Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Does the Pitch Clock Need an Adjustment? | 645

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Jomboy, Talkin' Jake, & Trevor Plouffe break down Anthony Rendon's suspension for his altercation with a fan, Rob Manfred's comments on analytics, and the first week of the pitch clock.Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKINGo to http://shadyrays.com and use code TALKIN for 50% off 2 or more pairs of polarized sunglassesCall [phone] or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA), Gambling Problem? Call 877- 8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/OH/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MA/MD/MI /NH /NJ/ NY/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. VOID IN ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. Bonus bets (void in MA/NH/OR): Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pre-game moneyline bet. Bet must win. $150 issued as six (6) $25 bonus bets. Bonus Bets are non-cashable and cannot be withdrawn. Bonus bets must be wagered 1x and stake is not included in any returns or winnings. Bonus Bets expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Promotional offer period ends 5/28/23 at 11:59PM ET. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/baseballterms. ++++++Timestamps:0:00 Intro2:55 Anthony Rendon Suspended 4 Games14:05 Rob Manfred Bashes Analytics26:22 First Week of the Pitch Clock40:10 Fernando Tatis Jr. Returns Soon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball, the midweek episode. Rendon suspended. Manfred says analytics are a moon race and other things. Let's get into it. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. Thank you very much for joining us today. My name is Jimmy. Jake is here.

Treb is here. And BPD is behind the dish. It's brought to you by Seat Geek Code Talking. I just used Seat Geek to buy tickets for myself and Katie to go to a game on Friday. And she said, I want to sit in this section. And there were some red bubbles and some green bubbles. And I knew, well, red bubble, even though it's your favorite color, those are terrible

value and bad. Green is Jake's favorite color. And it means go. So I purchased those. And you can do the same thing. Get $20 off with code talking. Go to a game or a concert or a ballet, whatever you want to do. Jake, how you doing?

James, Trev, Dave. Back at it, full house, baby. I'm doing well. Congrats to me, George Springer, Nick Ahmed, Scott Oberg, Anthony Kay. I mean, there's a Yukon baseball lineage that's now dripping onto the basketball courts. It's Yukon one last night. And yeah, man, back in it.

Excited. Excited. The first midweeker. of the regular season and we got some good ones. I mean, Tony Rendon, my goodness. So I'm doing well. Trev, what's going out on the main island, my man? I'm not on the big island, actually, on Maui.

No big deal. I thought you went to Vandy. I married into Vandy. I married into Vandy. Married into it. I actually told somebody yesterday who was a Vanderbilt guy, I said, yeah, my friend went to Vandy.

Knowing Fullwell, you didn't go there, but I just said it. I don't know why. So you're welcome. Your friend, thank you. Your friend Dansby. My friend,

my friend, Jess. I'm excited to talk about this stuff too, man. Like we have some good topics here. The Rendon stuff is interesting. And then Manfred has just been on my tongue, huh? Yesterday I gave him the clock ring award.

And now we're going to be talking about some other stuff, you said. Like, am I like full on Manfred now? Like are me and him buddies? Yeah, Yeah, he's the best commissioner in baseball. He's flipped his legacy.

Easily. Hall of famer. Well, obviously, you know, as soon as you retire, you're a Hall of Fame commissioner. Not a single one isn't. But Rendon's where we're going to start, I guess. We should have, maybe I could have pivoted. But Rendon's on a list first. He got suspended for five games.

He appealed it. They said, fine, four games. Because a fan called him and earmuffs. We got a little kid in the car, a bitch. Oh. and he didn't like it and then he took a he grabbed the guy by the shirt

and then he took a swing at his hat and then that's kind of it which I don't even to downplay it but uh I wish he didn't grab him yeah we talked about this on baseball today a little bit he let the guy win dude

it doesn't matter like how macho you are and how hard you grab a guy and you bring him into your face and you intimidated him that guy wins, dude. Like, you never win if you go and, and give the attention that some of these fans want.

I mean, that's essentially when you're heckling someone. If you're a heckler in the stands, what you want to happen is for the guy that you're heckling to look back at you and, like, flip you off or, like, say something back to you.

