OverDrive - OverDrive - August 15, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk for hour one of OverDrive! The guys tee up the Rangers-Jays series with TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips. They get into Chris Bassitt’s home-road splits, roster construction with the pending rending of George Springer, and who from the starting rotation may move to the bullpen.

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This hour of overdrive is powered by Fand-Duel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, overdrive off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker up on YouTube live, up on TSN Plus, soon to be up on TSN4. Go on and on and on, Dave. D.F.S. Chuck in here. Where can you not see this show? At some point it becomes so obnoxious that I've been thinking,

of that. Like, do I just go over the top where it's so obvious that it's ridiculous the amount of different ways that we promote the show to the point where it becomes maybe just a bit that people can kind of play along with? Yeah. You know, like I've always kind of, I've opened the show the same way every single day for years. And maybe I need to change it a little bit. Add YouTube Live, TSN Plus. Your home smart speaker. Home smart speaker. Throw on Twitter accounts, Instagram. We've got to get up on TikTok at some point. ESN.ca, you can stream. ESN.com.

You can find us. A lot of different avenues. The IHeartRadio app. That one, too. IHard Radio app. Check it out. Right? Conventional radio. That's right.

You can find us wherever you've got to find us, man. iPhone, Samsung, whatever you need. Could you have ever imagined when you started in the radio business as a young man? Yeah. That there would be so many ways. I did not. No. No, I used to do the dark studio.

pure radio, nothing online, nothing podcasted, nothing. No. And now you can't escape us. Just a scratchy a.m. Signal. Old school. And if you didn't catch it live, and the beauty of the old school stuff was that, like, the interpretation would get lost because sometimes you get emails and someone would write in.

I heard you say, I didn't say that. Or if I did, I was being sarcastic, but there's no way to go back and really track exactly what I said or how I said it. Yeah, it's funny because when, you know, sometimes. as a newspaper reporter back in those days you'd hear somebody say something on the radio and you'd be like they really say, like you'd hear a coach

or a GM or a player say something that sounded kind of newsworthy and you'd be like, did he really say that? I kind of caught like half of that. Yeah. And then you try to call the producer and say, can I, do you have the tape of that? Can you play that? No chance. Like once in a while they would. Really? I remember getting the occasional tape.

Oh, that's quality. Or the producer would say, I'll listen back and I'll give you the quote. See, that's reasonable. and it was a lot like it happened it happened you know like it's it is newsworthy and I think that's totally reasonable but now I guess you just don't even have to do that you're like I'll just go find the podcast

or I've probably got a PVR or whatever I'll go check it out there's a million ways you can find a million different ways but yeah we're getting old I've realized that recently like I'm trying to stay in shape trying to you know as much as I can I hit Planet Fitness from time to time I do walk occasionally when I golf

but you walk or you I thought you were a card game I'm generally a car cat. I was a lie. You caught me in a lot. I was just blatantly lying to you. Although I did walk the other day, Carpath only, I did the little half and half

where I took out the carry bag. Taylor made makes this really light, kind of beautiful, pure carry bag. Single strapper? Yeah, it's nice and light. Exceptional. So I put the appropriate amount of stuff in there and I go for a walk and I'll jump in my buddy's card

who's too lazy to do the walking. He's doing the running to the car. back into the fairway, back to the cart. Which is, like, card path only is essentially, like, walking. It effectively is. It's the same amount of steps, only it's significantly more aggravating. It is more aggravating. So, and what's really aggravating is he's doing it,

and I jump on just when I need to to drive up to the next hole, then I'm like, all right, I'm gone. You know, so that probably didn't help much in terms of where his mindset was on, because he's paying for the cart. And I'm like, so I'm walking. I'll just be walking except for the long rides except for what I really need to ride

I'll be riding yeah but yeah I'm trying to but I went to the park with my kids today and every once in a while we do that and they want to break out

in a game of tag so we hit we played tag and I was it and I went into a sprint for the first time in a long time and I came up tight

man my the thighs I thought I blew my hammy out I think I'm alive I think I'm okay but realizing that you're too old and too stiff and ultimately, I guess, too out of shape, to just break out into like a sprint,

that's a really difficult thing to chew on. It is. Because as a kid, my kids will go, you've seen it, you know it. Like, my kids will lay on the couch for two hours, get up, and they would just run around the block 15 times straight. That's what you can do is the kid. No problem. No problem at all.

