OverDrive - OverDrive - May 11, 2026 - Hour 1 - Keegan Matheson

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! They discuss Mitch Marner's impressive performances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the narrative around his tenure with the Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews' future in Toronto, the Canadiens' series lead against the Sabres and Jakub Dobes leading the way in the crease. They dive into Eric Lauer's future with the Blue Jays, MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins to discuss Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s issues, Addison Barger back on the IL and the Rays' dominance.

Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month. Price guaranteed for two years with a two-year internet and TV term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fandool. Fandul, 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 TSN4, up on. on YouTube live, Brian Haze, the other dog, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClellan. What's going on today? What's going on? How are we feeling?

Guys, let's make a new rule for the media in Toronto. Only two people per game or practice. And then, in the future, it'll be no one's fault in the media why someone doesn't perform. I am sickened by the goings-on, and I know we got a bunch of stuff to get into. But the goings-on out in that Vegas Anaheim series with the goons and some people that I've

have known and respected for a long time that say Mitch Marner is just doing what he's doing out in Vegas because the Toronto media is not bothering him or we were the reason that he didn't get it done. Just look at the results. He went out and put his jersey on and played hockey in this city for this team and didn't get the results. They didn't get it done. He was a part of it. That's all I know. Now he's leading the playoffs and scored. Seven in his last two games. I just don't know why it can't be good for him, great for him. All the things you can point to, most importantly, maybe the team around him, maybe him himself, but to drag it back to the Toronto media being the reason why things didn't happen here is completely

insane. And if you have that thought process, you need to be arrested. Arrested. That's extreme. Arrested. It's extreme. Go ahead. Place for a different team. That's what it is. Like, it's, you know, it's not the media's fault.

It's not the fan's fault. He plays for a different team. There's a different leadership group there. There's a different culture. There's a different expectation. Like, I just, that's the way I look at it. And he's had a great playoffs. I'm happy for the guy, Jamie, but I just don't know why it's turned into.

Why can't it just be he's playing awesome? Why does it always, because Hayes has always brought it up. People just love bringing Toronto. They love dragging Toronto back into the equation. I just find it quite sickening. So either fold the team or just only have two people covering it. And then they're, no, fold the team, Jamie. Fold the team.

Well, yeah. If it's just too hard to play here and I don't know why, a guy walking around with his notepad and asks you some questions, can there be some stupid stuff about, you know, You did this on the bench or you had a hot dog, whatever. But to just blame it on that. And I've told you guys before, I messaged Steve Simmons one time because I was I was retired and I was eating breakfast. And by the way, me and Steve are friends now.

We have been for a long time. And I sent him an email because I was included in one of his blogs about, I just told him off. And he simply responded, you are the one that went out and played the games the way you did, Jeff. End of email. and it took years for that to marinate in my brain. And then finally one day you wake up and you're like, he's right. I am the guy that went out there. And I have no one to look at but myself.

Go ahead, Brian Hayes. Well, I think, yeah, there's a lot to get into here. I find, you know, the city is and the fan base in Toronto. It has been a wild couple of weeks. It is an example. of why this place, you know, is so big and so great, in my opinion, but also there's a lot of ebbs and flows, right, where I can't tell you the amount of people that were not talking about Marr, I didn't have anyone really asking me about Marner all weekend, and I was in rinks, and I was all around town, out for dinners,

and I got a lot of things to tell you guys about my deal yesterday. Love it. But I was getting way more. Do you think they take McKenna? Is McKenna the guy? What do you think of McKenna? what do you make of Chica? Who is this guy?

What kind of role the Sundin play? Like the Leafs had a trifecta last year or last week of hiring a new GM, winning the lottery, and then rumors about their captain's future. Like you can't top that. It didn't matter what else was going on in the world. Leaf fans I found were more encapsulated with that. I think the Marner stuff, yeah, some Lee fans are, this is an example of where there's usually three avenues for anyone,

any fan that's watching the team and has been a fan of this team for a long time and trying to put their finger on what is wrong with the team. There is a portion of the fan base that thinks it's the market, which means the media and the crazy fans and all that kind of stuff where people just simply can't perform here, right? Even though the Blue Jays can perform and the Raptors can perform and the Leafs 20 years ago could perform to a certain extent, yes, those people are going to look at Mitch Marner with 16 points

where he's been on fire. He looks great and say, that's the reason why it didn't work for Mitch. Another avenue is looking at the team and the culture. And I think there's something to that, right? Like, this is a testament to Vegas. Vegas is high expectations. It's not just Mitch on a marquee. He's one of 18 guys going on the ice, right? And they expect everyone to play a certain way and everyone to contribute.

And if you don't, you are going to be asked to leave, literally. If you don't pull your weight in Vegas, they will say, thank you for what your contract says. We don't accept that. You're leaving. Even if it's early on in your tenure. Absolutely. And the reality is in Toronto, it was the core for this and core for that. And everything was hyper-focused on those players.

