OverDrive - Phillips on the Blue Jays down in the ALCS, Gausman and Yesavage yanked and Guerrero Jr.'s struggles

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays' defeats in Game 1 and 2 in the ALCS, if Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage should've remained on the mound, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. not delivering in the series, Shane Bieber in need of a redemption game and more.

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Here's Steve Phillips, or TSN Baseball Insider. What sticks out to you, Steve, in particular? You look back in the Blue Jays, the first two games. Like, what was the main reason that they're down O2 flying to Seattle? Yeah, I think certainly the offense. I mean, this is a team that scored 34 runs in four games against the Yankees. And, you know, in game one, they did hit some balls hard right at people. And look, they're facing really good pitchers.

But, you know, you had a chance to keep the Mariners down on the mat. I mean, they were tired. They were starting Bryce Miller on short rest. Logan Gilbert on short rest. Like, there's an advantage going into that. They've flown back and forth from Seattle to Detroit to Seattle to Toronto. And they played loose and came out swinging. And, you know, the Jay's hit some line drives that people just couldn't get anything going.

And so, and then in game two, I mean, you know, the pitching. wasn't what it had been. Give the Mariners credit for that. But the Jay's, you know, who knows what happens if a Rosarana struck out in the first inning, right? He thought he was struck out. And Doug Edding's the home plate umpire called it a ball and then he hits him with a pitch and then, you know, a walk at a home run and you down three nothing. And then, you know, you do muster of the offense to come back.

But, you know, how much can you expect to get off of a really good pitching staff in a very good bullpen that they have there in Seattle? So, you know, it's one that, you know, it's a little disappointing, and this is a big hole. It's going to be really tough to dig out of. Teams have done it, but they're going to have to turn on a dime, and it just did not feel good after the first two games. Steve, where are you at with taking Gossman out when he came out, and same thing with your Savage yesterday? Yeah, so I would not have taken Gossman out when he did. You know, that was just, you know, Gossman had gave up the first.

a hit on the fastball to Raleigh in the first inning. And Raleigh had been six for 11 against him. Three home runs with three home runs that all come on the fastball. And so in the second at bat, he ends up throwing exclusively splits. And, you know, the split finger struck out Raleigh. Then at that next at bat, he started him off with a split finger. Then he came with a fastball out of the zone, show me pitch, and they threw another But at that point, Raleigh's like, I'm going to look for the split.

Like, he's not going to throw me another fastball. I kill his fastball. And sure enough, he went down and get the split. But that was just baseball stuff, right? It was, you know, Raleigh did a good pitch. It was down. He went down and scooped it out of the park. Then the walk, and I get the walk, maybe John Snyder.

But I don't go to the bullpen right there with Little. And then, you know, once they wild pitched Julio Rodriguez the second, then I walk Polanco. Polanco from the right side is better than he is from the left side. And so you walk Polanco and then you face Nader with two outside runners on first and second. I would never have pissed the Polanco there. And so I wouldn't have taken out Gosman. And then once you did, I would have walked Polanco after the wild pitch that sent Rodriguez the second.

Yeah, it's amazing how quickly it can turn. After that bullpen game game four, Schneider's on top of the world, Vladdy's on top of the world. And now Schneider's getting cooked for every decision he makes. and Vladdy doesn't have a hit through two games. Who do you think is getting cooked more, though? Probably Vladdy? It's probably Schneider.

It probably is because it's the easy thing to do. Everyone hates on the manager. And the way he walks out to the mound, and he was doing it so much, people were like, stop it. Right, and he made mistakes. Like, what Steve just said is spot on. He made mistakes. But for me, it should be Vladdy.

Like, your job's not done. I get, you have ebbs and flows, and maybe you were due for a game or whatever, but he came up the first three times he came up yesterday Steve he had runners on and he couldn't cash any of them and he's got to be better than what he's been through two games

it comes at you quick man it's not it's not the regular season where you can say it had a great week and I had a down week you just don't have time for that and too much at stake yeah Vladdy man he was dancing on the grave of the Yankees and now through two games he just hasn't been good enough yeah I see the same thing though you guys do

that he's that swing that he takes where he sort of swings down on it. And that's where he doesn't trust himself to stay back. And so he gets out in between. And when you do that, it changes the bat path when you swing it. And so you can only hit it hard on the ground. I would rather him swing and miss, but hunting the bottle of baseball, than to get that halfway swing where he's going to hit a hard ground ball at a third.

You know, I'd rather him try to drive it. And he can get there. It's a confidence thing. And it's trusting. and each of that connects to the others. If he has a good first at bat, then the next time he's going to be more comfortable and sort of wait back on it.

