Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Astros are in Danger & Dodgers End the Giants | 718

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

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Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. The Mess Out West continues. The Central Teams clinch, and it's a special day. Jolie Olive! Let's talk the... Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball presented to you by Seat Geek, presenting sponsor of Talking Baseball. And it's the last week to maybe go see your team play.

If you're me, Beebe, dear, Jolly, it's the last week. to see your team play until April of next year. But we could go to a spring training game. See Geek's got everything, and you could go see the other better teams play this year. 70,000 events every day. Me and Jolly are concert guys. Maybe we'll go to concerts instead.

We've got the hookup at Seatkeek. Download the app and use code talking. $20 off your first purchase. Click the link in the description. Download the app. Code Talk. fucking go see another team play baseball than teams in New York. BVD, Jack Oliver.

Some people know you as Jolly Olive on the interstate. How are you? I'm good. I'm glad you brought up Seek, actually. Used it to buy some tickets for this weekend, going to see Hosier. Wow. This Saturday at MSG. So looking forward to that, had a rainy weekend in,

but I watched a lot of ball, and I'm excited to talk about it. Hosier, huh? Take me to church shopping. It's not that raspy, man. I think I saw him at a small bowling alley in San Diego right when he was blowing up. That's his favorite spot. That's a weird Jake fact that I think is right, but could be awfully wrong. I'm going to be honest with the people.

I'm excited to talk ball with you, Jolly. Huge. Donne here in Trev's. You know the twins pitching this year. Sick, dude. No. They have a youth moving on. one's talking about. I think if we're being

honest, the past couple weeks of baseball get eaten up by football a little bit. Football kicks in a gear and the storylines have essentially stayed the same. The N.O. Wildcard the A.O. West.

We've seen some clinching, which leads to, you know, some fun party pictures. Clayton Kershaw standing by his locker room. Also being the man on Sunday night baseball last night. I flipped over. Did you? Red Zone to that Dodgers Giants game? It's a good game.

It kind of was a good game. So I'm excited because those storylines actually gave us something to chew on, Jal. So with that, like, how are you doing? How are you feeling? Where are you at with baseball? I'm not ready for it to end, which is weird because in the past, I'll watch my Mets fizzle out in August and then be, okay, next year's the year. but the ALS has just been so much fun.

The Orioles and Razor kind of still going at it for the crown over there. The N.O. Wildcard is an absolute mess. I don't even know how we're going to approach that because it's such a disaster. There's just a lot of good ball left to play. And, you know, as we progress towards Wild Card Weekend, which is fun for the most part for me last year, aside from, you know, we won't talk about it. The ear game?

Remember that? Didn't we say we weren't going to talk about it? I'm really excited to see how things shape up because there's a lot of ways the ball could still turn. Yeah, I mean, out west, like I won't fathom Houston not being in the playoffs until Houston is not being in the playoffs. And if Tampa does, I don't think Tampa's catching Baltimore,

but we're still going to get something juicy in this last week. It was looking like the Padres were going to provide it, but the Cubs might have stomped that out. Let's talk about all that and more. and just a couple jam updates. You mentioned this time last year, Jolly, and you mentioned the ear game. We're going to be live streaming.

Pretty much every night there's a playoff baseball game. Our Sam over here made a calendar. I said, I'm in. I saw my name on like 21 playoff stream. I actually counted. I think it's closer to 30. Okay. So, yeah, my October is dedicated baseball.

Come join us. Our live streams are a lot of fun. It's a nice little community. to come watch the games, the chats having fun. We're goof and we're gaffing. And seeing some historic playoff moments. We also have some big events coming up. We're doing a watch party and some live ref guests with Jolly Olive.

October 7th. That's at the Taylor in New York City. We're going to be selling some tickets to that. We're figuring out the time because we don't know the times of the games yet. So if you're in the city, October 7th, and then I think we're going to do another watch party live ref guests and floor ball viewing party October 19th,

Thursday, October 19th, at downtown social around 5 p.m. So we've got, it's the playoffs, people. That's what the past couple weeks haven't felt like I could tell the people that. Now I can't. A week from now, we're going to know the matchups. We're going to be doing the wild car matchups.

It's going to be, who do you got lined up? I know Snake's fans were half excited for a rain out because it lined up Galen and Kelly potentially better for a wild card series. So we're actually in that part of the season. Line up your rotation for some wild card games. Let's do...

I'll burn through the ale real quickly and some of these series don't have meat on the bone. But God, the left coast. It's going to be a late week. So what does Dalton open up our sheet with? Orioles Guardians. They split four, but actually the Orioles win the last two games, which is awfully important as they do try to fend off the raise.

They drop the first two to the guard dogs. Let's go. J-Ram, Ramon Luriano's there. You forget about that sometimes. But John, what do you means? He drops it on him, 7.1-1-Ernie's, and then Gibby with a seven-inning start, too. Orioles split four with the Guardians.

E, e, although they got Canoe in that game. That was kind of a fun watch. This is where I would have started. Rangers sweep the Seattle Mariners. Oh, no, Mariners. What is you doing, baby? Evan Carter, I am him. He hits the homer.

So does Seeger in that first game. Jordan Montgomery, start getting excited for his playoff start. Seven innings, up peas and then in that final game. Mariners, basically, cats against the wall. Let's do anything we can to win this game. Marcus Simeon leadoff homer, one of two on the day. Tavares, Seeger, Carter, Adelisse Garcia.

They all homered. Six homers in that game. Texas forever, my friend. The Rangers. Back in the mix on top of the West. Toronto Blue Jays, their games are still pretty important, huh? as they let them figure it out on the West. They take two out of three from the raise as they win the bread games.

Basset Glass now. God, those are two of my favorites to watch in that first game. Bassett outduels him, 6.2 tour and run. Welcome to the Vars show. He homers in that one. They can take any lefty juice they can. My guy Josh Lowe with the walk-off RBI single in that middle game. But, Vladie Jr., a game they needed.

them, two homers. They get a win on that final day. Two out of three from the Ray's big. Angels, twins, they take two out of three. They clinch the Central. They did it. I did it. I honestly, Trev's not here today. We're not doing this. Congrats. Royce Lewis is great. Is that what you want to hear? Um, Halos are sad. Royals Houston Astros, we could skip over this, right? Houston took care of their business. Astros! What is you doing, baby? Unreal. The Royals have bullied them.

The past two series, they swept them. The Royals, on a historically bad pace, swept the Houston Astros in games that matter. Go check out what Edward Olivares has been doing this month. Bobby Wood Jr., we've been telling you, Nelson Velasquez two homer game back to back with Salvi. Astros! Oh my.

Tigers and Oakland Athletics played and so did the White Sox and Red Sox. And that's what happened in the American League. I'm sorry, September 25th. You don't want to know. You don't want to know. Baltimore, 97 and 59. They're two and a half up on Tampa, which is actually three up. because they do have the tie breaker.

So Baltimore, keeping that distance, looking good as now, as of now, they play Washington this week. Toronto, 87 and 69, you don't need to hear about the Yankees and Red Sox anymore. Yeah. Twins win the Central, everyone else will be under 500. Sad. The Texas Rangers are two and a half games up on the Houston Astros. goodness and the Houston Astros are half game up on Seattle and in the wild card.

Toronto, they are up two games on Houston, who would be the last wild card game team as of today with that half game. And this week, Seattle and Houston are teeing it up in Seattle. Seattle has owned Houston this year. Texas has owned Seattle, and I believe Houston has owned Texas. I think that's the whole rigmar roll there. So Texas lived up to their billing. Let's see if Seattle can hold their serve against Houston

because if they do, boy, that last weekend could be tough for them. Stroes. Jolly, I'll let you empty the tank on Baltimore and Cleveland. Yeah, we can start there. No, no. I think we should start with the hottest team in baseball. the Kansas City Royals, Jake. They've won 10 of 11.

They have arguably the best starting pitcher in the American League. Cole Riggins, Nelson Velasquez. Did you just call Cole Riggins the best second pitcher in the end? I got it. Don't get me wrong. I love some Royals love. Vinnie Pasquantino has basically become a,

a cog in Johnboy Media this year. I mean, this, the 54, and 102 Royals, man. They ran into a buzzsaw. And they... If Houston did what they probably should and could do to the Kansas City Royals,

we'd be talking about a 40-ish wins royals team. Instead, I mean, they might have changed the American League postseason. I mean, the Royals directly saved the Mariners season here. Because if Houston even goes, what, four and three

in these seven games or six games that they had, so three and three, that changes to a three-game lead over the Mariners for the final spot. We'd be saying that Mariners have to sweep this week. Yes. There would be, there's no other discussion you have to go out there and win every single game. Now, it's kind of in the air. And I mean, you don't really want to ever bet against Houston because of recent history and all that.