And a lot of that was internal because they were treated differently by management and by ownership and by the coaching staff. And then the third avenue is just actually looking at the player. And this is kind of where I come in. And I think all of it can contribute in a certain way. But he is writing a new chapter. It doesn't erase the ones he's already written. He wrote nine chapters here in Toronto. He played here for nine years.

Never had a hat trick? Right? I don't remember the last time he had three points in a game. I'm sure it's happened before in the playoffs. It doesn't erase it because of what he's doing in Vegas. Credit to him, he's playing exceptionally well. It's 2-2 in the second round. Let's also clarify that, right?

There was 2-2 against Florida. this time last year. A lot of games left. They've played Utah and Anaheim. Not exactly Boston and their prime, Florida in their prime, Tampa in their prime, right? It hasn't been nasty. I haven't seen anyone looking at him saying, I'm going to go punch him in the head and just see how he reacts. He had to deal with that more when he was in the Atlantic. We'll see what happens in the future. But he deserves all the credit in the world for the way he's playing. He's been outstanding. He's a great player. He was a great player when he was a leaf. He's a great player now is a golden night.

But you can't, it's not revisionist history. The facts are, the facts. They didn't flush them out after two or three years here and say, get out, you didn't cut it. It played here for nine years. And he left. And by the account, he chose to leave a year or two before he even became a free agent.

Go talk to Mitch about that. Don't talk to other people. Ask him why he didn't play better in game seven against Florida. I don't know the answer to that. He does. He can tell you that. Why didn't play better? You know, that's the reality. You're like Keith Pelly. You spoke to different people.

Well, again, I think there's a lot of, it's amazing. The positivity in the city, though, I find right now. I don't know where you guys are living, but I find Leaf fans are alive again. They're like first overall pick. Let's see where this is going. Now, things can change, clearly. But winning the lottery last week was a real spark. I think they were getting, leaf fans are getting resuscitated, like noodles.

when I had the steak sandwich on the panel. And I don't think they're alive yet. They've opened one eye. Okay. They've opened one eye with the possibility of another one opening up very soon. They're not fully alive yet. Okay. Because the same conversations, Brian, I had over the weekend, same type of thing.

You get the, you know what it is? It's piqued their interest. I got to be honest, from February on, people were done with this. Dead. It was awful. Right? Like, just done. Like, you're like, ah, wake me out.

Like, they're, you know, now they're not making the playoffs. And there was just this, Brian, you've described it. There's just, there was just this, like. A malaise. Yeah, like, people are like just, and I'm done with them. I just, I don't care. Like, what happened this past week is it, the interest is back. Now, where I'll stop you, where you thought, you know, they, I still think that people are excited about the first overall pick,

and why shouldn't you? It's first overall pick. There's nothing negative about that. Nothing negative. But what now is the question is, what do you think this chiker can do? That's what I got all over the weekend. What is this guy all about? What do you think he can do?

And then thirdly, half the fan base is like already trade Matthews. They've already got a trade cooked up. And the other half is like, well, hold on a second here. You keep them and you can do it. So now they're deciding what the roster is going to look like with Matthews and without. So I don't know if that's excitement or it's more just people are like, what is this stuff like now? Yeah, it's liable. It's got a pulse.

Yes, there's a pulse. I don't know if it's negative or positive because people are like. This is proof that it is fickle and there will be ebbs and flows, right? It will come and go. You know, as for Matthews, I'm curious where you, like I'd love to know what he thinks of watching Marner. play the way he's playing. And Mitch is on the second line down there, right? Like it's still Eichael's team and Stone's team.

Of course. But Mitch is contributing greatly. And I'm curious if we expect to hear from Matthews at any point. I don't think he has an obligation to speak. He spoke on his way out, right? But it is getting a little bit crazy here without really knowing exactly what the guy is thinking and what is going to happen with him in the future. Do you not think that we'll hear from him in September and that's it?

Like unless something crazy happens. Like unless you're right. Like unless it gets leaked out that he's asked to be moved or he's not going to extend all of that. I think the next time we hear from Austin, now, I could be wrong. Maybe if he's on board with McKana, he shows up at the draft and he's on the stage with him or something like that. But I just, you guys knowing, Austin Matthews has been around, what, nine years? Ten years now, yeah. Ten years.

What of what you've learned from him over the last decade? speaks to that he's just going to go, hey, you know what, I'm going to call into overdrive and tell people my thoughts, or I'm going to put out a statement like Connor McDavid did, you know, like, he's just not, he's not wired that. It's not his MO. Yeah, you're right. It's probably not going to have done it, Jamie. I've said it about all these guys, whether it be Matthew Kuch or Austin Matthews or Yose or Worenski, or Werenski, like, they're the ones that have put the situation where it's at.

Like, they could easily come out and say, you know, whether it be a tweet on you, you your back porch in Arizona. Leaf fans, just to let you know, my intention is to be a leaf my whole career. And until, if you don't say that, people are just going to wonder. And you know they're wondering, and that's the reason that we're here.