If they've got to lead, it would be more comfortable to wait back on it where he doesn't feel the pressure like, I have to, I have to, I have to. But that's what these games are right now, right? The high pressure moments, how do you slow the game down, how do you slow your heartbeat,

how do you be the same player you are in August, on an August 19th game against Kansas City, where you're just out there playing as you are in a playoff game that the heartbeat doesn't change the approach doesn't change and it's not easy to do and so but guys can get locked in on that and you've got to hope that this offense gets going quickly with the game three tomorrow how do they start feeling good about themselves Steve I mean this Seattle team wheeled in here at midnight

playing late probably hung over and they showed up and dummy these guys like how difficult it will you talk about Vladdy's starting to feel comfortable well, the whole team to feel good about themselves come game time in Seattle. Yeah, so, I mean, listen, remember the loss of the Yankees in that game three where it felt like the series had completely flipped the script, right? And, you know, it felt like, oh, man, they're not ever going to come back. It was a, there's going to be a bullpen day on game four. It felt like the series had completely turned around.

And the Js just came out and played and won the game. And so they can do that. and, you know, it's in there to do it. I think certainly Bieber is going to be very important. And look, the bottom line is this. Teams that out-home or the other are 18 and 4 in the postseason. So the team that out-hover is the other team, they're 18 and four. So you've got to keep the ball in the ballpark, and you've got to get somebody to knock it out of the ballpark.

And so, you know, that's got to be the way that they go. And, you know, you can't shoot yourself in the foot. This is one of the best defensive teams in baseball. And look, him and is trying to make a cross. great play yesterday, got an error on it, but it hurt. It hurt, right? He got the runner on second, then they walk Raleigh, and then Polanco hits the home run. And, you know, then Barso, I think with the roof open, there was some wins, and I think he misplaced the fly ball to center that normally I think he would play and make a play on it, they hit off the wall.

And so those are things that cost you bases, base runners, and out in playoff games, and the good teams make you pay for it. do. Even Kirk looked tired last night. Kirk looked tired, man. And you shouldn't be. Like, yes, it's a long season, but they've had time off. Seattle was the one that had to go five and then fly across the country. So day off today,

they fly to Seattle, back at it tomorrow. You mentioned Bieber, who didn't have the greatest start. Clearly game three against the Yankees. Ultimately, it didn't matter because they won that series. To me, the bats obviously have to come alive. But if they don't, you

got to do what the Dodgers did last night. If you've got to win one-nothing, you've got to win one-nothing. He needs a gem. Exactly. Like for me, Steve, as much as I look at the bats collectively, I look at Beaver, and it'd be great if they could do what they did against the Yankees. They got on the board quickly against New York. Every game, every game they showed up and said,

runs are going up, first inning. But this Seattle team looks like they're saying that's not happening against us. That's definitely a part of it. And Seattle, I think, feels confident that they can crawl back into the game. But if the Js get runs on the board early, right. Beaver's got to have himself at night and I'm not I don't believe Schneider and Walker

will get away from this practice of allowing them to go 75 pitches and then you're out but again look at Snell last night like if Beaver is great why would you possibly take him out tomorrow? I know we're forecasting already but you know you can speak on what you expect out of him

but you're 100% right I mean at this point it's not about what anybody shows you during the regular season is there a single pitcher that you think has a hot hand coming out of the bullpen right now? No. And it does right, right? And so do any of them make you more comfortable to get through the sixth inning or into the seventh inning than Shane Bieber?

If he's pitching well, and the answer is no. And here's thing, it may cost you the game going about it that way, but that's really the way I think he has to manage right now, especially, you know, taking a Gospit out. Like, he's your ace. and he was pitching an excellent ball game in a solo home run for Cal Raleigh does not mean that you're losing it

it means that Cal Raleigh did you what he did 61 other times this year so okay you just regroup and you go get them and so I think that they really do need even if the offense is there they need Beaver to be good because the only way the bullpen is going to be good is if you keep them in the bullpen

for as much as you can do not let them keep getting looks at them. You know, just like we talk about how starting pitchers face the lineup the third time through the lineup, right? Where the numbers spike for starting pitchers. It's actually the same thing for relievers. The third time relievers see the same lineup, their numbers spike exponentially.

And so for the Js, not only do they need Beaver to give them a great start, they need their bullpen to not be used so they don't give so many looks so that there's something fresh and new and rested and different when they do finally get the game. Great stuff, Steve. Enjoy the game tonight and enjoy game three tomorrow. We'll do it later in the week. All right. Thank you, guys.

There is, Steve Phillips, our TSM Baseball Insider. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you love, on Iheart Radio, or wherever you get your podcasts.