PTI - Shohei is Back on the Mound

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss Shohei Ohtani and the Florida Panthers. Plus, Buster Olney 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 Wilbaugh. Tony, did you know that today is National Apple Strudel Day? I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Apple Strudel? That was my pole dancing name. That's good. We got video? Is there video coming up to accompany that story? I sincerely hope not. In terms of the real Apple Struodle, I'm not the world's biggest Apple Struedle fan. I like Apple Pie, but I'm not a big apple

apple strudel guy are you yeah no no no no it has I'm tried I'm tried people do it but you know it's lost on you don't like fruit or vegetables am I correct on that like you're much you don't eat those things yeah that covers it steak and potatoes baby Midwest welcome to PTI boys and girls in today's episode show hang is back on the mound the Panthers try to close out the cup and Buster only joins us for five good minutes, but we begin today with Oklahoma City decisively beating Indiana last night to take a three-two lead in the NBA finals. Tyrese Halliburton, apparently slowed by a CAF problem, did not make a single field goal. He took only six shots. Oklahoma City's Jaylon Williams,

meanwhile, scored 40 points, and Chey Gilgis Alexander added 31 more. So Wilbon, what did last night tell you about each team? Tony, I don't think anything new. I mean, we should have known if people didn't already. Indiana's tough. That's physically tough and tough-minded. And they're down 18. And I know at one point I go, let me switch over to Shohei, which we'll get to in a second.

Let me switch over to see Shoah's pitches live. And I go over for a few minutes. I come back and it's down to six. The Oklahoma City lead in Indiana won't go away. The Pacers won't go away, even though their best player is hobbled. And I'm not going to make light of it. I'm not going to act like, oh, you got to be out there anyway. He said he wanted to be out there if he could walk.

But everybody doesn't do, and I'm going to go back a little bit, history lesson, boys and girls, to the great Isaiah Thomas when he played on essentially a broken ankle in a game and one of the great games in NBA finals history. And one of the reasons is one of the great games in NBA finals history because nobody's ever done anything like that again. Even the great Willis Reed, one of your heroes, and somebody you got to know.

Yes. He wasn't out there the whole game. I mean, he changed the game and the team and a championship because he hit two buckets. But he wasn't out there the whole game. And so Halliburton, without Halliburton out there, Tony, I don't see the Pacers really being able to do much. It was they were valiant and all of that.

OKC's better, particularly when you get Jdub playing like that in support of the MVP, they're better. Yeah. So it was a close game with eight minutes to go. It was a two-point game at that point. And then Oklahoma City outscored Indiana from that point on 25 to 16. And Mike, this is the exact same scenario as in game four, where late in the game Oklahoma City takes over.

What I learned about Oklahoma City, much like you, is something I already knew. They are probably the better team in this series. And Indiana was probably very lucky to win game one in the way that they won game one. What I learned about Indiana was also something that I already knew, that they're not going anywhere without Halliburton. You know, he scored six points, and he was noticeably slower, you know, out on the court, which raises this question, Mike, which is it's wonderful that he wants to play. But is it helping the team if, in fact, he's not close to 100%. they've got guys with NBA contracts on the bench to put into this thing.

I don't know what they owe Halliburton. I don't know what he owes them. And I'll say this, do I think that it's possible for Indiana to win the next game in Indiana? Not if Halliburton is like this. No, but let's say they win. I don't see them being able to beat Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City again. Because Oklahoma City's defense, look what they did. They forced 22 turnovers, which gave them 32 points.

and they defended the three-point line and held them to 11 for 30. They're a better team, Mike. They are. Tony, also, it sounds like this would normally be a couple of weak injury at least. And T.J. McConnell, who's one hell of a backup, you put them out there at home. Can they get a game off of OKC at home with everybody? You mentioned Nimhart and Neesmith and all those guys pitching in, maybe. But if you're OKC, you smell the kill.

