a heck of a year.
- 49:42Yes, specifically. Want to point out if you haven't
- 49:45heard already, five home runs in five games.
- 49:48I think that streak came to an end, but nonetheless very
- 49:52impressive and it's really like if let me pull up his numbers
- 49:55here. It's not it's not just the pop
- 50:01like he's he's just hitting very well right now.
- 50:10He's got 6 bombs. He's hitting three O 412
- 50:14ribbies. He scored ten runs like that's
- 50:20that's not he he it's not like the Kyle Schorber syndrome like
- 50:25he's he's not just putting them out calling it a day like he's
- 50:30he's contributing in other ways. He's producing he's he's he's
- 50:34giving the guys around him in the lineup opportunities to get
- 50:37him in. It is he's just off to a great
- 50:40start. All these on the road.
- 50:43All those home runs, that five game stretch, it's all been on
- 50:45the road? Yep.
- 50:47Which, by the way, tied the the team's franchise record for
- 50:51consecutive games with a Homer. And in my research, I I want to
- 50:56say, I want to say there were 66 Cubs in franchise history that
- 51:04hit five or had five consecutive games with a Homer.
- 51:07Oh boy. Do you know the?
- 51:09Do you know the first one to do it?
- 51:12I'll give you a hint. We've talked about him.
- 51:15We talked about him this offseason.
- 51:24Really. I don't think that hurts me
- 51:28much. What's that?
- 51:29A reporter? A.
- 51:30Reporter. A reporter once called him a
- 51:34sawed off Babe Ruth. Dang.
- 51:40We did talk about him. I do remember that.
- 51:46Vogelbach. No.
- 51:48Who are we talking about? Hack Wilson.
- 51:51Hack Wilson? That's right.
- 51:53The guy who like. That's right.
- 51:55That's right. That's right.
- 51:56That's right. It was like you don't want me to
- 51:58call Capone. Yeah, homies.
- 52:00With Capone, you evaded, cops like jumping out windows.
- 52:03That's. Right, if you guys.
- 52:05Didn't catch that. I don't know what a.
- 52:07Delightful story, I gotta. Find that I gotta resurface that
- 52:11episode. It was one of like our offseason
- 52:12episodes leading up to the start of the season.
- 52:14We did a whole deep dive into Hack Wilson.
- 52:18Guy has an incredible story. Had an incredible story.
- 52:22Let me. See What other do I know the
- 52:25other four names? I don't.
- 52:27I didn't write him down. I that was just, that was just
- 52:29the one that caught my eye. I was getting hyped.
- 52:34Also Vogelbach, what? I don't even.
- 52:36Know if he's ever been a cub. I was just thinking, are we?
- 52:39Talking about Babe Ruth. That's that's the only thing
- 52:41that I was trying to think about.
- 52:43What are we talking about? I'll shout.
- 52:45Out Vogelbach's Probably bigger than Babe Ruth.
- 52:49Shout out Zoe in the chat. She's getting caught up, she
- 52:52says. Hot take Adly Retchman has a
- 52:53better prospect than Holiday. It's not for me to decide.
- 53:00I've I've shared my stance on how I feel about Give A.
- 53:05Time just give a tad. Lee Ruchman.
- 53:08Yeah. I'm not gonna.
- 53:09I'm not gonna rush a kid. He's only 20.
- 53:11He's only 20. He'll be right.
- 53:12Yeah. He isn't even shaved yet.
- 53:16Yeah, yeah, he's like 12. I'm convinced that birth
- 53:22certificate's not actually. Yeah, I don't.
- 53:24Even see 20 it is not 20. Where are we going though?
- 53:28Oh, Michael Bush though leaves all Major League first baseman
- 53:32at OPS. He's 3rd and average so again
- 53:35speaks to the well roundedness of his offensive output thus
- 53:41far. So he's he's really giving the
- 53:43Cubs a big boost, especially with Saya Suzuki going down.
