OverDrive - Mboko on her win, rise through the tennis ranks, and throwing out the first pitch at the Jays game

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

NBO Champion Victoria Mboko on her win, rise through the tennis ranks, and throwing out the first pitch at the Jays game

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All right, Jay's Rangers tonight. Here's Steve Phillips or TSN Baseball Insider. How you doing, Steve? I'm doing great, guys. Good to be with you. Yeah, thank you for doing this. So we got the Rangers in town, De Grom on the Mount tonight.

And let's begin with yesterday because I kind of anticipate that these three games they could play out very similarly to the one that played out yesterday. The Rangers can pitch. They can defend. They don't hit a ton.

But yesterday, I think it was like a perfect outing for the Jay. Scherzer goes seven innings, very efficient. Gladdy with a clutch home run in the seventh inning. Hoffman comes in and closes the door in the ninth. It had a playoff vibe to it. Cubs were a really good team. It just seemed to check every possible box you'd want to check

if you're a guy like Ross Atkins or a guy like John Schneider. It was playoff baseball. I mean, you know, those two teams both are destined for postseason play. You had outstanding veteran starting pitching going at each other. and it came down to a big at bat, right?

Vladimir Carrillo Jr. delivering. Interesting, they chose to pitch to him instead of walking him in that situation. And, you know, I think that it was, you know, do you want to pitch to Bichette there with two runners on? You want to pitch to Blattie. They chose to pitch to Blattie. And I would have done the same thing, although there are others who thought maybe you walk Blattie there and you pitch to Bichette.

But, you know, it was a great game. And Scher was fantastic. And I got to tell you, really watching that game, I think, Scherzer now with five straight starts. I think since the all-star break, he's two and two of the 3.180RA. I think the thumbs are non-issue right now. And, I mean, he truly

looks like he's only competing against the other team. And he's not, he doesn't have that internal thought of what, geez, I hope my thumb's going to be okay. His stuff was excellent. His location was excellent. His competitiveness was great. It was a great out. He was great baseball. And that was a good win. It was a

really good win. And Hoffman, you know, he bent a little bit to get the runner on and then the stolen base, but got the swings and misses that he did it, and it was able to save the game. So Steve, obviously, when you take on the Texas Rangers as the Jays will do tonight down at the dome in the first to three, you're taking on generally some of the best pitchers, best starting pitchers in baseball, they get Chris Bassett versus Jacob de Grom tonight.

They'll face Nathan Ovaldi on Sunday in a game where Burrilla. will be the starter and they'll have to take on the lefty Patrick Corby Corbyn tomorrow. What is the challenge presented by this incredible Ranger staff and how do you get to him? Yeah, I think that what is interesting about this is that in the postseason, you know, there's a reason why home runs are so important because when you face the best pitchers in the game who are generally on the best teams in the game, it's very

difficult to lump multiple base hits together. You know, you're not going to get four singles in an inning to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard. And so you've got to find a way, like yesterday, to get a walk in a home run, a bloop and a bomb. Or somebody makes an error and you hit one off the wall and you pick up a run. So you have to take advantage of every opportunity. And one of the ways and reasons why the Blue Jays are so good in this sort of a situation and why they'll play and play out baseball and why we've seen teams that have won over the last few years are offenses that make contact

that are difficult to strike out is that when you get an opportunity to score you've got to get the runner in from third with less than two outs. You've got to put it in play. You've got to hit a ground ball up the middle that it's a ground ball, they get the out of first but the runner comes in. You hit the sacrifice fly. And so you've got to make contact

and you've got to take advantage of every opportunity. So the situational at bats, so Davis Snyder up yesterday and Ernie Clement did an excellent job getting the bunt down and getting him over. And then he forced Craig Counsel into a decision. He pits to Vladdy, he pits around him.

And, you know, he was in scoring position. Vladdy hit it out of the part, but if it was off the wall, they would have scored the run. And so I think it's, you know, you've got to take advantage of every opportunity and the way to beat good pitchers is get them out of the game. Make them throw strikes. Don't expand the strike zone. And force them to throw pitches to where they get to their pitch count, you've got a chance

to get in the bullpen because, you know, even if you're getting shut down by an ace, it just has that feeling that when you finally get them out of the game, okay, now we're going to score, and you do. And so I think that that's got to be the thing. Work to Grom, get his pitch count up, get him out of the game, and take advantage of every opportunity you get. With Steve Phillips, so George Springer made his AAA debut last night, rehabbing back from the concussion.

He will DH tonight, and we believe he'll return to the team tomorrow, which means if he's going to be activated, someone's going to have to come off the 26-man roster. It feels like it's, I would think maybe Schneider, maybe Loporferito, I believe both of them have options. How do you see this one playing out? It is a good sign that George is returning, but as a result, this was always coming. When Jimenez returned, now Springer is returning, someone's going to have to go. How difficult of a decision could this be for Atkins and company?

