OverDrive - OverDrive - October 15, 2025 - Hour 2 - Ray Ferraro/Tim Kurkjian

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! ESPN Hockey Analyst Ray Ferraro joins to discuss the start of the NHL season, the Maple Leafs' roster overview and Elias Pettersson's struggles with the Canucks. ESPN Baseball Analyst Tim Kurkjian gives his perspective on the Blue Jays looking to bounce back in the ALCS against the Mariners and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Hour two overdrive continues, powered by Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Tim Kirchton later in the hour from the park. Game three tonight, Seattle and the Jays and the both teams have revealed their lineup for the game tonight. Anthony Santander is back in the lineup hitting cleanup tonight. All right. And playing right field. So that back must have been fine flying across the country. And they need them tonight.

They need someone. You would think a guy with back stiffness and just. would get on that bird haze would just be dying. It's like, sorry, man. I can't even get up in the morning, but he's dialed in. Keegan thinks he's close. Your boy, Keegan, he's out there. Keegan's a fan

of this. Keegan Matheson out there and said, hey, you know, it feels like he's been close to breaking out. He is capable of doing it. And for him to be batten forth tonight, that means Addison Barger's moving down, and I think that's reasonable. You know, Barger's going to play third tonight, but he hasn't had it.

He's not had it. He struggled. He has struggled, and that's a guy that I, you know, he had a great year coming up. And what do you have, 21? Yeah, 20 plus home runs. Really good year. Man, great season. But you know what? They need him.

They need other guys. Some of those guys who were kind of like stepped up and the Clements and guys like that, they need to be better. Varshow, like I'd like to see somebody break out outside of, you know, Vladdy and, you know, who else is. Yeah, you need someone to compliment them, right? Like, it's got to be Vladdy and Kirk and Springer and... Well, that's what you're wrong. Against the Yankees. It was so magical.

It was literally everyone. Ernie Clement did not stop hitting against the Yankees. He was hitting him off his shoelaces out of the yard. Exactly. Remember that one he golfed out? He didn't even look like he swung and it went out of the yard. Game two. Game two.

It seemed impossible that left the yard. Yeah. It was like he fanned at it off of his shoe strings and he dug it out. It went yard. I was like, I've never seen that my life. First runs of the game. It's 2-0 lead, and they never look back. And they need an answer for Morgan Wallen, too.

That's the thing. Cal Raleigh, Polanco's been an issue. You know, and you're right, Raleigh going home, it's not going to be easy, and it's on Bieber and the staff, and then Scherzer game four. That's the crazy thing. You get a win tonight. Scher has got to be great tomorrow night. It's not going to stop.

So we'll see. And Ray's coming up here in a moment. Ray can kind of tell us what the vibes are like in Vancouver. is it a jays town is it a mariner's town oh yeah i've got to ask him if he was pandering to his audience when i listened to him the other day and watched him and he said it was so excited for the for the blue jays to play against seattle i need to hear that ray doesn't get it so excited about anything he's so excited about golf see him going at golf yeah right if he gets to play golf that would probably excite him but um yeah i guess he can kind of set the record straight

And that's always a side story. How many Blue J fans are going to be there tonight? There were Mariner fans in Toronto. There weren't a lot of them, admittedly. I saw way more Yankee fans than I saw Mariner fans. And Yankee fans can drive up. Like a lot of people just in New York, the state of New York are Yankee fans, right? People in Buffalo and upstate New York.

No one's driving from Seattle to get to the first two games of the ALCS. How many people you think flew in from Seattle? I would guess maybe 100. Some probably did. There'd be diehards and people with money and time and it's a magical run, but very few. That's a haul, man. Seattle to Toronto and vice versa. Yeah, I don't know.

You're right. Like the actual, like, hey, I'm a diehard Mariners fan. I'm flying. Now, there might be people from Toronto that are a Mariners fan that live out there and work out there that came home for the weekend or came home for Thanksgiving. Valid. A big good crossover. That would be a very good crossover.

you're right but yeah it's not thousands it's you know it's not it's not lead fans going down to the sabers game type of thing it's not you know that type of stuff but we we will see i guarantee you there's going to be a big contingent of vancouver people heading down to seattle to watch the blue jays game and i heard ray ferraro really selling it on his podcast ray is excited that the blue jays are in the pacific northwest yeah and he happens to be on the east coast he's in New York. Here he is from ESPN. The Ray and Dregs podcast, there he is, Ray Ferraro.

Mr. Vancouver. Mr. Blue Jay. How are we, how are we feeling about the Jays out in Seattle? Oh, hang on. I'm, you know I'm a Red Sox guy. Yeah. This is a sad state of affairs in Red Sox Nation. Okay.

