Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Ohtani IL'd, Josue De Paula debut time, Aaron Judge’s build up, NL WC & NL East races

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Fair Territory: Ohtani IL'd, Josue De Paula debut time, Aaron Judge’s build up, NL WC & NL East races · Foul Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Welcome, everyone, to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo. And Alana, the Rays
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: can clinch a postseason berth today. The Brewers can clinch
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: as early as tomorrow. But with all that going on
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and the other races and a wild card, all of
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: these things, the race of the Turtles for the third
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: AL wild card, what is dominating the news right now
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: are two of the biggest stars in the game and
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: their physical conditions. And what we have today as a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: subtitle of the show is how difficult it is to
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: handle stars with injuries.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: No question about that. Ken, always good to be with
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: you on this Thursday. Great time for our sport, obviously mid-September.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: But the bigger question and the bigger situation is Shohei
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Ohtani going on the IL and Josue DePaula being called up.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: It's kind of an unprecedented move for this Dodgers front office.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Well, it is simply because DePaul is coming up from AA,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and that is unusual for the Dodgers. But, of course,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the big story is Shohei. And as Fabiano Daya wrote
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: today in The Athletic, and as Dave Roberts actually said yesterday,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: they kicked the can down the road too far. And
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: if you recall, Shohei's knee injury surfaced probably in May,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and he hasn't pitched since, what, June? And really, this
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: has been going on for months. They never put him
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: on the IL, never gave him a break. And then
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the biceps issue surfaced. So then that translated into a
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: neck problem as well. And here we are, all these
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: problems mounted. They could have put him on the IL
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: last week before they rested him four days. They brought
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: him back. General Manager Brandon Gohm said, oh, no, it's
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: not physical. Really, it's physical. And now... He will be
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: on the IL for 15 days. That is what it
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: is for a two-way player. And he will come back,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: assuming he's healthy enough to come back, with just five
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: games left in the season. Now, Alon, a lot of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: people said, and I've wondered too, is this a case
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: of a player just having too much control? And I
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: don't know that it is as much that as a
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: player who is not communicating his physical condition well enough
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to the team. And... We've seen this over the years
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: with a lot of players who want to stay on
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the field. They basically lie about their injuries. He's not
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the first Dodger to do it. Clayton Kershaw was known
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: for this, Freddie Freeman. But with Otani, the problem is
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: now the time is of an essence here. Time is
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: of the essence. And you have to make sure he
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: is right offensively for the postseason because he means so much, Alana,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to their offense.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Ken, I had this conversation with Katie Wu and Clint
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Pasillas on Dodgers territory earlier in the week that Shohei
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Otani obviously is the most important part of the puzzle
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: when you think about the value that he brings to
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: the team, but he is in fact just a part.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: He is not the sum. He is a part of
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: that sum. How do you think, and I'm not asking
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: to put words in your mouth, but this is a
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: situation in which you have to manage the biggest player
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: in the game.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Was this a communication issue?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Was this more of a situation of we're going to
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: see if it can play itself out? Or was it
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: a case of we finally have to put him on
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the IL to save him from himself?
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: In your estimation, what do you think?