Me? Like, I was up, moving, walking, and I broke into a sprint, and I did the old Michael Johnson coming around the, turn. Yeah, chicken. You're a chicken. I was a chicken.

I pulled the shoot. I pulled the shoot. Oh my. And a part of it could have been that I realized I can't catch my kids anymore. That's a bad feeling. That might have been it too. I remember that day with my son where it was just like, first it was when we were skating. And it was like, you know, you used to be able to dominate the little punk and you can

sort of take him to push him around. Push him around. And then if he, you know, if he makes a little move on you, okay, yeah, nice move. But watch this, you know. And then you, and then there's a day where you go, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, There's like a loose pocket. You're playing, whatever you're playing, and your kid just blows past you. Yeah.

Like, ooh. It's humbling. And you just cannot, like, you're trying as impossible. You just can't catch him anymore. Like, I was trying to, I was trying to run. And I'm like, I don't even know if I'm moving. And yet I'm getting progressively worse in terms of the status of just the whole operation. The bad feeling, man.

Yeah, like there were radars going off, like, left hammy, right thigh. It was like shutting down, shutting down. Like, I got to stop. Can't do that. You have to be careful because, I mean, I live in perpetual field. I've seen so many guys, like, coaching youth sports over the years. And, you know, I play occasional pickup games here and there. A little basketball here, a little, like, pick up hockey on the Othor rink there.

A little bit of, you know, just nothing crazy. Like, I'm not into adult leagues because there's too many fights. Yeah, it's crazy. You get the, you just get too many guys who are way too, just ridiculous. I'm playing just for fun, but I live in perpetual fear. I've seen so many guys, like four or five guys that I've known over the last 20 years, pop the killies. And that, like, that seems like the worst thing that could possibly happen.

Ever. And I don't want it to happen to me. Me neither. So I'm like, I'm living in perpetual fear and I'm very cautious. Like, way too cautious. I totally agree. We're not really living, is I guess what we're saying. I probably not.

Yeah, I don't think we are. I think we're basically admitting to that, but that's fine. Like, I'm basically, like, if I'm going to go out and play pickup basketball, like, I'm, I got to, like, basically tape the ankles. Like, I got to, you know, I agree to. I mean, it's like, I'm not fooling around here. Because you start, because, again, it's like age. Like, when your kids are faster than you, that's a signal. And then if you go out and play with, like, young guys, like, guys that are still in their athletic primes are close.

Yes. And you're not. Trouble. I mean, that's big, big risk, man. It's dangerous zone city. And it's always the pride that pushes you into that position. Like, I'm grinding, I'm going for that rebound, forget this punk, and then you come down and you blow your Achilles out. Guess what that guy, young guy's thinking, what a loser.

What a loser you are. Like, A.O.G. You think you're impressing him by going up for the board, and then you don't get the rebound, but blow out your Achilles. And then that guy goes, you're such a loser. I'll never see you again. Exactly what happened. So ultimately, you didn't accomplish anything. No, young guys have no mercy.

And I was the same way. Me neither, dude. I remember when fat old guys used, like, when I was playing high school basketball, there would always be the fat old guy that wanted to play with the high school guys. Come get some. Or the early university guys. And it's like, you see the fat old guy walk up. And now you're the fat old guy.

I know. It's really humbling. And you had no mercy on the fat old guy in old days. None. Like, what are you doing here? And at the same time, I have faith in humanity that that still exists, that the young guy's looking at me like I'm a pathetic loser. They are.

I hope they are. Because I was 20 years ago. yeah no they don't they do not have any empathy they do not say that'll be me one day they don't say that oh you don't think like that when you're young never at least i didn't no i remember i was like i'd never be the fat old guy never man i'm gonna be in shape and everything's gonna be amazing yeah fat old guy it's it's a tough it's a tough spot and the worst the worst it makes it so much worse so much worse in the walking boot in the walking no longer able to play yeah that was my fear man i thought i'm

going down for the count. Like, I'm going to the King's Plate tomorrow. I love going there every year. My wife and I go. We cannot wait to get up there at Woodbine. Sure, it's going to be ridiculously hot like it is every single year for the most part, but I can't wait to go up. But the idea of me going up with like a knee brace on or something kind of changes the whole vibe. Like it's pretty posh up there, right? Like, guys, most people are decked out. I'm going to try to bring my a suit if I can, but a suit with a knee brace over top is really not something many people can pull off. No. Really very, very few people can pull that look off.