Noodles were saying you're pumping up the tires, Ray. Come on, man. I was watching you on a broadcast. I was watching you on a broad. It must have been a Vancouver. broadcasts or something and you were like going yeah i'm so excited if the jays make it everybody will come down from vancouver or whatever i was like yes pandering to his crowd you never know a little bit a little bit because in in vancouver like um it's not a guarantee people if they're

baseball fans are blue jay fans like the mariners are kind of the closest thing we got and so a lot of people find like they kind of cheer for the mariners and and the mariners never win so it's kind of like when I used to cheer for the Red Sox and they never won it was kind of like your own club you know it's kind of like honestly it's kind of like leaf fans like you're you can never win and so you're like if the Leafs ever win it'll be less fun being a fan because the misery is part of the of being the fan I was an exposed guy when I was a kid. I love the Expos. And so the Js were always my second Canadian team, but I'll tell you, games one and two didn't go so well for them. So they better get on it.

No, you're not kidding, man. You're not kidding. And you're right about that scar tissue and the community that you feel a part of because it's just misery and all these different things you've been through that non-fans. Nobody expects the win. You always, you expect the loss, right? Exactly. How could they do it again? And you're like, oh, well, there it is. They'll find a way. They'll find a way. And, yeah, I mean, it gets, what do they say? It gets late quick or it gets early quick, whatever.

I'm jamming that up. But if you're in the blue. It gets late early. It gets late early. There it is Yogi Berry, Yogi Hayes. It gets late early. And if you're the Jays, man, it's getting late early. And the same thing with the Brewers.

They got to fly to L.A. trying to figure that out, which will not be any easier. But what about from the NHL's perspective, like in your career? How quick does it have to be or how quick can it be before you start looking around and thinking, man, I'm starting to panic, whether it's on an individual basis, how you're playing, or from a team standpoint, if the team's not playing so well? Well, individually, I'd say about four or five games. Like, if you don't have anything and you're supposed to have something in the total columns,

you start looking around and you're like, man, because five games, if you think of it, that's a couple of weeks, right? So now you're near in the end of October, and you're like, wait a minute, I've got one assist in five, seven games. For a team, I think it's 10 games. You can probably have a pretty good indication of what you got. Like there's some teams that don't have any wins. There's some teams that have won three, and everybody's high or low.

For me, it's too early for that, but, man, there are some alarming signs in a couple of places. And even though it is early, you're like, like that's that's not a good thing what the hell you do if there's alarming signs three games in razor like especially like in like buffalo it's like you are sunk yeah like three games in and when i think tage thompson came out and said you guys need to relax like if you're a fan that would be the last thing you would want to hear 14 or 15 years it's been and they haven't made the playoffs and he says that it would be crazy so i mean what i guess what else are they going to say, but there's also been, like Alex Tuck and Thompson have said,

you know, we got to figure this out. They're not talking about so they can win more. They're like, guys' careers melt away fast. And pretty soon you're in a place for, especially when you're a really good player, when you're, you know, a guy that's just in the league, like, man, you'll play anywhere. I was thrilled to play in Atlanta the last three years my career. We got our teeth kicked in. I was just happy to be in the league. Right? But those guys, they're looking and go, wait a minute, I could play on a really good team. I could be on a team that plays in a way different space than the Sabres.

I look at Buffalo and I, you know, I did some, I don't know, some interview like at the start of the year. And I said, my biggest fear or concern in Buffalo is I don't know what they're supposed to be. Like you might think you're a physical team and maybe not quite be good enough at it or a scoring team, but not quite good enough. enough at it. Well, like, what, what are the sabres supposed to be? And I think that's, after this many years, that's the biggest problem. And so if some, you know, they're all this fire Kevin Adam stuff. So say you fire them and you bring in a new guy, the first thing they have to do is identify what the hell they have there and what are they trying to be. Right. But that's five times over. For the life of me, I can't tell you. Like, what are they? Yeah, there's a, their collection, they've got

some good players but you're right there's a culture and no identity ray that's the biggest challenge and i think you did the new york game last night against edmonton right like what are the that team's been shout out i was in i was in wash i'm sorry you're sorry i've got edmonton the next one i did new york opening night they're a team in the middle in a lot of ways like they're they've got two lines that can score two well two lines that could score and two lines that will never score. They've got some older players, no middle, and some younger players. You know, so like they're, it seems like they're trying to step into the where

the young guys take, you know, take a bigger chunk of the team, except all their better players are, they're older guys, they're an older team, and the young guys, they sent them all to the American League, which is probably the right spot. But could you imagine, like, Noodles you played there? And they haven't scored a goal in three games at home. Like, like that, you would feel that in the arena, like halfway through the anthem. Like, you'd feel people getting nervous. It's like, they're, like, J.T. Miller's like, you know, relax.