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: That is exactly what happened here, Alana. And it is
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: a matter at this point of saving him from himself
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: The question is, should the Dodgers have taken this step sooner?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: And I'm not sure I got my timeline right before
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: about when he first felt the problem. But the point is,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: as Fabian wrote, this has been going on for months.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: And when you have a situation like that, yeah, you
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: can try to finesse it. And we know he wanted
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to keep pitching, kept trying to keep pitching. And he
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: wanted to win the Cy Young. All that, OK. My
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: understanding is he is right. someone who cares greatly about
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: the team and wants to do what's best for the team.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, he believes what's best for
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the team is him getting on the field, rightly so.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: And basically, this got away from them. And it got
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: away from them. And now we're in mid-September, going to
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: late September. And you question whether this will be enough
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: for him to perform at his usual level in the postseason. Basically,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers are conceding, no, he will not be at
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: that 100% level. No player is at this time of year.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And that is where the Dodgers are with this. And
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: did they wait too long? Yes, I would say they
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: waited too long. And at some point, you do have
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: to step in. And you see Dave Roberts in reaction
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: to the question, should they have handled this differently? Anyone
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: can do that and say, what could you have done
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: better or different? That's true. Absolutely, he says. That's something
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: going forward we're going to look at. Absolutely. But it's
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: certainly not a blame game thing. It's learning from what
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: happened and getting better. That last sentence is the key.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: And the Dodgers are going to need to learn from
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: this and approach things with Otani differently as we go
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: forward here. He's not a young man anymore. He's in
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: his low 30s. And he's a guy who's had a
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: pretty extensive injury history.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: Ken, one thing I've learned about Shohei Ohtani through people
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: that have covered him, obviously, and just watching the Dodgers
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: intimately over the last several years is he is a
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: competitor and he wants to win and he wants to
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: be out there every single day. And that you can
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: appreciate about him. But obviously, Shohei Ohtani, as big of
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: a piece of the puzzle as he is, this is
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: something that needed to be done as far as putting
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: him on the IL. One thing also that is difficult,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: and you can certainly attest to this, is when Shohei
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Ohtani didn't speak for three weeks, That makes it very
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: difficult for folks that are covering him and certainly makes
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: it very difficult for Dave Roberts because then he has
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: to serve as Shohei's mouthpiece when it comes to the
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: injuries and that type of thing. I think this can
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: only help the Dodgers moving forward that Shohei did speak
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: to the media and kind of gave the media a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: sense of what he has been going through. So at
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: least now there is a clearer picture. Is that a
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: fair assessment?
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Somewhat, yes. And fans often say, why do you guys
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: rip players or talk about players when they don't talk
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: to the media? They don't have to talk to the media.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: And that is absolutely 100% true. The problem that results
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: when players don't talk is that someone has to speak
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: for them. And in this case, it's Dave Roberts. In
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: other cases, it could be another player, whatever the case
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: might be. And that can lead to issues in a clubhouse.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: So yes, it does matter in that sense. It doesn't
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: matter that they don't want to communicate their thoughts to
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: the media and have the media communicate their thoughts to
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the fans. Players have their right to talk or not talk.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: We all get that. But what it does is sometimes
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: create an uncomfortable situation for others. Now, I don't know
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: that Dave Roberts is ever uncomfortable speaking to the media.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: The greater communication gap here was between Otani and the
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Dodgers and his seeming I don't want to say lack
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: of honesty. That's not the right way of putting it.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Lack of transparency maybe with how he was feeling. And reluctance.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: This is a good word. Reluctance to share exactly what
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: was going on. That seems to be what is the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: case here.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you want to be able to post every single day.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman is the exact same way. It's almost impossible
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: to get him out of the lineup. How injured, Ken,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: do you suppose that Shohei Otani is? Because he's really
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: just been okay overall since the All-Star break. A. 250 average,.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: 809 OPS, 41 games, but his struggles have worsened over
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: the last month or so.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Just a.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: 237 batting average OPS of. 792 since August 1st. just
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: a 137 average and a 545 OPS since mid-August. That
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: was August 18th before sitting.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, is he, is he, again, you're not a doctor.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: You're not the, you're not the trainer.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: You're not seeing Shohei on a daily basis, but it
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: seems that he's pretty banged up. Everybody's dealing with something
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: at this time, but it seems like it could be
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: a little bit more severe for Otani.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: A lot of all those numbers you just cited, they
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: tell a story and that's not typical Shohei Otani. So
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: How much each particular issue is affecting him, that we
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe he doesn't even know that. It's hard
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: to know your body sometimes and what effect it's taking
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: when it's not 100%. But clearly he has not been
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: the same player. And we saw the other night he
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: took a number of swings that he looked uncomfortable on.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: And that is what led to this move. All right.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Another move because of this is Josue de Paula is
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: getting called up. He's from AA and 124 games can
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: pretty impressive. I realize it's just the AA level, but
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: a 303 average 948 OPS 37 doubles can 27 home runs.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: 104 RBI, and he has scored 106 runs. Now he
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: just turned 21 years old in May. Again, in Andrew
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Friedman's tenure, this is the first time he's kind of
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: brought up a top prospect, certainly from this level.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: What do you make of it?
