Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - MLB SQUAD: Bullpen Rankings! Which Team's Relief Corps DOMINATES?

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

Is it too early to call a season over for some MLB teams? This episode dives into the intricacies of when to make that call, with a special focus on the top-performing bullpens in Major League Baseball. Also let's talk about slumps. How do new environments affect performance? Tune in for expert analysis and engaging debates that promise to enhance your understanding of the evolving MLB season. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more—experts ready to help you take your business to the next level. Supply HouseJoin the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!   Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The perfect time to panic. It's coming soon. We'll tell you when on this edition of Lockdown MLB Squad. Step up to the plate. It's the Lockdown MLB Squad show, sponsored by game time. From the Dodgers to the Astros, the Mets to the Rangers, and everyone else in the league, with the experts of the Lockdown podcast network bringing you the most comprehensive breakdowns of all the action around the horn.

We're coming in Spikes Up. No hurt feelings allowed. So squad up. Welcome to the MLB Squad show. I am Jeff Carr, channel manager of the Lockdown MLB podcast channel and one half of the Lockdown Reds podcast. With me is the other half of Lockdown Reds, Steve Offenbaker. And we have both halves of Lockdown Guardians with Jeff Ellis and Justin Lada. And we have Sully from Lockdown MLB.

So basically it's the league-wide point of view and the state of Ohio. Welcome in. And we've got a lot to get to because we'll tell you who has. as the best bullpen in the league. That's going to be coming up here in just a few minutes. We'll also be telling you when a slump is real for a player. That's later on in this show. And we'll begin today's show by telling you when you can officially declare a team dead or alive in the standings.

That's on today's Lockdown MOUB squad show that is brought to you by game time. Download the app, create an account, and use the promo code Lockdown MLB to get $20 off your first purchase. and we're getting close because I think a lot of people arbitrarily mark Memorial Day as the day when you can begin to look at the standings. Soley, do you agree? I have said you can divide the season into three parts. Opening day to Memorial Day is okay, let's see, let's get ourselves going here. Memorial Day to the trade deadline, you have to say, we got to make a decision.

are we doing it this year or are we not are we going to sell or we're going to buy we're going to bring people up from the farm and after the trade deadline that's your team yeah you've got a picture lock and so you have to this between Memorial Day and the trade deadline is the soul searching time you say you know we you know the teams like last year's tigers or the Braves in 2021 are there to whisper in the ear don't trade anyone yet you may win and And last year, I had a, not egg, I had multiple omelets on my face. When I urged the Mets to say, look it, you had a good June. It's a mirage.

It's a seller's market. You could get three building blocks for the future. And I all but begged the Mets to start trading. And when the Mets got to within two wins of the World Series, don't think I didn't hear it from every single MET. They dug up the body of Bob Murphy. just to hold them up and say, look, Bob, look at him. He was wrong about the Mets. Mr. Mett laughed at me.

You would like to have Mets laugh at you. But I was, but it was, but we remember those events because they're rare. And so in that middle part, if you are, you have to constantly change your sheets because of what you're doing in the bed, then do you know what? You've got to take a look and say, there are so many contenders. you have a worthwhile trade chip, then woo, maybe we're on to something. Think about it. Right now, Louis Robert Jr.

is being talked about the same way they talked about Carlos Beltran in 2004, when he was a legit MVP on the way to his free agency. And everyone was willing to say, we'll give you everything. We'll give you every prospect. We'll clone Ken Griffey Jr. for him. And now it's like, well, we could get Louis, Robert Jr. who's slumping on the white socks. But if you have a trade ship and you stink, this middle part of the year is a time to say,

maybe we can get better. Or you can say, last year's tigers sucked at this time due. And they got all the way to the division series. Well, and what was it? The 2019 nationals and that's the 2019 national, the 2021 brave. The Rangers, when they won it all, I was saying that they were a particular. tender you know the other piece of it the other piece of it in 2022 yeah the other piece that sally you know all of sely's points are are on point there as the other thing about the the memorial

day you know now you've reached the part of the year where you don't get to blame the weather you don't get to blame the cold you don't get to blame the pitchers aren't stretched out you don't get the blame the the hitters haven't had enough at bat you have arrived at the part of the year where everybody has lost all of their excuses. And now this is who you are. However you're playing right now, this is how you are. You can't blame that the ball doesn't carry a great American ballpark in March when it's 30 degrees.