It's three games. And he's totally right, except I don't know, like, what exact, yeah, what are they going to be? Like, are they going to score enough to? to be good enough. And I don't know that they are. Well, on an individual basis, Elias Patterson, I guess, came out today and say, you know, I've got to take some ownership

for my slow start, speaking of his slow start. He's got one assist, and, you know, they're panicking Vancouver. I've picked up on that, that people aren't sure where Adam Foote's going with his team and what's going to happen. And like with Patterson, you know, we've talked about him so many times over the years. The three of us and the four of us when you join us, Ray, and I'm getting concerned from afar of whether or not this guy can

get out of the rut. You see him up close, and you know the market, you know how they feel about him. Give us the glass half full, glass half empty approach to him on why you think he could return back to his stardom, super stardom, or why maybe this is who he's going to be. And if so, that's going to be serious trouble for Vancouver. well if if this is who he's going to be they've got enormous problems because he's their highest paid guy they're not strong in the middle of the ice he has to be their best setterman and if this is how he can play then like they're sunk i mean like how are you going to work around that

the the glass half full is that he's healthy and he was really engaged and skated quite well in training camp it's it's like the game overwhelms him right now at times and i'm really like it's not like he had a 50 point year and you're like oh maybe he could get to 70 he had a 90 point year didn't he have a hundred point year one time did he did he get it close he was tip it up on it for sure he was i'm pretty sure that can had a hundred points in the national hockey league like how where does it go like how do you go that this is the thing i just cannot get from him is like it just it can't just disappear can it like I just I don't I don't understand I don't I can't think of anyone that I would compare to that sort of thing

you know other than injury take you know take a guy right out of right out of commission but he used to used to get the puck and he he's not a super fast guy but he'd go north with it he'd get a himself into a position to shoot it. He'd shoot it. You know who's not fast and a great player is Wyatt Johnson? He's not fast. He's not big. He's not strong. Like none of those things you'd go, you know, like, oh, this is why he's a really good player. He's just a really good player. I call it Gretzky quick, right? Like Wayne Gretzky, he was not like, yeah, not a bullet skater, but he was just quick and he was on everything. Yeah. And so I think if people are, you know,

Vancouver, of course, the panic buttons at 11 already, and it's because of what Pedersen has not been able to do out of the game. And so they can talk about the depth of the roster and, you know, oh, they've got really good goaltending. And Quinn Hughes hasn't had a very good start either. You know, he's such a fabulous player. But you can talk about all those things. But if if Pedersen doesn't get out of the mud, I just don't, I don't see what the solution is. With Ray Ferraro, Florida got hit again today, I guess Kulikov, which was not technically today. I think the last few days they knew this was coming, but he's out for five months, and Barkov's done, and Kach is out. And yet they've won games, and they've kind of hit the

ground running, but they've played more hockey than anyone else the last three years. They're still the prohibitive favorite. If everyone's healthy, they're still the best team in the league. But where do you see this going in Florida? If your other top-end teams in the East or top-end teams in the league, are you starting to gain some confidence that maybe the wheels are going to fall off a little bit, considering everything that they have to go through already? Well, I mean, we put our picks in at the start of the year.

I had Florida as a Stanley Cup winner again. even though I'm like, how could anyone possibly win three years in a row? And then Barkoff got hurt. And I'm like, well, that changes everything. Because you can say, oh, they can, you know, Lundell can move up and they've got Bennett and Rodriguez used to play center and so they could put him there too. But it's just not the same team. It's like you take your best all-around guy.

And even if he were able to come back, like at what percentage is he going to be able to come back at? So I don't really care how many guys they've lost. They're a good team. They're going to make the playoffs. I would be worried about playing them because you might get into a series and then you get no chances and they win every game three, two, or two, one. Like, they could do that. It definitely brings them back to the pack, though.

Like, no question. I don't, I remember talking to Paul more recently. It was actually here. I'm in New York now. And last year, and he said, you know, they've gone through a rough stretch. And he goes, I'm a little bit worried, but I'm not concerned. He said, I'm worried because we're given some points away and we're not playing well. And so I keep thinking of that each time I read home.