That's what you want. So I've always tried to make it a point. You know, I got heckled quite a bit. You know, when you have poor games or poor stretches, people get on you. I just tried to never, to look at them. Yeah.

Ever, because I felt like if I did, they won, dude, and I didn't want it. So it does get under your skin. Like, it pisses you off sometimes

because you're trying to be good at your job and you're working hard and you're just not good at your job. So you're already mad. And then you understand like, hey, if I don't get better at my job, I'm going to lose my job.

So there's a lot of pressure there. And then some dude in the stands is all over you. It frustrates you. But, you know, Rendon obviously just took it a level too. I wish he got called something worse. That's like when I watched the video and he had him by the shirt.

And he's like, what, you call me? And then I'm like, oh, shit. This must have been bad. And then he's like, you called me a bitch. I'm like, what? Rendon. That's not. You can almost say that word like in endearing terms.

And on the flip side, like that fan, the full video, like what are you doing? You're grown man and you're like, getting over the railing to get close to a player to call like to sincerely call them a bitch like how pathetic are you yeah to just yell it from the seventh row like all right don't you're a bitch i still am not a fan of you and like you're annoying but to walk down to the front row and lean over like what dude you suck yeah it's it's all the ingredients in the pot it sucks that rendon grab them You can't do that. That is a line that cannot be crossed.

And Jim, you said you wish it Rendon and grab him. Yeah, absolutely. I'm thankful Rendon didn't catch him with that swipe. Because then we'd be talking about 45 game suspension. And it's Anthony Rendon punches fan in the stand. No, he was just trying to knock his hat off. He wasn't punching him. If he touched him at all, I agree with him.

Yeah, if he clips his nose, Jim, that's game over. That's where I think Rendon's lucky. he didn't catch him. Now, the fans of total loser, we covered that. Yeah, and I mentioned this going away in the recap episode, and I think, you know, you don't want to make too much lightheartedness. You can't do that, Tony. But Anthony Rendon, a guy that we've made a joke about, you know,

he's a monk on the field, and he doesn't like baseball, he doesn't care. Well, I'll tell you what, he cares about something. Because, you know, game one in Oakland and a loss for him to be grabbing someone in the stands, like you said, Jim, I mean, that felt more fueled than a guy just calling him a bitch once. Like, hey, maybe the guy was laying it on him all day. Maybe Anthony Rendon's heard stuff about himself this offseason because his contract in L.A. hadn't gone to where it thought that, I don't know. It boiled over. It got to a bad place.

You have to suspend them. You have to. Can't grab someone in the crowd and not get suspended. And yeah, just glad there was no other contact because I think luckily we'll be able to wash the hands except the next Angel series in Oakland. I bet Anthony's going to have a lot of people open to discussion, which that's a fun fan base for that. But, yeah, I think everything landed in an okay. place.

I think he didn't think the guy was going to come over. And why would the guy go over? Like he did it over there and Rendon comes to the shorter part of the fence. It's like, why don't you come over here and come over here? And the buddy's friend pushing, like, yeah, go talk to him. Go talk to him. Yeah, I think he was just trying to slap his hat like that. And I don't think like he was really trying to hurt him.

I didn't see it. And I wasn't like scared for anyone. I thought he was, he was smiling the whole time. I think it was, I think it was like a reminder. that like I am still a guy that could beat you up. But he wasn't ever going to. I don't know. I think it wasn't a punch.

You just went like up with his hands. It's a slap. A little slapy. It's a slap. Two guys need to put their wiener away. They called each other. They called each other. Right.

Yeah, they did. So stupid. Oh, what an awful phone call. Yeah. I mean, I almost don't even believe it. Why was Rendon on that phone call? The league probably made him to save face and the fans and they like blew it out. I don't know.

But he said we both apologize. and we're both ready to move forward. If they take a picture. You fucking hate that, dude. If they take a picture next series, count me out. No way. I'm out once I read they talked on the phone.

I don't give a fuck. It wasn't Rendon. They had one of, it was redone. They had one of the clubbies. They had one of the clubbies. No, it was like principal move,

like talk to each other and say sorry. Like, none of them fucking cared anymore. Yeah, this is Anthony Rendon. Yeah. Let's not know that again. And this is the fan. I called you a bitch.

