OverDrive - Phillips on the Jays' hot bats heading into the Dodgers series, the excitement surrounding the Scherzer / Kershaw matchup, and the importance of the upcoming stretch of games for the Jays

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

TSN baseball analyst Steve Phillips joins us on a Mail it in Friday! He discusses the Jays' hot bats heading into the series with the Dodgers. Phillips shares his thoughts on the Max Scherzer / Clayton Kershaw matchup and the importance of the upcoming stretch of games for Toronto.

From tariffs to trade deals, the markets are changing. Is your portfolio ready for what comes next? For all your questions, you need a money guy. Kelvin, the money guy, will help you develop a financial plan that includes the right levels of diversity. The best way to navigate uncertain times. With strategic advice from Kelvin, you can not only protect your investments, you can grow them. Don't wait. Call 416-457 plan or visit ask kelvin.cai.a.

Getting them ready for back to school comes with a lot of questions like How many binders will they need? Should I buy an alarm for their alarm? And where can I get budget-friendly phone plans for my whole family? That one's easy. With Bell, the more phone lines you get,

the more you save. Switch to Canada's fastest 5G plus network today. For details and more great offers, visit a Bell store or bell.ca slash promotions. Bell, back to school just got better. We'll keep the baseball conversation going and bring in Steve Phillips or TSN Baseball analyst. Steve, how are you? I'm doing great, guys. Good to be with you.

Great to talk to you again. I've got used to this. I've spoken to you every day this week, which has been very nice. I love it. I mean, yes, it's right. I mean, so what are you doing the weekend? I mean, what time do you want to coordinate a call? Actually, I'm going to see the Tigers. I'm taking my two-year-old son to take America Park for the first time. It's going to be an emotional moment. Oh, I love it. You'll love it there. It's a highly underrated ballpark, Comerica. It is very highly underrated. Before we look ahead to tonight, Steve, like the Jays, they're coming off this historic series against the Rockies, 63 hits, 45 runs, a plus 39 run differential.

And I know that it's Colorado and they're a bad baseball team. I know it's Coors Field. But like, can they use that performance and carry that momentum through to this stretch against the Dodgers, Rangers, and Cubs? Yeah, I think so. I think it's about confidence and feeling good about yourself. You know, as a hitter, when you start feeling good, you're seeing the ball. ball well you're driving the ball making hard contact that that does stay with you uh and you know although the off day you know can play a role in cooling you down it can also sort of just be a thought

of just reinforcing all those quality at bats and all of the traffic on the bases and how much fun they had uh is part of that too and so you know they go to take on the dodgers and they've got to be feeling really good about themselves and and their swings and their ability to drive the baseball so I do think there's some momentum there that they can carry with them. And I really feel like the Vladimir Groh Jr. are starting to get his confidence now because when he is confident, he can drive the baseball and lift the baseball. You know, when he's in between, he still hits it hard, but the launch angle is a little

bit different. And so I think that right now he's feeling as confident as he can to let the ball travel and then try to hunt the bottom of the baseball and lift it. Consistency had been one of the big criticisms of Vladimir Grow, Jr., over the last couple years and as people hummed and hot about whether he was worth the money and what the Blue Jays should do to get that contract over the line. I got a feeling that seeing this hit by committee and the fact that they performed as well as they did in Colorado without Springer in the lineup, without Kirk in the lineup,

like for someone like Vladdy, that's got to make you feel more confident that he's going to continue to build to his best, and his best baseball is still to come when you want it in September, October. Am I right? Yeah, oh, for sure. I do think that. I think that. I think that, You know, I think that his confidence level has to be at a high for this season. And, you know, he's been consistently good, just not consistently great, right? I mean, even his down years are good years for the mere mortals. But, you know, you're paid at $500 million.

You're thought to be, you know, one of the top players in the game. And, you know, he hasn't always performed to that level. But it's never been below average, right? It's always been an above average player. And, you know, now that Bichette's rolling, he's rolling, and Nathan Lucas rolling, and Barger still has it going on. They've got some real length and depth of the lineup right now that makes such a big difference.

Well, now you had Dalton Bar Show back into the mix also, supplying the power in that meat of the lineup. Like, how great is it to see him back healthy, doing what he's doing at the plate and also in center field? Yeah, it's really important, especially for left-handed hitters, right? To have some balance to the lineup where you can't easily navigate you with a right-handed pitcher through the right-handed hitters. and then, you know, they can, the lefties aren't quite producing,

that it makes it easier for the opposing manager to manage. I think it's much more difficult now when you think about Lucas and Barger and Varsho in the left hand at bats, and then you pair them around Bichette and Guerrero. Then the managers on the other side have to really make a decision. So I bring in a leftie, do I bring in a rightie? How do I manage this lineup? And so Bar Show getting it going is great. And if they can never get Santander back and he can,

it doesn't have to be anything more than his, you know, the average self. That would be, you know, this would be a lineup that could be unstoppable. You had some great players, veteran players, on the Mets when you were there, Steve. And when you look at the two guys on the mound tonight in Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, as AB had said, like there's arguably not two better pitchers in his lifetime, his baseball fandom, like they're right up there on the podium. How, you know, how special is it you think for fans to see this one more time? And how do we process it?