Here goes another guy for what's Kulikoff, five months or something or other. Right? And you're like, but they're kind of like, you know, the old tortoise in the hair. And teams are going to race out and get into a little. lead and they're just going to plug along and just, you know, eat up points and get enough points and get to 96 points and make the playoffs and then everybody's got a problem again. Ray, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the talk of the National Hockey League is Easton Cowan and the Toronto Maple Leafs and his lot in life.

I didn't know that. Yes, it is. It's accurate. Everyone is buzzing about it. What do you think needs to happen? We were talking about it earlier in the show about him staying on a line with Austin Matthews. Is it like, does Matthews have to continue to produce? Does Cowan have to continue to look comfortable?

Like, what do you think the odds are that he could stick on that top line with 34? Well, two things. One, I think is going to depend on, like, you know, at what can level of consistency can he play? Like, can he, because when you're playing with those guys, like, right, you see the other team's big boys all the time. You get the other team's best offense pair all the time. And you're like, it's hard. And what if he goes 14 games with two points? Like, you can't keep him there.

It's no good for him. The other part is, if it's not him, who's it going to be? Right. And so that's really the, you know, the trouble that you get into building a lineup is, okay, so it looked good. for one game and so of course you go back in another game but what if in two weeks it doesn't quite look so good who are you going to put there and feel confident that that's the right guy a heater road trip with matchups and really good teams would be fascinating to watch

relatively soon because then you're going to see what you're in for on the road well just think of what edmonton had to do last night same sort of thing like it's easy to play mcdavit and dry sidel at home together but when you get on the road you get the other team's best D, you get their best matchup line, and they broke them apart. First game, really, on the road, that they were in a little bit of a blender a bit, and they split them apart because it's hard to play on the road. And I loved being like a number two center because the other guy had to play against the other team's best guys.

That was perfect for me. I mean, that was the place I belong. He's so young, like, I don't know, what do you think? can he maintain a pace that would say, yeah, this is a first-line winger? I think it would be really hard and expecting a lot from a kid just get his feet wet. Well, listen, he's looked good the first two games, but to your point, they're both home games, and they're not against the greatest teams in the world, you know, Detroit and Nashville, and he's not the biggest guy in the world either.

And, you know, one of the kind of sub-stories about the last couple of games have been, And he's taken a couple of hits, and there's been some scrums that have kind of surrounded him. And the role of Austin Matthews in that as the leader, the captain, you know, he hasn't been exactly flying into the scrum to kind of protect them or to be a part of it. And my theory is I'm curious if Matthews is still thinking about the injuries he suffered last year. And does he want to put himself at any position where he might, you know, trigger that again? I hope that's not his mentality, but I'm curious if you think it could be to an extent, you know, if you ever came back from injuries and you're just weary of that, but also just, you know, the role of Matthews in making sure Cowan is comfortable,

but also feeling somewhat protected. Meanwhile, you know, he's Austin Matthews and he's the marquee guy. I think if you're expecting Austin to do that, you should find somebody else on the ice to do that. you got a couple of knuckle draggers on the blue line like jump in there like what would that that would be like you know what um you know yari curry got slashed and grech should jump in there and like all they just i know it's a different time they stuck dave samenko there and so if if you're looking for matthews to protect him like how's that going to happen

like that he doesn't he doesn't well i'll say this kind of weird he doesn't protect himself like Like, when there's a scrum, he just kind of skates away from it. It's not like he's going to dig in and, you know, and get into a scrum. It's just not his way. And so when, I don't know, I think that's a crazy expectation to think that he's going to jump in the middle of the scrum. And what if he does and somebody grabs him and feeds him one? Then that's, now you've got another problem. Right.

And then that probably ends any idea of him doing it. you know, again in the future, if that ends up happening. But, you know. From memory, getting punched in the face is not that much fun. Not general. It's really. No, it's just, and trust me, when I fought 12 or whatever times, there was a little bit of that going on, and it wasn't, it wasn't me punching anybody.

That's for sure. So, Ray, as it pertains, we've been talking about, you know, the first, just over the week of NHL hockey, I mean, is it been? I think the games have been incredibly sloppy. Is this different than other years or is this just maybe more focus on it? But I feel like the games have been different this year as compared to other years in that first week and a week and a half two weeks. Because every game I've watched has been really sloppy. The game I did last night was Tampa and Washington and we walked away and went, wow, that was a surprise.

Like it was really good. it was physical it was like it was intense and we're like where did that come from because I'm with you like the it's a it's been a turnover fest in in each game that I've done and watched and some of it I guess is early on I got to thinking though like so like John Cooper told us

you know Vasilevsky and Kuturoff and point they only played like a game a game and a half of preseason. And I'm like, yeah, what's going to happen next year when there's no exhibition? Yeah. Right. Like that first three weeks of the season is going to be like this. And I mean, early hockey is so different than even a month from now. It just doesn't look the same. It's, it is messy right now for sure. Yeah. I can't imagine coaches are overly happy with the idea that every other coach is going through the same thing. But you're right.