But, I mean, at this point, it's going to come down to the final series. And the Mariners have a good track record at this point. And if you're the Astros, like, how are you feeling after letting basically the worst team in baseball, walk into your home park and beat you three times in a row. That also solidifies their first losing record at home since 2014, which is basically the last season that the Astros were a bad team. Right. So what's going on here?

Those were the stats that jumped out to me. Like for the Houston Astros to have a losing record at Minutemate Park, I don't get it. I don't know what happened there. Like I think, you know, even, oh, this guy always brings up to Yankees. I saw the Yankees were like half celebrating having a winning record at home because they've had a winning record at home since 93. So I think, you know, 27 years or something like that.

They're trying to keep that streak going. Yeah, go Yanks. Don't care. I can't believe this. I mean, what has happened to Houston at home this year? And what happened in this series? How can this? Is this pressure?

You used to feel unfair to have to face Houston at their place. I mean, that's what I was going to say. This is one of the teams that you. think of when you think of home field advantage, but their pitchers got battered around a little bit, Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez didn't really have good outings. And I mean, it's weird to think that with Houston going for six games on the road to close their season, first to Seattle, then to Arizona, so two playoff teams, that actually might be an advantage for them because they haven't been playing good ball in Houston. So, you know, we talked about before with teams being able to set up

rotations and looking towards that stuff, Houston's got to put their best foot forward right now to win as many games as they possibly can, because, you know, It's looking like, you know, 88 wins might not even be enough to get it done in a really competitive American League. It's going to be a late week, huh? Yeah. Tonight, Justin Verlander versus Luis Castillo, both teams with their seasons on the line. Christian Javier versus George Kirby. Shout out to my young kings.

Christian Javier was... No, no, no, no, no, no. That was a stray. Hey, here's what you need to know. the other two. Jolly, you and I have been actually in lockstep the past couple years. Corbyn Burns united us for our deep cut NLSI young pick. The Sandy train, which you drove the bus on last year. And Christian Javier on Wake and Jake, I did an episode of top pitchers under 25 and I was looking for one more. And I was like, you know what, Javier? He's figured it out. Houston, right?

Javier, it has not been his year, although I think his last start out was actually pretty solid. But George Kirby, a young pitcher under 25 and under as well, has been awesome this year. And then Framber and Bryce Miller, he's been figuring some things out again. I think he had a tough stretch there. I mean, this is playoff baseball, right? I mean, it has to be. I mean, you mentioned the starting pitchers before. Whenever you think of a good Houston team, you think it starts with the aces they have at the top.

We know the Verlander and the Granky and Garrett Cole at one point. When you look at the rotation this year, it's just, it's foreign completely. Javier, 4.64 ERA, Hunter Brown's above five. You know, they got a couple guys at 3.8s. That's just not the excellence you expect out of the Astros rotation. Whereas if you turn the page over to who they're going to be facing and the Mariners, that's been a huge piece of basically their entire lifeblood this season. You know, Castillo, Gilbert, and Kirby has been a formula of throughout the entire season.

And if you're looking at a wildcard series where if the Mariners get in, they face your Minnesota twins. that's going to be a really fun matchup because the twins have their own trio at the top. But yeah, this week definitely feels like playoff baseball. I think the MLB schedule makers were going off a little bit, you know, with their foresight here, putting all these teams against each other at the bitter end here. But this could decide it, man, this next series coming up at not called Safeco Field anymore. What is it called now?

Team Mobile Park. I hate that. Team Mobile Safeco Field. I think it's just Safeco. I don't even want to jump ahead. let's Seattle and Houston team up. Like I said, Seattle's been dominant against Houston,

and this is in Seattle. But both of these teams are back against the wall, because if this goes haywire one way or the other, you're giving the leg up. Like the Mariners fans don't listen to this. Even if they take care of Houston, they then have four with Texas again waiting for them. Texas has been their daddy this year.

old school Pedro style. Like, I guess you can't go there yet. Take care of Houston. Take at least two out of three. Houston is floundering. They've lost nine of 12. Yeah. And I guess if you're Seattle,

I'm always worried about the big brother effect in sports. If it's game one and your Don has a two homer game. Or it's a close game. And they, they bleed one late. If you're Seattle, the dark thoughts start creeping in because Houston's a half game up.

If they win tonight, that turns into one and a half. Then you need two games, you need to win two games to jump them with Texas waiting. So tonight is Seattle's biggest game of the season easily. And it's Luis Castillo versus Justin Verlo. Everyone needs to watch.

Yeah. Take a nap. I don't even know what the Monday night football games are today, because I'll be watching that game. And I mean, the ALS has been the most entertaining division this entire year. You know, I'm going to have to eat some crow on what I said about the Texas Rangers on baseball today last week. I picked them as my team that's going to get left out of the dance.

Now they're well into the dance looking like a top two seed. And it's just been such a whirlwind this entire year. But we got to talk a little bit about the Rangers too here without jumping too much ahead. Jordan Montgomery had a terrific weekend with his start. there, seven innings, no earn runs. He's been a stud for them. Evan Carter, I love that you gave him a little bit of love there. His on-based streak has been incredible.

I just love seeing teams call up their top prospect, and he instantly gets into the fold and makes a huge difference there. Texas, I'm going to be honest. I did not see it coming. I did not see this quick of a turnaround after what looked like, you know, a franchise that has, sorry to Texas fans, they've had a history of choking in all of their biggest seasons ever, where they've made the playoffs.

And it looked like it was a regular season edition. Now they turn it around their back in first place comfortably. Like it's not just like a half game at this point. It was a convincing sweep. There was a close one-run game in there. But Texas is looking really good, man. And now they're sizing themselves up to get a buy in the first round. If you told me that a week ago, I wouldn't have believed you.

Jordan Montgomery's last three starts, do or die, season on the line. 21 innings pitched a 0-4-3-E-R-E. He's giving up one earned run. Jordan Montgomery is a free agent this offseason. Jordan Montgomery is left-handed. Jordan Montgomery has some very good years of baseball under his belt. He's going to get a nice little payday coming up. He also has some postseason experience that, yeah, the Texas Rangers,

the argument against them is the argument for them. You like that word play, Jolly? The scariest thing in the world is their bottom. bullpen in the world. Yeah. On the planet. Yeah. But, and me and Beb's have been on this a little bit, we can spin that.

We can fix that. Relief pitching is the most volatile position. You have one or two people click back there, or if you have a starting pitcher, go to the pen and give you a little extra help there. We've seen it with the Nats. We've seen it with a lot of other teams. That that can change your whole formula. Because the second scariest thing on earth?

Death. Third? That Rangers lineup, dude. Like, we forget when they were ones across the board and everything. There was a time when Seeger was out. Seeger's churning. Now, Evan Carter, how's your nine hole? With this kid just being an absolute problem down there,

he's 21 years old. And, like, I've done this on a couple different episodes here, there, and everywhere. technically Zeke Duran on the bench right now. Robbie Grossman, Jankowski hit second for them for a little bit this year. Met. Love it. Met's legend.

The Texas Rangers are here. They have a two and a half game lead. They're at the Angels where handle your business there because don't make those Seattle games matter. I know you guys have done your job against them and you have no fear, but don't make those games matter for you. Because it is at Seattle, and I wouldn't, I just wouldn't want to deal with that. I just wouldn't want to deal with that. Jake.

Yes. Can I add some fuel to the fire real quick? Please. If you recall, last year, a team with a notoriously bad bullpen, four years, went to the World Series. It was the Philadelphia Phillies, who ranked as a bottom seven team in reliever ERA last year. And then all of a sudden, Sir Anthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, all these guys just turned into absolute studs. And the exact same thing can happen to the Texas Rangers who have all the talent in the world in that bullpen,

including a guy named Will Smith, who, if I remember correctly, went 10 shutout appearances for your 2021 Atlanta Braves and became the closer everyone needed. So I'm just saying, man, like, if that's your kryptonite right now, you're in a pretty good spot because that's one of the easier spots in your roster. to get right with a little bit of magic. The lineup, you don't want to be slumping this time of year, and they most certainly are not. So I'm very, very eager to see how things finish out in the AOL West. But yeah, man, it's looking like the Rangers are going to finish out on top, which is just not at all what I had,

and that's why baseball is a beautiful sport. Winners of five in a row after, God, they were the team we're talking about collapsing. What's dead may never die. Yeah, I think just highlighting more guys from that series Because that's where it should be And it's what matters in baseball right now. Corey Seeger, you know, you mentioned Texas wasn't killing it. He was in a two for 22, first pitch Homer in the first inning.