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Certainly they need a guy right now. And DePaula is
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: one of the top prospects in the game. He fits
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: in nicely as a DH. There are some defensive questions
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: with him, but This will be an intriguing look at
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: him down the stretch, and who knows what it might
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: mean as well for their postseason roster.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: All right, Los Angeles Dodgers making news. As always, the
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: playoffs are coming, guys, but the race in the NL
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: East is getting pretty exciting. Let's talk about it on deck,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: presented by Fox 1. All right, Ken, on deck presented
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: by the Fox One app. No Fox games this weekend,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: so you're kind of off.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Not really. You're never off. But the playoffs are near. Now,
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: two and a half weeks left in the regular season. And, Ken,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: the Braves and Phillies are making it interesting. It is.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: And after Sunday's game, when Acuna hit the big home run,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: the Braves opened their lead in the NLEs to five games.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: It is now down to three. The Phillies won the
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: next day, and since then, we've seen it shrink to
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: this current level, three games, with three games coming this weekend,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: and obviously, these are big games for the Phillies, and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: these are two teams that are both flawed The Braves
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: with their rotation issues beyond sale. That's one problem. And offensively,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: they've scored three runs the last three games. They've been
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: a streaky offensive team. And at times that has shown
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: up as it has these last three days. The Phillies,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: they're a team that has bullpen issues in front of Duran.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: And Matt Gelb wrote an interesting article in The Athletic yesterday,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: basically suggesting that they use one of their big starters
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: in relief in game one of the wildcard series against
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: In other words, just to get to Duran and make
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: it easier that way without having to expose any of
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: their weaker relievers. So here we are. It's really close.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: And there are other races involved here as well. The
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: race for the number two position in the National League,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: the bye, the second bye. And that's something the Braves
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: are still contending with the Dodgers with. I like the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Dodgers in that race simply because their schedule is the
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: easiest remaining schedule in Major League Baseball. And then the Phillies...
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: have a one-and-a-half game lead over the Cubs in the
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: wildcard race for the top wildcard spot. Cubs led this
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: race by about six-and-a-half games in mid-August, and here it is,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: and their bullpen has completely fallen apart. Mike Petriello of
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: MLB.com had an interesting note today, basically saying Cubs have
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: a top offense, a top defense, and they rank 30th
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: in pitching wins above replacement. The bullpen is a big
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: part of that, and Jacob Webb, who had been so
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: strong for them, has basically collapsed in the last week
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: or two. So can the Phillies hold off the Cubs?
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Can the Phillies catch the Braves? These are the storylines
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: in play.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: I absolutely love this time of year, Ken.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Everybody jockeying for position in terms of that third wild
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: card spot and still some guys in terms of, you know,
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: seating and that type of thing. And then, of course,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: once the playoff starts, it's the best time of year
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: for Major League Baseball. Well, MLB on Fox is streaming
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: on Fox One, the race to October. It starts now
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: and we have your front row seat to the wildest
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: walk offs, lights out pitching and clutch plays all season long.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Follow every can't-miss matchup as teams battle for a spot
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: in the postseason. Then stream the 2026 World Series live
• 12:26
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• 12:29
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• 12:30
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• 12:33
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• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Com.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: All right, we welcome you to this session of Grill
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: and Ken. And Ken, it is the delicate case of
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: building Aaron Judge back up after a long stint on
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: the IL.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: You wrote about it. What say you?