I mean, like we said off the top, like there's some teams that are skating through it. I think Carolina won again last night. They're on the West Coast, I believe. You know, like what can happen here is a team that is dialed in. Like you can start your year 8 and 2, 9, and 1, and you're cruising, right? Like it seems like such an easy, obvious message, but you take again. Brian, that's a great thing to think about because every year we are all, it's early, it's early, it's early. and then you get down to the last 10 games of the year,

and here's a team with eight overtime losses, and five of them were in the first month. You're like, you just threw away five points. I mean, you can say in October they don't matter, but the league's different than it used to be. Those points do matter. And even if you're not a great team and you can jump out fast, you feel good, maybe you can build some momentum.

Hey, Calgary did it last year. They got out of the gate really good. And then all of a sudden they felt like they were a good team and they almost made the playoffs. Now they're, you know, they've stumbled coming out of the gate and it's hard for you to make up ground when things have to be right at the red line for you to make it. And these points are sloppy or not. I think coaches will just, they'll take the points and run away right now. Absolutely. If you get them, you don't have to explain anything.

Marty St. Louis last night, probably wasn't ecstatic. And then damn it up, man. That damn it off kid. seen him live yet, Ray, he looks pretty good, man, Bell Center. I saw him in the playoffs last year, and I was like, oh, my God, this guy's played five games. He's not scared of anything. Yeah. Like, he was taking the puck and, like, diving into the traffic.

And I'm like, man, he's just a kid. Like, he's, like, he's a player, man. Like, he's, and remember when he was drafted, nobody was unsure was he going to come over. and Dan Milstein, the agent had him down in Florida. He has a camp down there every year for his Russian players. And, you know, there's a whole whack of head scouts go down to watch the camp because all these prospects are skating in one place. And they all came away and they're like, yeah, that guy's different.

He's a player. Like, he's a rookie of the year, you know, serious candidate. Yes, for sure. for sure. I mean, like, his ability and all, you know, I get, I'm at the Islanders tomorrow. I can't wait to watch Schaefer play. You know, when, when Scott Arneal says, yeah, he skates like Kail McCar, I'm like, oh, my God, I got to go watch this guy play. So pretty pumped to watch him. And there's, there's two of the guys that'll be up near the top of the Calder race. Absolutely. Well, enjoy New York. Enjoy it tomorrow. And enjoy the Js against Seattle tonight,

Ray. We'll do it again soon. Thank you, buddy. Who do we have on the Hill today? Who's on the hill? You get Shane Bieber. The stash. Bieber's going to, he's going to be lights out today. And Scherzer will be good. Bieber will be good.

You better win game three. Yeah, I know. Scherzer scares me tomorrow. But, hey, you got to win one. And then the rest will be history. We'll find out starting tonight. That's why you're the host of this show. You put things together like that.

Exactly. I point out the obvious. You two guys are really lucky. You two guys are really lucky. They are. Sound good and look good. Sound good and look good. That's all that matters.

Fake it to make it, right? You know that. Well, you got half of it right. You got half of it right. That's right. All right, buddy. Good seeing you. Enjoy it tonight.

Take care, guys. Good to see you. There he is. Ray for our ESPN hockey analyst and, of course, one half of the Ray and Dregs podcast. All right. Out to Seattle, we go. Tim Kirchin coming up also of ESPN ahead of game three tonight. We'll catch up with Tim next.

Jays Mariners game three tonight. Needless to say, it's a pretty big one for the Blue Jays. Pretty big game for the Blue Jays. Shane Bieber on a mound, Santander, back in the lineup. He'll hit cleanup tonight, and the Jays fly west, and they've been playing so well. They have been winning a lot of ball games. They had hit everything in sight, pitched relatively well, and then it all went up and smoked through two games down to Rodgers.

I already told you, Hazie, I have an awful feeling about tonight. Maybe our next guest can talk me out of it. Okay. You have some kind of good feeling. Let's get to a glass-half-full approach here from ESPN. He's at the park now. Here's Tim Kirchen. Tim, can you spin this positively for people in Toronto?

Why should the Blue Jay fans back home be feeling good about their team going into game three tonight? Did you guys watch the regular season in the major leagues? Yes. Did you watch it? Yes. Because if you watched it, you will know, and I know you watched it, that just when you think you understand what's going on, you realize that you don't.

