OverDrive - Matheson on the vibe downtown, who deserves the most credit for the Jays success, and Springer being in the game six lineup

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

mlb.com Jays Writer Keegan Matheson on the vibe downtown, who deserves the most credit for the Jays success, and Springer being in the game six lineup.

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Why don't we ask him? Here he is from MLB.com. Our main man, Kegan Matheson, looking like an absolute stud on the field. Stut. Stod. Stod. Phenomenal. What's the vibe like? vibe check down there keegan yeah guys i've got swimming trunks on here below the camera

we're just kind of piecing it together but it's uh quite the scene guys i walked up about two o'clock in the afternoon and lines at all the gates uh no giveaway nothing extra to come in but people just want to be around the stadium it's pretty cool to be around the city right now downtown guys everybody's in blue jays gear everybody's talking about the blue jays there's some fans coming in here right now and there are to my left and right cameras and people as far as you can see this is one-of-a-kind experience here yeah it really is and we were discussing you know the maybe the one person in particular that would get credit for the reason the jays are in the position they're in right now the outside the box thinking type person

particular that you would give the most credit to as to why the jays are on the verge of winning a world series yeah so i i don't get flattie i don't get the obvious guys do we do we get the like the ray bork stanley cup pass do we get max scherzer grabbing onto one but he's had a few before you know king let me just give you an example coming back yeah i would have given the trophy i would have handed it to the hitting coach because he changed everything i like it i like that he's got to be early in line i like scherzer i like george springer to be up early in that line then you think of the the glue guys the ernie clement miles straw types who may not have the biggest numbers but everybody loves them but i don't mind the little david popkins early in the

line guys i like it too it's outside the box thinking and you mentioned springer who i got to be honest i was not bracing for him playing tonight i thought that ship had sailed i thought it was done he would not pick up another bat maybe he'd be a you know pinch running at some point like he was going to the other night take us through you know how this all came about and and what are the what are the reasonable expectations for Springer bat and lead off and de-hing tonight. Yeah, guys, in L.A. when I saw Springer grab at that right side, and he walked right off, too. He didn't talk to the trainer. They did not have a big conference. He just got out of there. And I figured that was the end of the season, because they're calling it right side discomfort.

Nobody wants to say body parts at this time of year, but we're all smarter enough to know. It's probably an oblique. And obliques are not a two or three-day deal. This is something I thought was the end for George Springer. So I'm surprised. he's in this lineup guys maybe he's only 70% maybe we see him kind of grabbing at it and wincing a few times we'll see but all he's got to do is connect once all he's got to do is have that one big moment and he has the world series experience guys he's got that 2017 world series MVP i would not bet against him in any way but i'm shocked he's out there kegan how do the jays get to yamamoto they've got to be one step ahead of yamamoto guys john schneider said the last

This time Yamamoto was kind of three different pitchers. Each time through the lineup, he shifted his shape to be one step ahead of the Blue Jays. Now, that's going to take some guessing. The Blue Jays have to take some shots, quite frankly, because if you take a guess, if you take a chance and you fail, well, you're going to end up with zero runs, which might be what you end up with anyways. Who cares? Take some risks. Take some shots against Yamamoto.

He is beatable. His ZRA is not zero. He is human. And I think the Blue Jays can get to him with the advantage of seeing him a second time. But they've got to be bold in this guys, because if they are not one step ahead of Yamamoto, he'll torch them. He's an amazing pitcher. Outside of Paul Skeen's, probably the one guy I would want on the mound if I'm an MLBGM, and they need to jump him. They need to do what they did earlier in this series to Blake Snell.

They need to get out, take a chance. Well, and maybe get lucky, according to Blake Snow, right? Maybe you get lucky, and you find a couple of hits tonight. and, you know, it's interesting when you consider, obviously, Yamamoto is the talking point because of what happened in game two and because there's an understanding and, you know, it's quite obvious that the Dodgers are literally fighting for their lives tonight. But Gosman is flying under the radar for me here at Keegan. Like, he was matching him stuff for stuff until the seventh inning in game two. He was phenomenal in game two.

I think he's the right guy to be on a mount up against Yamamoto. I think he'll take it personally that he gets another shot at. this guy. What are you expecting out of Gosman tonight? I agree. I think there's going to be a little spice to Gosman, guys. I think this is going to be one heck of a performance from him. Because last time, like you said, Hayes, those home runs, I can't

just discount those. They were real. They left the yard. But up until then, it was one of the best performances I've ever seen from Gosman against a really, really good lineup. And I don't think that it's going to kill Gosman that they just saw him. Because Yamamoto, maybe the Blue Jays benefit from