And if you don't say anything or don't address it yourself, I mean, I think Brady could have, he kind of addressed it, but not really. You hear a bunch of different things. And until the player actually comes out, not through an agent,

not through an agent going through reporters, the player himself saying, this is what I want to do. Nobody will know. And in this market and in this country, people are going to speculate until their eyes are just blue. Yeah, because we're talking about the biggest players, right? Sure, yeah. R key names. But at least Brady came back and said, that's never come out of my mouth.

I don't know why I'm committed to the organization. Like, he said that. Like, I watched that press conference. Like, you know, he didn't, he said that's, That's on the internet. That's not what I've said. But you know what, Jamie, until it actually had, like Quinn Hughes, a bunch of times last year was like, I'm a Vancouver Canuck and I'm the captain and this and that.

And then sure enough, it was like, I'm not signing here, so get me out of here. Yeah, I agree. You can have lip service 100%. My point is, is like, Austin Matthews has never, you know, he just does his media. He moves on. Like, that's just how they are. There are certain guys who are understand that, hey, I feel like this. This is going to be out there, so I'm going to address it.

With Austin Matthews, we saw, end of the year, William Nealander, 90 seconds, see you know. Yeah, I'll see you. I'm not going to say you later. See you in September. Drop in the mic. There's just, people are different, and not everybody is a rock star in the media. Not everybody has that.

And quite honestly, until Austin Matthews is under contract for the next two years. There's a lot of speculation. But in his mind, he's like, I'm working out. I'm ready for next year. And Jamie, we talked about that last week. Like, this is the new world where it's like, there used to be a day where it would be like the trade deadline of your last year of your contract. You might have the conversation if your team's not doing well. Now this stuff is going on in the speculation and everything that goes along with it happens two years out.

It sucks for the fan base, but that's just the reality of what we're living in right now. Yeah, I agree. No, that's the truth. and listen, we'll see what happens with Vegas, right? They're off, they're back in action tomorrow, and that series is tied to, too. That Anaheim team, they've got some really good young players. Good on them, man.

Good on them for coming back. Absolutely. And listen, all the series are outside of Carolina, Philly, that just ended in a sweep, and Carolina still isn't lost. There 8-0, which is incredible. Man, oh, man. The other series are, you know, 2-2, 2-1, 2-1, right? Habs up 2-1, Colorado?

one, Minnesota sent a big message the other night. How about those buildings, guys? They look awesome. Buffalo and Montreal looked like that place was, the roof was just going to blow right off last night. But they've had a couple decisive victories here. They played very, very well. I think Buffalo's got more and they need adjustments. But, man, this Habs team, they got a little bit of something, little something every night.

Right. If it's not one guy, well, let's the goalie stands on his head. Like, they just have a little bit of magic there, and you need depth scoring. That's it. New hooks. Two more goals. And, you know, Josh Anderson's been great. I wouldn't be shocked if they move on from the Lion King and put Pooka Lukanen back in.

Yeah, but it hasn't been. Yeah. Look at Colorado. They're going to Blackwood tonight. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think they just, they put the Lion King in and Oka Pekalukin in. He replaced him.

I think they might go. I wouldn't be not be shocked. for the next game, Sabres Habs, Lukanin skates out on the ice and is their guy in net? I don't disagree with you because we have this conversation all year. There's seven or eight guys who are never coming out of the net no matter what, if they shot it into their own net, the previous game. But the rest is a tandem situation, and it's like, who do we feel like we're going to? It was UPL that started the playoffs, then Lyon came in.

You might go back to it. The difference we talked about it, going into the playoffs for Dobish, how short is this leash going to be because you've got the next carry price sitting on the bench? This Dobish hasn't given them an opportunity. Well, twice he's had where I've seen it on Jay's show, I think you may have talked. Are they thinking about replacing Dobish, all of that? I don't remember giving that tick. It's possible.

It might be. But the point be, get the audio, get the audio. No, it might have been Marty. I may not, I may have thrown you under the bus. But the point being is, you know, they've stuck with them. But that still was a tandem situation this year. Same thing in Colorado. It was Wedgwood.

That was great. But now he stumbled. They go to Blackwood. Like, unless you have a clear-cut one, I can see, you know, they went to Gopsis and Wollstead came back in. Yeah. You're seeing that now. Well, it's interesting that, yeah, I mean, you look at all the goalies left.

Obviously, Freddie Anderson has been perfect. and he has a longer leash today than he would have a few weeks ago. But I don't think that's a guarantee, like all the way to a Stanley Cup, that Freddie is the man there. And I'd be curious to see what Buffalo ends up doing. But what I have been not taking a back by because I'm not overly surprised, but what this kind of playoff run has illustrated and really highlighted for me is how many great defensemen there are playing.

in this in this playoff run like lane hudson put on an absolute clinic last night at the bell center quin hughes the night before and minnie was unbelievable and mccara's great jackson lecombe has been great for anaheim obviously slaven has been very very effective and very good like these are there are so many stud number one defensemen still playing dahlene obviously as well i mean you you look at it like between iram yeah yes i mean And it's like Vegas, I don't know if they have a true number one anymore. Theodore? Probably, yeah. Yeah, but, you know, I think between him and Hannafin and Anderson, like they got a pretty good three-pack there.