He goes off the rest of the series. Marcus Simeon, man. Bottle that up and sell it. I don't know. The guy plays awesome defense at second base. He's like, there's probably some arguments statistically that maybe he shouldn't be Texas's leadoff guy.

But he is. Yeah. But he is. Like it's kind of George Springer Astros effect. Like, no, dude, I'm... Excuse me. I'm the leadoff guy. And his...

Also, the stats are there as well. So that's just getting nerdy and analytical cool if you really want to change their lineup. Outside of Tasting Texas, who we're getting a Valdi built up. Jordan Montgomery is throwing the pill well. The lineup looks good. Former Yankees, you just named two of them.

Seattle, Jolly. We're at the All-Star break. We went out there. Beautiful Seattle. You and I had a nice lunch. We were the first two to arrive. Had a crab cake. It was excellent.

In the market. Who was that lunch? Was that a... Did we ever figure out who that was? I believe. Wasn't it a Mariners legend? Was it Mike Cameron? It was Mike Cameron.

We're looking at them. We're like, I think that's Mike Cameron, but I don't know if that's my camera. And then we got up and walked, and I was like, that's definitely Mike Cameron. We didn't say hi, though. Starstruck. And then we didn't say hi to Lou Panella at the airport.

I mean, it was just. I wasn't there for that. There's a lot going on. I wish I said hi to Lou. You were nearby. Hulu. Lou Pinella might have just cracked me. where are we at with Seattle?

Because, man, we're just hovering around 500. They soft sell. Yeah. Yes and no. I mean, Seawalled out, but I mean, they trade for Canzon, who's been playing for them as well. So it's not like it's some 18-year-old whose season is over at high A right now.

And then they went nuts, right? They get themselves in the mix. Mariners, Mariners, Mariners. They're going to win the West. It's fully clicking. It's happening. This team. As of today, they'd be on the outside looking in,

and they're facing the two other teams at home. Dude, this is... I'll be a little dramatic. Sure. This is huge for this city. This is huge for this franchise. This, again, was the franchise that had the longest playoff drought.

They'd knock that out. Okay. Now we need to take the next step. We're investing. We paid Julio. We paid Castillo. We paid Robbie Ray. Not a part of this.

But, and now here we are. With seven games at home. Like, not to be, I've never been good at being Joe Math guy, but essentially if they win four, they're in. I mean, five or more, they're guaranteed to be. Because these are the teams they're playing. Yes. Four, I think there's some math funny business that, okay, well, if they text, just handles the angels.

If it happened the wrong way. But you have a homestand to like reestablish your franchise. And if you don't, I don't know. You want to talk about tough off seasons? I mean, whatever team gets left out here has an extremely difficult offseason ahead of them where they got to answer questions about

are we good enough or not. But the crazy thing is, man, is that I look up and down the 22 roster that made it. And then I look at this year's team, and I think I like this year's team better, talent-wise. I really do. I mean, they're getting an all-time season from J.P. Crawford, which they absolutely needed when, you know, Colton Wong didn't work out. J.P. France took a step back. Eugeniosaurus took a step back. They needed that. Teoscar turned it around after there was rumors he wanted to go back to Toronto.

Now he's hitting an above league average rate. Mike Ford has a 121 OPS plus. Easy with that. Yankee. Easy with that. Sorry. the point is I would be shocked if this is the team that doesn't make it

just because everything feels like it's working out to plan especially on the pitching staff and as we like to say in the John Boy Media office it is right in front of them right now it really is seven games at home you talk about home field advantage before with Houston this is a team that really benefits from playing in front of their crowd faithful

and I always think about that Cal Rally Homer from last year that sent them there and the amazing Dave Sims call. It feels like another moment like that is brewing, but it's just a question of what team are they going to knock out? Is it Houston? I've been saying this for a little bit now, and it's not credit to myself.

And it's actually something I think you're going to touch upon in a couple minutes because I said, you know, for this episode, I want to do something a little different because there's not as much games to talk about. I want to hear the potential jowling. the olive videos that came from this regular season, because I'm sure we're going to get some postseason stuff. Oh, yeah.

Just looking at the radio season, I did rule out the Otani just saga because that's... Everyone's going to be everyone. That already is a story. If the Houston Astros were not named the Houston Astros and haven't been to the last six championship series, and we were looking at this AL-West situation situation, like it.

Neutrally. Without that in our heads. Seattle and Texas have better arguments than Houston. Absolutely. The problem is, I just seen Houston do this. I've seen Houston do this, whether it was the COVID year, and they were under 500, and they came in and they ran it. Like, every time that Houston is up against it, it happens,

and we're up against it. And think about that. I'm talking about, I believe in franchising and identities. I believed in the Steelers last night. to beat the Raiders just because it's like, well, one of these franchises run well, one of these franchises run pretty poorly, that it seems like one of them gets wins, one of them doesn't. I believe in that.

And if you believe in that, I don't know. I don't know. It seems like it's not going to bode well for the Mariners or the Rangers, but the Rangers just put them in a position where it seems like it shouldn't bode poorly. I'm scared, Jolly. The ALS has this in a tailspin. there's one team we haven't talked about yet that also could figure into this discussion

and that's the Toronto Blue Jays who just took two out of three from the race. Or you know I'm from Toronto. Bobby Brown with it. They did take two out of three. They won the bread games. And they were in that middle game too. They get walked off Yandi casual four-hit day.

Common Yandi Dias success. Josh Lowe with the RBI single. I was proud of the Blue Jays for this result. Yeah. Rays, these games matter to the raise. They are chasing the Orioles. That's the difference between playing three wild card games or hosting the buy.

The games I do think meant slightly more to the Blue Jays because we're fighting, talking about everything I just said about Seattle. Yes. Transverse over. Put that on them. And I was glad to see Varshot had a couple big games. The offense hasn't really been there this year, but the defense has been,

that he's still been valuable to them. George Springer's name is starting to show up in a lot more box scores. That makes sense to me. And hey, if we're being really honest, is the Blue Js season going to come down to Varsho and Davis Schneider? Or will it matter if Bichette and Guerrero,

who both have two hits and combined for three homers in that final game matter, is probably that? And Jake, you take a look at those standings. Four and five playing the wild card round. That would be the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay race, which is what just happened. And I think the bear is mentioning because race fans and the race team are a little bit up against it right now.

We have a really talented, complete roster that's missing five very important guys. All these guys in the last 12 days have gotten injured. Jose Siri, fractured right hand. Luke Rayleigh, a strain. Jason Adam, Brandon Lau, Yandi Diaz, left the last game with a hamstring tightness. So, I mean, that matters, man. In a three-game set, you need every weapon you can possibly have, and you just had a little bit of a tester, and you lost.

So, I mean, race fans have to be thinking about that. I know the games aren't as important to them because their spot is pretty much solidified. They'll be playing at the trap. They have all those advantages, but Toronto's riding a hot hand right now. You know, their guys are starting to come up. Vladdy is starting to come back to life a little. little bit, you know, Davis Schneider, that weird over-30 stretch where I still feel like he was hitting the ball kind of well, which is strange. It's going to be really interesting, man.

The AL Wild Card feels so much more firm and competitive and more of a gauntlet right now, whereas the NL Wild Card, you know, we'll get to that in a little bit. That's just survival. Messy. That's just messy. Waiting for the Coast Guard to grab your body. Something to watch for in the coming weeks. You mentioned, Tampa's banged up. They're off day. Boston for two. Okay.

Off day. At Toronto for three. So if the standings hold... Oh, my God. And they play another three versus... Let's say they do. They get matched up with Toronto. Go back to Tampa.

It would be... Okay, math guys. Nine games of 11? Nine of their last 11. All against... Each other. against the Blue Jays, and that would end up in Tampa with both their team season on the line. Pretty crazy.

Six sport. It is a six sport. Man, I know Junior Caminero might hear more about him later gets called up. But, yeah, I know Ray's going to raise, and sometimes that ends up being a lazy statement. Right now, second half of their lineup, Aranda, Caminero, Walls, and Pinto on a given name. Household names. God, they are. Know who snuck on their roster?

A jolly special. Ramel Tapia. Rymel, my man. He always finds a way. He is inevitable. How does he always find a way? That's when I knew I loved my job, that a video about Rymel Tapia

could get 200,000 views. It's a beautiful sport. It's a beautiful sport. It's a beautiful sport. I don't know. Anything else you want to close up in the American League. Congrats to the Twins.

I do believe in your guys pitching. Win a playoff game. But, and we've been dancing around this, Jolly. You mentioned those potential playoff matchups. If you currently have the sixth seed being Houston or Seattle, they're playing the Twins. I wasn't going to say it because it felt mean. And this is a really good Twins team.

