PTI - Jacob DeGrom Dominates Again

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the NBA draft and Jacob DeGrom. Plus, Jeff Passan joins the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's National Canoe Day, Tony? Can you canoe?

I'm Tony Corn, as you know. But I once paid to get paddled. There's a funny line. Come on. It's a funny line. I thought it was going to be can you canoodle? I didn't know canoe was a verb. Yes, to canoe, sure.

I think so. Well, it's certainly a noun. I think you can make it into a verb. Have you ever done that? I've canoed a few times. No. I'm never been in one. Never. Really? Oh, we've got to get you out in one.

Turn you over, see how it works out for you. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, big-time pitching performances from two Jacobs. The U.S. Open's bold new approach to mixed doubles, and Jeff Passon joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with last night's first round of the NBA draft. Cooper Flagg went first to Dallas as expected. The first eight players picked last night were all one-and-duns at American schools.

The Brooklyn Nets kept all five of their first round picks and used them to draft players. And Ace Bailey ended up in Utah, which was not on his preferred team list. Wilbon, what were your biggest takeaways from last night's first round? Tony, I'm going to go to something that struck me emotionally. Because the takeaways are not, like I know I don't know. You and I talked about this going into the telecast. We don't know what can play yet.

In a year, we'll start to say, wait a minute, that kid looks pretty good in a year and a half. in that second season, we'll go, wait a minute, okay, now they got something. But, you know, that's fine, and I love doing it because I'm a basketball nerd, but the kid Malawatch from Duke, who was drafted by the sons here, so I was happy to see that, but that is not who drafted him. You know, Masayu Jiri started telling me a few years ago about a group of young African players who were coming along and who both had the grades to go to any school in America, if they wanted, but also could play basketball and were going to be drafted.

And Malawatch was one of those kids. He's like 15. And so I started paying attention to him. He's only whatever, 18, 19 now, but I started paying attention to him. And the tears on his face when he was drafted, and he talked about it. And I'm sure the Duke experience is the end of it. And he talked about coming from nothing and where he came from. And I was just overwhelmed by his emotion. and being drafted and fulfilling this dream and now he's going to play in the NBA and he's 7-1 or so. I can't wait to see him play.

And so of all the things that happened last night, that struck me. I'm going to be honest, I didn't really know any player out there. I hadn't felt that I'd seen any of them other than Cooper Flagg, but I'd seen the Duke kids. I'd seen Malawatch.

I'd seen Kinnipple because when I tuned in to see Flag, I saw them. And all three of them went in the top ten. So my biggest, takeaway would be that Chicago's own, John Shire, is the greatest recruiter in the history of basketball. Because he just had three freshmen go in the top ten. The other thing that strikes me as a takeaway is the fashion element of the evening. I think there was even a red carpet show. And the kid that the Washington Wizards drafted, Trey Johnson, the kid out of Texas, the pants on his suit did not

reach his shoes. In fact, they stopped somewhere in his calf. They looked like long shorts, so I just assumed they were part of the Jalen Rose collection, you know, because I've seen Jalen Rose do those commercials, and he's always wearing those shorts. You know, a lot of it was lost on me except this, Mike. Cooper Flagg and three of his teammates from high school were drafted in the first round. Yeah. That's amazing. Russell Newell was one of them.

Derek Queen. Who's the other one? Liam McNeely. Liam McNeely, it's Montverdy High School. That's a golden ticket. That is the Harvard Westlake of Bay. Basketball, that place. Hard to argue with you, Tony.

By the way, that Duke coach you mentioned who grew up under another Duke coach from Chicago could recruit pretty well. Yeah, yeah. A guy named Sheshefsky. Yeah, he, the godfather of that, maybe. Let's move to baseball. Where two Jacobs delivered terrific performances

from the mound yesterday, rookie Jacob Mizoroski, the Miz of the Brewers, struck out eight over five, shutout innings to beat Paul Skeens and the Pirates 4, too. And in the evening, Jacob de Grom, now of the Rangers, took a no-hitter into the eighth and a seven-nothing win over the Orioles. Turn on which Jacob had the more notable pitching performance yesterday, the Miz or DeGrom? Okay, so they both, they pitched against poor teams, so there's no advantage there.