Yeah, that guy in Carolina, a slave and I would say he is their guy, but he just does business in a different way. Totally different. Completely affects the game in the positive, but it just looks different. It's not the offensive. But if you watch that guy shift in and shift out, and hopefully we'll get run. Roddy Brindamore on soon, and he can describe how good this guy is. But even the game-winning goal the other night, he intercepted that pass and stopped it right in the neutral zone, and then they went back the other way.

He does that all night long. He is so good, so good. Yeah, he's phenomenal player. Yeah. But I do agree, like, you want to go anywhere? Every team's got one or two. Yeah, they all do. Faber and, Faber and Hughes.

You got to. Every team's got two, minimum one rock star, maybe two. That's what we're looking at here. That's the crazy part. It's just like Jamie, when we played, Nick Listram was out in the ice, who, by the way, someone posted a video of just a garbage hit I made on him in the Stanley Cup final.

They should have been suspended for five games. Terrible. Oh, he turned on you at the last second. But just think about you go to Anaheim back in the day when Chris Pronger and Scott and Eatermeyer were a deep pairing, and you could throw them both out combinations. They're basically going to be out on the ice 45 minutes of the 60. Do you know how much that positively impacts your team?

Quinn Hughes, 30 minutes a night. Kail McCar, 30 minutes a night. Rowensky, 30 minutes. Like, it's Slavin, 25, defensive stalwart. It's such a positive impact. And it's like everybody said about Lindstrom, he controls the whole game. And you don't know really what that means

until you watch them play. How he just has the puck, and he's feeding it to the forwards, he's stopping plays, and he just controls the whole pace of the game. Chris Pronger, another example. Jamie wasn't net when the guy was on defense. Control the pace of the game.

Stop, stop defensively, move the puck up, join the play, run the power play. It's such an impact on a game through 60 minutes. It's crazy how much it impacts a team. I had Pronger and McKinness. We won the President's Trophy in 99. Those were the two. Mark Bergerman was the three. And Todd Reardon, your boy, was kind of the four technically.

you know, he said. What was the salad like back in that day? Full salad back in the day. Really? Absolutely. 30 years ago, 25 years ago. 30 years ago. We got to find me an action photo or a photo of Todd Reardon in 1999 playing for the St. Louis Blues.

Monster. I think it was 98 or 99. He was a big lengthy. Six, seven, six, eight. Him and Pronger were partners. And I think it was Alan Bergevin like that. You talk about it, though. I got sidetracked.

these D, that's the game now. You've got to be able to move the puck. You've got to have somebody who can move the puck and distribute it from the back. I talk to Kevin Adams in Buffalo. I obviously know the guy. Just talking in the last couple years, it's like it's got to start from the back end and out. Obviously, if you land one of the Tage Thompson's or Austin Matthews or Star, but that back end, you look at the back end he's got there or he built there in Buffalo

with Owen Power, Dahlene. like it just they traded for that Kesslerling, Bowen Byrum. It just goes on and on. And they got that big Stanley there as like a trade deadline acquisition. It's just, it's an impressive decor. That's Samuelson. It's just, it's never ending. I felt bad for that Connor Timmons last night.

I thought he should have taken his gear off because he was having a tough go. I'll tell you what, I don't know how that Malenstein running over that goaltender, I thought that was a deliberate. I heard, I think it was Dreg saying he might have tried to go up and over to it. I thought he tried to run the goaltender. And for him to only get two minutes, I'm sorry Sabers fans. I thought this was like, this was a five-minute major to some degree where he should have been throwing out of the hockey game. I like tough hockey.

I like, you know, the stuff after the whistle, but I thought he could have really injured the goalie there. I thought that was malicious and I thought it deserved more than two minutes. I don't know what you guys thought of it. It was close. You know what? any time a goaltender gets touch, I don't like it, and especially, there were times where either the defenseman pushes you in, he was going hard, they know exactly what they're doing. Oh, you know what, you're going hard to the blue pain.

Yeah, accidentally on purpose. Yeah, I thought he tried to push up over a little bit, but it doesn't matter. You still had the contact, and that could have been ugly because Doe Bush, you know, stayed down. What if a spotter goes, you're out for 15 minutes and Buffalo scores three in that? No kidding. And that's why I thought, Hazy, be the ref. If you were the ref, Brian Hayes, go to the penalty box and make the official call from your end. He's two.

Hang on. Probably two. Hang on. You got to announce it to the crowd. Number 29, Buffalo. Go ahead. Yeah, two minutes goal, tending interference. Listen, because the thing is, Doebusch is shifting to the right.

You got to see what I just said? I agree with you that the impact was, like, it really was. Yeah, he, like, smoked them. But Dobish is going kind of post-to-post, and, you know, he's, tied up and like if you watch you're telling me the goalie the go oh my but I hear you it's not it's it's tough it's a fast game and I'm I'm of the belief like see he's going across

and he's already kind of committed to far pose there's only one angle oh that I thought maybe softened it to two for me and you see him he kind of launches up he tries he sees at the last second I think he knows he's going to contact the goaltender either way I dobusch is him he's a fascinating like that's going at him yesterday

and he's going back at them. It's getting fiery in that series. The guy has been awesome. There's things that you do out there where it's amazing, but you feel like, it might come back to bite you when you're having an off night or whatever. Like, Adobish, he does the old pumper nickel

after every goal into the corner. And I'm like, man, oh, man, like the confidence in him, it's amazing. I just never, you know, I don't see it that way. I just kind of would have stanchard. Go about your business. Just for clarification from a. esteemed official.