that. He throws five, six, seven different pitches. Seeing him again is a benefit. That's an advantage. Kevin Gosman was never going to surprise anybody, right? He was going to throw his fastball up in the zone, the splitter down of the zone, and he was going to do it over and over, and he was going to bet that he's better than the hitter. It's why he's great. That's what he does every single time. So seeing him for a second time in a week, I don't think that helps the Dodgers much. It's the same guy, same pitches. So I trust Gosman. Man, this is the moment he was brought here. And I have all the respect in the world for Gosman as a pitch. sure man i think he's really going to rise to this one this is exciting kegan i said some dumb stuff

at the beginning of the show and it was immediately topped when brian hayes spoke up yeah yeah dude listen to this brian hayes came over the top brian hayes came over the top and he said otani kind of maybe he's tired maybe he's just not himself right now and it's scared the hell out of me what are your thoughts on those type of comments from hazy b you know what he's coming off nine times on base and then pitching a game and then flying across the country. I know these guys fly a little nicer than me, and I know they've got lots of fancy stuff in those boxes in the dugout that can help wake you up and keep you going, but everyone's worn down this time of year, guys. I think Otani will be okay today. And guys, I keep coming back

to the fact or the idea, sorry, that Otani's not going to go out laying down here. He's not going to go 0 for 4 and lose the World Series. He's going to do something. Whether it's tonight or potentially tomorrow. They're going to have to deal with Otani again some way, some form. But I do think, guys, the last two days, that fatigue might have been a factor. He didn't look like himself. He didn't have that explosiveness at the plate. But tonight, you know, I'm sure he got a nice seat on the flight.

Didn't fly back middle seat like me, so I think he'll be all right. Yeah, I'm sure he's, that day off does scare me a little bit, you know, and him having the ability to simply focus on bats. But he didn't look great to me, you know, is that bats in game four or game five. He did not look good, and really it's been the Otani show in terms of driving the bus for the Dodgers offense for the most part. Obviously, Freeman walks him off in game three. In game two, it was the Will Smith home run that set the Tom in the end. I think it was Muncie that hit the other one.

But, you know, it's the rest of the lineup, the Jays have handled pretty well, and they have a different approach and mentality tonight. If you're Dave Roberts, you have to win. You'll do anything you can to win tonight. Everyone is clearly available. How does this apply to Schneider knowing that they do have the ability or that it's the possibility they play tomorrow night? How do you see him handling his bullpen and his bench

and how much all-in mentality would you expect out of Schneider tonight? I think you pretend that this is game seven already, guys. You can figure out tomorrow, tomorrow. And Max Scherzer, if there is a game seven, would be the starter. But you can figure that out coming off of the off day. Maybe Traja Savage comes back around tomorrow. see. You've got some options. But I think that John Schneider has learned from the past few post seasons. And those post seasons have held a lot of lessons for the Blue Jays. I think that lifting

Berrios for Kikuchi. I know nobody wants to hear about that anymore. But I think that those moments of overthinking and over planning have taught this front office and taught this coaching staff and taught John Schneider a lot. And I think that John Schneider's done a really good job of learning from that he has been pretty open and pretty outright with talking about that he's beat himself up pretty good and i think that he's learned from that and we'll avoid that now if they've got any chance at all whatsoever i think he's going to empty the tank and you figure out tomorrow tomorrow which i like can't leave any scraps from the table tonight kegan let me just clarify something and i don't want to get too far ahead of myself are you confirming you just said we'll deal with

tomorrow tomorrow but scherzer will be the guy tomorrow taking the hill he would be tomorrow i expect he'll have the cleats on tonight too but if they need a starter tomorrow it sure's you're concerned about that so yeah i don't know i just i thought it was a negative you've been missed i thought it was a two-piece i don't sense a lot optimism from oh here i don't know no i don't know i just well how about they avoid that that's why you win tonight you don't have to worry about tomorrow yeah that's the mentality i think that's what you're suggesting keegan um yeah we'll see were you there yesterday when dave roberts base planet running the bases?

I was not here, guys. I was standing over here. We were doing some sports center hits here from the field, but I missed that. I wish I had been here for that, guys. That would have been a great little background clip behind me, but what a beautiful video, though, you know? Yeah. Coming after a couple of tough losses, it's just, I'm sure that played really well in L.A.

Oh, here we go. That's a good moment. That'll be a meme forever. Yeah. Blows a wheel. Yeah. One of the great bass, He tried to take the inside track, too. That's tough, you know. That's the thing, too, right? Yeah, the head start and the inside track.

And, you know, it's not the 04 ALCS anymore for Dave Roberts. Just trying to keep it loose with the boys and then boom. Yeah, I appreciate that. I'm okay with that. All right, Kagan, I'll see you down there in a couple hours, buddy. It should be a fun night. It's going to be a great weekend either way. And as always, we appreciate you doing this.

You got her, fellas. See you soon. Hayes. Enjoy your parking. Yes, I will. There he is, Kegan Matheson of MLV.com, live from the Rogers Center. I got my spot. Did you tell him the spot? I got a spot.