You do. This is what championship teams do. I agree. They take advantage of situations when they're healthy and ready to go. So that's kind of a bummer for me because I like watching Halliburton at his best. We couldn't see that. Let's move to Shohay, who we mentioned already, I did. Returning to the mound for the first time in nearly two years last night,

the Dodgers ace pitched one inning against the Padres, gave up one run on two hits. He reached 100 on the gun, Tony, for at least one pitch. I think it was one pitch. And at the plate, he went two for four with two runs batted in. 163. How would you grade on Tony's night? Can I give him more than an A-plus? Because if I could, I would do that. I understand he gave up two hits. One was a bloop and one run. He had not pitched in almost two years. I don't hold

it against him that, you know, that he was rusty, that he gave up a couple of hits. I mean, I just thought he's out there. As you said, he hit 100 at least once. The ball was moving around. I just felt that it was a great moment for him to get out in live competition like that, not throwing bullpen work. And then he had two hits and two RBI, and the Dodgers won the game. So I don't know how you could possibly give him less than an A. I mean, to me, Mike, and I've said this before, if he can recapture the pitching that he did when he was with the Angels,

the stuff before the surgery, he's going to be the greatest player in the hip, history of baseball because Mike, right now he leads the National League in home runs with 25. He leads the National League in OPS. He's second only in the majors to Aaron Judge. He's batting 300. You know, he'll be the unanimous MVP if he can pitch. Well, if we're grading on last night, I'm sorry, Professor Wilbon is a tougher grader than you. I'm not giving him an A because he's got so much room to grow.

He's got room to grow to B. O'Tani. And then when you mention what he will be, yeah, he may be that. before the end of the season. I hope he's not out there too soon pitching. I watched all the pitches live. And I didn't feel that way because you know what he's going to be. Tony, the effort is an A-plus

to even get out there and say, okay, it's time to do this. That professionalism, I give an A-plus, not the result. And I tell you what else, I was impressive to me. He didn't get out there against some C-plus squad. He got out there against the top of the

Padre's order with a and Machado, Tatease, actually, I think, led off. He was like, whoa, whoa, you're going to get out there against three dudes. These are the dudes you want to get out there with some guys you might have to see all summer long and in October. So that was exciting. I found that exciting that had me going from baseball to basketball last night. But the ball wasn't, we threw, he was wild a couple of times. He didn't have command.

He's not supposed to. He's not supposed to have command yet. He'll get there and then we can give an A. He had not thrown live to another team in 633 days. Right? And they beat a team they hate. So everything worked out very well. It seemed to me.

And fun to watch. So much joy when he's out there. So much joy on his face. Let's move to hockey. In tonight's game six in Florida between the Panthers and the Oilers. This is an elimination game for Edmonton, Wilbon. So the Cup is. in the building.

A year ago, the Oilers won game six to fourth, game seven. And Mike, you've been on Edmonton all year. Do you like them to do it again? I don't know what I like. Look, I said yesterday I've been confounded by the NBA finals. I'm twice as confused about the Stanley Cup final. I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, game three was so absurd.

Game four was so absurd. and then the recovery. If you think the Florida is going to be devastated, no, apparently nothing disheartens the Florida Panthers. And that's the ultimate sign of a champion. Nothing. Nothing flusters them. Nothing bothers them. They give up this game at home with three goals and they give it up in overtime.

And you think, oh, my God, most teams are going to a tailspin. The Panthers just go, when is the bus to the plane? That's all they, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. And I will say that maybe the loss of Zach Hyman has hurt the Edmonton Oilers more than we've all talked about. Maybe that has really diminished that team from the best of Edmonton, which we expected, I hope to see. I don't think home ice really means a lot. These are two veteran experienced teams.

They can win anywhere. Each team has one on the others, home ice. I would love to see Edmonton win to see a game seven because, Mike, I think that, I think game seven. in hockey are more magical than any other sport, because theoretically, at least you can play forever because there's no overtime rules as far as that goes. When I look at this series, I see that Edmonton has won twice, both times in overtime, both times with a Leon dry-sidal goal.

That's a pretty narrow needle to thread, if that's the way you're going to go about things. The other team has won once in overtime, but then won six to one and one five to two. So there's like there's more of the universe out there that they seem to be pursuing. You know, again, I'd love to see it. I don't know.

I'll tell you this, Mike. Edmonton has been terrible in the first period. In the series, they've been outscored 11 to 4 in the first period. They got to show up. They've got to clean that up. They've got to clean that up. Let's take a break coming up. Where does the Raphael Devers trade leave the Red Sox?

We're going to ask Buster only. We'll also ask what's going on with the suddenly struggling Yank. We haven't scored 20 innings. Back-to-back shutouts up. By the Yanks with that lineup. Are you confident in Skinner, in goal for Edmonton? No. Does that give you a good feeling?

No, I don't even know which one. Let's dig back into baseball with our great friend ESPN Sunday night baseball reporter and senior writer. Who plants potatoes, by the way. I know this. Mr. Buster-Ole. Let's start with this. This is big news. Rafael Devers has joined the Giants.