And I, man, mean and I'm so sorry. It's embarrassing for both of them, I think is the 100% and thing here. And but we are in a simulation. Maybe this is the beginning of a budding friendship. Like, hey, we talked to the phone once. You got my number now. I'm out.

I don't hate. I want this Rendon to beat this guy up later in life, 20 years down the road. Oh, you do. Yes. Okay. No, in my 20 years down the road, one, he slaps his hat off. That's what I, 20 years from now, he gets the swipe down. He gets to swipe his hat off unsuspectingly.

put it on both reach out okay it'll be like you know the human hunting i'll put it on yeah what if what if we drop them both in a what if we got these guys together and we said all right buddy talk and go for it and he got to just use the b word on rendone just right to his face boom that's what he gets and then rendon gets a step up knock his hat off yeah he gets what he wants and it's over that's what we should have done yeah you can set that better than a phone call we got a warehouse Phone calls bullshit. I think bigger than anything. People don't talk about this.

The Coliseum, well, they do talk about how much of a dump the Coliseum is. They do talk about them. But the fact that you have to walk through the stands, people getting popcorn like it's fucking Little League to go to your clubhouse is a joke. And I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. I mean, you leave the game there and,

or even during the game. If you want to go to the clubhouse, You are going to rub shoulders with fans as you walk up a staircase. They're going to be walking down the other side. It is something that never happens in any other Major League Baseball facility, just in Oakland. And I asked my friend Matthew, who plays in the NFL. He said it's the same thing for them. If they want to go up to the clubhouse, they go right through there.

It's just how does that make any sense? Like where was the design there? That doesn't. I don't know. Matthew? Coliseum needs to be suspended as well. Five games Coliseum out. Ooh.

Yeah. That would be hilarious. I guess we'll play the games in Vegas. Oh, yeah. We have a AAA team there, don't we? Remember when the guy, the Rangers player, threw the bullpen chair at the fan. Is there ever an appropriate time for a player to go smack somebody?

Like, even if they say, like, really bad things about your mom or your wife, like, I still don't think you can. I think it makes you look soft. Yeah, probably. But it's, since it stinks, too. There's a line in every. There's a line in everything in life. And I mean, I, honestly,

the way Tony grabbed him by the chest and stared him down like that, Tony might be saying those five games were worth it to get that, that 30, that 15 seconds of that guy shit in his pain. he suspended without pay? Or with pay? Because it's with pay. Yeah. I think it's no, I think when you get suspended, you don't get paid, dude. I don't want to go

get back in league. It's not worth it if that's the case, just so you know. He doesn't want to play. In 2004, a reliever in Oakland, because they're just like right on the field, just picked up his bullpen chair, like a folding chair and threw it in the crowd, broke a woman's nose. Another just silly ass. I went to

school with her sons. starting quarterback and receiver. And the last name, Bueno. Bueno to Bueno for 15 yards. It's good. I like that. It's my favorite, like, call. Bueno to Buono.

10-yard pass. All suspensions are without pay. And that's obvious. Questioned it for a second. Or else Anthony Ardonne would be like, I'll just get suspended. I'll actually punch this guy in the face. Well, I'll tell you,

shady race, Jim. I like him. sunglasses. They had a picture of her at the next game wearing sunnies. Shady rays, baseball season is here. Treves in Hawaii, Mahalo.

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Shadyrays.com code talking 50% off two plus pairs of polarized sunglasses. Make sure you check out the link in the description. shown. Manfred talked about analytics. And I mean, it's specifically about the defensive shift is what the conversation and articles about. And I fully agree with him on this one.

He said that what's his favorite line? It's funny. He said, my favorite line. That's what he said after. It's actually my favorite line. I think it's true. He said that analytics is an arm race to nowhere, especially if it's at a detriment to the game, was what he said.