- 53:47I think he's only on the 10 day if I recall so and he's I think
- 53:53he's already been up. He's been on there for a couple
- 53:55days now so they won't be hopefully without him for too
- 53:59much longer. But two of the better bats for
- 54:02the Cubs this season. But with again, Jose going down,
- 54:09Michael Bush being able to provide this, this boost for
- 54:13them is a huge help. And I didn't even realize I I
- 54:16watched Michael Bush play in college when he was with when he
- 54:20was at UNC. Like I was going over to watch
- 54:24games with Meredith over at Chapel Hill.
- 54:26You didn't know? He was the guy.
- 54:28He was a. Dude, man, I remember.
- 54:30I remember watching him. I was like this guy.
- 54:32I mean, I didn't, I didn't foresee him tying Cubs franchise
- 54:36records. But I was like, you know, this
- 54:38this dude's gonna be legit. Yeah.
- 54:42Another division up for grabs. Get after it Who?
- 54:47Who did you? Pick for the central I forgot
- 54:49you. No, you said the Cardinals.
- 54:50I did. Say the Cardinals, you said the.
- 54:52Cardinals, you frauded. Little bit, little bit.
- 54:56That's. Yeah.
- 54:57Oh, should I? Should we save this?
- 55:00Speaking of the Cardinals, do you want to save this?
- 55:02OK, all right. We can save it.
- 55:06Moving along here, a name we've already mentioned today.
- 55:08Jack Lighter making his debut Thursday.
- 55:16We'll be wearing number. What number Sorry, Go we'll be
- 55:20wearing? #35 for the Rangers on Thursday
- 55:24as the former number two overall pick.
- 55:29Debut for the Rangers and what fantasy team?
- 55:34OK, this is where we need it. OK?
- 55:35I'm glad you reminded me 'cause I was going to forget.
- 55:39All right, so here's the deal. It's it's Tuesday.
- 55:44I'm at work. I'm wrapping up some things
- 55:49because we have a staff meeting that I got to get to.
- 55:51So meanwhile, like in the in the the hurriedness of trying to
- 55:57finish up the the project I was working on and get to the the
- 56:00conference room for the meeting. I get, I get the update that
- 56:05that Jack Lighter's making his debut on Thursday.
- 56:08He's getting called up. So in a scramble I'm like I'm in
- 56:13an advantage here because the rest of the I would venture to
- 56:17say the majority of the guys in our three O take fantasy league
- 56:21aren't tapped into every like you know like league wide
- 56:25activity. They they have their, they have
- 56:27their favorite teams to learn. They have their favorite teams.
- 56:30And understandably so. Like I if if we weren't doing
- 56:32this, I'd probably just only be really paying attention about
- 56:35the Red Sox and maybe dabble in some other league wide stuff
- 56:38here and there. But I saw that update and I'm
- 56:40like, oh shoot, maybe the maybe the rest of the guys maybe they
- 56:44haven't caught wind of this yet. So let me let me hustle on over
- 56:48to the fantasy app, see if I can snag him.
- 56:52So I snag him. I add him and I get the warning.
- 56:57You must drop somebody. Sure.
- 57:00And meanwhile. All this is happening as the
- 57:02meeting's getting started, 'cause I, you know, I was just
- 57:04sitting there waiting for the meeting to start.
- 57:06As the meeting's getting started, I'm looking for
- 57:09somebody to drop and wouldn't you know it right off the top,
- 57:15Kyle, we'd like you to start the meeting with some updates that
- 57:19you have to bring to the table. Excellent.
- 57:25And in my head I'm going, I can't do that.
- 57:29I have a huge. Pass addition.
- 57:31I need to make. Yeah.
- 57:32Can can you come back to me? Can I think on it?
- 57:36I know what I'm. I know what I brought to the
- 57:38meeting today, but I need to think on it some more.
- 57:40Yeah, I really need to let these thoughts marinate.
- 57:47I couldn't say that. So I had to.