So I'm fortunate that that's not going to be the case as of tomorrow, but Eddie O'clock's coming up. Little Pucks and Ponies with Eddie O. I tell you. Always my favorite. It is one of my favorite segments on Overdrive. I'm happy to be a part of it. I love it when I'm just the listener, when it's whatever Kentucky Derby time or triple crown time. And pucks and ponies, man. Nobody doesn't like Eddie O. Eddie knows everything there is to know, and he's going to hook us up with picks. That's coming up in about two hours.

Can't wait. About an hour from now, Vicki and Boko is coming up. Vicki and Boker, and she's going to throw out the first pitch tonight. That's what I was told, which always makes me nervous for anybody. Like, what's it going to look like? Make sure you got your, you know, just try to get it as close to whoever's catch it. I'm curious who they're the hub behind home plate tonight. Feels like a Vladdy night.

Kind of feels like this is a big one. You get Vicki and Boko out, you know, local kid, just won the national. open, going to the U.S. Open, and we've had these conversations, you know, a couple of months ago, and we were doing Sports Center hits on, you know, Shea versus McDavid. And I'm curious if Mboko, like, if she pulls off a U.S. Open, like, can she get in the chat with Shea? Like, is it even possible to start talking athlete of the year? If she, like, because when Andrescue won, she had won in Toronto, and then she won the U.S. Open, and it was like, checkmate, done. Like, No one else is competing with that.

Maybe, again, I'm putting a cart before the horse here, because it's happened before, that might flatten it a little bit. The fact that Andrescue again, won in Toronto. I think she won an Indian Wells that year two. That's right. And then she won the U.S. Open. It was the first Canadian to ever win a slam. But I don't know.

I mean, Shea's won a, you know, athlete of the year, Northern Star Athlete of the year before. And Boko clearly has not. I don't know. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on her. but the idea of her going out of the U.S. over with a lot of buzz right now, find a way to compete, go deep in that tournament. Her name's going to ring out by the end of the year.

That's for sure. She's putting herself in the conversation if she does that. But you're right. Like the fact that it's not unprecedented probably takes a little bit of the shine off. Not that, look, you know, you're nitpicking greatness, right? That's what we're doing here. Like, Shea is just going to be difficult to knock off the pedestal this year, right? Because you talk about it never been done before.

but, no, we've had a Canadian MVP before, and Shea was that. He joined Steve Nash in that category. But we've never had a Canadian MVP that wins the NBA scoring title, wins the finals MVP, and is the best player on a team that wins an NBA championship. I mean, that's, and we may never have it again. That is 100% valid. Yeah, like what Shay Gil does Alexander accomplish this year's scoring title? Like, he did stuff that very few players in NBA history have ever done.

Right. Like Jordan and, like, Kareem and Shaq or something like that. And how you shake it out. Yeah, like scoring title, MVP, finals MVP, championship, best record. Like, these are all, you know, there are somewhat arbitrary lines, but not really. I mean, it's not like you're talking, score the most points on a Tuesday in March. Like, that's the truly arbitrary stuff where you can kind of, you can pick and choose that. You can pick and choose, and you can pit people together a little bit easier.

These are like bold numbers that Shea Gildas Alexander represented this year. So I guess I'm just trying to make it more interesting. I'm trying to drive it into a world where there's still, because Summer McIntosh clearly made a lot of noise. Four golds and a bronze. Yeah, like she made a lot of noise. And I think it's so weird that because she didn't win the fifth, she's out of the running, but it kind of feels that way,

where maybe she had to do something that was uncharted territory. Probably almost any other year of the whatever it is, the near century this war has been around, you know, summer wins for what she just did at the worlds. And if Mboko goes to the U.S. Open and even maybe gets to the final after winning the National Open and having a good run at a U.S. Open, she'd probably be in, she'd probably be the winner too. Like there's, if you kind of go through the years.

Yeah, of course. I mean, we're just in such an extraordinary period here where we've got so many world-class performers. Yeah. And it's not just in Olympic years and it's not just in winter sports. And, you know, we've got world-class performers at so many levels and so many sports. It's just, it's tough to compete. It is tough to compete.