Could have been a five-minute interference penalty. Two minutes for roughing for Montreal. It's a three-minute power play, and most parties are happy with that. Okay. But that's not five-minute game, is it, or is it just five? No. No, it's five-minute interference. You're not thrown out of the game.

Okay. I think that would have been more than... I could. I could. Could. Exactly. Not overly decisive. Should.

Should. Should. It's very different. Very different. I could or should. But, yeah, I, listen, you know me. I like to protect the goaltenders. I didn't think, like, I agree.

The goaltenders slid into it, and I think he saw him at the last second and tried to, like, lighten it, but he still ran the goalie. He still buried him. There's no question about that. Dolbich is okay. The haves are fine.

Habs are two-one in the series game for tomorrow. Marty Baran will join us. Maybe it was Marty that was, you know, saying weird stuff about Dolbush. So we'll catch up with Marty just after five. Keegan up later this hour. Weird weekend again for the Js. They take two of three, but now Barger comes back for one game, back in the aisle with elbow inflammation.

Yeah, it's not good. Like, Vladie, again, a really tough weekend, a really tough day yesterday. I think he's got two ribbies and ten games. Well, he's got single-digit extra base hits, and we're 40 games into the season. He's got two home runs and seven doubles. Like, he's not even close either. Some of his at bats yesterday were terrible at bats. It's Louis DeMing right now.

One where he went racing for it and grounded out was just like, come on, dude. Yeah, he's not in a good place. Not the best. So Keegan on that and more with the rays in town and the rays are on fire. And we just saw what happened last week in Tampa. So big, big series coming up starting at the dome tonight. Keegan in about 25 minutes. Overdrive continues.

TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month. Price guaranteed for two years with a two-year internet and TV term. auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. This May, IHartRadio celebrates Asian Heritage Month. Discover powerful stories, vibrant cultures, and unforgettable music. You're the only place that are you, from inspiring podcasts to playlist that span east, south, southeast, and West Asian artists. We're honoring the voices shaping our world.

Listen now on the free IHRR radio app. and at iHardio.ca. All right, overdrive continues, powered by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game, your way. Keegan Matheson in about 10 minutes from the Rogers Center. Jays raised tonight. Eric Lauer designated for assignment. Addison Barger on the 10-day I.L.

Jays took two of three over the weekend. They're at the 40 game mark, 18 and 22 on the season. So catch up with Keegan in just a bit. Happy Mother's Day, belated. to all the mothers out there yesterday. Hopefully everyone had a great day. I was grinding and I made an executive decision

and I made the right one because I'm fighting a bit of a cold here. And yesterday, yesterday morning, I woke up and you know when it kicks in, like you get up and you're like, I'm in trouble here. You don't have the hanta, do you? I don't. Not that I'm aware of. I haven't been on any cruise ships,

you know, anywhere in the Mediterranean. So I think I'm okay. But that's you just can't do it. Like it's the one day of the year, you got to shut up and just grind. Because if you drop a, I'm not feeling great right now. Dude, if you say I got to just chill on the couch for a bit and pull that. Depends on the day you have planned, right?

If you were just going to spend it as a family and just chill and hang around the yard, maybe a nice breakfast or go for lunch as a group or whatever, then you can get away with it. If you've got a busy day or she's got something laid out or you were supposed to, The girls, your girls have something laid out. We're taking mom here. We're doing this. That's right.

And you are in tow and you are in one the whole time. And I am proud of myself because I didn't say a peep. I just said, I'm up. Let's do it. We're doing breakfast in bed this morning because the girls love doing that. And then we're going for dinner. We had stuff during the day. But man, man, did I lay it on thick this morning when I got up?

Like it was two days of like not feeling great. Just going to find a way to grind here. but it worked out. It was a beautiful Mother's Day, and I hope everyone got to celebrate yesterday. Crazy stuff going on in the golf roll. We've got to recap our picks from the truest, but there was some wild stuff going on on every tour yesterday.

But we're into PJ Championship Week as well, right? Big, big week and big week of picks, because the big boys are coming out to play, as we know. This is a big week. By the way, I didn't like your remark on the weekend. You sent via text saying, and I'm not afraid to share this because it's a bit of a sewer job

but you said Fitsy's brother choking was a lock Yeah and I wouldn't say he choked in the end Because he did in the front nine yesterday And then he actually got it back together He had the whiskey mitts on the greens Like he was

Think about how nervous you would be If you're Alex Fitzpatrick He is stuffed like 3 million plus In his jeans over the last three weeks Dude he's a lock for signature events majors, all of it, like he's dialed in. Yeah, it's a great story, but he had the outright lead going into yesterday. Yes, yes.