If Houston heads back to Minnesota. It's over. Count me out. I would bet the house. Count me out. I would bet the house. But I like the Twins roster a lot and their rotation. Know what I bet on?

Tell me. Tommy John. Where are you? You're wearing them right now? I'm wearing them right now. Of course. I've made them my go-to. I made an adult decision.

I said, I'm a Tommy John man now. So I loaded up. I made two separate orders. Because I did a sampler pack. I was like, you know, I had the one pair I liked. They were my go-to pair, but I was like, what else does Tommy John have? There's a few different models out there. So I got the different models, tested them out, and then I punched it.

I like the Sport 360. Ooh. Yeah, sporty guy. Fall means leave should be dropping, not that tired waistband on your old underwear. Protect your tree trunk with underwear so amazingly comfy. It becomes a tourist attraction. That's Tommy John. And right now, get tour.

20% off your first order at Tommyjohn.com slash talking. Save 20% Tommyjohn.com slash talking. See the site for details. Click the link. You're going to be happy you did. It's an adult move. It's an adult move. Get the holes out of there.

God. God. I've seen some bad underwear in my day. I mean, it's got to be yours, right? It's not somebody else's underwear. Let's do the National League. And in the National League, the Dodgers, I think they took a little pleasure

in probably ending the San Francisco Giants season. They take three out of four from the Giants. It all ends on Sunday night baseball in the 10th inning. Oh, Giants, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It was a fun run this year. but you ran into the bad men and J.D. Martinez, where's his slugging at? Hi, hi, I thought he was done.

Jady Martinez again, Mookie and Freddie, you know, Clayton Kershaw with a boring five-inning, zero earned runs. Whoops, throwing mostly slider, sure. Working on a split change. Why not? Why not mess around at the end of a Hall of Fame career? Or is it the end? Question mark? Game the Giants won. Sean Mania dropped it on the table. Happy for him. Uh, and you know my guy, Tyro Homer.

Giants, it's been a bit of a death march. I'm sorry it had to end like that. Braves take three out of four from the Nationals in games that do not matter. Uh, although Charlie Morton banged up. You think that matters. Max Friede banged up. I think that matters. I think that matters. So that's kind of a, those could be a couple things we circle. in a few weeks. Braves National Series. What happened? Any nationals I can highlight.

Jackson Rutledge, five innings, one earned. Young Jacob Young, two for two. Jake Alu. Okay. Now we're just making names up. I'm kidding, Jake Alu. You know I stand you. That came off weird.

Jolly, Philly swept the Mets. You got to see one of these games. I did. Live in the Ilydelf. Ten innings. What a game. Philly sweep. They are in the dance.

They are going to be your best NL wildcard team, and they are kind of positioned to do what they want to do when they want to do it. God, Nick Casayanos, how about a bounce-back year from him? Real Mudo, getting hot before the playoffs. We like that. This team's ready for the playoffs. Maybe. Brewers, they face the Marlins.

Brewers blow them out 16 to 1. They clinch going to the playoffs. And then they lose the next two something about part in Miami Trevor ploof has been on that They win that second game five to four Jake how's your burger And then they win the last game games that mean a lot to the Marlins John Bertie two homer game what? What? Xavier Edwards is up getting hits okay

I see you Marlins They're a game out of the dance right now Pirates take two out of three from the Reds, Reds. Don't give up on me, Cincinnati. It's not Bengals season yet. It's Red season. And that comeback in the second game, 9-0, they lose 13 to 12. That kind of felt like a season under.

But in this N.O. Wild card, it's never over as they showed some fortitude to win that last game, 4 to 2. T.J. Friedel. What a year. Rockies, Cubs, Cubs sweep the Rockies. Thank God for Cubbies fans. They were starting to get a little panicked with the Padres are closer in the mirror than you think.

They sweep them. Jamison Tyone. Six-innings shutpiece. Say a Suzuki. Foolish and Jolly's guy, probably. They think similarly. Wisdom, Jan Goams. Cubs, they sweep the Rockies.

Rockies do their tradition of making the rookies. go get coffee. That was nice. Nolan Jones is like, I've got a strong arm. Don't make me do that. And the Cardinals and the Padres. Padres, they take two out of three. They lose their winning streak in that middle game. Why?

Because they don't win in extra innings. O for 12 in extra innings this year in a season that goes down in infamy, I guess. Mani Machado with a four-hit two-homer day. Matt Waldron gave them an effort. Watch that ball dance. Juan Soto's been going absolutely nut job. That's what happened in the National League.

Nice burn. Oh, Padres, what could have been? But it won't. In the National League, the Braves have won. The East, they have 100 wins and 56 losses. Phillies, 87 and 69. Nice. Plus 80 run differential.

Okay. I made a year out of it. Fish will get to you in a second. Mets are 70. We don't need to talk about it. Brewers, 88 and 68. They have won the Central. The Chicago Cubs are 82 and 74.

Reds, 80 and 77. Pirates cards. Dodgers, 96 and 59. Snakes 82 and 73. Which brings us to that vaunted National League wild card. Philly. five games up.

They will be your number one wild card team. The Arizona Diamondbacks, you haven't heard about them yet? They're playing my yanks. They finish the series today. 82 and 73, a half game up on the Cubs. Cubs, big old sweep. They are your last wild card as of today. A game up on Miami Marlins,

who they remain in the mix. Cincinnati, two and a half out. Scary times. San Diego and the Giants are five games back. Might be night night for them. Jolly, as we've danced around and has been the story, the National League wild card is what matters here. So what matters to you?

Great question. First off, O and 12 and extra inning games is crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy to do that, to not even get one of them. And they even got the scoreless inning And the Padres still lost that game to the Cardinals. So I'm not a numbers guy.

Kind of seems like you are. If they were six and six in extra inning games, they would be the last wildcard team? That is correct. I mean, we can play that game all day with one-run games and all that. But yeah, man, just an upside-down statistical season for the San Diego Padres. We won't spend too much time on them because it is looking at little curtains.

Same for the Giants who kind of liked as a sleeper going into this season, but they fell apart towards the end. Well, and they had the sauce for a little bit. Like it felt like it was clicking and they were in good standings and they were calling up some like big time prospects. Kyle Harrison. Matos, Harrison, Luciano's now playing for him. And now that's more looking like 2024 optimism.

Yeah. But man, the wheels have fallen off in a big way. There's some giants number six of seven on their road trip, and that was the first game of this series that, yeah, in a time when they needed to turn it on to stay a part of the wild card, it's turned off, and they also run into the Dodgers who are just different. One of these two teams is going to welcome Shohei Otani to the clubhouse next year, so that's cool.

so they have that to look forward to. Dodgers, first of all, claps for them for turning in another amazing season. How about this? You talk about how important starting pitching is to just building a winning team in general. That's basically how the Blue Jays pieced together this season. Four guys thrown 150 innings.

Clayton Kershaw leads to the Dodgers with 126 innings. They are not going to have a pitcher go above 140 this year. And if you told me that about any team, I would almost guarantee that they have a lose. record because it's just so important to aid your bullpen and get six innings day in and day out consistently at the very least. But it's Clayton and the kids again, man. I mean, we saw this in the past where it was, you know, Dustin May, Urias, and then Kershaw kind of leading the staff.

Now Kershaw is the only one that held over. Now you see guys like Bobby Miller and Michael Grove and all these new names and he's been the one constant there. And I thought it was fitting that, you know, he got a pretty important one there in the Giant Series five shutout innings. I don't know if it's the last go-round for him. You know, you hinted at that during your burn, but if it is, man, that's a pretty damn good season to go out on 23 starts at 2.4, 126 innings to lead your club.

I mean, their postseason success is going to live and die with what he's able to do in October. But the fact that they were able to piece together just a good season with, you know, nothing going to plan with their rotation is wildly impressive to me. Yes. That's my add to that.

If you look at their aisle right now, Bueller-Gonsolin-May, that's without counting Ureus, without counting Bauer, that's for another time. Their bullpen IL, like, I could rearrange this to make you think this was their current bullpen.

Trinen, Daniel Hudson, huge, Fire Eisen, Reyes, I mean, we start getting into some more cuts, Jimmy Nelson, Yensiel, He was good last year.

He was great. Gus Varland hive. We can't tell him on a big hive kick. I think it's hilarious. That, yeah, man, that starting pitching stat is crazy. And it's going to, it feels like this is, and this is going to sound so dumb at first, and I'm sorry. But it feels like, hmm, it's either going to be, unfortunately Dodgers fans have kind of put themselves in this almost don't believe in. the Dodgers until they're like in a clinching world series game.