And he was basically, they were talking. about the shift in that when the race were the only team doing it, it helped them out and it was just like a one-off thing. But if every team is doing the same shift and putting, okay, this lepte gets this and this and it's worse for the product, then it's an arms race to nowhere because no one's getting the advantage anymore. And it's hurting the product of the game. So that's, he was talking about. So that's why I'm so excited for the regulations and changing it. I'd fully agree with his statement there. there's two different parts

there's the defensive part which I think you're right and that's why we have the new rules and we've supported them the originality the origin as they say of this article was one of the owners had a quote where the direct quote

is you know I don't know what this analytics thing is but I have like 75 guys what I want to do is I want to spend a week in the analytics department I was going to figure out what the hell these guys do and then he comes around and he says he's like, you know, I got a lot of smart guys down there. And that's when he runs into the arms race to nowhere line, which I think defensively, like you covered that part of it, that yeah, we had to change the rules because it ended up

being detrimental to the sport. I think to label everything as analytics is a conversation we've done a few times. But it's also, you can still tell the teams, analytics are, stats and information. Like that was one of my favorite. I forget if it was Bruce Bochie or it was one of the old school managers that said, analytics, we used to just call those stats.

And overall, analytics have been fantastic for the game of baseball. You know, we've seen guys' careers change because of it, whether it's, you know, even swing information or pitch information. Throw that good pitch. Add for Blitzball coming up soon. that I just think it's funny that some of the way these sentences were phrased is that now everybody does analytics because you have to. If you don't, you're going to get left behind.

But I think we could go around and name the top four or five analytically driven organizations that have given themselves an advantage by using data and info. So I think it's funny that arms race to nowhere becomes the big quote that comes out of it. And, you know, what owner do you think said it? They got 75 guys. So it's a big department, but the owner doesn't believe in it. So it's not like a big club?

I, you know, the Rockies analyst department is like known. And the A's they're known as very small. So it's not those two. So it's some team that's got a lot of guys. I think the owner was, you know, when you throw your voice and it sounds like someone says something over there. I think it's one of those situations. where they were throwing their voice with the 75 people.

Because I think it could be one of the teams you mentioned. That, yeah, that's where I'll stand on that question. Okay. So you think it's the Rockies? Trev? The Rockies, anytime an owner does something stupid, we just go straight to the Rockies, is that what we're doing here? He said he's got a lot of smart guys down there.

It's interesting because. Essentially every team does have the same information. And I do love that quote. Bochi said that. We should just call that stats. When people get so turned off and afraid of the buzzwords, you know, even analytics and, you know, people are scared of a term like exit velocity. But it's just a term for how hard you hit the ball. Like these things have been around.

It's how you, I think that what separates people and where you can still find, you know, victories in the margins is how you, interpret the data. Everyone has it, but how do you put it to play? And we've seen different teams, you know, use like pitch data. And like you said, Jake, find guys who do a certain thing well and then just say, let's do it more. And I think that's kind of, for me, the biggest change for the positive when we're talking all this data, all these numbers is on the pitching side. And being able to, you know, interpret the data that you get from these bullpens or from trackband during games and say well shoot if we just throw that pitch a little more like that slug on that is you know 300 like let's do that more and then we find guys Caleb feel bar is another guy that comes to my mind

I played with them with the twins he's still doing it and he's a guy that you know he's got um like his spin access is really good and uh his spin rates there guys like him would have been lost in the shuffle before because he doesn't you know throw you know 98 miles an hour that used to be like, hey, let's get that guy. He's got a live arm. But now it's like, oh, well, these guys spin the ball well. They do this well. The break is on this axis. And that's good for the sport right now. So let's go get these guys.

I think that still plays. How you interpret the information and then put it to play on the field. Like there are certain organizations that do that much better than other organizations. And then maybe, you know, you find, you still have to have like a team identity, don't you? And if you do, say you're the guardians, like your usage of the data is much different than, say, the Yankees or a team that has some big bopping guys, right? Like, you have to see what your team is like

or what you want it to be like and then kind of curate your analytical department towards that, I'm assuming. Does that make any sense? Yeah, I mean, the example I was just going to jump to was look at our two teams in L.A. and two guys that just did a little trading places. You know, Noah Cindergarde, he signed with the Dodgers this year.