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Well, after the first game he played, six innings, Judge
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: told reporters afterward he was not happy to be pulled,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: even though Aaron Boone had basically indicated to him that
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: that was going to happen. Last night, played eight innings,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: two hits, looked good. And the question is, how do
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: you build up a player at the major league level
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: after he has missed more than three months? And it's
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: an interesting question. Judge obviously wants to play, wants as
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: many at-bats as possible. Came back in 2023 from missing
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: two months with a toe injury. No rehab assignment then either,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: and was just fine. So here are the Yankees. And
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: what I wrote was, The worst case scenario here is
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: that Judge plays too much too soon, does too much
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: too soon, and injures, either re-injures this particular matter, the rib,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: or suffers some other kind of injury, maybe a hamstring,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: a calf, an oblique. That's the danger. That's what the
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Yankees have to be worried about. And that is the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: delicate balance that you just mentioned, that they're navigating right now.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be easy. They have another game today.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure that Judge will be in the lineup.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Boone has indicated that he might give him a day
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: off in this series. But they're taking it day by day.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: And it's just the kind of thing where it goes
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: back to the trust in the player. Did the Dodgers
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: trust Otani too much? How much can the Yankees trust
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Judge to be forthcoming? They have the ability now to
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: measure strength and do all these different kinds of things.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: How many steps are guys taking? Of course. But... it
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: still comes down to how the player feels inside. And
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Judge is going to have to be honest, too, about
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: how he feels, if indeed he has any particular concerns
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: at all that might arise.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the Yankees are in. They need Aaron Judge for
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: the postseason, certainly. This next question is one I think
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: a lot of us are asking, Ken. Lasershow15 underscore U4K.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: How are managers losing track of their mound visits? Tough
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: look for Craig Stammen and the Padres dugout.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: How does that happen?
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know how that happens. And you get two
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: an inning. If you get the second, well, you get
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: one an inning. If you do the second one, then
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: the pitcher comes out of the game. Now, earlier this season,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: last month, Will Venable of the White Sox simply blew it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: And he went out there for a second visit. And
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: that was it for Noah Schultz. The one yesterday with
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Stammen was a little bit different. He came out of
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: the dugout intending to take Walker Buehler out of the game.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: It was the second visit. Buehler then talked him out
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: of it. And then Stamman didn't realize, oh, it's the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: second visit. He's got to come out. Now, the difference
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: here was Venable had nobody warming up. The Padres had
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Kyle Hart warming up. So this wasn't as egregious. But
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: you ask how this can happen. With a bench coach
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: sitting there, you'd think he pulled a manager back. That's
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: kind of the bench coach's job in these kinds of situations.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: But it didn't happen. And listen, it's happened twice in
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: all of the major league games this season. As I
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: said in my show the other day, talking about A
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: lot of different things. People make mistakes, and we have
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: to accept that sometimes.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he needs a pullback guy, a pullback coach like
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Sean McVay of the.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Rams has.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: All right, so Jordan Alvarez, my goodness, what a season.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: His chase for the Triple Crown.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Do you think he gets it done?
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure he gets it done, but in my view,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: this is one of the more underplayed stories of the season,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: what Alvarez has accomplished. He's leading in batting average. He's
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: right there in home runs and RBIs. And I know
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: the Triple Crown might not be as valued by people
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: today as it once was simply because we are more
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: focused on rate stats. But my goodness, you lead the
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. It's still
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: an enormous accomplishment. Hasn't been done since Miguel Cabrera in
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the early 2010s. And it's something that, if it happens,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: will be really cool. So I am personally rooting for Alvarez.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: He's one of the game's Great stars. A guy who,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: in my view, in general, does not get enough attention.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: He is one of the top three or four hitters
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: in the game. And if he wins the Triple Crown,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: obviously that will further cement him as that.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the few, maybe one of the only
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: misses by Andrew Friedman, trading Jordaan Alvarez to the Astros
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: for Josh Fields. All right, Armand is amazing. Ken, what
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: managers that are in the wildcard race could be fired
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: if they miss the playoffs?