Kind of, yeah, kind of. Like they do that. I think Dodger fans agree. Which is fair. Kind of. Kind of. Kind of. Which is crazy for a franchise that's been so dominant.

Yeah. That it feels like this is going to be the Dodgers team that epitomizes all of it. Like we're going to be talking about a Dodgers World Series champions with Kershaw, Lanslund, and Bobby Miller. That's your one, two, three. Or. Dodger fans are going to be saying we knew that this team never had it. This team, come on.

I've seen better Dodger teams. They don't win. And this team kind of feels like the definition of it. I mean, their rotation, we talk about Dodgers being a top two team in the National League. I still feel like they're giving me the Orioles vibe a little bit, at least with the rotation, because whenever you talk about what chance did the Orioles have in the playoffs,

I feel like the go-to answer for a lot of baseball fans as well, you know, it starts and ends with their starting pitching and I just don't believe in it. And right now, even though they've done it all year with the spare parts and the rookies and all that, I'm having trouble believing in it. Because how can you topple the Atlanta Braves and even the Philadelphia Phillies, too, with that as your one, two, three. It's anything can happen in any given set. We all know that. But it's, it just, it still feels like I can't pick them as a favorite. even in, you know, an NLCS, NLDS, whatever. Well, it would be interesting if they were in the American League.

Yeah. Because I think if we were doing Dodgers Orioles heads up, I think the Dodgers have, I mean, I love the Orioles, but you can go through the Dodgers and you see bets, and you see Freddie, and you see Clayton. That even, you know, what the Orioles are missing is even kind of the, like a Lance Lentz. effect.

Like if you're a baseball fan, you know Lance Lynn. And if you see him going into the sixth inning, giving up one earn run in a playoff game, you'd be like, well, yeah, that's Lance Lynn, man. He's got Moxie. He's been there. He's had huge season. He's had great career.

Yeah. By the way, Shelby Miller in the bullpen got two wins in the series. Love it. Shelby Miller and Lance Lynn reunion? Are enough people talking about this? That's why we're here. This Dodgers team is so Dodgers. It's just beautiful.

The second half of their lineup can be platooned if they want to. It's a beautiful, disgusting thing. And, yeah, Giants, I think it's a... This season is almost a win for the program. Like, again, when you look at this team on paper, if this franchise was named... I'm not going to say the Mets. If this franchise was named the Pirates, you'd be like,

oh, like, I don't know. This team's not. not that. The Giants have shown whatever they're doing there. They can make it work with talent. They've got a new young wave coming. They still want to make that big free agent splash that like, I don't know.

This Giants year, it's not going to be what they wanted, but you can believe in the Giants as an organization. Yeah, I mean, they have the thing you were talking about. They have the reputation and the history of there. Even though it's a lot of different guys now, really the only constant is Brandon Crawford, who might even be on his way.

out after this year. But yeah, they have a tough offseason, man, because it looks like Conforto might opt out. I mean, Mitch Hanager's contract doesn't look in great so far. And the starting pitching outside of Logan Webb was a little bit of a disaster this season. That's something that they spent a lot of money on and guys like Stripling and Mania and Desclafani. So they have a lot of tough questions to answer in an NLS that is looking like it's getting more competitive with the Diamondbacks, you know, rising up and looking like they're

going to make the playoffs. and Padres are weird. They'll probably be good next season if I had to bet. That, yeah, man, they have a lot of roster decisions and coaching decisions that they're probably going to have to make tough calls on. But can't feel too bad about it. Yeah. They're in the dance for a lot of this season.

I guess one of our signature phrases, Giants fans let us know because that part you mentioned is important. Like the baby snakes look like they have a presence here. The Padres. Well, that's a whole other time. Padres might finish with a better record than the Giants. Exactly. The fourth place Giants could feel a little different that I don't know. I guess Giants fans, you let me know where you're standing.

Jolly, in the NL, straight up storylines, there's not a ton else to be discussed. Yeah, I mean, the Brewers trounce the Marlins and they party a little bit. People got mad at me and Trev when we'd said that about the Braves getting swept, that they were partying, so are bad. Good on the Marlins to clean up the series win. needed those ones for sure. Marlins home field advantage. But now they go away and play the Mets and Pirates, so keep your out for that because the Pirates might have just ended the Red season with what was it, a nine run comeback? Yeah, I think it was nine nothing.

Game finishes 13 to 12. And yeah, I mean, if that game flips, they'd be one and a half back. I mean, you can't rule anything out, unfortunately, because Cincinnati's going to play Cleveland, although Cleveland's been getting their spoiler on a little bit and then they're at Detroit or excuse me, Cleveland's at Detroit so don't watch that series. Cincinnati is at Cleveland and then at St. Louis. So like the N.O. Wild Card will come down to Sunday.

It will. The N.O. Wild Card will come down to Sunday. And I guess, Jolly, right now it's Philadelphia, Arizona, and Chicago. Do you think those are the right teams? You know, heavy question. It's never nice to be a hater. Let that be a life lesson to you all.

The Reds, to me, looked like they were a little bit ahead of their time. I feel like 2024 is going to be a big year for them. But, you know, when you have a roster full of rookies, it's tough to guide them through 162 in a playoff berth. And the three teams that are in the spots right now feel like the right teams. I'm still a little surprised by the Cubs season, but they take advantage of kind of that vacant spot left by, you know, my Mets and the Padres not fulfilling the bill.

The Marlins still really interest me, though. I mean, they're doing it without Sandy now, which is scary. And that lineup is always brought into question. They've lost some big games and won some big games. I'm really interested to see them come down to City Field for this next series because I tweeted this last week, but, you know, 15 years ago, they spoiled my Mets at the end. And now there's a chance to reverse the fate.

But we'll see if the Marlins, you know, fall victim to that. I still feel like they have the juice to jump the Cubs, but I really wish any of these teams were playing each other. It would make this a lot more interesting. But there's so many tiebreakers and hypotheticals and all these random teams that aren't in it anymore playing them. It's a mess. It's a sloppy mess.

I'm interested to see. well A, obviously how it sorts out, but Milwaukee and Philly. They're going to be hosting in these wild cards. Both feel like brutal places to walk into for different reasons. To have to go up against the Brewers pitching for a three-game set feels nightmarish. To have to walk into Philadelphia after what they did last year with their lineup feels nightmarish. That, yeah, it becomes a fun.

exercise of like, okay, do you want to see strength versus strength? Like Miami versus Philly this year, I think Miami's done decent against Philly this year. I'd have to double check. Better than recent years for sure. But, you know, that turns, it essentially turns into what we love. Like, okay, pitching versus hitting. I can, I understand this. You know, Arizona versus Milwaukee turns into a little bit of like high end talent versus depth a little bit. Like if it's Gallen and Kelly and Carol, Ketal Marta, like, I don't know. I don't know. I'm interested to see where those matchups line up.

Who's better, Philly or Milwaukee? Weren't you just, what were you saying about that? Well, I wanted to touch on Milwaukee for just a second. Because you know how we talked about Toronto and Tampa Bay playing a bunch of times and could be playing in the playoffs as well? Milwaukee closes the season hosting the Cubs at Miller Park. I'm not going to call it whatever it's called now. It's Miller Park.

Right after that, as it's staying. fans, they would play the Cubs in three games at Miller Park. So you're looking at like a six game set in a row for the Cubs on the road in Milwaukee, a park that they have historically beaten the Brewers at a lot, which is kind of a vaunting matchup for them. So I'm really curious to see how that kicks out. But if you're asking me right now what team I would take, I still, I think I like the Brewers over the Phillies.

And I know that's, that's bias, whatever. You can label it as that. But if you haven't recently, go look. at the Brewers rotation right now because it's not an outlandish statement to say that Corbyn Burns is like their third best pitcher and he's having a really good year. They're that deep in the rotation and they've

gotten a little bit of offensive firepower. It's still the kind of Brewer's formula where if they scratch out five runs then they're guaranteed a win but how are you going to get there. But now you have William Contreras in the fold. Christian Yelich looks like he's back after slumping a little bit through August. If they can get a couple guy's hot, rowdy, willy. A lot of things can happen. Didn't hear you shout out Josh Donaldson. He's been good. He's been pretty good. I like that pickup. It's not bad. I would have to double

check Brewers teams of yesteryear. I think this is my favorite Brewers team going into a playoffs. It's pretty good. I think the lineup is deeper than normal Brewers years. I think they do the other Brewer stuff you like. They pitch, they play defense. Where Peralta's at right now is Sicko mode. Yeah. And... Woody, having a great September. Abner Uribe is a guy that reeks of playoff stardom. Oh, my God. Go, me and Foolish

Bailey just did a breakout playoff stars. Wake and Jake episode, go check that out. I mean, Abner Uribe, okay? I mean, just in general, is this the best bullpen in the national league because it kind of looks like it is. I'd have to go through it a little more. Devin Williams on the back end, he can obviously dance with anyone. What Paiamps has been this year is crazy.