- 57:49I had to go about my business. And wouldn't you know it, the
- 57:54screen that I left the fantasy app on had Jack Leiter added and
- 58:00was just waiting for me to drop somebody.
- 58:04And then I get an update that says Nate Reyes has added Jack
- 58:09Leiter. Sure did to his fantasy team.
- 58:13To which to which at? That very point in the staff
- 58:16meeting I fell, I'll, I started. I started cursing the lighter
- 58:23name. I said I hope he Subs his toe.
- 58:26Walking to the stadium we got the whole naked out the whole
- 58:29text exchange. If you want to go, if you want
- 58:30to check it out on Twitter. He posted it.
- 58:33He put me on blast exposed. Exposed my evil ways to the to
- 58:37the work world. He exposed the inner the the
- 58:41inner feelings that I have that I don't, that don't always
- 58:43necessarily make it to the public.
- 58:45Sure. I was I.
- 58:46Was not in a good place and so I'm yeah, I'm cursed in the
- 58:49lighter name and wouldn't you know it Nate walks away with a
- 58:51grin on his face and Jack lighter on his team.
- 58:54So. Who's your what's your boss's
- 58:56name? I'd like to buy them lunch for
- 58:58that. That's a that's an excellent
- 59:02excellent Just a just a heads up idea.
- 59:10Started off right with KC in the meeting.
- 59:15Literally. It's never happened.
- 59:16Like, of all days I go to pick up Jack and wouldn't you know
- 59:21it, no luck. No dice.
- 59:24But look, I'm, I'm excited. Jokes aside, I'm, I'm, I'm glad
- 59:29we're finally getting to see this kid.
- 59:31He he's been in the conversation for a while now he AAA this year
- 59:38he threw 14 1/3 struck out 25 Oh my and and walked three although
- 59:45he did he he gave up a a a few long balls but he's getting the
- 59:50start against Detroit on again Thursday.
- 59:54By the time you're hearing this you may be you may be gearing up
- 59:58for this game so certainly check this one out.
- 1:00:02I think it'll be a good one. I'm I'm.
- 1:00:05Going to go ahead and assume they're not going to run them
- 1:00:07out there while the they're going to monitor, monitor the
- 1:00:14pitch, the pitch count same. Same as the same I think, that
- 1:00:20the Pirates are doing with a guy like Jared Jones and what I
- 1:00:29imagine they'll do with Paul Skins whenever that time comes.
- 1:00:32Mike can't wait for that. How much?
- 1:00:35How much? More does that kid need to do?
- 1:00:38I know. What are we?
- 1:00:39Doing. I don't know.
- 1:00:41Get the kid up there already. Unbelievable.
- 1:00:48I I I think I'm most excited for the fact that, like, Leiter's
- 1:00:57dad was like, we just talked about this last episode with all
- 1:01:01the injuries going on. And I'm not saying like his son
- 1:01:05is immune to injuries. But with his dad being who he
- 1:01:11was, of being a pitcher, pitching, spotting up, mixing
- 1:01:20speeds, not here to blast you away, I'm just really excited
- 1:01:26that I've. I hope that's what his son has.
- 1:01:30I hope that's what Jack is coming to the to to the table
- 1:01:34with. So we'll see me gusta me.
- 1:01:40Gusta. I don't know if.
- 1:01:42You knew him and Anthony Volpe were high school teammates.
- 1:01:45I saw that. Did you see the video of the kid
- 1:01:49respond like did you did you see the tweet?
- 1:01:52I I'm assuming you're referencing the tweet that I I
- 1:01:54saw. I saw it.
- 1:01:55On the picture of the broadcast, I didn't see.
- 1:01:57I saw like the picture of them on the as high school teammates,
- 1:02:00but I didn't see the let me see. Like the tweet?
- 1:02:04They were, yeah, high school teammates and they were supposed
- 1:02:06to go to Vandy together, but Volpe went in the first round of
- 1:02:10the Yankees, so he was like Sia. So this shout out DJ Leigh MVP
- 1:02:18on Twitter. He he put up a picture you can
- 1:02:21you can check it out if you haven't seen it.