And he doubled early, he doubled again, and it cost him the golf tournament. Yeah, so none of us ended up picking Christopher Rattan from Norway, but credit to him, it was a big win, and they're all going to be at the PGA this week, and the golf report is driven by Subaru. It's the all-weather drive main event. Get uncommon value at your local Subaru dealer where spring weather doesn't stand a chance. So more on the picks later this week. A recap of what happened yesterday. Jay's again in action tonight. And this

kind of Eric Lauer's story is, I think, a perfect example of how when you turn the page on a new year, like you got 40 games tops, right? You got about 25% of the season. Because he was such a great story for them last year. He basically saved their rotation during the middle part of the season last year when they had injuries and Scherzer wasn't around and guys weren't pitching well and they plucked him and they put him in the rotation and he pitched great

and he was a consistent arm that put up really good numbers and then they got to the playoffs and he was a guy that came out of the bullpen and pitched well remember I think it was game three of the World Series that really obviously they ended up losing that game Brendan Little ended up losing that game but he gave I think three or four innings and extra in L.A. in game three and was great

and everyone's positive. There's no other way to describe what he was doing is like his delivery looked tired. Like he just had to look like he had nothing on it. And it was just getting hit all over the place. Yeah. Well, his numbers are incredibly bloated. And they tried the opener thing and then bring him in. And they basically just said, we're not going back to the bullpen yesterday.

You're pitching. But his numbers have been, they haven't been good. You know, some of the stuff he said in the press hasn't been great. Yeah. Well, he hated the opener thing. like I can't stand it. I'm being honest with you. And it's almost like it put them in a mental frame of mind where it was just like, I don't

know, but it's no longer. Well, that's the thing. If you're like a kind of sixth man in a rotation, you kind of just got to do whatever you're told. Just chew it. Yeah, exactly. Just play, man. Exactly.

Exactly. Like, Gosman and C's, those guys can say different things. Obviously, Scher gets preferential treatment. because of who he is. Yeah. Eric Lauer is not getting that. And if your manager says you're coming in in the third inning or the fourth inning, then so be it.

And you better pitch well because if not, you're going to get designated for assignment. And that's exactly what happened. And it sucks for him. But I guess that's what I'm getting to is like 40 games in, that's enough now. Like you're never taking away the 25 season ever. It'll be revered forever. All those guys are going to be fan favorites. 10 years from now, they'll be coming back to the park.

and getting standing ovations. 15 years from now, and they deserve it. But now the page is turned, and there's no more sentimental value, right? Great. We didn't, 25, doesn't work anymore, you're out. See you later. We got a lot of different direction. It's like you are.

He's taking a lot of heat from people and deserves it. He's been terrible at the play. Yeah, terrible. Like, now officially his World Series performance is over. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Like that, it doesn't, again, it doesn't leave like the history books. Dude, I get it.

But we're not playing the Yankees anymore. They move on to. reality in present time where it's like what are you doing for me lately it's not good well look at the numbers judges putting up they're they're insane what erin judge is doing just following it up every year every year leading the league at home runs and rbi i and runs you know scored and just every like doesn't blink doesn't blink does not blink does not stop uh all right we'll head to the park and catch up with kegan on a big series with tampant town marty baron coming up in about 20 minutes on what the sabers are going to do to

try to get back in the series down to one game four tomorrow night. You got many playing Colorado tonight looking to tie that series up. So we'll catch up with Marty on that and more. NBA playoffs continuing. It's PGA Championship Week. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month.

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IHeart Radio app. Preset the station, so it's always one tap away. All right. Marty Barron coming up. We'll get to something to chew on. Brought you by Boston Pizza as well. Recap our golf picks from the week. And we only got one game of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight.

Big one, though, Minnesota, Colorado. We might have to address that Nathan McKinnon video that went viral over the weekend. What, the Scoobo Steve? Scoobo Steve with his flippers. The flippers and the mask on. Dude, that guy's ahead of the game. Whatever he's doing, I guarantee. he didn't tell Kail McCar to throw some pennies in the pool and he was going to go find them.

There was a method behind that madness where he's not looking for eggshells down there. Look at this guy. Like that's a grown adult, a 30-year-old. But they see some of his teammates are chirping him. They look like they're chirping him there. But the tweet was funny, like, we better not lose to this guy or something, whatever that tweet that went viral. I thought it was pretty funny. Well, yeah, because it's wild fans, right?

Apparently he uses, like, the hotel swimming pools on the road, like massive heavy weightlifting before games before warm-up. Like, like, I know whatever he's doing, it's not like. No, you're right. There's a method to the madness. There's a lot of treasure chest at the bottom of that. It's a great workout. I don't personally partake, but swimming.

Dude, I wouldn't wear the flip and a goggle as just a dad. Like, I'm not too bad. No, it's crazy. behavior to pack that stuff on the road and pull your flippers out. Mr. McKinnon pulled the flips out. Yeah. Like, and does he put him on in the pool or is he walking through the hotel lobby in his flippers? Like, that's the type of behavior I think we might be talking about here.