So let me go over the numbers, the important numbers. Mizorowski went five innings. He gave up no runs. He had two hits. He walked two, and he struck out eight. in five innings. And he was pitching, as you said, against Skeens. And the remarkable thing to me was he hit 100 miles an hour much more often than Skeens did. Yeah. Yeah, he did it 19 times in 74 pitches, and Skeens only did it once in 78 pitches. DeGrom had a perfect game through

six. He walked two in the seventh, but he kept the no-hitter through seven. First batter in the eight got a hit, so they took him out. So he goes seven innings, gives up one hit, also walks two, and he has seven strikeouts. Is that better than Ms. Arowski? Mike, I would say it is slightly better because he pitched two more innings because he's 37 and he's had two Tommy Johns and in his comeback here he's eight and two with a 208DRA.

It's great. But Ms. pitched against Skeens. He pitched against a guy last year who everybody had being the greatest thing ever. And Skeens is still terrific, by the way. But the Ms. Tony, this kid, look, just about the time, I had to stop hating Aaron Rogers because we got rid of one cheesehead.

Another one shows up in Wisconsin. This kid, the Miz, Tony, he gave up no hits in his first appearance. He gave up essentially no hits, I think one hit in his second appearance. He's giving up three hits in three starts. Are you kidding me? Yeah, I know. This kid is the deal. He's six, seven.

He's coming at you like Randy Johnson. I know Randy Johnson was 6'10. Tony, no, no, no, no, no, it's the Mizz. He did this against Skeens. He upstaged Paul Skeens. I'm going to point out to our viewers that because he's in the same division as the Cubs, you are inclined to watch him and inclined to like him. This is the curse of your divisions all the time.

You know what the batting average against him is? Now, it's only 16 innings. Batting average against is 0-6-1. Come on now. It's 06. No, it's not 0 something. It's 061. You know, whereas the Grom is, against the Grom is, you know, 1-8-9.

The Grom's great. I'll take the Grom right now, but this kid is. Sure. We moved to tennis, specifically the mixed doubles at the upcoming U.S. Open. The Open will move the event up a week, so it will be played before the rest of the tournament. They will bump up the prize money to a million dollars and they will shorten the sets. So you only need four games to win, not the traditional season. not the traditional six.

And as a result, all the big stars are playing with each other. Carlos Alcaraz will play with Emma Raducano. Naomi Osaka, who you love, will play with Nick Curios. There has been criticism of this change from some of the regular doubles players. Will Bonn, are you going to be critical?

No, Tony, but I understand the criticism from those doubles players who put in the time and carry that wing of professional tennis. And so they've got to tweak this. But I'm in the tank, Tony, for having the men and women play together. Tennis is called mix something in golf.

And I'm going to tote my own horn here as part of something that Grant Thornton does in professional golf where the men and women play an event together and it is great. The top players. And you don't have to, it's a separate event. So you're not disturbing the Open or the U.S. Open or the Masters or the PGA. And they're going to have to figure out how to do this as part of the U.S. Open so that you do not cast off the people who have carried doubles. you don't want to do that.

But I love what they've done. They got to tweak it. I can't wait to see it. It's star-driven, which means I know you'll pay attention, but I like the co-ed nature of it. That's what drives it for me. Okay.

I covered a lot of tennis, as did you. Mixed doubles is great fun to watch. The problem with it in the last 20 or 30 years is that the great stars don't play it. It's always on a side court. There's not a lot of money involved. and if you're still in the singles draw, it saps your energy so you don't even enter it.

This idea is absolutely fabulous, okay? It's going to get the stars involved all the time, and because it's before the main draw, it's not going to deplete your energy. Plus, there's a lot of money. Mike, the people who won the French Open this year and mixed, won $144,000. When you win a U.S. Open, it's a million dollars.

I understand the criticism. I think it sounds like, sour grapes from some mid-level players who thought they had this all to themselves. You know where I stand on this, Mike? Sports is a television show. Sports is entertainment. They're going to put this in the big gyms. They're going to put this on big TV, and the stars are going to be in it.

And I think everybody benefits from this. I think it's, I think mixed doubles will be all the rage as a result of this. So I love it. I do too. I love it. I do too, Tony, but I wouldn't diminish by calling them mid-level. No, the doubles people are the top doubles people. Here's what they need to do.

They're going to have to get wild carded in maybe initially. There needs to be a tweaking of this. Sure. And go get a partner who's great. Go and beat the stars. But you got to give them a chance. You got to include them in the field and let them play the stars. They can't just ban them, which is what you want to do.

They'll be in the field. No, don't you're misrepresenting me completely. I want to see them beat the stars. I like mixed doubles. I like them. Let's take a break coming up. After a sudden swoon, or the Mets back on track, we're going to ask Jeff Passon. We'll also ask him whether the cubbies are likely to re-sign Kyle Tucker.