What does this mean for the Giants? And just as importantly, what does this mean for the Red Sox? Yeah, Tony, after the Giants made that trade the other day, I was in Bob Melvin's office, the Giants manager, and he said, this is a perfect addition for us, a left-handed power hitter for an organization that has really struggled to get position players to go there. Aaron Judge turned them down. Before that, and Carlos Stanton turned them down. Carlos Correa flunked his physical with the Giants. So they get Raphael Devers, who absolutely, increases the chances for them to make the playoffs to augment their offense. For the Red Sox, it's been absolutely fascinating to see the dichotomy between what's being said in the industry about this trade and what's being said by Red Sox fans. In the industry, you hear a lot of, man,

the Red Sox did really well. They got out from underneath a contract to $250 plus million for a guy who didn't want to be there. They get four players as well. Good trade for the Red Sox. And Red Sox fans, on the other hand, they hate this trade. which I think speaks so much to the mistrust of Red Sox leadership, Red Sox ownership by their fan base because the original sin. Mookiee Betts was traded away, Zander Bogartz wasn't retained, and now Raphael Devers, one of their stars out the door. Man. Well, this, of course, Buster, as you know, kicks off a pretty long vigil between now and the trade deadline of July 31. But tell us who else needs to, has to make a deal now to sort of keep pace or inch out front. So everybody in baseball, I think, is going to be watching the Arizona Diamondbacks as weak close to the trade deadline.

They have a really difficult decision. As we speak, according to Fangraphs, they got a 33% chance to make the playoffs. But recently, they suffered these devastating injuries, Corbyn Burns, Justin Martinez, two really important guys on their staff. Two years ago, they made the World Series after winning 84 games the regular season so they could push ahead. If they decide to become sellers, they will be the buffet table that all the other teams will circle around. Because they've got Josh Naler, and they've got A. Heuania Swares, who would be a great fit for the Yankees. Merrill Kelly, Zach Gallen, starting pitchers that maybe would interest the Cubs. The question is whether or not the Diamondbacks want to take advantage of that trade value or try to make the playoffs.

Let's go. Let's stay out west for a while. I like this. Shohei came back last night, of course. Sooner than I guess most of us thought or were led to believe at one time. Was this accelerated, Buster? And if so, why, why did the Dodgers do this? Or was this at Shoah's request? Yeah, Michael, no question about it. This was accelerated because of all the Dodger pitching injuries. Remember, because Shoah is designated as a two-way player, he doesn't count against the Dodgers. quota of 13 pitchers. So any innings they get out of him, whether it's one inning, two innings, the Dodgers absolutely will take it.

Incredibly, they lead the major leagues in bullpen innings, which speaks to how wrecked their pitching staff has been with injuries. Now, as he moves forward, I think he's going to get better and he'll gradually throw two innings, three innings, four innings. He was rusty in his first outing. Fastball velocity was up to 100 miles per hour. I think the big Otani pitching breakout won't happen until next year because he's serving as a full-time DH while he's doing this. I'm just going to interrupt and go off book a little bit. So you don't see him necessarily by, say, September or even in the playoffs being a starter who would take full starter innings. You don't see that, right?

I don't see him being a guy who's going to throw seventh, eighth inning and pitching every five days. As you know, when he was, with the Angels, he would pitch once every six days. And from here forward, it's going to be a slow ramp up in his innings, in his pitches. You know, Otani is the one who's dictating his schedule, by the way. He and his surgeon Neil Eletrosher in consultation. He tells the Dodgers what he can provide. He's been throwing these simulated games. And the Dodgers's feeling was, look, if you're going to throw one inning, we need it. Okay. I'll get you out of here on this. The Yankees have now lost four straight games, and incredibly, they have not scored a run in 20 innings. Gene Carlos Stanton made his season debut last night. Can the team expect him to be who he was?

I think he's going to go back to being a productive player. And you guys remember last postseason, he batted 333, seven homers in 14 games, so he clearly is someone who can do a lot of damage. I think the big question for the Yankees for manager Aaron Boone is, how does he work? Stanton in this mix of players that includes three former MVP, Stanton and Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt. Boone basically has six players competing for four spots for playing time, and apparently he's got buy-in from these guys to work this out. I know from talking with the Yankees people, they were excited that Stanton was coming back because at his best, he's someone who can do a lot of damage and protect Aaron Judge in the lineup.