I don't know, man. That's wild stuff. We got to get into that later. We will. We'll see if Marty's ever partaking in any of that kind of stuff in about 20 minutes. Jay's raised tonight, and it's a big series. The rays are red hot. They just took two of three with a postponement down at Fenway,

and we know what happened last week down at the Trop. Here's Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Feels like a big one. I know it's a long season. There's 122 games left, but we've hit the 40 game mark here. We're 25% of the way through this season. Feels like a big series, doesn't it, Kegan?

It does. You're chasing the raise. You know, I don't think there's a such thing as a small divisional series guys, especially now that you're playing fewer divisional games. You're not playing 19 of these each season anymore. And if the Blue Jays are going to pull this off and make us talk about them in late September,

they are going to be trying to chase down the raise. And I know that in this market, we focus mostly on the Yankees because to most Blue Jays fans, the Yankees are big brother. And you're still trying to chase them even with how last year went. The rays are really damn good.

and they are back to being that like annoying team that you don't hear about much because we're not going to talk about the raise nationally in the U.S. or anything, but you're going to look up and they're going to be there. So this is one where they need to get some sort of momentum. You can't keep hovering around three, four, five games below 500, but they're facing good pitching. And the raise are a real test. Kagan, have you ever been able to put your finger on it?

why the rays have been such a complete pain in the ass over the last, I don't know, what is it, a decade? Like, whatever it is, what is it about them that makes the Jays roll their eyes whenever they go down to the trough or they're coming to attack? Because it's been dreadful for about 90% of it watching it over the years. What is the deal with these guys? Yeah, and last year was, I feel like, the one outlier. because last year, the Blue Jays played kind of Ray's style baseball, which is airtight, clean baseball, and you make the other team screw up first.

Like when the rays are good, outside of, man, Caminero, like they don't have overwhelming star power. Okay, when you list their lineup on a sheet of paper, it's not going to scare you, but they play tight, clean, good baseball. And over the years, that's what's made them so good. And I sometimes, guys, I don't like it when either the Blue Jays themselves or fans talking about the team say, oh, it's the Rays magic, the TROP is cursed. If that was the case, the Rays would win every single World Series, okay?

The Blue Jays are the problem, not the Rays being a super team in this situation. And for years and years, the Blue Jays would be the team against the Rays to make that first mistake. And sometimes that starts to feel like dark magic and like the world is against you. But last year the Blue Js flipped that. They were the team that played airtight baseball. You made the other team blink first. Now it's kind of reverted. You're seeing the Rays play Rays baseball.

They're really well coached. They're really well put together. And they just don't shoot themselves in the foot, which is something the Blue Jays have been doing again. Kagan, in the past, whenever Vladdy's come up, and earlier we were talking about the grace period where people were still remembering the World Series and everyone was still awesome,

I think that grace period is over. And in the past, when Vladdy has been the topic of conversation, you used to bring up all the different things that he was doing well, how he was so impactful, his fielding, you know, base hits, extra base hits. It's just not there for him right now. Like, how could you characterize the position that he's in in the stretch that he's had through 40 games? Because it's not been good.

No, it hasn't. This is not the version of Vladdy that the Blue Jays need. If Vladdy was on an all-star team right now, If the rest of the Blue Jays were just hitting crazy right now, sure. Sure, get on base at a 400 clip. You're hitting 305. That can work, but not when you need to be the star of the show. And Vladdy had better been paying for Kazima Okamoto's dinner every night right now, guys.

Like, if it's not for Okamoto, we are only talking about Vladdy right now. And the Blue Jays would be in a much worse situation. But Okamoto is playing better than I thought we would say. see him play all year and it's happening already. Like Okamoto has been outstanding. He's been their MVP. But that's covered up, the complete lack of power from Vladdy. And this lineup, this team is built to succeed with Vladdy hitting for power.

They need that to happen because the rest of the lineup's not doing it. If Vladdy was surrounded by Aaron Judges and Cow Rolley's and a bunch of home run hitters, cool, just get on base, whatever. But right now, his stat line looks like a stat line. I would expect to see from a speedy small outfielder. And Vladdy is none of those things. They need him to be the power hitter. They need him to be a guy that breaks games open.

They do not need him to be a guy that's hitting singles the other way. Yeah, it's still good. But when you're as talented as Vladdy and when you're making 500 million bucks, you've got to be greedy. Like, how good can Vladdy be? It's a heck of a lot better than this. And it matters how he fits this team specifically. We just saw it.

That's the thing. And we've seen it throughout his career. Yeah. What I'm concerned by is, you know, the one thing that used to aggravate myself, included, and a lot of people was, wow, the exit velocity. He's not even doing that right now, Keegan. Like, he's not mashing. You know, he's had a couple here or there where, okay, it's hit into a guy's glove,

or it's just foul, and he seemed to lean into it. But he looks like genuinely perplexed at the plate, which I have no doubt he will find his way out of. but, you know, 40 games in. He's got two home runs and seven doubles. He's got single-digit, like, extra base hits, 40 games into the season. It's absurd. And he just looks lost.