Yeah, I guess for me, I just don't know, like someone like Andrew Chafin, who I don't think with the Brewers he's been as good as they've wanted. Like, I don't know where Brewers fans are currently at with him. Like, is Andrew Chaffin going to get? a lefty in the fifth inning? And what does that look like? Like, I don't know that part right now. So I think there would be an argument.

Adrian Houser probably kicks to the bullpen in a wild card set. Yeah, probably. So I don't know. I don't know. There's a lot to like, though. Like, Obie Milner below two. Joel Pye-Amp, sneaky in the William Contreras trade. Abner Uribe, I like that he's getting loved.

It's just they have a formula, but they got to find a way to score runs, which has kind of always been. story with them. That's always the deal, and I've got something on that in a minute. Jolly, I wanted to do, because again, different time of year, I wanted to do a, what are the three Jolly Olive videos, if you have no idea. If you're not in our world at all, you just, maybe it's just a BPD fan checking in what he's doing today.

Jack Oliver. There's dozens of us. Jolly Olive. You have your own YouTube channel where you do some baseball artwork. What should I call it? Video essays. That's nice.

About a lot of topics. What are some of our recent ones here? We've got. We just did, actually. The reason I've been loving the Brewers. The trait history of the Brewers since Stearns took over. People really like those videos.

Tim Linzicum over a millie. Whoops. Moneyball, Sanga video. Is that Brandon Webb? So a game we like playing, and it's almost, it's one of those things where you tell a stand-up comedian or you tell like the writers of the office,

like, hey, this could be an episode. You know, for me, it's one of my games I like to play with Jolly. You know, what's next? And so if we were looking back at the 2023 season, a year or two removed. And you were like, all right, I'm going to make a 20-23 video. I wanted to get what three regular season topics jumped out for you. And I did want to rule out Shohei, because that's just a technical file.

I want to kick it off by saying one of my favorite texts I get from Jake is when it's no words and it's just a link to somebody's baseball reference page. And there's no context because I think that's great. Don't need it. I got to kick it out. I mean, we already talked about it for a half hour. But I think I'm going to cheat a little bit. Sure.

The show hey answer is included in this, but the entire American League West from this year, I was talking to Bebs before the show. It kind of feels like every month a different team has been the story of that division. You know, it starts with the A's disaster in April and then that six-game win streak and the sold, you know, the crowd coming in for the cell, the team chant that was so coordinated and so all-inspiring. Seems like we're a couple weeks away from the Vegas announcement. So kind of poetic at this point. Then Texas is running the table in April and May. They look like the American League favorite. The Angels, they catch fire in June,

and then they go for it at the deadline, and it implodes in their face, which is difficult. Seattle catches fire in August. It looks like they're going to run away with it. Now Texas is back in the fold, and the biggest thing of all is that it's never really felt like Houston's division, which is always the case in the American League West, at least for the past six or seven years,

that I feel like this is the, the most compelling that this division has been in like a decade's time. Easily the best storylines of baseball this year, in my opinion. So I think that whole division could easily be its own 20, 30 minute video just dissecting each part, each leg of 2023. Well, and that was the, we had the stat come out last week that it was with all teams separated by half a game that it, since 1969, though, wild card error or whatever it is, this is the closest three teams have ever been in a division at this late in the season.

So that aspect of it alone, but you're right. I mean, you dive in the Angel storyline is obviously something. The athletic storyline is obviously very different things off the radar there. And also with, I mean, AL history on the line here with, you know, the Houston Astros, as long as they are in the American League playoffs, there's an argument they're the favorite. I mean, if they're the last wildcard team and they limp in just by default, there's still an argument, I love the Orioles.

They haven't been here. And if you believe in sports, you believe in the value of that somewhat. The twins haven't won a playoff game since. 05. 04, I want to say. 4 sounds right. Jeez. So then whatever other West team is in,

whether that's Texas, who this team is yet to be there and is horrifying in some ways and exciting in others. Seattle, a Houston team that's been the big brother in that division the whole time to both of those teams. And then, okay, so if the other team's Toronto, we haven't seen them have a true form of playoff success, that you can make the Houston argument really easy, and it has just been wild out there.

sell the team night. I mean, that part of the episode, in 30 years, people will be like, what? That happens? Is that sanctioned? What is this? So, yeah, a little on the nose, but a little, there's a reason why, John. What else you got up your sleeve? I got a player-specific one that you're going to enjoy, obviously.

Okay. Because in my opinion. Aaron Judge. Close. There are three pitchers in baseball history. That, in my opinion, are the three best to never claim the Siong Award. We all know somehow Nolan Ryan never got one. Kurt Schilling, controversial figure.

He was a great pitcher. He finished second three times. He never got one. Do you think constantly fighting with the media that votes on that award? Could be a factor. I don't see that. One of them is leaving the club this year, I think, definitively. And it's Garrett Cole.

Garrett Cole, I think, is finally going to win his first Cy Young. If you ask a casual baseball fan who knows of Garrett Cole, they probably would have said that he would have won one by now. I think it's a little bit shocking that he hasn't, especially that 2019 year where it probably should have been his leaden strikeouts, led in ERA. I digress. The whole odyssey of his career of coming up just a little bit short,

you know, in the Cy Young races, in the playoffs, all that jazz. I think that makes for a pretty compelling story. And it's weird and also kind of fitting that. It happens in a little bit of a lost season where he kind of rises to the occasion and, you know, becomes the silver lining of what's been a really disappointing year for the Yankees. He has fit the billing, man. I mean, a lot of people scoffed at that contract, that amount of money, signing him that early,

right when the season ended. He's lived up to it, man. He's gone through the sticky stuff scandal, all the things surrounding that, a couple bad playoff starts. And he finally gets his Salyong at age 32. There could be more on the way. Who knows? But that I think would be a pretty interesting topic too. Yes.

There's obviously some fun to be had in there, but one of the Yankees were seasons in 30 years or so. Cole's been awesome. I thought there was, this is very extreme. So I'm hesitant to even say the words, but I thought there was going to be a slight, a rod effect of just not being able to like fully love him, right? Like he was a part of Houston.

Of course, yeah. His personality is, is pretty unique. Or at least it was. And remember, like, after the World Series, he was, he wasn't in the Astros hat. He was in the agent hat. And then. That's very villain. Everyone was like, what the hell is this?

I was like, change hats so quick. That, yeah, I just thought I'd never be able to fully open my heart to Garicol. He's become a team leader. He's very funny, trying to be and not trying to be. He's intense. He loves baseball. And, yeah, we've seen a maturation process, which makes sense. Like, he's 33 now.

So, you know, I think everyone, when you go from, like, 29 to 33, there's another step there. And for him to not have a Cy Young, he is a person, he, like, actually appreciates baseball history and stuff that if he, if he, he's, you know. went out without one, it would have, like, eaten him alive. So I'm happy for him. You should be, too. I know you from the outside, I've given this speech, you see Yankee Garrett Cole, you see Houston Astro Garrett Cole, and you're probably not in love with that guy.

You kind of should be. He's an electric dude. Well put. Your final video. Yeah, I got one more here. I bounced around a couple different topics. I think if you're a baseball fan and you enjoy baseball content on YouTube,

you're going to find a 2023 Mets video, you're going to find a Padre's video, a Cardinals video, all that jazz. I think we were in line to get a Rangers video as well, whatever collapse is happening there. It's not anymore. And I think a really compelling topic is how Chris Young, their GM,

won that 2021 offseason where he went fully in half a bit of, billion dollars bring me Corey Seeker and Marcus Simeon listen if you look at Corey Seeger's baseball reference there's a lot of great numbers there's also not a lot of high game totals especially in some of those later Dodger years if you go to Marcus Simeon's baseball reference page a lot of those early years where he's figuring out things in Oakland where he had the time to work on himself those numbers really don't jump off the page so when you look at those two contracts you probably think oh these guys both cashed in on contract years this might not age that well

And so far, these dudes have been on the field, apart from a brief Corey Seeger IL stand this year, and they've been producing. And they've been the lifeblood of this team's offense and the leaders that this team very clearly needed when they spent five, six years, kind of in the cellar, just in ambiguous territory in the AEL West. It was exactly what this team needed. They've infused the young talent around them, and they've produced a winning product. You know, obviously the rotation is a whole other side to the story. But for me, it really begins and ends with having that dynamic strong. middle infield duo that can really guide that potent lineup. And it's paying dividends for them so far.