Because I think that's what I'm struggling with now. It's like, I might not see these guys go. again. And yet, you know, here I've got them in August, and it makes this ballgame feel a little more meaningful, I think. It does. Oh, it feels like a big game. There's no question. I think that, you know, these guys have been great in the biggest moments, and never have shied down from the competition. And they're both throw the ball well right now. And that's the other part of it, too, is that, you know, Scherz has actually looked pretty good as last few starts. The slider is working, and for Kershaw coming off six-shot out innings his last time out, he's been very good. So I think

for both of them, they're throwing the ball well, and for them, too, they're going to elevate their game just to go against each other. They know they're facing the other lineup, but they also know they're facing each other. And I think it's a chance to make a statement for both of them. Steve, Prime, Clayton Kershaw, Prime Max Scher, if you had the lineup card heading into game one of a World Series, who would you give the ball to? Great question. Yeah, Scherzer, for sir. You know, Kershaw's had some issues in the postseason, right? He's got like a four or four ERA in the postseason, which is almost two runs higher

than his overall ERA. And so Scherzer's had some really big moments in the postseason. He's got a little more fastball. And so, and I think there's more confidence for Scherzer in the playoffs than Kershaw. I love Kershaw. And I think you can look at regular season performance or maybe give him the edge. But when it comes to the overall in the postseason, I give Scher the edge.

We're talking all things Blue Jays with Steve Phillips on the Maple Toyota hotline right now When you look at Bo Bichette And how he's performed and played this season Are you surprised at all at the level that he's hit And does he have another level in him As I was hinting to that we're all expecting to see from Vladdy You know I think that for Bichette

If he's healthy Then you know we knew he was going to be good I mean he's been a guy that has led the league And hits before He's really good of letting the ball travel deep in the zone He can drive it down the right field line and pull it down the left field line and hit the all fields. And, you know, the power numbers, I think there's more power in there than what we've

gotten. You know, he's always been a really good doubles hitter. But I do think that if he tried and sold out on a pitch during every at bat, he could be a 30 home run bat. But, you know what? He's coming back from injury. He focused on hitting for average, making contact, driving the ball. Now you're starting to get some of the power production in it.

So I don't know that I would change or want him to change anything. that the way he's going about it right now is perfect for what this team needs, and he's killing it with runners in scoring position. It means absolutely, you know, like a close to 400 batting average with runners in scoring position, and that's why moving up down on the lineup had so much value for John Snyder. Steve, it's a pretty kind of murderous row coming up here. You've got the Dodgers, you've got the Rangers, you've got the Cubs, three teams who can put up some big numbers offensively, that's for sure.

How important is this stretch going to be for the J. kind of rotation to tighten things up, especially with the Red Sox on their heels? Yeah, I mean, it certainly is important. I think that whether it's this series or any other, you know, sometimes not who you play, it's what you play them. So, you know, the schedule means something, but, you know, the Red side, the Dodgers are playing, you know, okay baseball, their bullpen, volleyball right now, it's not the worst time to play them. You know, the Rangers have started to heat up a little bit.

The Cubs have been up and down, you know, they're going to, this, they're running into Kershaw, Snell, and Yamamoto. in this series, and they're going to probably get Imanaga against the Cubs, and they've got a chance to get both to Grom and Avaldi in the series with the Rangers. But I think I look at it as, and I wrote about it at not CA, that

I would look at this as, let's make this a playoff challenge, let's play play playoff baseball for the next 10 days, let's go out there score early, let's make plays defensively, let's be aggressive, let's do all those things that you have to do one pitch at a time in the postseason and turn it into that because it's

good practice for it because these are playoff caliber teams that I think if they can play well in these series, look, the reality is they go five or four, four, and five of the next nine games. They're still going to be in first place. The Red Sox have some tough series going on right now, too. Their schedule's not, they have Houston. And I know they've got the Marlins on the back end of it as well, but, you know, and the Padre. So they've got, you know, they have their own sort of tough gauntlet to run through over the next nine days. And so, but I think for the Jay's, just go out there and play their game, but they're going to be just fine. If you were a book,

Markmaker, Steve, Steve Fanduel Phillips. What are the odds that we see the Blue Jays and the Dodgers again this season in the World Series? I think there's a real chance of it. I mean, I think that the National League, I think it's the Dodgers,

the Padres, the Phillies, and the Mets are really, I think, the teams to challenge. I like Milwaukee. I just don't think that they're going to stand toe to toe with those other teams or the Cubs. In the American League, it is a bit more wide open, but I'm feeling so much more bullish about the Blue Jays

right now than certainly the Yankees. I'm not a big believer that Detroit is going to do the thing, or Houston, for that matter. Houston's got two starting pitchers, but after that, some questions. They're going to get Kristen Javier back. They're going to get Luis Garcia back, and Eric Getty

just came back. So they're hoping that they're going to piece together their rotation with guys coming back from injury, which is always a dicey thing to do. And I think once Beaver gets locked in it, we can see what he looks like. If he's a postseason answer, then I really like the blue chase chances.