Yeah. And you're seeing the frustration. Like, yesterday, guys, he almost broke a Mother's Day pink bath. I don't know. You got to go back to the dugout and grab a brown one and then break that one off camera, I think. But Vladdy's frustration is there. You're seeing it.

And he's not turning on pitches. He is not unleashing with that big swing. You know that swing. You know what it looks like when Vladdy turns on a ball and his bat whips all the way around his back and bangs off his left shoulder. You're not seeing that. And part of that is approach. Part of that is mechanical tinkering. And Vladdy is a tinkerer.

Absolutely. Like it's happening often now where I'm walking past the Blue Jays batting cages after a game and Vladdy's in there. For some guys, I look at that and I think, hell yeah. Like they're getting right back at it. for someone is gifted as Vladdy, I've said this 100 times on here, guys. Like there are days where Vladdy should just show up at 705. Stroll onto the field and a pair of blue jeans.

I don't care. Just go hit. He is such a gifted individual. Like one of the most gifted hitters we have ever seen in Toronto. And when he struggles, it tends to either go one of two ways. Either he tinkers a little bit too much or he tries to do too much. He tries to hit the big five run home run every time.

Neither work. You're just not seeing him. play that loose, natural brand of baseball right now. And until he does that, the Blue Jays won't go anywhere. They can play 500 baseball without it, sure. They're not going to go on a streak until Vladdy decides its time. Just one last one on Vladdy, Keegan. What is the cause of this?

Because we were just talking about Aaron Judge, and it seems like he shows up. He might have some blips, but he's always at the top of the league, whether it be home runs, ribby, like all of the categories that he's supposed to be. and Vladdy's supposed to be that guy. Like, let's just cut the BS. Like, what is the cause of this? Did he show up to camp? Was he out of shape?

Or was there just too much fun hat after the World Series? Like, this shouldn't even be in the equation for what this guy is paid to do. Not even close. And Judge is a good example, O'Dog, because I hear too much. Like, oh, they're pitching him differently. I don't care. He doesn't either. Judge gets meatballs?

No chance. Like, every hitter. who's hitting 40 or 50 home runs, they're getting pitched around. They're getting pitched differently. It's going to happen to everyone. It happens to judge constantly. So that can't be the excuse, and I think that's used too often. Vladdy looks the same as he's always looked to me.

I don't think pressure impacts him. I really just don't think he has his swing right now, and I think that he is chasing pitches that he should not be chasing. I think he's getting a little out in front of a lot of breaking balls, just trying to do too much. and I understand it to a certain point. You're the $500 million man. The team's not off to a good start.

You want to be the guy. But we see it almost every year. Almost once a year, Vladdy goes through this stretch where he does try to do a bit much. And eventually you've got to learn that doesn't work. You know, 110% does not work in baseball. It just doesn't.

That extra 10%, it flings around and comes back and smacks you. And I think that's what Vladdy is running into right now. He's just not being himself, which is frustrating, because being himself is one of the best hitters in the league. We saw it in the postseason. But I think he's trying to extend outside of that right now. Quickly, any concerns on Barger? Yeah, elbows always scare me.

Like, I know it's good that John Snyder said today. It's not ligament or bone chips or anything. That's good. That's a good start that you're not talking about a UCL. But inflammation, we'll see. I mean, he is capable of doing things other human beings just aren't. Like, no one throws a baseball as hard. hard is the throw you are watching right now.

Ideally, this is just a 10-12-day thing. We'll see. But he's got to get in a groove, man. This lineup needs Barger. Outside of Vladimir and Okamoto, I think Barger's that next guy they really need. Yeah, I'd throw Kirk in there, too, obviously. But we don't know when he's going to return. And, you know, Springer, they gave a day off yesterday.

He hasn't been himself. You know, there's, like we said earlier, the, it's not 2025 anymore. They've got to get some new stories going and they've got to get some guys. and it's a big series with Tampa in town. All right, Kegan, thanks for doing this. We'll do it again soon. You got her, fellas, take care. Keegan Matheson, MLB.com.

Yeah, that throw was phenomenal on Saturday, but he comes back for one game and then he's hurting. He just got a hose on him, man. Yeah, he can throw. He is phenomenal in right field with that arm. But he has not been himself. Like, he really had a poor start and then got injured, like the double ankle injury.

And now an elbow injury, it just, it's snowballing, against him where there was such a level of confidence and optimism in his season. I thought Barger would be great this year, and it keeps going against him. When you go that deep into a season, Brian, like going to the World Series, like going to the Stanley Cup finals once, like the prep, like you really have to have a drill sergeant beside you when you wake up every morning to handle that offseason properly. And I'm not blaming that, but sometimes you look at the guys that are not performing, injured it's just it's a difficult thing to come back from it's you got a you got to find the

right mix of rest and huh i don't know noodles is yelling about something anyway uh next hour coming up marty brawn will join us overdrive continues tsn 50 and on tsn 4 you've been listening to overdrive powered by fanduel fan duel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score i'm luke wilson join me each week for film never live Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now, I've got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app.