And, you know, we're, speaking of the world, you know, the World Cup is on its way next year. And I guess the Argos were presenting some news today. I'm sure they were aware of this for quite some time. But next year, they're going to have to play three home games on the road next year, one of which would be in Winnipeg, which I find wild, because, you know, It just seems like Hamilton would be the perfect fit. Like find a way to make Hamilton work three times. Right.

And, you know, people in Winnipeg, they love Toronto. So I'm sure they'll be very supportive of when the Argos roll through town as a home team. But I get Argos fans are going to be up in arms. I understand it. But this really is not that hard to figure out. No. Like, it's the World Cup. Obviously the Argos have to move somewhere else.

Like, it's just, it's unfortunate, but it's simple. And TFC, they're going to be. a break, there'll be an international break, but in some hypothetical world where they were supposed to play home games, they wouldn't be playing either. They'd be out of here. When the stadium was originally built, it was built for soccer. And it's the World Cup. We've never hosted it before. I'm not sure the city, I'm not sure the country, I'm not sure I am prepared for what exactly is on route here. Like we are less than a year away from what will likely be the largest event we will ever host in the history of the city.

Right. And, you know, we've never had an Olympic Games. I don't know if we ever will. You know, we had the Pan Am games, and those went well, but it's nowhere clear to, nowhere close to the same status. But this is just, I think, almost an appetizer for what's about to come. Because it's going to be all World Cup all the time. It's going to completely encapsulate the city.

There's going to be nothing else that will be mattering. The crazy thing is the Js are, I believe, going to be playing at times while the World Cup I mean, clearly, it's during their season, and it's a different stadium. But they are going to be pushed aside to an extent, you know, in terms of the pecking order of the city, and I'm sure where the resources are going, and making sure that the accommodations are there for whoever's going to be going to these World Cup games. It's about the world basically joining us in our city. That's what's coming. So it sucks for the Argos, but I'm sorry, I'm not that empathetic.

Like, it's totally understandable, and you knew it was coming. You're not, you can't have football games. during the World Cup. It's not going to happen. No. So someone had to, you had to go play somewhere else. That's the way it is. And it's just, it's just the way the world. Like it's not an amateur thing, you know, like you're going to see that.

This is so amateur. No, it's not. It's the World Cup. You got to play somewhere else. I'm sorry. You're out. Well, it's not even, it's, it's, it's an in-house thing. Because MLSE, who owns the Argos is intimately involved. Heavily involved in this. With what's going on with the World Cup. Yes. Exactly. So it's not like, it's not like there's not internal consultation. It's just, there's just no other option.

No option. It would be good if they could find someone else in the city. Exactly. We don't have a stadium. Exactly. But could you play at varsity stadiums? Could you go old school and go up to York University and sell tickets and make it feel like a tailgate or something like that? Could you make it feel collegiate?

I don't know. But then you're out of like, but then the CFL kind of parameters of the TV production stuff and the, you know, the light, the power of the lights and all that stuff. Totally. It's not ideal. TSN thing, obviously. You need, you need a, you need a CFL level field. Right. You can't just go play at any old field.

And so, I mean, I'm sure you could have played at, you know, University of Guelph or McMaster University. There's football fields. Yeah. But you need everything else that goes with it. Right. The infrastructure that comes with being a professional operation. I get it. It's just, it's such a unique scenario.

You're talking to the three, this will never likely happen again, unless for whatever reason they have to make upgrades to BMO in the future, which is possible. Hey, man. If the athletics are playing in Sacramento. and the rays are playing in a spring training facility in Tampa. I mean, you know, we saw Mullet Arena hosting NHL games, you know, the universe. Well, see, but that's, I guess, what I'm saying is, you know, like, if they've made it work elsewhere, it is. But I guess that's my point. And I get it's pie in the sky stuff, but maybe if you, it feels like it may have been an opportunity for the Argos to, like, connect to the city in a weird way by offering up three very unique sporting experiences.

You know, we're going to have three home games at, again, varsity stadium or something, or up at York, and it's going to be very different. It's going to be, yes, it's easy for me to say it's not my money, but you're going to chew on it a little bit. It's, you know, $10 tickets in general admission and everyone come out, and we're going to find a way to make this feel very, very unique because, you know, we've got to turn lemons into lemonade here because we're out. You know, we can't play at our stadium.