Just when you think this team, whatever team it is, is really good, it loses six games in a row. Just when you think that same team is really bad, it wins eight games in a row. This has been the most unpredictable season that I have ever covered in 45 years. So anyone who thinks this is over, and that's Milwaukee, L.A.,

that's Toronto, Seattle. They didn't watch the 2025 season. Anything is possible in this crazy season. Do I like the situation the Mariners are in better? Of course, of course. But anyone who watched this season would recognize that anything is possible in baseball in 2025. We've seen 1,000 examples of that. That's why you cannot give up on the Blue Jays or the Brewers or anybody else at this point.

Yep. So you're saying, Tim, that Vladdy can totally flip the switch and be the hitter that he was against the Yankees. That can't happen tonight. It will happen tonight? there are no guarantees 2025 made sure of that however the different yes he can flip it and he can do exactly what he did in the lDS when he was devastating the only player ever to get nine hits and nine rbis in the first four games of any four games of a postseason no one's ever done that and yet all he's done since then is ground out to the shortstop

the second baseman and the third basement but this is baseball anything can happen he's a great hitter it could turn and but you know let's face it he is the critical piece here and he's got to get this going otherwise the troubles could continue yep and everything you say about the 2025 season would apply to the blue jays maybe first and foremost 94 wins they win the east you know no one saw that coming and their backs have been up against the wall at different times and they have come storming back also winning sweeping the in Seattle back in May. And that, I'm sure, is something they're trying to, you know, take some confidence from.

But Oges mentioned Vladdi. Another, you know, big portion of the lineup tonight is Anthony Santander, who's back in the lineup. He pulled himself from game two. He's not only back in the lineup, he's sitting clean up tonight. Barger's moving down. Santander has been a missing piece literally all year based on injury. But he's a veteran that can hit for power.

And they need it after the first two games. What is your level of confidence? that Santander can supply that and be productive tonight for the Jays? Well, we asked John Schneider for the game. Someone asked him, I didn't. Who's your pick-to-click? And he said, I got a really good feeling about Tony. That's what he said.

Really good feeling about Tony. So we'll see. He's six for 15 with two homers lifetime against George Kirby. And not many people have good numbers lifetime against George Kirby. And I also think it's important that you just put him right back. in the cleanup spot where he hit 44 home runs last year for the Orioles and it's hit over a hundred homers the last three years combined. I'm a believer in that when you tell a guy, I don't just trust you to get in the lineup. I'm going to hit you for it. Plus, physically,

he's feeling better. John Schneider told us that yesterday was really helpful that he had a day off and he's moving better. He's playing right field. So I have a good feeling about him too. But, again, let's always remember the ballpark in which we're playing. This is a difficult place in which to hit. And, you know, I can't say, yeah, they're going to win 9-8. A couple guys are going to hit two homers. Not in this ballpark. Now with the pitching, they're going to be seen.

Coming into the season, did you expect George Springer to have this type of season and still be that productive and really that dominant all season long? And he's been great in the playoffs as well. Yeah, did not see it. You guys know he had six. on opening day. Sixth, while Andres Jimenez hit fourth on opening day. Just another reminder how this lineup is evolved. But this lineup took off when George Springer was put back in the leadoff spot. And as you know, he worked with Michael Brantley in the offseason, one of his

best friends in the world and a former teammate in Houston. They worked in Florida. And he came back, even though he had a terrible spring training, Springer came back a different hitter. And, you know, He had the highest OPS gain, 285 points from last year to this, of any player in the major leagues, Cal Raleigh had the second highest. It just shows you he was not done. And when a freakish athlete like him figures out what was wrong, and then he goes out and makes it work, this is the beauty of baseball. You know, great NBA basketball players, you know, don't get to his age and suddenly start to score 25 points a game

after scoring eight points a game last year. This only happens in baseball, and it only happens with freakish athletes like George Springer. Well, he will bat lead off tonight. You mentioned Cal Rale, and, of course, he'll bat second for the Mariners. We're chatting with Tim Kirkson of ESPN. He's in Seattle game three tonight, and the guy that will face him, at least early in the game,

is Shane Bieber. And a big conversation in Toronto has been, you know, John Schneier's approach to the starters and how, you know, quickly he takes them out. Gosman twice. you know, against the Yankees and against the mariner, you savage the first time around, not necessarily the second time. He was getting hit, and his velocity was down.

But what would Bieber have to show Schneider tonight that would allow him to go into the sixth or seventh inning and them to get to deviate from this plan where they're not letting their starter give them more than 15, 16 outs or 75-77 pitches? Yeah, well, what the Blue Jays have learned is when they're both, pen is good, but when you see a reliever enough times, you start to figure

it out. So I think the leash, even though this is a crucial almost a must win for the Blue Jays, I think he's going to go a little longer with Shane Bieber. And you guys know the numbers are pretty good. Now, the numbers against the Mariners are great.