Yeah, it's a tough one. I think about when Santander comes back if he does, what that becomes, right? I mean, it's a good problem to have. And, you know, at this point, when you make these kind of decisions, you've got to make sure that you have every situation accounted for. So if you're going to pinch it, you need somebody to get on base to lead off an inning, do you have that guy to come off the bench and do it? You know, we saw that John Snyder making moves in that eighth inning yesterday, where the ninth inning, where you ended up with five different players, you know, him and is coming into the game and move and Clement back over to third and Barger going out to the outfield and this guy going here, you've got to make sure that you have every. everything taken care of. My guess is that Loper Fido probably is the guy because you've got Nathan Lucas who sort of serves as that left hand at bat. And, you know, Snyder gives you a little

infield, a little outfield, and he's had some really big at bat. The catch he made yesterday. How about that catch? That was amazing. And I didn't know that I didn't know he had it in him, but that was an outstanding play. So my, my guess is it it's probably Loper Fido, and maybe what they'll do is they'll work some matchups to see if, you know, down the road, if they're going to face a tough right-handed pitcher, then maybe Loporfito comes up. Snyder goes down and they can play with that a little bit as they move forward. But, you know, I think that these are the good problems to have right now. Tough conversations with the players, but good problems to have.

So a lot of eyes on Buffalo these days, Steve, with Springer playing there, with Shane Bieber getting a start. And yesterday we saw the phenom, Trey Yassavage, who's making an incredible rise to the minor league ranks, starting in low A at the beginning of the year, and now all the way up to AAA, and now a lot of speculation that he could indeed play a part

in the Blue Jays season from here on out, if all things go well. He had his first AAA start. It didn't go particularly well, an inning in two-thirds, three strikeouts, four walks. What did you make of the young? man's work there, and how does it bode for his major league prospects in your mind? Yeah, so, you know, it's interesting that because other teams have given these young guys

shots in the big leagues that makes everyone think that, well, this has got to be a possibility too. But again, just like, you know, with Springer coming back, somebody's got to go, then who do you take off the roster to activate him if you do it? And the one thing, he's not going to start, right? That's clear. He's not going to be a starter and supplant any of the starting pitchers on the J's. So the question is, can he be a weapon out of the bullpen? And if he is, he better throw strikes, right? You don't want to bring a young guy in, have him walk two or three guys,

and then put yourself in a deeper jam. And so that first outing doesn't really play into his level of building confidence for his place at the big league level. So, you know, I think that for me, I would tell him, just this is for your own development, this isn't about you being on a big league club. Just go and get some work and some experience in at this level, but trust your stuff and believe that you can throw it over the plate and get hitters out, that you can throw strike one in the zone,

and then later in the abat, expand the zone. But if you go in there thinking, I've got to miss bats on the first pitch, all you're going to do is find yourself in trouble and giving up a bunch of runs. And so I think this is a way, for me, way more about development than about having it be an option for the major league team. Now, for Bieber, it's getting him ready. Manoa, not part of the equation for me at all. I mean, at 91 miles per hour, his stuff's not there.

So I'm excited about Trayevich and what he's going to be. I think he's got a chance to be a really good prospect. But, you know, the idea of then transitioning him out of the bullpen and, you know, do you do that? You know, I'm moving, you know, two of the starters that aren't in the rotation for the postseason into the bullpen. And they're going to get the ball for me before I would give it to a young guy who's just kind of finding his way. With Steve Phillips, our TSM Baseball Insider. So Milwaukee is in Cincinnati tonight. They've won 12 games in a row.

And what are they? 30 and 4, something in the last 34 games. It's something absurd. Are you, I mean, it's kind of crazy to even ask this, considering recency bias has to apply. But are you buying this? And like, are they, in your opinion, the Brewers, the clear-cut best team in baseball?

Yeah, I think they are right now. they're playing that way, right? Yeah, exactly. You know, and again, we know in the postseason that it's not the best team that wins. It's the team that plays the best because all of them have the ability on any night to beat the other team

if they play their best baseball and the other team doesn't. But the brewers are legit. I mean, they've got, you know, Miserowski's back on the mound tonight. The 6'7 Phenom who throws 103 is back on the mound tonight in that rotation after Brandon Woodruff through the other day.

to clinch the 12th win in a row where everybody got hamburgers in Milwaukee from the local diner. And, you know, we know Freddie Peralt is an ace, and he was outstanding at his start as well. And they lined them up to be able to pitch against the Cubs the next time they play them. And so they've got three dominant starting pitchers. They've got swinging this stuff at the end of the game. They are a great defensive team. They manufacture runs. They're one of the best base running teams in baseball.

they steal bases, they take extra bases, they don't make mistakes, and they play a really clean caliber of baseball, and they're a contact hitting team. So they've got a lot going right now. They don't hit a lot of home runs. They're ranked 19th in home runs, but their second run scored, which is interesting, which tells you how they really manufacture. But as I talked earlier, it's tougher to manufacture

against the good pitchers in the postseason. So the home run becomes important, and that's the one Achilles heel that they have, that if they get limited on opportunities, can they hit the ball of the ballpark and try to come back and win a game? You look at Vladdy post-all-Star break, Steve. I mean, the stats are really jumping off the page.