- 1:02:23Posted a picture of Vulpi and lighter in high school with some
- 1:02:28sick jerseys. Might I add they look clean.
- 1:02:30Right, those are. Clean dude, those hats.
- 1:02:33I might I need one of those hats, he he said.
- 1:02:37Imagine sitting in class all day and then having to face Anthony
- 1:02:40Vulpi and Jack Lighter after. And in and of itself, fantastic
- 1:02:46post. It's hilarious.
- 1:02:48But apparently a kid like made a video in response to the post
- 1:02:54and like, he did the whole like green screen thing with the
- 1:02:58tweet behind him and he was reading off.
- 1:02:59He's like, yeah, imagine sitting in class all day and then having
- 1:03:01to face these guys. And then he's like, yeah, that
- 1:03:04was me. That's what I had to do.
- 1:03:06And he just goes into this like a minute or two long rant about
- 1:03:10how it just sucked that he had to face these two kids.
- 1:03:13And how like, Volpe took Jeter's job and how that was like every
- 1:03:16kids dream growing up and like, he's like, yeah, they're playing
- 1:03:22the best of the best. And meanwhile, I'm just like
- 1:03:25some scrub, like, who am I? So I thought that was funny.
- 1:03:29You you'd have to find that if you haven't seen already but
- 1:03:37yeah I think I think you said it best May gusta looking forward
- 1:03:40to it. Yeah I'm gonna be that will
- 1:03:43certainly be appointment television.
- 1:03:44I'll be looking forward to that. Before we get out of here with
- 1:03:48our weekend series to watch and maybe our our quick takes, just
- 1:03:52wanted to let you share maybe some thoughts on John Sterling.
- 1:03:58Yeah, I know. I I get.
- 1:04:01I understand the the hate. I understand the the fun that a
- 1:04:07lot of, like baseball fans have pointed at him for the years.
- 1:04:11And I I know the. The.
- 1:04:15Goofy video, I think. I think pitching ninja
- 1:04:20throughout the video were like there was a pitch that Garrett
- 1:04:24Cole like just totally LED Aaron to the backstop and then it
- 1:04:27flashed like John Sterling getting hit with the ball in the
- 1:04:31booth, like just so messed up. But the AJ said it in the
- 1:04:37voicemail. Like I wouldn't say he's like
- 1:04:40the best at his craft. I wouldn't say, you know, like
- 1:04:42there were probably plenty of baseball fans that found him
- 1:04:45obnoxious. But like, for me, just as a
- 1:04:47lifelong Yankee fan, like I the guy is just he is who he is, you
- 1:04:51know, and and the fun, like the fun calls that he had for home
- 1:04:57runs. And like every Yankee fan would
- 1:04:59like, if you get a new Yankee on the team, you couldn't wait to
- 1:05:02hear John Sterling's call of what it would be.
- 1:05:07The good news is I don't. AJ mentioned this in his in his
- 1:05:11voicemail as well about his health.
- 1:05:12I was listening to the broadcast the other day and Michael Kay
- 1:05:15was like, no, he texted me the other day saying he was going to
- 1:05:17retire. He's just done.
- 1:05:19He's just tired. It's not anything to do with
- 1:05:21health. So I think that's good news.
- 1:05:22Like, it's nothing worrisome. I mean he's like, yeah, I think
- 1:05:27he's 84, 8585, Yeah, dude, like it.
- 1:05:32That's a great, that's a great career.
- 1:05:34It's a great life. And 35 years of broadcasting, 36
- 1:05:38years of broadcasting, whatever it was starting the Yes Network
- 1:05:42and you know, being like the main guy before Michael Kay was
- 1:05:47getting to be in the in in the radio booth with Susan Waldman.