You can't blame that the pitchers have the ability to throw 120 pitches. So you got to pull Paul Skeins early because he's not stretched out yet. You lose all that. So this is the part of the season where we really truly see, I think, what these teams are made of all across baseball. We get to see who guys really are now. And then to Sully's point, then you have to look at your team and say, okay, are we going to be a buyer? Are we going to be a seller?

How do we need to start showcasing people if we're going to be a seller in order to get a maximum return? So these are the decisions that you start thinking about as the calendar turns into June. Clearly someone who doesn't live in Ohio because you're sitting there saying you don't have the excuse of weather in May. I'm telling you as in Ohio and I can still make an excuse for weather. in May. We've had rainouts this month. Wither can't stay the same, okay? And the guardians... He lives in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

No, Jeff. He doesn't get to talk about weather. Cleveland's not good to talk about weather. Cleveland's not real Ohio. That's the thing. Cleveland's not real Ohio. Cincinnati is Kentucky. I mean, isn't that the longest joke? Like, I think... If you live in Cincinnati, you can't throw

stones, I think. So, what is your stage advice to the Colorado Rockies then? Because they both are dead and buried and they have not a single player to trade. What is your advice to that? Because you can bury them below the Denver airport with all those weird things. You can't say their name and I don't appear. It's like Beetlejuice.

I did not expect to actually get to the Rockies on this podcast today. I'm not going to lie. But when you say Colorado Rockies, it's just a fold. I think that's the Rockies. It's just fold. speak of the Rockies and the host of Locked Rockies will appear. I'm sorry, Paul is the most tradable asset on the Colorado Rockies. It really is.

Like that, that he is the most valuable asset to the Colorado Rockies. Hey, I appreciate that. In terms of if the Rockies are, you know, the season's starting, right? We can restart it, right? The season we can just restart it at Memorial Day. I wouldn't help anything. Like that would change anything? Come on. It would make me feel better about the record.

But, uh, just, He actually brought up a pretty good point about, you know, what the Rockies might have to do. I mean, I don't know what you do at this point. I mean, it is going to be a situation where how do you sell as the Rockies? How do you sell a Ryan McMahon who continues to be inconsistent in struggles and has, you know, the Gold Glove caliber third base defense? But at the same time, the Rockies have tried to count on him countless times to be a guy to carry the lineup and he hasn't. and really, I mean, are you going to get a lot for Nick Martini,

Kyle Farmer and these type of guys? Like, I don't know. I don't, I mean, the Rockies. No. The Rockies could trade Bretton Doyle. You're not going to get a lot for Kyle Farmer and Nick Martini. I know the answer to that. Exactly.

Right. Exactly. This guy's right. If I were going to go to Fandul. If I were going to go to Fandul, if I were going to go to Fandul and say, in a couple of weeks, will the Nuggets, have more playoff wins than the Rockies have regular season wins. Is that, is that, I mean, there is that a chance.

I mean, they're playing Oklahoma City now, which, you know, that, that might be tough. But I don't know, the Rockies, I mean, everything and not, it's not just the, I mean, we, okay, we don't, we've spent way too much time talking about the worst team in baseball. But regardless, they are, they are so lost. The things that they thought that they could count on this year, they haven't, and that also leads into the trades. Like Hermann Marquez, he's going to be a free agent, but he's been horrendous this year. Like, I mean, his worst start, the worst start to his career by a mile coming off of injury,

you know, would you ever really move on from Kyle Freeland and move on from a guy that's kind of really been dedicated to there? The Rockies are going to be facing a lot of questions. And I don't even know if they're going to be able to get any answers because what sort of interest will there be? Paul, let me ask you this real quick before you, you disappear on us again. You know, looking at your roster, you've got two guys right now on the entire offensive roster that have an OPS plus above 100.