What do all of us think? Like, we believe in their information and how they're using it and how they coach that, that it becomes a line between analytics coaching and the player, that, yeah, I think if you asked all of us to place a bet if Cindergarde was going to have a good year, we'd say, yeah, I mean, he signed with the Dodgers. Meanwhile, with the Angels across town,

you know, we were all a little nervous about the Tyler Anderson signing because he signed with the Angels, a team that's got a history of however their coaching and pitching had gone up into this point of not having that type of success. That, yeah, man, I, you know, I think a good ball player, you know, we could look at a lot of the rosters and say, oh, that team's pretty good. I know a lot of those guys and they're stacked.

But I think there's a next level that we know if the Dodgers call up a guy, the Ray's call up a guy that, you know, they're kind of going to be a guy for them because they know what they're looking for. And that also ties into team identity. Trev, and we've Yankees bullpen in recent years, you know, if you got a sinker or a slider, they can tap into that a little more. And that's become a little bit of their team identity out there. So, yeah, I think the quote ends up getting blown up a little more

because it's Uncle Bobby. Not even his quote. I mean, this whole thing is like the most miscommunicated article on purpose, I think. An owner said it. And then now what people are saying, Manfred said it. Well, he echoed it and said it's his favorite quote.

Yeah, but he's talking about a panel. And then he's talking specifically about the shifts in his answer, not like pitching tools. And he's right about the shifts. Everybody's doing it, and it's making a worse outcome of the game like as far as excitement, then it is like,

okay, let's just stop this because it's no longer just an advantage. It's just, this is how the game is played now because everyone's doing it.

And baseball suffers a little bit just from... It's the best commissioner in all baseball. So, fix the game. I think he's the only commissioner in baseball right now.

You know, other sports that when numbers really got brought into it, specifically scoring, you know, in the NFL, you got to score.

You got to have a quarterback. And so they start, to throw downfield more, take bigger shots. It's fun to watch. You love seeing guys take chances down the field. In basketball, like, I don't know, you probably find some people that don't like it, but shooting a three-pointer is worth an extra point

than, you know, a basket down in the boards. Is that even a basketball term? I just tried to make that up right there, Jake. Is that good? Ask your friend Matt. Matthew. I think, you know, shooting threes is exciting to watch. but for baseball, you know, you're talking still the easiest way to score a run is a hit a homer, you know, the most efficient way to score runs is the hit a homer.

But with that comes, you know, the three true outcomes. I think it not only the shifts kind of put our sport in a bad place, but three true outcomes put our sport in a bad place. It's very difficult just to watch that. We talk about the homer being one of the more boring, you know, highlight reels. So I think both of those things are kind of what they're talking about here. And now, you know, with the pitch clock and the disengagement rules and the bigger bases, we're seeing more stolen bases. And we're seeing some of these guys who maybe aren't prototypically or would have gotten these deals before, like some of these speedsters that they're getting more attention. And we're going to see more rosters built around this.

I think because the game, like these changes are going to change the way rosters are built, in my opinion. Yeah, Taryn score. Got a job now. No steal. They're going to bring track stars back to baseball like in the 80s. Is he on a team right now or is you sitting in the minor league's waiting for September? He was on the Yankees minor league last year. Is it the Mets minor league this year?

No, he's waiting. He's waiting. He's waiting. I know he's at the Mets last year. Terrence score age guess. 33. It's a good guess. Yeah, 33.

I'm going to go same. 31 years old. Nice. We might be getting a few more Tarrant score seasons coming up. That's exciting. Mm-hmm. What are we on next?

Pitch clock stuff? Would you bet on it, Chen? Pts, they've been doing a lot of betting. You sure have. I've heard about that, yeah. A lot of betting, huh? 60 bucks last night, just five bucks at a time.

It's been hot over here, Trev. Uh, marginal victory. Full units, five bucks for you? Okay. Like that? No, no, no, I'd be cash. pushing out five units.

Mm. Five units. I have five units, five bucks, five bucks, ten bucks. I think my biggest one was ten bucks. Might be more coming soon from us with that. And you should join in at the Draft King's Sportsbook because you can place a $5 pregame money line bet and get $150 in bonus bets if your team wins.