Who knows how it ages in five or so years. But when you talk about the most expensive contracts in baseball, a lot of them look like the Anthony Rendon contract or the Max Scherzer contract, which haven't really aged that well. So far, the high AAV long-term deals for both Semyon and Seeger have aged beautifully and I've gotten the Rangers to the place where they need to be leading the American League West. the Texas side of this

It's torture Trevor all year Because he's like wait Like I like all these guys on Texas Why didn't I like this team more And crazy to think Scher might be out for the playoffs Although Knowing Max I think we're going to hear his name again I don't know what that means

But if they get far enough Jacob de Grom It's a part of this roster I always laugh when also their aisle pops up Oda Rizzi's on there And it's like oh he's a It's had a really nice major league. Yeah.

The Simeon Seeger part of that is so true. Marcus Simeon after 2021. So that's White Sox, people forget. Wow. Get your grid on. Oakland. And then he has that massive year with Toronto. Massive.

Third in the MVP. It's his one-year test or deal. He bets on himself. We love that, right? That's what it's all about. His career up into that point, if you wanted to look at it that way, 256, 324, a 768 OPS.

And this is through age 30. And also, the one standout year before 2021 is 2019, which is the juiced ball year. So you have to factor that in. So with all of that, and father time is undefeated, that Simeon contract was going to be, there was risk there. Yes.

But it's the opposite risk of Seeger. Marcus Simeon plays every game. In the past five years, this is going to be four of five. The outlier is 2020, where they played 53 of 60 games, that he is going to lead the league in games played. Crazy. Marcus Simeon's going to be out there. And everything I've heard about him as a person,

he's the guy you want out there, and he's a leader, and he puts in the work, and he's accountable. And so almost a chunk of that contract was to that part of Marcus Simeon, while also hoping you got the goal. goal Glover at second base, which should have transferred and did, while getting some sort of offensive output.

Corey. Because early years, you know, get, yeah, you can watch out. It's cool that he had the time and the place in Oakland to work on him, work with Ron Washington, who we all know now as like a fielding guru. That's the reason he was able to turn that whole side of his career around.

That side and Major League Reps offensively can't be replicated either. That he got all of that. Seeger is the opposite side of the boat. I think when he's right, he has an argument for best all-around hitter in baseball. I put myself out there probably too far when I said Corey Seeger Hall of Famer question mark. But it depends where you currently believe Corey Seeger is because he's 29, 32.2 career war, a seven-war season. In a normal year, he would be MVP.

Yeah, I mean, if you don't have the showhead factor. currently. Give me 20 more games than no show hey and he's probably the American League MVP. Oh yeah. No show hey. Yeah. Yeah. He, before signing his contract in the past one, two, three, four seasons leading up, he only had one of a hundred games. You know, if this guy, if this guy's past two seasons had injuries, he would be in the same bucket as Byron Buckson. Yeah, except more expensive. I know that's rude, but it's just, it's true. It'd be a fact.

It's not. And those guys and Chris Young, the player, who is also smart. And tall. And very tall. But height doesn't matter. Matters a little bit. No, no, no.

I don't think this group of guys needs to be hung up on. Girls I've run into, they don't care about that. Okay, well, we'll get ready for it. Thank you for that, Jolly, Olive. And thank you to Scott's. You heard of Scott's lawn stream. Scott's is live streaming a backyard 24-7. Yeah, you heard that right.

And they've got all sorts of fun stuff going out there. Goat yoga. There was an alien landing. Also, my guy, Jimmy, they've got a wiffle ball game set up. Jimmy was on the call. Announce her play-by-play, John Boy. Go check that. out. I know he had a lot of fun. I know the kids

had a lot of fun. And the thing that I try to drive home, this is like the Scots. Like, you know, we're talking lawn stuff and I tell you Scots. You're like, wait. Like Scots? Scots? Yes. Yes. It's a logo, you know. They are them. They are him of lawn care.

And right now, you can get 20% off on two or more Scots products at scots.com when you use code Johnboy. There's a link in the description. Um, go follow their Instagram. Love that. Scott's Insta. That's where you got to be.

And Scots is very involved in our Blitz ball blitz. Mm-hmm. Coming up this Sunday, first game. Remind me? Uh, baggage versus hookline, aka me versus Jolly. Uh, we still have tickets available for that. It's at Billy's in the Bronx. Um, I know Scots is going to be all over it.

It's going to be a really fun day. if you can make it out Sunday, October 1st. We still got tickets available. It's going to be a scene. That's all I can say. Play in game for us. Play in game. There was a regular season game that Hookline did win.

Some people are talking about that. Playoffs. Let's do our standout performances. Standout performances. They were brought to you by Scots. Why not? Sweet. Jolly, who's someone you want to highlight?

Oh, good question, Jake. I shouldn't highlight a guy that I want to talk about later, so I won't do that. I'll give Chris Bassett a little bit of love. I love Chris Bassett. Wish he was still in New York. Matt, because all the guy does is eat innings up. But he's also a great pitcher while he's at it.

He's at 192 and a third on the year, which is fourth in MLB just this past week. weekend through six and two thirds two earn runs no walks eight punchies against your Tampa Bay race to get a W there you know I'm going to keep it with the pitching man because you love you love the twins rotation and they had a nice weekend too man Pablo Lopez he's up there career high 228 strikeouts this year second in the ale behind Kevin Gosman Joe Ryan had 10 strikeouts it's the sixth time he's done that this season over six innings and Sunny Gray.

Six innings won Ernie as well. Add that to your pipe. Baltimore Orioles. Gibby doing it. Career high and wins now. He went seven innings one earn, run four strikeouts. Just a lot of great pitching from the American League. I wanted to highlight all those dudes because they're doing it for teams that are in

the dance or fighting to get in and needed those innings. I mean one absolute power move. Normally it's a spot to highlight one person. And you just rolled out a whole rotation. So credit to you. You ate pitchers. You weren't going to shout them out. I love the pitchers.

Trev, not so much. The starting pitchers. No, that's a twins. I think you guys know at this point. I'm joking. And I will be rooting for you guys. Like, come on, Minnesota. You have the pitching.

Just win one. You have the pitching. Win more than one. Win a couple. When the World Series. My standout, he's a guy that stood out for me a little bit all year, and I'll actually end up highlighting two guys because you highlighted a whole pitching staff. I'm going to highlight two corner outfielders.

They're both veterans. I think they've both been instrumental to their team's success this year. Christian Yelich, three for four, two homer game to clinch. in Miami led the boys to the start of a good night. Against his former team. Former team boosted his numbers a little bit. I think he's got a 121 OPS Plus this year. It's his best season since MVP Yelly Times.

He's been their lead-off guy. He's become more of an on-base guy for them. I like that for him and them. And the other guy that I was in between these two, but I figured, you know, Jolly's going to roll it. I might as well roll out. Nick Castellanos. I know, you know, we get a lot of Nick Castellanos

because he's an awesome personality and whether it's the Little League game or, you know, Sunday night baseball, you're going to get some Nicky C. You know, he was, we talk about the risk of contracts. His first year in Philly, 263, a 694 OPS. Woof, that was the.

the start of it. Yeah. That was the start of it. He has bounced back this year. He's played 153 games, so he's been out there. 29 homers, 106 RBI, 276, a 485 slug for a 799 OPS. Let's have a couple good days to finish to get that in the 8s. But two corner outfielders, who their defensive numbers may not impress you.

But what they've brought with the sticks this year has been, Huge for each of their respective teams. So no Aaron Judge three homer game. No. Shocked. No, he's fantastic, but there's going to be a lot of Yankees to talk this offseason. It's not his fault. It didn't matter.

Do you hear his quote? That was interesting. That was an interesting little quote, huh? A little tidbit. I've got some thoughts. I'd listen to him. All right. You'd be here a while.

Cool, man. Why don't you come in the room? I got some ideas. He's got a different hitting philosophy. You know that. Just make him coach. Oh, enough about them. Pitching coach has worked.

Enough about them. You know what? Babes, I love you. I think I'm going to steal in Fuego because I'm kind of jealous that Trev has snagged it. Mmm. Dirt nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby.

Like wake up. Like, in Fuego's such a lit segment. And the fact that Trev has sneaky just cornered it. It's just his. T.J. Friedel. How's your series? Six for eight. Three homers.