You've got Jordan Beck that's currently sitting at 137 and you've got Hunter Goodman sitting at 116. Those are age 24 and age 25 players respectively. Do you try like, you guys are such a hot mess right now. Do you try and trade that to get more prospects? Do you try? I what how do you how does an organization dig out of the nightmare that is your six win April right now? I don't know that they they certainly could explore those options but they also viewed those guys as parts of the future.

This is you know basically a team that was supposed to be having pieces that started performing and and contributing consistently at the major league level and they don't have that. So certainly they can, but it's the Colorado Rockies. They're not going to move on. They're just going to trade with the guardians again and just send the same player back and you know, they all. only trade with two teams. And remember, this team is still playing for paying for Nolan Arenado. And hey, I think the Rockies would take Nolan Aronado, no matter what version you're talking about him for the last few years over what they're getting at third base. I mean, again, I feel bad for going after him, but Ryan McMahon is supposed to be a guy that the Rockies can count on. And I mean,

amongst others, they haven't been able to do that. Injuries have been a problem for them, but their, their problems are a lot deeper than that. So I will leave with that. I'm no longer letting this podcast talk about the Colorado Rockies. I'm, we are done. I am leaving now, but I had to at least appear once for that. The good news is Chris Bryant comes off the books after the 2028 season, and that's where we will leave it with the Rockies. Coming up next, though, let's talk about not the Rockies, because I don't think they'll be part of this ranking system.

The best bullpen in all of baseball, there is surviving, and then there's thriving. And that's what you can do with your finances when you got Monarch money because you see all your finances in one place. If you go to Monarchmoney.com and set up an account today, you can put all of your accounts on one screen. That way you don't have to remember multiple logins. You don't have to remember all the different websites and all the different ways to go look at this account or that account. And you can see it all in one place. You can see the growth of your investments. You can see your debit accounts and your credit accounts and everything all on.

one page. I love using Monarch money for multiple different reasons, but it's that simplicity. The big picture, all in one page. We always talk about the big picture here on Lockdown Reds, and the big picture of your finances can be shown to you every single day on Monarch money. Go to monarchmoney.com and use the promo code Lockdown MLB to save half off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com and the promo code locked on MLB to save 50% off your first year. take control of your finances with monarch money today. We've got you covered all throughout the league every Tuesday afternoon here on Lockdown MLB Squad. Plus, you can check out Sully's takes every single day about the league

on Lockdown MLB. He's going to be looking at, I'm sure, the wonderfulness that is the bullpen of the New York Yankees, who I'm sure we will be putting at the very top of this list and the wonder that is Devin Williams, right? No, I mean, probably, probably not. He blew a big one for them as they were up three nothing on the Padres, and then all of a sudden they were down four to three before they could even blink. And I think that when it comes to the late innings, you're looking elsewhere than the Bronx, am I right?

They have the fourth best FIP in baseball amongst relievers, so a bullpenzo. So the other side of it is to say, well, Devin Williams has maybe been bad or a little unlucky, that when you look at the predictive stats, they're fourth best. And in terms of war, they're top five as well. So they've maybe been leaned on. Maybe it's the same thing we're seeing in Cleveland, where the closer is doing things you don't expect the closer to do.

And they have other weapons and guns. You know, by FIPP, though, it's the Astros and the Mets and the Padres are your top three. And I really like that trio at the top of the Padres pen. That's what I'd jump in and say. Those three guys are, you know, year ago for Cleveland, you had Gaddis Smith and Class A were unhittable. Not as much this year, but right now, can you look at the Padres in particular when you're talking about Estrada Adams and Suarez? That's been about as good as good of a one, two, three punches as there could be. And is Hobby going to

pop on? Is he waiting in the wings? And beyond just that, I mean, the depth of their bullpen, Suarez has been as close to unhittable as you can be this year. Adam has. Adam has, has been terrific, almost as good as Suarez. Estrada has been a stud. Morjean, is that I pronounce it? Yeah. And Morjean, I'm so, I pronounce a few names wrong recently, and I'm gun-shy. Wandi Peralta has been terrific out of their bullpen. Yuki Matsui has been, you know, 19 strikeouts and 14 innings.