- 1:05:50I mean just like I don't know the the the Yankee the Yankee
- 1:05:58sound you have certain voices you know Bob Shepard announcing
- 1:06:04guys and and Jeter you know using him for the rest of his
- 1:06:07career. And you got Michael Kay, you got
- 1:06:09Susan Waldman, you got John Sterling, man.
- 1:06:12Like I don't know. I'm, I'm a sucker for for the
- 1:06:19the old school guys. The guys that are you know born
- 1:06:22and raised a Yankee fan and getting to live their dream.
- 1:06:24That's what he talked about in his retirement statement, like
- 1:06:27he got to live his dream. So I think it's amazing.
- 1:06:31I think it's cool. I I can't wait for the standing
- 1:06:34ovation that he's going to get in Yankee Stadium.
- 1:06:37I think they're going to do a little ceremony for him on
- 1:06:40Friday. So I think Saturday.
- 1:06:43Is what he said Saturday so? Just just super, super cool.
- 1:06:50Then just you could tell like a a guy that just absolutely loves
- 1:06:53and lives and breathes baseball. So yeah, sad, but I get it.
- 1:07:01A little strange timing wise as well.
- 1:07:04But I think maybe he just tried to go for a run at it this year
- 1:07:07and just didn't have the the gas.
- 1:07:10They talked to Michael Kay about just being, like super tired of
- 1:07:13like getting in and out of the stadium every day.
- 1:07:15And the traveling man, I'm turning 31 in May, and I can
- 1:07:21relate to that man's 85 like. 85 joined the booth and 89 for the
- 1:07:28Yankees. Went on to call 5420 regular
- 1:07:31season games and 211 postseason games so.
- 1:07:36They had like, a crazy consecutive streak, too.
- 1:07:40Yeah, yeah, apparently the streak ended because it said he
- 1:07:44he got like sick or something. I'm like you're telling me he he
- 1:07:47was like just a OK leading up to that point.
- 1:07:50Like, how in the world do you manage?
- 1:07:52Like doing this podcast? I'll get I get sick.
- 1:07:55I get allergies every spring and fall and there are days where
- 1:07:59I'm just like now I'm tapping out.
- 1:08:00But like how he was able to do that is impressive.
- 1:08:03So there's like you were saying, regardless what you think of
- 1:08:05him, guys? He's important.
- 1:08:08He's just important to the organization.
- 1:08:10There is a there's a Twitter movement going.
- 1:08:12I think Brian Hoke is trying to get something going where before
- 1:08:19Sinatra plays at the stadium after a win, they're trying to
- 1:08:23get the the Yankees win. They're trying to get that to
- 1:08:27play in. And like I I do, the
- 1:08:29organization is fantastic about this stuff with names, with
- 1:08:35tradition, with people involved. Like, I think they're gonna do
- 1:08:38something really cool for him with having.
- 1:08:40Shepherd call Jeter's ABS even after he like stuff like that.
- 1:08:44I mean it's just. Little stuff that they do a
- 1:08:46really good job with, so. Hate to say it, but I love it.
- 1:08:50All right. Weekend series to watch.
- 1:08:54I got the Mets versus the Dodgers.
- 1:08:56We talked about the Mets earlier but I think this is a this will
- 1:08:59be a a big early season test. Also for the the Dodgers.
- 1:09:04I think I saw that they've lost four straight series now.
- 1:09:07So some some interesting narratives coming to ahead this
- 1:09:13weekend. You've got the Mets looking to
- 1:09:14maybe show that this is maybe a little more legit than people
- 1:09:18have given them credit for including ourselves.
- 1:09:21And you've got the Dodgers looking to right the ship a
- 1:09:24little bit and and get back to, I don't want to say get back to
- 1:09:31the script but like, you know, I think, I think everybody, I
- 1:09:34think everybody can agree the Dodgers are, are, are were
- 1:09:38expected to be winning every ball game that they play
- 1:09:43handsomely and just hasn't hasn't gone that way thus far.
- 1:09:47But I think it'll be a good, a good weekend match up.