I mean, his last three starts against them, he's got a 047ERA, no walks, and 21 strikeouts. But that was a long time ago, that some of those numbers were put up there. So they have to factor that. And he also pitches exceptionally well in this ballpark, as a lot of pitchers do.

But, yes, I think he's going to go longer with him. And I think the key with Beaver, as it always is, is that what's going to do with that slider and that knuckle curve of the league just did not figure those two out this year. If he's got both of those pitches going, he's going to have a good night. All right, we can't wait for it. You're in Seattle. Enjoy it tonight.

Thank you for doing this, Tim. Okay, my pleasure, fellow. See you. There's Tim Kirchon of ESPN, live from the park ahead of the game tonight. Of course, post-game hedge, Keegan, they'll be on the field doing their thing like they always do. And, you know, we'll see. Beaver going, you know, getting through sixth, getting into the seventh inning, maybe miraculously deeper than that would be a hell of a story.

But he's a free agent, isn't he? Wouldn't there be a lot of teams looking to sniff around on this guy to see what he's made of, to say if we're going to kind of look at him as a potential guy he's got to do something or maybe if he doesn't do something it might cause some concern for some teams well he's got a player option i believe that he will i have more than likely opt out of i'd be shocked if he didn't i think it's like a 19 million dollar player option which is crazy to say that that is insane turn it down yeah i'm not taking that no chance um but he's 30s recovering off you know Tommy John, he's one of Sy Young, he's going to get paid.

Like, he will get paid. The question is, will it be in Toronto? Because the Jays are going to have to rework their rotation moving forward. If Scherzer's done, Bassett likely done, what do they do at Barrios? Who's not even, you know, he's injured, but he's not even an option right now, and he pitched his way out of being one. Is he injured? Yeah, well, he was at the end of the year.

Yeah, he got hurt. Yeah. He was hurt at the end of the, and they moved into the bullpen. Remember, they took him out of the rotation. So I'm not, even if he was 100% healthy, I don't think he'd be playing for them. But that's a question for the offseason, but it's going to be a big one, you know, how they rework the rotation in the future. But it's a big opportunity for Beaver, like a big opportunity. And like we said yesterday, maybe you win 10, 9, but maybe you got to win 1-0.

You have a choice. If it's 1-0, it better be pitching in defense than you find a way to get a big run and the rest of the history. and that park it's a big park it's going to be windy it's tough to register a lot of runs we'll see see we're going to have to be good though man like he doesn't he's just you know the way he pitches it's not like he overwhelms you and and just destroys guys at the plate you know it just seems like precision it's got to be precision he's got to be on you're right and and if he's not you got to go to the bullpen quickly and that'll be interesting to see what they do don't even say that don't understand say that i guess

They're going to have to, though. And they had an off day yesterday, but they're hoping to play three full games in Seattle. You've got to consider that. Bassett came into the game the other night. I can't imagine he was ecstatic about that situation. No. Well, dude, if Scherzer is going tomorrow, when's the last time that guy pitched? It's been weeks.

Yeah, it's been a couple of weeks now. And he's been prepping and doing this. I get it, but that's a long rest for a dude that age, isn't it? Yeah, it is. And I'm sure they're hoping. thinking Bassett may be in conjunction with him tomorrow, possibly. So they need to start out of Beaver. It's a non-starter, man.

You can't have the bullpen up in the second inning. You can't have it. You can't be in a jam and thinking we got to. But if you have to, you have to. You can't live to see another day. You have to win tonight. You have to if you're the Blue Jays. All right.

Best bet's coming up. And we've got NHO games tonight. We've got baseball games tonight. We've got the Dodgers flying home up two nothing. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy. The Dodgers and Otani and the whole crew, they're likely going to do it again. Did you see the guy?

I think it was Milwaukee. They had the bases loaded and they were down a run and he moved his leg to not get hit by a pitch. Did you see that? That was in game one, I believe. And then he struck out the next pitch. That's right. Game one, that would have tied the game. Yes.

All he had to do is just get hit by the pitch and it was some kind of weird curveball and he moved his leg. Yes, you're right. I think it was Ron Darling. It was like, man, I think you'd want that one back. You'd probably just lean into it. Yeah, take that one for the team. Yeah, you kind of have to take one for the team there.

That's where instincts kick in. And that's what happened. All right, Best Betts coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, Best Bet's powered by Fandruel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fandrell sports book. Yeah.