I mean, he's second in Major League Baseball in OPS, only to show A.O. Tani. I mean, he's in the top seven in home runs. He's in a top four and on-base percentage. He's third in hits overall. I mean, he's racking on numbers post-all-star break that just weren't there. all-star break. I mean, when you watch

him, when you sort of observe what's gone on up here from afar, what stands out to you about what's changed for Vladdy? It's just, I think it's only ever confidence with him. I really do. I think when he's really comfortable, he's able to

wait a little bit and stay back and hunt the bottom of the baseball. When he's not overly comfortable, he kind of gets out a little bit and he gets the weight shift over sort of balanced over the middle instead of keeping it back. And he can still hit the ball really hard because he's got great bat speed. His exit velocities are good, but it changes the launch angle of his swing. And so when he commits

early and his body gets out in front a little bit, it's hard at that point to sort of turn to get the bottom of the baseball. When he stays back, he can get the bottom of the baseball. And I think he's confident now. He's seeing the ball well. He's letting it travel. And that's why we're seeing him start to lift the baseball a little bit more. And it's coming at just the right time, right? I mean, complementary players have really sparked this team. Pichette sparked this team, Springer, sparked this team. And now Vladdy is getting into mode where, you know, he's taking advantage of the opportunity. If somebody's on first base now, they're in scoring position with Vladdy at the plate.

Yeah, it's pretty incredible the numbers he's putting up. You know, you mentioned including Otani, but in terms of the American League, like there's, he's number one across the board. Yeah. You know, an OPS, average, extra base hits, total base, everything. You know, he's just, and it's, you know, maybe that's what we need to start preparing for in the future is, like, a slower start, and that's probably the sign of a great, great player is a slow start should not terrify anybody. Like, he's capable of turning things around. And this is like the second half last year, he did it too. Brian.

Yep. Yeah, his slow start is still really good. Absolutely. Right. Right. I mean, at his worst, he's still a very good hitter. at his best, he's one of the best in the game. And so, you're right.

I mean, so, you know, the idea is if he can just get heated up a little bit earlier, then the numbers have a chance to go off charts with it. But he's at 20 homers right now. And, you know, with Springer back, and if he's got everything right, and Bichette's doing his thing, this team's got a lot of ways to score runs, and they're a very good defensive team, as we know. And, you know, my big question is just the bullpen. It's the one area where I just worry that they're voting.

vulnerable. And, you know, that's why I've suggested Burrios going out there. Now, other people in baseball think I'm crazy. You know, I was on my show today with Eduardo Prez. He goes, no, I can't do that to Brillo's. He's one of your better starters. I'm like, I said, I, you know, and he said, it's, it's too much of a panic move on your bullpen. I said, I just want somebody to get out. I don't care about panic. I just, you know, when Hoffman got out of it yesterday, but he also walked five guys the other day. And I don't feel overly comfortable with him, game on the line, World Series 9th inning. Burrios just has

a belly full of guts for me. I love the kid. I think he's got a resilient arm and that sweeper of his is a put-away pitch. But we'll see. We'll see what they do. They've got some tough decisions to make about their starting rotation. You know, if you go with a four-man rotation in the postseason, who are

those four? I think it's, you know, for me it would be, it would be Scherzer and Bassett and Beaver and Gosman. And I would have Lauer and Barrios in the bullpen. I don't know if they have the courage to do that, though. No, well, that's it. Like, someone's coming out.

You know, someone's not getting the ball to start the game. I mean, that's just a reality. And if they end up in a wild card scenario, it's even less than that. At most three guys are getting the ball. Exactly. And, you know, you mentioned Bassett. We were just talking about him with the start tonight. It splits.

At home, he's been phenomenal. He's got like a 250-era at home, and he's got a 640 on the road. He's a mess on the road. So that would have to factor in, too, right? Steve, like if you get to a point where again, let's say they get to the ALDS, but if you're the top seed game three and game four on the road,

are you putting Bassett on the road? Considering the way he's pitched this year, I'm not sure you can. Well, here's the thing. I guess it comes down to it. If you're a wildcard team, then you know, then he might have to start and if it's at home, then great. It works out just fine

for you. Because if he's the third or four starter, then he's likely going to pitch the games at home and it's not the worst thing at all. And he can pitch game two and seven if you need them to do it. So I think there's a lot of different ways they can go. Somebody's going to have hurt feelings and they've got to put it aside for the best interests of the team. But this is a great problem to have. To have too many starting pitchers try to figure out which of the six are going to fit for you. Absolutely. Yep. Good sign of where things are going here. Jay's Ranger starting tonight. All right, Steve,

have a great weekend. We'll do it again soon. Okay, guys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. There is Steve Phillips. You too. or TSM Baseball Insider. Rios to the bullpen. Yeah, he has been on that for a little while. I've seen another... Seasoned gamer or just video game curious. This week in gaming is the podcast for you.

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