- 1:09:51So that's what I'm going with. Game one, you got Sean Manaya
- 1:09:53versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That'll be 10:10 PM Eastern.
- 1:09:58Game two on game one, Friday. Game 2 will be Saturday.
- 1:10:02Jose Bhutto versus Gavin Stone. 4:05 PM Eastern and game three
- 1:10:08will be Adrian Hauser versus James Paxton, who's who's having
- 1:10:12a not too bad start himself this year.
- 1:10:15James Paxton 4:10 PM Eastern on Sunday.
- 1:10:19So that's what I've got. What do you got?
- 1:10:21So. Annoying seeing organizations
- 1:10:23who have just everything that they need, squeezing the last
- 1:10:30every. Last Oz.
- 1:10:32Yeah. Good for.
- 1:10:33Him. I'm going to O's in Kansas City.
- 1:10:40I gotta give you credit, brother.
- 1:10:41Like you were riding them hard in the Hot Takes episode.
- 1:10:46You're talking about how the Royals are.
- 1:10:48You're gonna earn a spot, man. So they're off to a really,
- 1:10:51really good start, 12 and six, both ball clubs going in, I
- 1:10:55believe, Right? As of right now, I'm not quite
- 1:10:57sure if that's. Royals had a double header
- 1:11:00today. I don't know how the second game
- 1:11:01wrapped up or that might be wrapping up right now.
- 1:11:05Game one, Friday 440 start on the Pacific.
- 1:11:11That's right for our for our West Coast peeps.
- 1:11:13I'm going to give those times from here on out.
- 1:11:16Kramer versus Marsh. Game two, Saturday 410 Pacific,
- 1:11:22we got Burns and Reagan's. I think that's the one everyone
- 1:11:25needs to lock into. Reagan's is just super super
- 1:11:32bright future. I really excited to see what
- 1:11:34that guy does. And then Sunday you got Cole
- 1:11:39over and going against Seth Lugo at the 11:10 Pacific, the
- 1:11:45ageless wonder Seth Lugo, who I don't know why they don't update
- 1:11:51the hats, the logo on like certain apps.
- 1:11:54ESPN still got the Padres hat on for Seth Lugo in the picture.
- 1:11:58Like, figured out, but Cole over.
- 1:12:02It's ESP NS credit. They'll they have the correct
- 1:12:05pitching matchups where MLB you just see a bunch of TBD.
- 1:12:07So that's true. I'll, I'll take.
- 1:12:09The hats if I can get the correct pitching matchups on
- 1:12:11time. So that's fair, but.
- 1:12:14Yeah, Koorin, another shot at. I don't know that it seems like
- 1:12:18it could be a quick, a short leash, quick trigger on maybe
- 1:12:22moving him to the bullpen if things don't start looking a
- 1:12:25little better for him in the rotation.
- 1:12:27So, but either way, just like you talked about a good test for
- 1:12:32a team that's off to a really good start and I don't know man,
- 1:12:37I something going on in Kansas City.
- 1:12:42I'm. I'm gonna keep riding that.
- 1:12:44I don't. I don't want you to forget.
- 1:12:46I know. Now you have Bobby Witt on the
- 1:12:47squad too, so how about? That made a little made a little
- 1:12:50trade. How about that?
- 1:12:52This was. Yankees.
- 1:12:53Red Sox making a trade, By the way this.
- 1:12:55You and I make maybe one trade a year.
- 1:12:57Maybe a trade a year. Yeah.
- 1:13:00If, if that, and it's always big, it's never.
- 1:13:04We're not trading like we. Don't do.
- 1:13:06We're not. Trading chumps, we.
- 1:13:09Never talk to each other unless it's something worthwhile.
- 1:13:12It's. Bobby Witt caliber and above
- 1:13:14like that's what those are the names were were trade in
- 1:13:17fantasy. All right.
- 1:13:20Real quick here. For the sake of time I got to
- 1:13:22get out of here. Let's run through our I still
- 1:13:27think it's an unnamed segment we have.