Thank you, Buster. A pleasure to have you. Appreciate it, Buster. Thanks for hanging out with us. Thanks, guys. Let's take one last break, but still to come. Luis Giormey puts up defensive highlight after highlight. And the head-to-head sprint between Noah Lyles and Tyreek Hill, apparently he's run into a hurdle, Tom.

Don't want to hear this. I think I got the name wrong. It's Giorme. I said Giorme. Giorme. Happy time, people. Happy 32nd birthday. birthday, Nikita Kuthorov. Tampa Bay's premier right wing led the NHL in scoring this past season

with 121 points on 37 goals and 84 assists. Tell the truth, you thought Connor McDavid led the league in scoring. Everybody does. McDavid was sixth. Didn't see that coming, did you? Kuturoff has led the league and assists three different times, including this year's 84 and last year's 100. Kuturoff has been with Tampa Bay his entire career starting in 2013. He has two Stanley Cup rings with the lightning. 2019, Kucheroff had 41 goals and won the hard trophy as the league's MVP. Kuturoff's name doesn't ever have to come up in that awful discussion of, well, who's the best player not to win a championship in his sport? Oh, no, he's got that covered, not to mention individual hardware and maybe just the most, I don't know, unknown great player in North American sports. He's on that list.

Not so happy anniversary, Terry Francona, on this day 38 years ago. playing for the Reds. The team he manages now. Francona tried to score from second on a base hit. But he tripped when he was two-thirds down the baseline towards home. In a panic, Francona tried to crawl his way to home. He's tagged out by the Astros catcher. Francona's in his first year managing the Reds. Cincinnati sits in a tie with St. Louis for third in the NL Central, seven games behind the Cubs. The Reds are 37 and 35. There are seven and three in their last 10. They just have two out of three games from the Detroit Tigers who lead the AL Central. And Terry Francona is gold on this show.

Delta Detroit Tigers lead everybody. I think they do. It's hard for me. You and I love Francona, who's been a wonderful guest on this show. I get to see him around occasionally. Love Frankona. But they're in the division with the Cubs

and the chases on, the Reds, the cheese heads and the Cardinals. We're in battle. I can't love Frankona as much as I'd like to. Not this summer. Happy Trails to Abbey. hit for Tyler Soder Strong. In the fourth ending of last night's game,

the A's left fielder flared what looked to be a bloop single to left, but Astros' third baseman Luis Guillaume twisted and doled and somehow snagged the ball. Astros' pitcher Ryan Gusto said, quote, I was like, dude, thank you. That was sick. This followed Guillermo's too impressive

bare-handed scoop and throws from earlier in the game, both on dribbler's in his direction, but the best bare-handed play he's made in his career. probably came in 2017 when he was with the Mets and nonchalantly caught a flying bat by the handle. This guy would probably be great in so many sports. Just great hands? When you have hands like that,

there's probably almost anything you could master. Amazing. Yeah. Let's go to the big finish if we could. Let's do it. Arena Salvalenka said she wrote an apology to Cocoa Gough for her remarks after losing the French Open Final. Your thoughts on that?

Sabalink, a great player, but maybe this is the start of more professional behavior, because she behaves badly often. And maybe this will be the start of something where a behavior matches her talent and her performance level. Jay Monaghan will transition out of his role as PGA tour commissioner, and Brian Roelap will take over his CEO, your analysis. I'm surprised Monaghan made it this long with what's happened with Liv. The new guys from the NFL, they know how to make money. The charges will unveil new alternate uniforms in July. I can't believe you're okay with that. No, the baby blues are what I'm okay with.

It's the best uniform in sport. And if they somehow divert from that too much, I'm calling marketing people in for their playbooks. I am. They better be great. The Nats lost their ninth in a row last night. Come on, Tom. This one to the Rockies.

How'd that taste? Tasted bad. I was watching it. They're up four, three, and a ninth. Kyle Finnegan gives up two home runs. Two home runs in the ninth instead of a save. Come on, man. Last one.

Olympic gold medal sprinter, Noah Lyles, has canceled his race against Tyree killed with the personal reasons. You're disappointed, right? It's going to be a head-to-head 50-yard dash in Times Square. I wanted to see it. Come on. I'm yes. I'm disappointed.

We're out of time. We're trying to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser. I'm Mike Wilburne. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. You can get all the stuff. You know what you get it. Your sports center.

BTI.