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Download the app and sign up with Code Talk. And new customers can bet just $5 on any pregame money line and get $150 and bonus bets if their team wins. Only a drafting sports book with promo code talking. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. I retweeted this pass and tweet, sent it to you guys as a topic to the talk about because it's awesome. It's like an update on the first week of the season with the pitch clock.

More than half hour shaved off the games with more offense and more action. All the offensive gains have come from singles. So more balls in play, more stolen base opportunities, more hit and runs. With stolen base is so high, teams are going to run more because of success rate will drop a little bit. And there's been less than one violation per game. and the violations per game are going to go down stolen bases probably go down offense probably goes up a little bit because it's still not great but it's up from last year so so far I think it's getting the desired result yeah we don't want to bore everyone with

the numbers like the games are just shorter like that's all you really need to know like the opening day games the statistics on those were you know I think there was only two games over two hours and 49 minutes. Everything else was, you know, right around that 2.15 to 230 mark. So it's working. It's what they want to happen. There's been some pushback a little bit.

I think most of it, as far as players, comes from pitchers. The hitters are fine with it. But pitchers and specifically like the Phillies is an article that has a lot of J.T. Romuto quotes. Yeah, well, he's saying. He played the World Baseball Classic.

He did. He didn't have time to. Yeah, they didn't have time to. get used to. And they're still playing long game so far. Yeah, and they're 0 and 4, so maybe he's just mad. But I think there is some stuff that needs

to still be ironed out. And Manfred has been saying all the right things with this. He says our feet are not, you know, set in stone, we can move, we can do some certain things. He wants umpires to be more lenient in pressure situations to let it breathe a little bit. I think eventually we will add a little bit of time to the pitch

clock. But what JT's basically saying, I've, I have heard this from other pitchers as well. It just eliminates your time to think. You really can't shake off. Like guys are like saying, I haven't shook off all spring training or any of the games I pitched so far.

So there's a little bit of that that is coming to play. You have to think about, or actually you don't have to think about what pitch you're going to throw anymore unless you're calling your own game. But you have to focus on that. Then you have to focus on the clock to make sure you're ready. It's just like an added thing for these guys to be doing.

I think one of the biggest points that JT said, was it was my job to slow the pitcher down sometimes to go out there and say, hey, relax a little bit. You're moving too quickly. And he's like, we can't do that now. So he's saying it's very paramount to get ahead of hitters now because these things can just snowball. You have no time to breathe. And the momentum comes and you're just kind of out of breath or you're just in this cycle. And he goes, your pitches are going to suffer because.

of it. So I don't know how they're going to have to work that out. Is he going to have to call more timeouts and just kind of waste that? I'm not really sure. You got to figure it out. The desired result, man. They want to offense. They want to make it a little harder for pitchers.

It's been pretty easy for a while. Offense was at an all-time low for a while. They had to juice the balls. Yeah, the only people complaining are like the few pitchers are struggle. Majority of the game, pitchers are fine. And then these slow-ass closers come in. And, yeah, you got to shake off a pitch if you have to take a circle around the mound after every ball. If you just grab it and step on, then you're fine.

I don't know. I don't, it's better. And I keep like Trevor May, who I like Trevor May. I mean, everyone on Twitter keeps saying this, it should just be 20 seconds. Well, that is exactly where we were. That adds 25 minutes a game. Yeah. There's simple math to that.

that. If someone said make it 25 seconds, well, now we're longer than we were before. So I don't know. It's the, you watch a game. Yes, network barely puts it on the screen. You don't notice it until they get docked and it's like once or once.

And they're like, oh, yeah. They, they started putting on screen sometimes, sometimes they don't. When they don't put on screen, you don't even notice it.