- 1:13:29I don't know if we've established a name we do have
- 1:13:31some in the hopper that I think we're gonna we're gonna kick
- 1:13:35around we'll see how we'll see how we like them.
- 1:13:38But basically, again, if you didn't catch the last episode,
- 1:13:42trying to wrap up each each episode we do with just a a
- 1:13:47quick hot take, Not not necessarily a hot take, but just
- 1:13:50a take that we we stand behind. That may or may not have been
- 1:13:56addressed throughout the episode, but it's a it's an
- 1:13:58opportunity to maybe talk about something that we didn't get to
- 1:14:00during the episode and to just let it fly.
- 1:14:03So. Me.
- 1:14:07You, Sarner. You got it, Ollie.
- 1:14:11Marmal, Scumbag. That's all I that's all I really
- 1:14:14need to get. But what are we doing, My man in
- 1:14:18Oakland, the security guard like?
- 1:14:21Just doing. His job.
- 1:14:22He's got one job, one job, and he probably doesn't have that
- 1:14:27job for much longer thanks to that crummy organization.
- 1:14:31All he has to do is walk up the steps, make sure all is cool in
- 1:14:34between innings while there's no play happening.
- 1:14:39Happens to be wrong place, wrong time because of this garbage
- 1:14:42dugout that's been created that there's no entrance for my man.
- 1:14:47And Ollie Marmel is pretending like, oh, I can't see my guy on
- 1:14:51the phone and Yanks him out of the way.
- 1:14:53Gonna shove him down the stairs. Freaking assault, man.
- 1:14:57Leave my guy alone and I don't. He didn't even seem remorseful.
- 1:15:02Afterwards he goes over the umpire like, oh, I couldn't get
- 1:15:04my call in on time because this guy was in the way.
- 1:15:07Shut up. Shut up.
- 1:15:11Ollie Marmel. Scumbag.
- 1:15:14Just a quick couple quick comments.
- 1:15:16I didn't want to interrupt because there's no entrance for
- 1:15:21that dugout. I'm.
- 1:15:22I'm coming to the defense of Ollie Marmol with this
- 1:15:25particular point. Nope, because there's no
- 1:15:29specified entrance. You could argue that that whole
- 1:15:32dugout is an entrance. So the fact that he chose that
- 1:15:36particular route to take to the top of the stairs to get to
- 1:15:41field level it, it was interesting.
- 1:15:45Let's go back by. Association.
- 1:15:47Careful but. But second of all, whoa, you
- 1:15:51can. You can Whoa, yeah, just saying
- 1:15:54if you get too close. That was uncalled for.
- 1:16:05That was uncalled for 2nd. Too close to the sun second.
- 1:16:09Point do we know if he ended up getting the call off like did
- 1:16:13they were they able to like iron that out and give give him his
- 1:16:17review that he wanted? I don't know.
- 1:16:20I don't know. How that But oh so Third Point,
- 1:16:233rd, 3rd and final point. Like if you're playing the A's
- 1:16:27and you're you're relying on a A review to to save the outcome of
- 1:16:32the game for you, you've already lost.
- 1:16:35I. Mean he almost.
- 1:16:37Shoved him down the stairs. Yeah, it was.
- 1:16:39A bit aggressive. I'm like, oh, like, come on man,
- 1:16:41like. The poor guy is not going to
- 1:16:44have a job in a couple months. Oh, I he's probably already been
- 1:16:47let go. I know I don't even.
- 1:16:50Want to look into that 'cause I don't want to know what I'm
- 1:16:51going to for. All right, man, let's just, all
- 1:16:54right, ruin my day. My take?
- 1:16:59I kind of alluded to it earlier, but I wanted to save it for now.
- 1:17:04I'm gonna need the Alex Coruslander to stop.