I mean, I mean, Alec Jacob has been effective. Their bullpen is five or six pitchers. deep and it helps and there's a little bit of a chicken or the egg thing here which is you know they have michael king who's a really good starter nick pavetta you know dillen sees can be he's not through a good start but it's like are they do they have a good bullpen because their starters actually pitch into you know the sixth inning so they don't have to use you know you're not using their bullpen four or five innings a game or are there starters effective because they can have a good bullpen the answer is yes the answer is

yes, it's symbiotic. And the best teams I've seen that have had super deep bullpens like the, you know, the nasty boys of the Reds, the, you know, the Dennis Akersley years with the A's, the bridge to Mariana Rivera, the Bruce Bochy Giants always had good starting pitchers who didn't wear down the pen so that you don't have to have this parade of relievers. So it's a combination of the two. And I think that they complement each other. And if King or Pivotta, by the way, Pivotta is one of my favorite acquisitions of this year, no, he has a draft pick attached to him. No, he's radioactive. And the Pottor says, go ahead and pick someone. It's probably going to be a bust anyway. So let's get a major league pitcher into our roster. And there you go.

So I think that's a combination. They have a good rotation and a solid bullpen. And those work together. I think we saw a little bit last year. by the time Cleveland got to the ALCS, I think their bullpen was a little gassed because they were, you know, it goes to, well, he's thrown his 94 pitches.

So we, you know, he struck out his last six batters. He's on fire, but it's five and third innings. He's dominant. Everyone's wetting their pants when it came out. Nope, nope, nope, it's five and a third time to go to the bullpen. Only because, only because Hobby's not here, suddenly, I want to echo the thing with San Diego. And if, you know, the question on the table is, who's the best bullpen in baseball right now?

It's the San Diego Padres. They have a team ERA of 1.73. They've struck out 132 batters while walking 39. And, you know, they've got a closer going over there. And Robert Suarez, it's got 13 saves of 13 of their 14 saves right now. So their bullpen, I think, is pried to support that pitching staff, like you said. And I just, man, why are we still talking about Wandy Peralta? Is that guy still in the league?

Like what in the world? Why does everybody leave Cincinnati? Why does everyone leave Cincinnati and get better? Jeff Hoffman, Wendy Peralta, what is going on? You know who's got a really good bullpen that we're not going to be able to talk about is the Rangers.

If you're looking ahead to the trade deadline, you wouldn't know the Rangers bullpen is any good because they can't give them a single lead to protect because their offense is so bad. But they've got some decent relievers out there. Like, Nate, you know, they got so they got uh who is in the back end of their bullpen there chris martin who's who's been around forever too he's been a guy that's been really good robert garcia's fantastic

holby milner you talk about guys who have gone on to other teams to be better olby milner's next cleveland pitcher he's been pretty good that might be a team that you can you're the cleveland for a month though i don't think that counts he was he never pitched a pitch i remember a moors of brewer yeah i was gonna say yeah he's a good bullfine they took he doesn't have a lead to protect but their bullpen's been decent they're they're kind of down that list, right? And I kind of wonder this a little bit because I remember for much of the season last year, the Reds were actually ranked pretty high as far as wins above replacement for a bullpen is concerned. So where do we kind of rank that? Because as it stands, at least according to

fan graphs, the Mets are dead even with the Padres. And we have not mentioned them yet. You know, I think it's interesting if you just look at like individual dominance too. Like the Mets top reliever is A.J. Minter, like in terms of fit. Like, you know, in the other side of it, you're looking at, you know, we talk about San Diego, where Suarez in the top 10 and more John in the top 13. The guys you expect to be there. They have more pieces, you know, or then there's Ryan, I'm going to be with Sally here and get it wrong, but for Recki, Baruki from Pittsburgh, who we all expect to be in the top 10, lowest fit amongst relievers at the start of the year. So I think the Mets, they don't have Diaz, but they don't strike me as having the horses right now.

I could be wrong and Mets fans will come after me, uh, Tarrard, family me later. You know, I used to live in Brooklyn. So I know what that's like, but there's a lot of guys you don't, it's a bullpen built through the waiver system in the rule five draft. It's really interesting put together. It is a scrap heap bullpen. So I'm curious to see if they can maintain. And the, the Mets bullpen is also allowed twice as many earned runs as the Padres.