Steve, we saw yesterday that Alec Mnoa got called up to double A, made his first AA start of the season when three innings gave up five hits, a couple walks, couple strikeouts. Does this mean anything for this season? Like, does it maybe suggest that they want to try and get them up here? Not as a starter, but maybe as a bullpen piece, or is that still a 2026 kind of? of play for Manoa?

Yeah, I think it's 2026. I really do. I mean, I guess he could always be insurance if there's some catastrophic injuries for this year. But I don't think as a reliever, the idea of a guy coming back from Tommy John, who's not really been a reliever to go in the bullpen, warm up, sit down, warm up, come in the game, you know, pitch back-to-back days and try to recover that way. It just doesn't feel like it would be the right thing for him. So I think that, you know, he'll be, you know, the seventh or eighth option in the rotation, I guess, if something happens.

But I feel like they're well protected over the last month and a half of the season, that this is really just about getting Minoah ready for 2026. Do Blue Jays fans need to be more worried of the Red Sox or the Yankees? I mean, obviously the Yankees are always behind and they have their own issues right now. But I look at the Red Sox and this weekend in San Diego, and it might not go very well for them. Oh, I'm much more concerned about the Red Sox than the Yankees right now. The Yankees, you know, they're competing against other teams, so they're also competing against themselves right now.

And that's really, you know, the media and the fans are all down on it. And so, you know, they've got a huge momentum turnaround they're going to need. And look, there's time to do it for sure. And, you know, if you're going to struggle, this would have been the time. And then you start putting it together for the last month and a half. But I do think that the Yankees' problems, they might still make the playoffs, but I don't think they can make up six and a half games and pass the Red Sox. So I think it's going to be, you know, the Yankees fighting for that last wild card spot.

Steve, Summer Radio is great time for story time. I love story time of Steve Phillips, a longtime esteemed general manager, lifer of baseball. And obviously we're all getting excited for the Scherzer and Kershaw matchup tonight. But is there a matchup that you witnessed live that blew you away that you had this much anticipation for in your years' work in the game? I mean a little bit there, but I think about a matchup that I saw, you know, I think you go back in the days for me. Like I start back with the World Series back in 68 when it was Bob Gibson and the Detroit Tigers and Danny McLean and the Mickey Lollich and the pitchers back then. And, you know, I think that, you know, for us, for me, it was Al Leiter on the mound. you know, his matching up against Roger Clemens and interleague play and what those were like

for us as well. But, you know, I think that, you know, Randy Johnson being on the mound against Greg Maddox, those matchups were always fantastic. And so I think that, you know, whenever you get a chance to see, you know, the best of the best go at it, and, you know, and as a kid, whenever we were going to go to a game, the first question we'd ask is, who's starting, who's starting? Because I always wanted to know who the pitchers were. And I'll never forget a game growing up. Mark Fidrich, the bird, was pitching in Detroit. what a character he was, right? He'd pat the dirt on the mound.

He talked to the baseball. Taking on Dennis Leonard from the Can't City Royals, who's one of the best pictures of that era, in a 1-0-0 game at Tiger Stadium that was just, I mean, you know, Fidrich throws a complete game and wins 1-0, and, you know, 50,000 people at Tiger Stadium celebrating this sort of goofy, lanky guy with floppy hair and looking like Big Bird on the mound.

and just never forget memories like that when you see those great pitching matchups. That was some fantastic ones. I really do think that at this point in the season, the Blue Jays having worked the rotation in the way that they have and where things have fallen. If this is game one of the ALDS, you're looking to have a long October,

who do you hope is the one who the ball falls in their hand for game one to open up the playoffs for the Blue Jays? Yeah, good question. I think the Jays are sort of complicated, in that way. I would think Gosman gets the game one start. You know,

there was, I wrote today, too, that I thought that, that if we go four deep in a series of starters, that I would likely have Scherzer and Beaver starting,

and I would have Barrios and Lauer in the bullpen. That I think they've got the more resilient arms and, you know, more flexibility to be able

to handle that role than I think any of the others. And so I would probably go with Gossmann, Beaver, Scherzer, and Bassett and the bolt in the rotation would be the way I'd line it up for the Jays. Steve, it was a pleasure. I'm looking forward to seeing Kershaw and Scherzer tonight, and I always enjoy speaking with you, so enjoy your weekend, my man.

And maybe one day we'll get the chance to catch a game. I don't know if it'll be a camera. Terrific, guys. Maybe one day we would. Yeah, I love that. Love that. All right. Thanks so much.

The one and only, Steve Phillips joining us in the Maple Toyota Hotline. 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. Thank you.