We need to. Need to. I'm saying this is a great idea. It's going to put folks. Pardon the interruption is brought to you by UFC 317 Saturday. Buy now at ESPNplus.com slash PPP. We have baseball questions. for our great friend ESPN Senior Baseball Insider, Mr. Jeff Passon.

Jeff, let's start with this. The Mets lost 10 of 11 games before beating the Braves last night. Question one is, are you confident in the state of the Mets? And question two, where are you on Ronald O'Cunia Jr. and the Braves? Tony, I want to be bullish on the Mets because I saw the way that they played over the first, you know, 65 or so games of the season. They were really good. They pitched at the top of their lineup, even when Juan Soto wasn't hitting Francisco Lindor was.

Pete Alonzo was, Brandon Nimma was, Jeff McNeil was. So there's talent there, but the way that they've looked over the last week and a half has been very problematic. And I think it shows that before the July 31st trade deadline, David Stearns, their president of baseball operations, has a lot of work to do. Now, they're missing Kodi Sango. You know, he has a sub-15 ERA this year or so. When he comes back, it's going to be a little bit better. They just got Frankie Montas back, looked really good in his first outing. So I think some of this is getting healthy, but let's look at what Soto has done, particularly

in June. This is the Juan Soto guys who signed for $765 million. His OPS is up almost at 900 at this point. And all those frustrations of the first six, seven weeks of the season seem to have melted away, and he's finally getting comfortable. And being the guy that the Mets thought that they were. were bringing in and the one who I still think is going to lead them to a postseason spot. The Braves, on the other hand, they look better and Acunias looked like one of the best players on

earth. I mean, when he is healthy, he's up there with Otani, he's up there with Judge, he is awesome. But Chris Sale being out with broken ribs, not great. And there's just not a whole lot of pitching depth with the Braves right now. And on top of that, they got to claw their way back from that deficit that they had at the beginning of the season when they lost seven straight games. That sort of thing looms large in a playoff scope that is as tight as the National League is right now. Well, yeah, part of that tightness is in the Central where the Cubs are still leading the Brewers and Cardinals. And I want to ask you about Kyle Tucker, Jeff, he's played really, really well. But as you know, of course, he will be a free agent

if the Cubs don't get him off the market. What do you think is likely to happen with Tucker as well as he's been playing. You think the Cubs sign him, trade him, or just let him walk, which is what I fear? Well, I can tell you one thing, Mike, they are not going to trade him because this is a first place team right now, a team that has not just playoff aspirations, but believes it can be a World Series contender. And that is specifically because of who Kyle Tucker is. He does so many of the things that, you know, me personally, baseball fan absolutely loves, beyond playing defense. and running the bases, 19 stolen bases already. He's a guy who's near the 300 batting average 400 on base, 500 slug.

That is rarefied territory. More than that, though, he walks more than he strikes out. And for a guy who is a power hitter like that, for him to take those quality at-bats, I've talked with people in the Cubs organization and on the team, and they say that Kyle Tucker sets a specific type of standard for the at-bat that a Chicago Cubs should take. And so then it goes back to Tom Ricketts. Is he willing to put money down on the table because it's going to cost a lot. Kyle Tucker has played himself well into the $400 million plus dollar range. And at 29 years old, he is going to be far and away the most exciting

free agent this offseason and the one that all the big market teams are going to want to bring in. So Ricketts is going to have to step up, put his money where his mouth is, and do what he hasn't done yet as owner of the Cubs. Yes, we are well aware a Cubs fan's for life. Tucker and Alex Bregman leave Houston, Jeff. And yeah, Houston rolls right along,

got five plus game lead in first place in their division. How do the Astros keep doing this? Because they're inevitable, Mike. Every single year, it seems like the Astros just keep bringing players in, developing players, making good

deals. Jeremy Pena has taken a leap forward this year. Esauk Paratus at third base absolutely loves Dyken Park, but it gets down to their starting pitching. Hunter Brown has emerged as a Cy Young candidate. Framber Valdez is his steady self. And when you have Josh Hater and Brian Abraeu at the back end of that bullpen, it's a tough road to hoe for any team trying to beat the Astros. We'll get you out of here on this. It's about a story that you wrote and the piece dropped today. It's been rookie on the A's Jacob Wilson, who has hit nearly 350. this season. He included one unusual theory. He talked to you about it for his early success.