So when, when you look at, at what they. given up when they've come in, they've allowed more guys to score. So I would, comparing the two, I mean, I see where you're going there, but I would, I would still give the edge to the Padres. By the way, all the guardians have 11 wins as a really as a bullpen. The daughters have 14. So that's how this works, right? You have the most wins as a bullpen.

You have the best bullpen. Exactly. Picture wins. The most important stand baseball, right? It is. I think that you take a look. And we're moving on. No. You take a look at the church bullpen and Kansas City's bullpen are both kind of anonymous.

And yet they've been really effective. Tommy Canley has been one of the best pickups of any team in this offseason. And the Lucas Ersegs of the world with Kansas City. And who do they have close? They have Carlos Estevez is close. And then Daniel Lynch, the fourth. Let me tell you, fourth time's a charm with the Lynch family. And he turns out he, you know,

the grandpa and the great grandpa couldn't pull their weight. But, you know, the fourth guy, he's been. By the way, he's a classic example of a guy who was a completely uninspired starting pitcher. And someone said, well, he never drafted for some reason. Throw him in the bullpen so what you can do. And this guy who was, you know, five ERAs in the, you know, while pitching 130 innings or whatnot. And then suddenly, well, throw him in the bullpen, see what happens. And, you know, not that ERA is the end all or be all stat, but we're quickly approaching the quarter point of the season.

and he's allowed two earned runs in 16 and third innings. You know, I'm not saying that he is the, like the Affelt or Stanton or whatever other, you know, pitcher of a great bullpen lefty, but he is, he's certainly allowing the Royals to, you know, have some depth in the pen. And surprise, surprise, the Royals also have some good starting pitching. So I'm starting to detect a pattern that if you have good starting pitching, Joe Bubeck, Waka, Lorenzen, who all give them some decent innings, then you're not running the bullpen into the ground.

I know I'm not allowed to throw five innings, but sometimes if you go, hey, maybe they can throw a six and we'll save an arm, maybe you do that. I know it's not cool to say that. It's cool to have your bullpen completely exhausted by the end of the year the World Series champions scheduling bullpen games in the World Series. But I think you should relieve a pitcher when they need relief. I don't know. I'm old friends.

For what it's worth to your point, Kansas City, second least amount of bullpen inning so far this year to 111 and 2 thirds. The most in that category, the LA Dodgers at 145 and a third, just like they're going to be exhausted by the end of the year. It's going to be exhausted. And then they go buy nine other guys and not. worry about it. Anyway, let's look at slumps because I think at this point in the season, there's definitely some guys on teams where you're just like, he doesn't seem to have it this

year, probably time to move on from him. And it's a name we all know when you look around the league. So where exactly do we put the weight on the slump? And when do we think you need to make the change? We'll discuss that next. There is nothing like watching a baseball game live. and the best way to get to the baseball game is through game time. Game time has amazing last minute deals. I use game time all the time to get down to Reds games in Cincinnati. I have gone on the road, follow the Reds to San Francisco to Pittsburgh to Atlanta, all using game time. And it's great because you can go to your home stadium where you know what the views look like and find your favorite seat,

or you can go to a brand new stadium, find the view from your seat so you know what you're looking at before. you buy the ticket and you can find the best deals available. Check out Game Time today. Download the app, create an account, and use the promo code Lockdown MLB to save an extra $20 off. They're already great low prices. Again, that's promo code Lockdown MLB for $20 off your first order on Game Time. They've got the last minute tickets at the lowest price, guarantee. Are you able to watch 15 games in one night? Probably not, but Lockdown MLB Game Night will keep you up to date. on every single game, every single night with the local hosts from Lockdown Reds, Lockdown Guardians, and all of the other Lockdown MLB shows with our immediate reactions after the game.