It just, it feels like that may have been a missed opportunity, but. Yeah, I mean At the same time, you know, to your point It's professional, it's the CFL, the players May have said, well, what's this? This is Rinky Dink or whatever But that's just a reality, man. You start hosting the World Cup It overlaps with when other teams are playing.

The World Cup wins. It's very, very simple. That pitch has got to be pristine. It has to be perfect. And it probably won't be. And that's unfortunately the concern is like, is it going to be up to the standards of what we've seen in Qatar?

what we saw in Brazil and elsewhere, I don't know. Who knows? But you do hear a lot of complaining about the pitches at major international soccer events. Yeah, especially in North America. If they complain about ours, it won't be the first time. No, and it'll be the same thing when they go to places in the States. Right. You know, like they're playing the final at MetLife, I believe.

I believe so. That stadium is horrendous. No, you have to cart in the turf has to be brought in. Yeah. Yeah, it's awful. Like the Jets and Giants and no fans like it. The media doesn't like it. in Jersey. It's not even in New York.

Yeah, you can see New York, but you ain't in New York. You're not in New York. When you're in MetLife, you're not in New York. So, anyway, the Js are in action, of course, tonight, Jacob de Grom on a mound with the Rangers in town. And the Rangers are, it's perfect that

they're a 500 club. They have a great staff, great defense, and they can't hit. Like, it's just completely balanced lineup. And DeGrom is an example of that tonight. You know, he's he's as good as it gets when he's on his game. And I am curious to see how the Jays, you know, attack him tonight.

And he got Bassett, which I think it sets up well because, you know, he could probably use a little bit of a boost. And it's not that the Rangers are incapable of supplying offense, but you look at their numbers. They're not powerhouse team offensively. There's a pretty good chance. This is going to be a pitching and defense type of weekend. But, you know, I think the Jays are probably up for that.

Well, yeah, it's going to be a pitching a defense. defense weekend because you look at the starters for the Rangers. Of the six guys that are the top six favorites to win the A.L. Sy Young, the Rangers have two of them. Evaldi's fourth and the gram is six. Right. In the odds right now. And Kelly's pretty damn good too. I don't think he's pitching this week. He's not pitching. They get Patrick Corbin tomorrow, the lefty against Eric Lauer, the Toronto lefty. So, and then on Sunday it's Evaldi Burrios. So you get, like, you're going to have to do some work to get some runs. Yeah. This is not going to be an easy and easy weekend. You're going to have to get great

pitching performances from your guys if you want to stay in the games in all likelihood. You're going to feel like it probably did yesterday. Game against the Cubs. You know, it's going to be low scoring and who can find a clutch hit late in the game. And we just showed it that, you know, Bassett and he splits home in a way or staggering.

Crazy. At home, he's like a Cy Young stuff. It's nuts. Yeah, it really is. I mean, it's, like, you don't often see that stark a contrast in anybody. But it's a good sign that they're playing at the Rogers Center tonight. There it is. He's 8-0 with a 256 ERA at home,

his strikeouts per 9.8 at home. On the road, he's 3 and 6. He's got a 639 ERA on the road. More than double. 639 on the road, a 256 ERA at home. He walks a million guys on the road compared to at home, and he doesn't strike how many guys on the road. He is more than twice as good at home.

Yeah. As he is on the road this year. Yeah. At home, he's like Dave Steve, You've been on the road, he's, you know, Josh Towers. There you go. You know, I mean, it's kind of crazy, but they happen to be at home tonight, which is great. All right.

Steve Phillips will join us later this hour on Jay's Rangers. What else is going on throughout baseball? We'll catch up with Steve. We'll get into this Argos scenario. The Argos are in action in Edmonton tonight, and Luke Wilson's out there. Luke is back online tweeting about the CFL. He took two days off, I think it was. I'm not doing it.

I'm not going to keep tweeting about the CFL two days later. He's like, I'm back. Let's do it. So we'll see what Luke has in store for us. Catch up with him in about an hour. And Vicki and Boko, again, I believe, throwing out the first pitch tonight. So she'll join us part of that coming up around 505-5-10. Overdrive continues.

TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Mail it in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP, where you get an entree, a site, and a drink, and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston. Pizza. Overdrive continues powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything

from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, Dave Fesschuk. We've got Steve Phillips coming up here in just a moment. Canada just lost to the Americans at the Gretzky Halinka in a shootout. They're down 3-1 at one point. They battled back to tie it up, went to overtime, ends up going to a shootout. And

that's the future, man. But there's some players on both teams, clearly. The Americans and the Canadians that you just know are going to be superstars. Yeah. And next year it's the Gavin McKenna draft, but could there be a player or two that could possibly push him aside? Seems far-fetched based on the way he's playing the W.HL the last couple of years, and he was good enough to play for the

world juniors last year. I would anticipate he'll just continue to grow and get better and better and better. But it's always interesting when you get to a draft, and there's some sort of uncertainty, you know? Yeah. And I don't know. Like, will he be the next McDavid type or Bedard type where it's just a lock and it's a waste of time? to even debate if anyone else can play with them. I don't know. That could possibly happen, and we'll wait and see.

But I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised with some of the talent out there really throughout the world if someone else creeps up and has a great year and possibly competes with them. Yeah, these are young kids still, right? Yeah, it's very difficult to predict. A lot can happen in the course of a junior hockey season. But McKenna's a lot to be among the top picks.

Absolutely. It would be shocking as of today if he didn't go first overall. Like he's developed to that point and he's established himself to that point. But crazier things have happened in a draft year. You know, the kid that was the captain of the team

is Keaton Verhoff, real big defenseman, a 6364 kid. He's been impressing people in a big way. You know, will he be impressed people enough to be the number one pick? Who knows? But it's, you know, it's hard to find big, nice skating, really good skilled defenseman.

And obviously he's kind of established himself as one of those. That goes a long way, though. That's like the Tavares draft. Tavorous Hedman, who do you want? Tavaris went first, understandably, great career. Headman, though, man, tough to pass that up. That's just it. So, we'll see.

We've got a long time to figure that out. Finding the next headman, there's been a lot of big-looking dudes that I've heard scouts say could be the next headman. who did not turn out to be the next headman. Right. You know what I mean? I know what you mean. All right.

Jay's Rangers tonight. Here's Steve Phillips or TSN Baseball Insider. How are 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. DeGrom on the mound 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. Shurzer goes seven innings, very efficient. Vladdy with a clutch home run in the seventh inning. Hoffman comes in and closes the door on the ninth. Like it had a playoff vibe to it. Cubs were a really good team. Like it just seemed to check every possible box you'd want to check

if you were 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 Guerrero Jr. delivering. Interesting.

They chose to pitch to them 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? Do 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 walked Blattie there and you pitch to Bichet. 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 3.18 ERA. I think the thumbs are non-issue right now. And, I mean, he truly looks like he's only

competing against the other team. 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. It was great baseball. And that was a good win. It was a really good win.

And Hoffman, you know, he, he He bent a little bit, getting 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. 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 Burrios will be the starter and they'll have to take on the lefty Patrick Corby tomorrow. What is the challenge presented by this incredible ranger staff and how do you get to them? 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'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. 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, you know, it's a ground ball. They get the out at 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, 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 Ross. It feels like it's, I would think maybe Schneider, maybe a little perfido, 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 common. 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 guess is 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 Loparfito comes up, Schneider 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 Lowe 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, it 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, I mean, 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 Js. 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 beaver it's getting him ready

Manoa, not part of the equation for me at all. I mean, at 91 miles per hour, stuff's not there. So I'm excited about Tray Savage 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 are

TSM Baseball Insider So Milwaukee is in Cincinnati tonight They've won 12 games in a row And what are they, 30 and four 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, right, 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. Otani. I mean, he's in the top seven in home runs. He's in the top four and on-base percentage. He's third in hits overall. I mean, he's racking up numbers post-all-star break that just weren't there. all-star break. I mean, when you watch

them, 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 and 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, the complimentary players have really sparked this team. Bichette sparked this team, Springer sparked this team, and now Blattie

is getting into mode where he's taking advantage of the opportunity is if somebody's on first base now, they're in scoring position with Blatty 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. On 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 players. 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. 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 the 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 vulnerable.

And, you know, that's why I've suggested Burrios going. out there. Now, other people in baseball think I'm crazy. I was on my show today with Eduardo Prezzi. He goes, no, I can't do that to Brillo. She's one of your better starters. I'm like, I said, I, you know, and he said 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. Yeah. And I don't feel overly comfortable with him. Game on the line, World Series, ninth inning. Burrios just has a belly full of guts for me. I love the kid.