His end of year numbers are going to be, I don't want to say in rare air, but for corner outfielders. How's your season? And centerfield sometimes. He's been awesome. John Birdie, Bertie, Bertie, Bertie, rocking everywhere. Three homers himself. Didn't know. Birdie had that. Match his career

high of homers in 2019 when he also hit six homers. So a three homer anything for John Birdie's out of control. Yelly's on there and that's obvious. We just talked about him. One week and Dalton really dug up the guys you wanted to hear about. You listening? to talk in baseball and you say, hey, fellas, tell me about Jared Triolo's 11 for 19 week. I'll say, okay. 11 for 19. That's in Fuego, man. With six walks.

Yeah, Jared Triolo. All right. Get him on the TPP next year. Evan Carter, we've talked about him a lot. Seven for 19. He owns and extended his club record for reaching base safely in a 14th straight start. with the plate appearance to begin his MLB career. Nolan Jones!

Go Rocks Go! I saw some Guardians' fuzzy tweets about... There's a lot of them. Wanting him back. Eight for 17, two homers, four stolen bases, eight stolen bases in September. Shack meme, I wasn't familiar with your game. Go check out his outfield throwing numbers.

Canon. Two weeks. This is the list you want to be on, people. Shut up, Trev. Christian Encarnacion Strand. CES. 11 for 28. Five homers, 10 RBI, 1.38.

Jordan Montgomery, we've talked about him a lot. I gave you these exact same stats, because that's the kind of guy I am. 21 innings pitched, one run in his last three. And then, this is where it's just, different people. I don't know how to lay it out for you any better,

but this is talking baseball. Kansas City relief pitcher James MacArthur. Early settler name? One ten of eleven. It sounds to me like a Kansas City athletics pitcher. Do you think Dalton's just making stuff up? These could all be fake. These stats could be fake.

This player could be made up. This could be from Dalton's show dynasty. James MacArthur has not allowed a run in the month of September. Six games. One and O, one and O, three saves, seven point two innings pitched. Zero earned runs, nine Ks. James MacArthur, a night of the round table. Welcome to ours.

And that was Fuego. If any of you guys want to take the IL off my hands, I've been looking for that all year, because it's I can tell you all about who's hurt Royce Lewis gets on the IL Trev devastated the next great twins

third base and he came up as a short stop Wondi Peralta sad Mullen Aronado and Wilson Contreras those are some names you'll know Luke Rayley onto the IL could be important for what Tampa does Aaron Loup heads out

Max Freight third IL stint of the year hate that Brandon, now, Jason Adam, they're both out. Eori Perez on the aisle. Eish. C.J. Cron. Name stuck out. Charlie Morton onto the aisle. A lot of names.

Just a lot of names. Guys coming back. Ryan Stannick, he could matter. Shane Bieber, kind of like doesn't matter in the grand scheme. I think I'm happy to see he's back. Yeah. Happy to see he's back. Michael Grove.

Dodgers sorting out there pitching. Mustakis is back. We love that. that. Sally Perez, he's back. Let's hit another couple homers this week. Tristan McKenzie gets back and we love him. We do love Tristan McKin. Man, guards are going to have a rotation next year.

Always do. Beaver. Always on the trade blois. They're going to flip some guys. It might be a fun off season. Thank you, Beaves. The I.L. Always daunting to me. Let's start the week.

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Expire seven days after issuance. Eligibility deposit restrictions apply. Bung. I was boogieing to that a little bit. Jolly, we finish with awards. Kelsey tees us up. You made it sound like you had something prepped. I got something. I'm calling it the Birdland Batman Award,

which is a little on the nose. Okay. Feels nosy. You guys remember last time I was here, I picked an Oriole for my award, and I'm doing it again. Good. Without shame.

Because this guy deserves it. one of the better storylines in baseball right now is we wind down to the finish. Our guys coming back at the tail end to help out their teams. We've seen a bunch of pitchers battle injury this year and come back

and make a huge difference. And one guy who I had, you know, fan faith in, but didn't really expect to move the needle this season for his team was John Meats. He was the hero that that city deserved and they had him throw a no hitter in Seattle.

It was a special moment for a lot of years of just bad Orioles baseball. It was a highlight that they could hold on to and look towards the future and say, hey, this could be the guy. This could be the number one going forward. And then two starts into a promising 2022 season. He's out for the year. And we miss him for most of this year as well until very recently. He comes back for the month of September.

He's made three starts so far. and his last one was easily his most impressive. Seven in the third innings, one hit, one earned run, four strikeouts and a win against the Guardians. If you ask me, who I want to see take the game one ball in front of the Camden Yards faithful in a very important playoff game,

the first playoff game, the Orioles have played in seven years. My answer is John Means. And of course that's a fandom answer. That's a guilty pleasure answer, but he's the he's the torch guy he was here for the bad years he was here for the ugly rebuilding roster the rio ruiz the renato nunez all those dudes who orio's fans would like to forget john means was on those teams and he's on this team now and he's pitching really really well and i think it would be

very symbolic as a new era of orio's baseball is ushered in that we see him get the game one ball so i wanted to give him my award i think he deserves it a great adding by him and you know he's getting deep into games, which is kind of what I wanted to see. So I think sky's the limit now, as long as he stays healthy. You're insane. Can't a man dream? John means game one? Why not?

Who are you getting into instead? Are you feeling bradish? I'm always feeling bradish. I mean, King Grayson. Maybe you do a, do a Grayson means stack, and that's kind of like the... Call me crazy giving the rookie the game on bowl. That's the new hope with the old, you know, that they're a pairing. Speak to me.

They're a stack. Yeah, I'm adding to your. Theatrical, Jake. We talked about the Dodgers just not having starting pitchers right now. And the Orioles, everyone, they don't have starting pitching. They don't have starting pitching. I have a lot of starting pitchers. Right now, healthy on the Baltimore Orioles, Braddish, Greyrod, Dean Kramer, John Means, Kyle Gibson, Jack Flaherty,

and Tyler Wells. Just got called back up. You can figure something out there. There just might be something happening in Baltimore this year. And I'm in on it. I have them coming out of the AL. Spoilers. Wow, taking the top seed.

Spoilers. Hey, who do you have? That's my counter to everyone. Twins. Okay. That's twins and John means you're out. I'm Trevor Ploof's filling. You're out.

for me. I'm going to give out the the too little too late award. It's symbolic to a lot of things going on around baseball, around this team. I just saw some numbers that stood out to me and I wanted to highlight it

while also sigh at the end. I know where this is going. The Padres run essentially came to an end. They would have to win out and the Cubs would have to go like one in six, like it's, it's over. There's a, there's a hint of magic for a minute, and it's over. And I saw some different stats floating around about this guy, and we had some interesting

conversations about him for our last all-JM team, and he's cooking the books again because it's, I don't know what to do. Juan Soto, now in the second half of the season, the numbers are incredible. There's a handful of guys in baseball that can do what Juan Soto is doing. Second half, 283, 394 on base, and 952 OPS. That's good. You know, that's Juan Soto's career. Not bad.

In September, he's gone nuts. In 21 games in September, 346 of 441 OBP, a 1.141.1.1. 5-9 OPS. He's going to end up having a magnificent season. He's played 156 games, which is tied for the National League leaguer, is the National League leader. He leads in walks, 273, 408, 922 on the year. It's an incredible year.

National League outfield where we need a center fielder on our all-JM team. Corbyn Carroll just. crossed 2550. Mooky Betts is having an MVP type season. I don't know if it's too little too late for Juan Soto. He's got an argument to be on that all-JM outfield. It was too little too late for the Padres. And man, is he going to be a conversation this off-season?

They're not going to move on, right? Well, we talk about tough off-season questions, man. You saw how much you can get for trading Juan Soto. Here's a, can I read off one stat I like? Do it. What read off one stat you like? Just one, though. This is called, this stat's called Juan Soto's age.

24. But he's been playing six years. 24. I don't know, man. This guy. Steve Cohen, please. This guy. So, I don't know.

I wanted to highlight how good Soto's been, while also just feeling that knife twisted one more time by what is the Padres season. Jack Oliver, Jolly Olive. Make sure you're following him Twitter, X, maybe Instagram, I don't know. We're popping over there. Go check out the YouTube if you have not for some fantastic baseball content all over our jam baseball channel too. What's some of our new stuff? I've seen the top 30 vid come out.

think the best, the best JM baseball trivia video that I've ever hosted is coming out this week. It is Jake, Joe's, and Jimmy on a couch

trying to name every franchise leader's home run and it is so funny. I cannot wait for everyone to see it. It's a form of torture for Joe's. But it's good content. It's all else.

It does sound like a good watch. Jake sucks. Trev, John, Wednesday. Treb's back from his family camping trip. John Boy's getting prepared to beat hookline sinkers this Sunday. Three walkoffs in the row. Is Kenobio lost at the plate? People are talking.