Check out Lockdown MLB Game Night on the Lockdown MLB page each and every night live after the last out of the evening. All right, we've got slumps, right? We've got players that everybody knows are just toast. They're not going to play good anymore. get rid of them they're not worth their contract whatever it is that people say because we all overreact so what's the weight of a slump and what's the point where you really you know say this guy definitely needs the the the time in triple a or move down in the lineup or put on the bench or what have

you and where's the other point of this where it's just like all right we need to relax this guy is fine. I think their overall history factors in. There's not a, there's not a blanket answer to this. You know, we've seen it in Cincinnati, where the Reds had a closer

by the name of Alexis Diaz, who for a while was pretty unhittable. He did some wild things and loved to walk the first batter, but he always got out of it and he had good numbers. Came back from injury this year, and it was very clear, very fast,

that he was not going to get anybody out. And Terry Francona and the Red, Reds had a decision to make very quickly if they were going to continue to try and run him out there and let him figure it out or if they were going to send him down. And Terry Francona very quickly said, you know, he needs to go down and figure that out and he can't do that at the Major League level. Then you've got other guys on the Reds names that you know like Matt McLean coming back from injury who if you ask around Reds country, split 50-50, whether someone will tell you, oh, he's struggling and he should be sat down or sent down or whatever. or he'll figure it out. But you look at what he was able to do when he was healthy and had an uninterrupted spring training and a start.

And he's able to be a really, really good player. So in his situation, he's got hits in four of his last five games. You look at that. You look at how he's performing. And you say, okay,

he looks like he's about to break out. He looks like he's going to turn a corner. So you keep running that guy out there and you keep letting him try to figure it out, unless he proves otherwise over a big period of time. It's May, guys. It's the beginning of May. while we talked about Memorial Day being a benchmark, we're not there yet.

And especially on the hitter side of things, you want to give guys every opportunity to figure it out. So I think May is too early to push a panic button, unless there is just something so glaringly obvious that tells you they're not going to be able to get it. These are professional baseball players, and hitting is hard. You have to let them kind of work through it

and work their process and figure it out for as long as you can, until you get into the summer and you just can't wait anymore. If you play outfield for the Cleveland Guardians, you're automatically in a slump. If your name's not Stephen Kwan, if you play off for the guardians, your name's not Stephen Kwan, you're in a slump. No, here's one I didn't expect to get wrong, honestly, is the Brady Singer-Jonathan India trade. You guys talk about the Reds players. You guys dodged a bullet. Jonathan India is terrible this year.

I thought for sure the Reds were going to get the sour into that deal because I didn't think Brady-Sigger was going to translate to that ballpark with Jonathan, it looks terrible. And I agree with Steve, you've got to go track record here. If a guy's got long enough a track record and he's still in his prime, if he's not, you know, 39-year-old Carlos Santana, whatever, you have to give a time. Tito likes to say guys get to their levels and all that stuff. But if there's not a track record there or the underlying data is just so poor, like there are some guys in the Guardians like John Kenzin,

well, he'll get the ball 500 feet, but the underlying data is so poor that it's just not going to reverse itself. There are data points that are just not going to reverse themselves, whether it's May 5th, you know, May the 4th. there's no force with some of these guys. Like, it's just not going to work out. Like, there are,

there are guys you can pull the plug on right now. Jeff, else, you're about to say something. Yeah, you know, I think there's two guys, though,

that stand out. Like, we're really going to get into some guys with some bad data. You know, Corbyn burns. Like, Arizona is a hard place to pitch. And he is just not missing bats.

And, you know, the data all around him is pretty awful right now. So I'm very curious to see what happens. And then Gunner Henderson, You want to talk about a situation where a guy he isn't hitting and he isn't fielding. And that's where I get concerned with the guy is that situation where all aspects are poor. When you brought up Gunner, I'm going to bring up his former teammate.

I think another thing to keep in mind is if there's a change of scenery and a big contract, Anthony Santander has been awful for the Toronto Blue Jays. And he signed a big Mongo contract, a lot of deferred money. And, you know, he is, he's always been a good player. I've never thought he was a superstar, but I always thought he was certainly, you know, switch hitting, you know, the complimentary player with some skills, some power and everything like that. He's been dreadful. He has been absolutely dreadful. Now, usually a player like him, you know, they'll play to their, you know, the whole thing, they'll play to the card, you know, the numbers on the back of their baseball card. But you got, and I would, and I would say probably the all-star break is where, you know, if he's still doing this by the All-Star break, you can panic.