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't expect Craig Stammen will be fired. It's
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: his first year. Tori Lavello is an interesting question. Now,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the Paul Marte incident, kind of shed a poor light
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: on Lavello, even though I would suggest that it shed
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: a much poorer light on Marte. But if they miss,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: is it conceivable the Arizona Diamondbacks could move on? Yes,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: it's conceivable, but I would say this. This might be
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: one of Troy Lavello's best jobs. They've had pitching injuries
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: all season long. They've had to navigate around that. They've
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: had the Marte situation. They've had all of these things happen,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: and yet they're right there in the thick of this thing.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: In the American League, I don't expect any of the
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: managers in the race to get fired. Craig Albinaz, it's
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: his first year, and I know the Orioles have been
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: an immense disappointment. The Mariners are the one team. Now,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: they're not really in the race anymore, Armand, but they're
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: a team that I am almost, well, let's put it
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: this way. I am rather confident that they're going to
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: move on from Dan Wilson. That seems to be the
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: one where the writing is on the wall. Other managerial
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: changes will take place as well. The Angels have to
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: decide on Kurt Suzuki. We can go right down the line,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: but those are the ones that I see right now
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: as being the most vulnerable. Yeah.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: The Dan Wilson tenure did not last long, seemingly in Seattle. Ken,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you this question regarding the national
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: league MVP, considering that Shohei is in the situation that
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: he is in probably not the MVP this year. And
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: it's probably the only time that other folks can kind
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: of run in there and get it. PCA has been unbelievable.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: I believe he has 40 home runs already. Kyle Schwarber
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: last night at grand slam 44th home run of the
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: season and Who is your pick for National League MVP
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: since it's not Shohei?
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's PCA. And it's been apparent for a few
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: weeks now that it was going to be PCA. He
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: has stormed down the stretch. And Shohei Otani, of course,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: did not pitch and then has this particular situation where
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: he's going on the IL. It's just not his year.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: So it's going to be PCA. What will be more
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: interesting maybe is who gets votes first. Beyond those two guys,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Schwarber certainly could be one. You have other players as
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: well that will be in the mix. I'm not thinking
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: of any off the top of my head right now,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: but I am sure that we're going to have some
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: interesting choices to make in that regard as we get
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: down the stretch here. Bryce Harper's had an amazing year, honestly,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: one of his best. And some of the Brewers we're
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: going to have to look at, too, in that particular regard.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know that one stands out over any other,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: but that team has been a team MVP for this year.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing with the Brewers, right? There's not
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: one massive superstar yet. They seem to be in the
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: postseason every single year because they play the Brewers way
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: and it has worked swimmingly for them. All right, much
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: more to come here. Next week, crown our dudes and
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: dorks of the.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Week right after this.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: The postseason run is heating up for Major League Baseball teams. Kratzy,
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: you can go see all these games, all the important games.
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: Whatever your team is, they have a great chance, almost
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: all of them, at being alive for the postseason. So
• 20:33
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• 20:36
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• 20:38
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• 20:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah, look ahead of your schedule.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Go on to SeatGeek.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: Essentially, your team's either in the playoffs or the team
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: they're playing has a chance in the playoffs. So all
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: these games in September, you got to get on there,
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: get your green dot, figure out where you're going to sit,
• 20:56
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• 21:00
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• 21:02
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• 21:04
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• 21:11
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• 21:20
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• 21:22
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• 21:24
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• 21:47
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• 21:52
  Speaker 1: I'm the dude. So that's what you call me.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: All right, it is time for Dude and Dork of
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: the Week.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I will go first on the dude, and my dude
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: is Eli De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. Not
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: only has he had five straight games with a home run.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Obviously he is a five-tool player.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: This is a man that threw out Teoscar Hernandez with
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: a 105.3 mile-per-hour throw from the outfields. He covers a
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: lot of ground. He has an unbelievable arm. His throwing
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: mechanics are, is, are, is, are, if he was a pitcher,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: you can see it just unbelievable what this kid is
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: able to do. He's a fire plug. Great to see
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: him be able to use all five tools on the field.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: So Ellie Dela Cruz, you are my dude of the week.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: Ken, how about you?