Share it with us, please. Jacob Wilson believes that he is as good of a baseball player as he is, because he plays Fortnite. Now, if this sounds a little bit weird, I thought so as well at the beginning, but his argument here is that when you are playing Fortnite, it is a game with fast decision-making, and it teaches you that in the moment you have to see what's right in front of you and react instantaneously. And what does that sound like? Sounds a lot like trying to hit a baseball. And look, Jacob Wilson has plenty of other things going for him.

His father was Jack Wilson, long-time big league shortstop. So he's got the genetics. He works hard. But he's not giving up video games. In fact, he is playing them so he can become a better baseball player, guys. Jeff, if Fortnite, if being an ace of Fortnite makes you a great baseball player, my son should be Willie damn maze if one correlates to the other.

Yeah, it's amazing. I'm like 80 years removed from this thing. Let's take one. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you. Let's take one last break. Still to come. Caitlin Clark is out for the fever.

We're going to tell you why. And the Rockies lose the ball and then a game. Poor Rockies. I don't know. Fortnight. Recrediting a video game. Really?

My son's playing Fortnite till three in the morning. Happy time. People happy 45th birthday Michael Vick. Vic was one of the most explosive and influential quarterbacks of all time early in his career in Atlanta. That came undone when it was revealed Vic was involved in the brutal enterprise of dog fighting. Vic went to jail for that involvement. When he returned to the NFL, it was with Philadelphia, where he was comeback player of the year in 2010. Vic was always publicly apologetic for what he had done, but his career arc had changed. And the greatness in his play became a memory.

Vic turned to coaching, starting as an intern under Andy Reed in Kansas City. We did coach Vic in Philadelphia, and Vic calls Reed a true role model. Last winter, Vic accepted the head coaching job at Norfolk State University. I'm glad to hear that, Tony. Was glad to hear it. I got to drive down to Virginia Tech to watch Michael Vic in person in college. He was a wonder. There just few things, if any, I'd ever seen like that.

And you just never forget it. It didn't turn out in the NFL level like it could have or maybe he should have. But when he was on, wow, nothing like it. Happy anniversary Denver Nuggets on this day 11 years ago. With the 41st pick in the 2014 draft, the Nuggets selected a relatively unknown 19-year-old Serbian center named Nicola Yokic. Prior to being selected, Yokic had a solid but quiet season. In the Adriatic League, he averaged 11.4 points.

6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 25 games. Yokinj played one more year in the Adriatic League. He was named MVP. This time he averaged 15.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. In the NBA, Yokic's numbers dwarf those. Yokic routinely gets triple doubles in the NBA. So let's hear it for the Adriatic League, wherever it is and whoever is in it.

How about the decision to look to a Taco Bell commercial, which is what was on the telly, when he was drafted. True story. But Tony, look, Shade Gilgis Alexander is the legit, deserving MVP. Joker, to me,

is still the best player in the world, at least right now. He's the best player. Happy trails to the Rockies catching a pop-up. The Dodgers and Rockies were tied at zero in the top of the sixth last night

when Max Muncie popped one up towards second. Colorado's second baseman, Tyro Estrada, lost it in the rain, and the ball dropped right next to the first basement. Because there had been two out, the runners were off on contacts of two-runs sport. A rain delay immediately followed, as did an eventual 8-to-1 loss by the Rockies who are now 18 and 62 this season. I can't care about the Rockies. I'm just breathing easy because the Cubs split with the Cardinals winning this afternoon in St. Louis. That's all I care about.

Let's go to the big finish if we could. The Nixon reportedly interviewed Pelicans assistant James Morego. Is that a good fit? I don't know. I don't know if that's a good fit. You know it was a good fit. You and I talked about this. The guy coaching in Dallas, he's a good fit for the Knicks. If they can get him, that's who they want. The NFL suspended ex-raven's kicker. Justin Tucker, 10 games for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Your thoughts. That's why they cut him, and that's why the Ravens drafted a kicker. The bucks extended the deals of head coach Todd Bowles and GM Jason Light. Okay by you? I mean, the record's not great, 27, 24, but the three straight.

NFC style titles? Yes, okay, but me. Caleb Clark out against the sparks tonight with the left groin issue. Concerned? Yeah, there's a second time she'll be out this season, and she's in a terrible shooting slum. So, yeah, I'm concerned. Last one, NHL and Players Union could expand the season from 82 games to 84. You okay with that? You know, I don't like any more expansion of games.

No, games should be reduced. But if you get an additional division game against a rival, I guess it's okay to do that, Tony, that'd be fine. I don't know. I don't know. We're out of time. We're trying to better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheim. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.