Because you could say, all right, he's had a, let's just say roughly a month and a half. He's had a crummy month and a half. A lot of players have had crummy months and a half. And he just happened to have at the beginning of a big contract where he had to change of scenery. Now, that's why you got to, I think Santander, you got to give him to the All-Star break. Can he write the ship after another month and a half or so, you know, go to mid-July? right now he's slashing 178, 267, 310

for a 577 OPS. Maybe those stats are Canadian and we got to convert them. Yeah, well, it's a metric system they use there and that's actually a very good OPS in Canada. He's four homers. He said, I'm not the biggest war guy in the world, but I do know a negative 0.06 is not good. it's not good.

That means he's worse than a mediocre player. I do know OPS Plus. In fact, his OPS Plus is 65. I thought that was a typo on baseball reference.com the single greatest website in history of the planet Earth. But I, you know, that was, it's funny because Toronto has wanted to be in the big signing business for so long. They are, I'm going to make a reference.

for fans of Cremian 80s films. They are the Golan Globus of the Canon films of the... Masters of the Universe. Well, that's right. And they'll sign Sylvester Stallone, but for... Over the top? Over the top. They'll sign a Superman film, but they'll have to slash the budget.

They wanted Otani. They wanted, who was it? They wanted Freddie Freeman. All these players, they wanted to sign big time. and they all take a look at Toronto, a huge market. They have a whole freaking country. It's a massive city. It's a wonderful city.

And it's a fan base that when the team is good, holy cow, that place is rocking. And the best they could get is Anthony Santander. And, wow, they're better off signing Vlad Guerrero Sr. Because I guarantee you, Vlad Guerrero Sr. can slash better than this right now. And the Santander has five more barrels than the five of us combined. So he's not he's not doing very well on the quality of contact metric stuff either.

It's tough, right? Because like that's a dude that you would expect would bounce back. I mean, he hit 44 home runs just a year ago. So you got to give him to the all-star break. Yeah. It's a new environment. It's a new city because these are actually, now this is, this is a rumor. but this is this is a thing that I

this is kind of a theory I have and it's not there's no stats to back it up but he's actually a human being and maybe him being in a new place after trying to play on that right now yeah playing Baltimore for eight years

brand new place brand new country he's affected by the tariffs I don't know and to suddenly look up and say hey everything's a little different and he may be putting a little pressure on himself now this is why Toronto would really, really, it would behoove them if they had what is called a manager, but they haven't had one of those in a while.

And someone like him, you know, someone like him would be, if you had a veteran manager in there, might say, hey, we know who you are. You're absolutely right, so you've got to give him more time. And in his last three years, his age 27, 28, 29 season, all three seasons, more than 150 games, all three seasons, his OPS plus. 120, 121, 133. He is not a 65 OPS plus guy. The real Anthony Santander is eventually going to show up.

And that's the kind of player that you look at his history, you look at his body of work, and you say, you know what, we're going to let him cook. We're going to let him figure this out. We're not going to panic yet. No, and I would not panic with him because I think he is better than that. I just think he's a new team, new situation. We've seen lots of players struggle when they get to a new team. and then write the ship.

He's making enough money where he's not going anywhere anyway. It doesn't matter if he paid the Canadians or US dollars. He's not going anywhere. Or there's reasons teams didn't jump on this guy. Like you can look at some of the other underlying stuff and be like, you know, a lot of times teams sit off guys for a reason. And, you know, this is a player who had pretty poor quality of, he had a lot of home runs, but the quality of contact was not great a year ago.

And that doesn't age well. I'm not saying he'll be better, but I'm just curious to see. it's worth noting because those are the types of things that you look at for a turnaround on a guy and whenever they've got the good quality of contact and that turnaround is easy and just in case there are any Reds fans that are wondering yes matt mclean's going to turn it around and that is where we will end today's podcast thanks everybody for checking out this edition of locked on MLB squad jeff just and steve sully thank you guys for being a part of this show check us out every tuesday afternoon lockdown MLB squad This is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every single day.