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: That's a good one. And he can be on that
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: MVP ballot along with Jake Bowers. That was the name
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I was missing from the Brewers. He's been arguably their
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: MVP for, Rafael Devers is probably going to get some
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: votes as well, but I hinted at this earlier. My
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: dude of the week is a team. It's the Milwaukee Brewers,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: and they have the ability to clinch a postseason spot
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: as early as tomorrow. They swept the Cubs, won five
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: of seven over the last week and a half against
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: the Cubs to put away the NL Central, settle that
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: once and for all, and they need to go just
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: seven and eight for a franchise record 98 wins. Now,
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: I know MLB keeps telling us that only the playoffs matter,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: and that's why we need a salary cap, because these
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: teams in small markets have no chance. The Brewers answer
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: that by saying, we're going to keep winning some more games.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: The regular season does matter. And yes, we do need
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: to do some things in the next CBA to address
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: the disparity between the two. I don't know that we
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: need to take down the sport with a salary cap.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: In fact, my opinion has been pretty clear. But the
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Brewers are an example of how a team can succeed
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: in this environment. Oh, and guess what? The Tampa Bay
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Rays are another example. But the Brewers, they're my dudes
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of the week. And Pat Murphy, as I wrote earlier
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: this week, potential three-time winner of the National League Manager
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: of the Year Award. Could be the first to win
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: three straight.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he is a tremendous manager. Obviously, guys love to
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: play for him. That would be pretty impressive if he
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: got it three straight years. All right, time now for
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: our dork of the week. All right, Ken, I'm going
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: to start with the dork of the week, and it
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: is the Colorado Rockies defense. I don't know what the
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: heck they were thinking. Obviously, the Rockies against the Yankees
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: throwing in a ball, and then the.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Catcher just decides that he's not going to back up
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: home plate.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: It's almost like his control on his video game just
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: stopped working. It's a comedy of errors watching the Colorado Rockies,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: one of four teams, obviously, that has already been eliminated
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: that Catcher's controller lost the Bluetooth signal. Diego Goy said
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: that on X. Just bad, just bad defense all around.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: This is a team that has been very difficult to
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: watch over the course of the season. So the Colorado
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Rockies defense in particular, the defense in this game, you
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: are my dorks of the week.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: All right, I'm going to start off with an honorable mention.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Bryce Harper, check out this Matt Gale tweet about his challenges.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: He has lost nine of 14 games. In the first
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: innings of games, he's challenged more first inning calls as
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: a batter than 18 teams have. Bryce, you got to
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: clean that up. Now, my other dork of the week,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: and this one is pretty obvious. We talked at length
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: about him Monday on Fair Territory. It's Doug Eddings. And
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to go through the whole song and
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: dance again, but we had an umpire basically relay through
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: a catcher that a player had to fix his cap.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: a player making his Major League debut. I've heard the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: explanations from Eddings. I'm still not convinced that any Rocky player,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Rocky's player, told him about this. He looked at the
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: John Boy video afterward. He put together a fantastic recount,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: and it showed, doesn't look like any Rocky's player said
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: a word. So Doug Eddings, Dork of the Week.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Hunter Goodman said, I never told Doug Eddings anything
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: about the fact I wanted him to straighten out his cap.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: All right, before we say goodbye, obviously tomorrow, Ken, is
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: the 25th anniversary of 9-11. So it's obviously one of
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: the worst times in our history, the worst terrorist act
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: in our country's history. Just your thought about how baseball
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: coming back unified a country that was very broken.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Well, it certainly did. And I remember the first game
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: back at Shea Stadium in New York City. It was
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: 10 games after the attacks and the Piazza home run
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: and all of the things that took place that night.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Liza Minnelli singing New York, New York, all the first
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: responders and their families in attendance. It was one of
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: the most emotional evenings I can ever remember. And yet
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: it was a beautiful evening too. And it was a
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: great example of how sports can bring people together. And
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: in that particular instance, instance, It wasn't simply unity. It
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: was also giving people an outlet from what had been
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: such a dark period and continued to be for quite
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: some time. That night was joyous.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Unbelievable, sad time in our country's history. But Todd Zeal
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: obviously has a documentary, I believe, called When America Took
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: the Field.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: And he is going to be a special guest tonight.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: On Foul Territory to talk about that. So certainly worth
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: you checking in for that. That's going to do it
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: for us here on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Foul
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Territory is.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: Coming up next. Eric Kratz, A.J.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Pierzynski, and Scott Braun, or the guests rather, Katie Wu,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Kevin Pillar, and Todd Zeal. Remembering 9-11, 25 years later,
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Fair Territory with Ken returns on Monday.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.