I think he's, 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 Burrios 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. And most three guys are getting the ball. Exactly. And, you know, you mentioned Bassett.

We were just talking about him with the start tonight. His splits. At home, he's been phenomenal. He's got like a 250-R-A 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 wild card team, 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 and go. Somebody's going to have hurt feelings and they've got to put it aside for the best answers

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 Rangers 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, our TSM Baseball Insider. Rios to the bullpen. Yeah. He has been on for a little while. I've seen other people suggest it. Like, I don't know.

It would be uncomfortable for him, but it's going to be uncomfortable for any of these guys. Yeah. And like Scherzer is the guy that it seems to make the most sense based on his attitude and his approach. Yet, the flip side of that is he's Max Scher and they're not going to do that to him.

Like, unless he would agree to it. I also think he's old and he's going to need a long time to warm up. Well, that's another big part of it as well. Yeah, because you've got to put him in a position to succeed. Right. And I think, you know, based on the aura that he has and the reputation he has, especially in big games, you know, you kind of want him to set the tone for you and take the ball early in a game. Yes. But, you know, someone's feelings are going to get hurt.

You know, and again, when Springer shows up tomorrow, someone's going down, Lou Perfito, Schneider, someone's going down that has contributed over the last two months. I was going to say someone's going down who doesn't deserve to go down. It's done nothing wrong. And in fact, it's done a lot of things right. Absolutely. And that's the tough reality of pro sports. Springer's playing. You know, when Varsha arrived, he's playing.

Someone's leaving. And if Sontander, this is the truth, he's playing. Oh, yeah. The financial commitment they've made to him. I'm not bracing for his return. But let's say he got into cage today and started hacking and said, give me a month, I'll be back. Feel good.

He's going to be playing. For sure he is. I mean, there's a reason you got him aboard the team, you know, with your biggest offseason acquisition because you felt you felt, You needed that power bat that he was supposed to supply. Absolutely. And you may still need it. You may need it.

You may need it. But, yeah, that bullpen, they've got to figure that out. It sounds like Jimmy Garcia is still not in a great position either. So I don't know if he's going to be an option the rest of the way. Yeah, man. It's exciting, though. When you're talking about this type of stuff. Yeah, when you're projecting a rotation in the playoffs in August, it's a good sign.

Vicki and Boko in about 25 minutes. Luke Wilson coming up from Edmonton as well. Alex Argos tonight. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, Dickey and Boko coming up. Luke Wilson will join us. We've got more tickets to give away

for the LPGA tour that's in town tomorrow. Or next week. Next week out of Mississauga. Kingsplay tomorrow. I'm getting all my dates mixed up. Kingsplate tomorrow. LPGA next week. Plan on hitting both.

Looking forward to it. Yeah. It can be a blast, man. Great events. Yeah. It's a great vibe there. Like, you just, you know, everyone's all dolled up.

it's a party, and if you get great weather, you get all these different races, you win a little bit of money, probably lose a little bit of money, but ultimately everyone goes home happy. I've gone home from the Kings Plate having lost a little bit of money, more often than winning a little bit of money. My issue is generally, in my experience, I might hit a winner early on, and then it's like, all right, now I think I know what I'm doing. You got swagger. Yeah, so now just, I'm going to lay it down, and I'm going to spread it out over all these

different races, and then I end up eventually actually losing. Maybe you should get some advice from Eddie O at 605. That's my plan. Eddie Old Chuck, pucks and ponies. Get into a number of things with Eddie, but definitely hammer the King's plate and see what he's got for us. And again, Luke Wilson coming up in Edmonton with the Argos playing the Elks tonight. So we'll get his take on that. I'm sure he's got a take on this World Cup stuff, which I get it sucks.

If you're an Argos fan, it sucks. If you're a season ticket holder for the team, I get it. Next summer, the World Cup's taken over. That building, no one's going close to that building for about two months. It's going to be like a cordoned off, you know, go-go area. No-go area. Heavily secured. The Argos are not going to be playing there.

And they're going to miss out on three games. But that's just the way it is. The World Cup is going to proceed everything else. World Cup is going to own this city. So we'll catch up with Luke on that and more. So to come into the next hour. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSNF.

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