- 1:17:09I'm. Gonna need the Alex Coruslander
- 1:17:11to stop people saying he can only manage when he's given the
- 1:17:17best team in baseball, a la the 2018 Red Sox, where you have
- 1:17:20Mookie beds, Xander Bogarts and the like, and that he can't
- 1:17:24manage A-Team otherwise. As I said, when you're a manager
- 1:17:33of a team that plays defense as if they're limbless Little
- 1:17:40Leaguers, there's only so much you can do that's not on Alex
- 1:17:45Cora. There's a bare minimum
- 1:17:48assumption at the Major League level that you can field and
- 1:17:54throw at a fundamental level and when they don't do that and they
- 1:18:04lose games because of it, specifically because of that,
- 1:18:08their errors, worst defensive team in baseball right now,
- 1:18:12they're getting picked off left and right on the bases.
- 1:18:14They don't know how to run bases.
- 1:18:15You got Tristan Casas trying to swipe third.
- 1:18:22That's not on Alex Cora. There has to be a a minimum
- 1:18:27level of accountability for these players to actually play
- 1:18:30baseball like Major League Baseball players.
- 1:18:32They're not playing at that level and that does not fall on
- 1:18:35Alex Cora. If they're playing at a Major
- 1:18:38League level. And they're just not, they're
- 1:18:41not executing. They're not taking advantage of
- 1:18:44those opportunities that that get you to that win.
- 1:18:47Those small as as those opportunities are presented over
- 1:18:52the course of nine innings, you know those opportunities, you
- 1:18:54take advantage of that, give you that win.
- 1:18:57If you're not doing that, OK, we need to look at maybe some of
- 1:19:00the decisions that are being made with the the bullpen usage
- 1:19:03and positional alignment, defensive alignment.
- 1:19:07But when you can't at a bare minimum, even field a ground
- 1:19:11ball and make an accurate throw as a Major League player, that's
- 1:19:14not on the manager, that's on the player.
- 1:19:16So there's going to be a much greater level of accountability
- 1:19:23needed for the Red Sox. That's all I wanted to say is
- 1:19:31this. Just the beginning of the
- 1:19:32dumpster fire. And I'm not saying for the year.
- 1:19:36I'm saying like, is this about to be a rough period?
- 1:19:42Dude, we're staring down the barrel of a We're staring down
- 1:19:45the barrel of 1/3 consecutive last place finish.
- 1:19:49We're we're already well in the rough period.
- 1:19:54When you put it like that. People want to point to 2018.
- 1:19:57That was six years ago. That was six years ago.
- 1:20:02And I know, like, oh, Boston Red Sox fan, he's he's just spoiled.
- 1:20:05He doesn't know how good he has it.
- 1:20:07Sure, but like, like, play fundamental baseball.
- 1:20:13I I'm not asking for a World Series every year.
- 1:20:15That'd be great, sure. But like, can I just at least
- 1:20:17watch a Major League caliber baseball game?
- 1:20:24That's all I want. That's all I want.
- 1:20:27Anyway, we got to get out of here, so that'll that'll pretty
- 1:20:32much wrap it up for us. Unless you got anything else for
- 1:20:34the folks, no that. Looks like a nice new shirt.
- 1:20:37Is that new? It's not just a shirt I've had
- 1:20:40for a couple years. Just a nice, nice solid black
- 1:20:42tee, you know? Looks clean.
- 1:20:43Looks great. Steve Jobs desk solid black.
- 1:20:47Not a not a worn away black. Thank you.
- 1:20:50I appreciate it. I appreciate you and I hope you
- 1:20:53have a great Caribbean cruise. Thank you very much.
- 1:20:56Thank you very much. I won't miss any of ya.
- 1:21:03Appreciate you, and I think you said you're gonna have your
- 1:21:05phone off the whole time, so don't even bother trying to
- 1:21:07reach off, it'll be unsafe. Won't even be on I, I, even in
- 1:21:14the in the Caribbean, won't be chasing any curveballs.
- 1:21:19Neither should you. We love y'all and as always,
- 1:21:22looking forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
- 1:21:24Until next time, stay filthy.