I'm on the J's in the under tonight. Jay's in the Under. It feels like Jay's 3-2. Yeah, it feels like Jay's 3-2. And they're going to have to get a start from Beaver. I think it's imperative. They get on the board first. You've got to make Seattle chase it.

You've got to quiet that crowd. But I'm on the Jays and the Under tonight. That's our parlay going into game three tonight. 8 o'clock start, right? 8 o'clock, right, 8 o'clock. And I think 6 o'clock on Friday, I believe. So yeah You know what it's like

Vancouver fans They know what it's like When Toronto teams are all into town It's whatever works for us It's prime time for us What do you have a better feeling about Hasey The offense turning it around Or Bieber's performance

If you had a better feeling about one What is it? I'm going to go Bieber First I'm going to go Bieber first Did you really feel that Or are you hoping that I'm hoping that.

I'm hoping that. I'm hoping that because I just feel like that, you know, on the road, the crowd, the Jay's haven't. It's going to be a zoo, man. Yeah, they haven't been in the spot really in a long time either, right? Like the Yankees series, they're up to 2-0. They flew to New York. That crowd was fragile.

This crowd is going to be crazy. And the Js are, there's going to be some anxiety. And I think the best way out of it is to kind of ease into it with a pitching performance. Right. Like, Bieber's got to be on one tonight. And allow your team, if they have a, low start to feel like you're still in the game. The worst thing that can happen is Bieber gets torched early.

You're down 4-5-0-0, 2-3 in-off. Then you're just like, it's over. You know, it would feel that way. You'd feel that way. Best Bet's powered by Fandrel. Same game parlay is now available for every MLB game on the Fandrele Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario.

All right. We've got game three tonight. We've got... I got one for you. there's a trap game Ottawa Senator is going into Buffalo Buffalo is going to like a wounded animal and so is Ottawa missing Brady Kachuk

That's a weird game That is a weird game tonight You're right and I think I saw Was it Bartown was posting about it That tickets are like $2 $11 $11 $11 so like there's that For what kind of ticket though?

But to get into the building 11 bucks for an event in 2015 it's dude you can't get into a fair for 11 dollars exactly 11 American though which is about 35 Canadian sure you can't get a coffee for that I know I'm not lying I went to a hotel downtown uh Toronto this morning for a Fandu event I had a muffin and an orange juice it was 23 bucks yeah 23 bucks that's two tickets to buffalo Dude, two tickets to the Sabres game tonight. Yeah, crazy. And probably a raffle ticket.

Two tickets and a raffle ticket. And a hot dog. And a hot dog for your coffee in an orange juice or whatever it was. Orange juice and an OJ. Yeah, 11 bucks. And guess what? It's going to get worse if this keeps up. Tickets in March, April, and Buffalo will be free.

Like, if you show up and say I'm willing to step in. They've got to turn it around. Do you think they're turning it around? Well, if they get their goalie back, I mean, if Alex Lyons play in all the games, if you get UPL back, he's pretty good. Okay. Benson's playing tonight, and if they get that, but, I mean, listen, they've got to play better. Like, bottom line is they're 0-and-3.

Like, and it's, the sky is falling there because of the history. O-N-3, other teams can dig out. What you're looking at is 14 years plus O-N-3. Totally. That's what the fans are saying. Just got to get out of the whole misery thing, like just someone's got to just make a stand and say this is changing and it's just we have nothing to do with the 14 i don't know i'm i'm just thankful that i've never been in that situation but someone just got to say this

this nonsense just stops yeah like imagine how cool it is to play in the n hl and being in that environment if you're just like again losing it would be so awful man awful it would be yeah they need it tonight you're right ottawa tough spot because pre chuck is out and you're facing a wounded duck man of a team like they have to win the fans are going to be ornery there the ones that are in the building um yeah yeah we'll see ottawa's got to get one tonight all right well we'll see what comes of it the nchel game three tonight tomorrow we got thursday night football we get the least playing the rangers tomorrow we get a lot cooking here a lot cook in here there's a lot going on we're coming down the stretch two for the gray cup moving towards the cfl playoffs

there's a lot going on here all right boys good stuff good stuff everyone behind the scenes thank you for all of your help we appreciate it everyone for tuning in today tv radio podcast web and of course up on youtube live every show up on youtube live on ts n's youtube channel we're out of here enjoy your evenings enjoy the games tonight we're back tomorrow at 4 pm we'll chat then the newest tracks and the next big thing and your first place to hear it all i heart news Music, your digital station for brand new drops, fresh vines, and tomorrow's bangers. Update it daily.

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