Yeah. No, I was going to bring up the Trevor May example. too because he just did Chris Rose rotation and he had, you know, kind of a funny anecdote that he didn't he didn't know what catcher was in the game. It was Perez. He'd been working with Langaleers, Shea, and Perez came over like you're right at the end. I think he got NRI'd from Rocky's camp. So he was pretty new to the team. So he kept calling pitches and Trevor May was like, what? Shea, why are you calling that? And then he realized it was Perez. That's a mix of a couple

different things going on there. We touched upon it a little bit before. I want to see more data. The base running, I think, is an incredible place. I think we got more athletes out there. We got more guys with the green light. And I think it's fantastic. That feeling when you see a runaround first

and yet you think they might want to go, that's one of the best in baseball. So the fact that that is there, and I wonder, will teams in pitching adjust a little bit because that's been the bigger change for me. I mean, in the first four games last year, or the Jeff Pass and tweet you reference, there was 43 stolen base attempts. So far, in that same sample, there's 84. So almost double the stolen base attempts and almost triple stolen bases. There is 29, there was 70 successful stolen bases. So I want to keep an eye on the success rate in the

clip of that. But I think stolen bases have always been and are always this edge of the seat moment where you've got a pitcher throwing, a guy running, a guy potentially hitting, and then a catcher throwing, and then a guy got a catch. Like for all of that to happen within like a five second time frame, that's as electric as baseball gets. So I'm all about that. With the pitch clock, I want to see a little more of it. You know, we debated early on should there be a seventh inning it goes to 20 seconds or something like that i'm i'm not going to close my heart to that because i want to feel it out more i'm i'm not given these relievers an instant pass on oh you were uncomfortable the first time you came out to the new rules no like let's try to

adapt and see how it works if we find if the clock is constantly rattling relievers i don't know if i love that um i know we want to get offense up a little bit and i've been a supporter that i think you know, in previous episodes, I suggested moving the mound back, which is sacrilegious in baseball to get the offense going, because we've got a guy that throws 102 in every bullpen now. I want to see more of it. And if there's tweaks to be made, I think that can happen. But overall, what the pitch clock is doing, it's good.

Yeah, they're not going to change it that much because all these minor leaguers that get promoted are going to be dealing with it. And in four years, you know, vast majority. Like, what's the average life? span of a MMB player three years. So all these like relievers, they're just going to cycle through and the minor league guys are going to be there. So it's a bit shitty for the guys that like adapt or die because the people coming up, they're

adapted. They know how to pitch. You know, all the closers that are going to be in the league four years from now, all the high pressure relievers, they're doing this right now down there. They're going to have no problem. So you haven't felt any parts of any games have been rushed? Not at all. Okay.

I have a little bit. I haven't at all. I have a little bit. I was, I've been watching them with Katie, my wife, because she's like into it now and they're short enough

for her to like watch. Yeah. And we talk throughout the whole thing. And I said, but he throws this pitch, but he throws this pitch. And like we do, it's like normal ass baseball.

There's a couple of things and we talked about, I think on Monday. The production needs to kind of, they need to figure that out, producing the games, you know, when to cut back to the game,

when to show highlights. I think they're kind of struggling with that. I can't believe they. They didn't practice in spring training more. They didn't do a great job. Yeah. They totally miss Ospre Kolas's first hit, which is like kind of a big deal. I just didn't even show it.

And then, yeah, there's some things that need to change. I think one we could do when a lot of people have said is, you know, let's take the eight second mark that the hitter has to be ready and maybe move it down to five seconds or something like that or just like not have that rule in effect. Keep the pitch clock, but just the pit, the hitter doesn't have to be ready. at a certain point, right? Maybe. I think the complete opposite reaction than,

I guess you guys are people. Like, when I see a bat or go take a spin, I'm like, dude, stop. Especially because the Yankees have Judge and they have Stanton, where they're best hitters, who don't leave the box ever. So when then you have another guy that comes up, so I've been feeling that forever.

Like, stop. Why you got to go for a walk after, like, Karea, Machado, someone else. They were doing it like after every pitch. like a full circle. And it's like, I don't have sympathy for that. You don't need to do that.

When you, I think there are times where you definitely need to like catch your freaking breath or your thoughts or something like that. I know you have a timeout per at bat. So I guess you could do that. But there are definitely some moments where it's like, shit, I just need a second.

Yeah. I understand. If you get like buzz tying tight and I think umps are being lenient there. Yeah. I've been told to be lenient there. Like if you're like, who, just caught one close to the face. I totally agree there. But I'm talking about the guys who, no matter the result of the pitch,

take a mini lap around the batters box. If you fake something like, oh, I got a bug in my eye. Does that count against you? You got to call time. We've seen a little bit of funny business. In the Sunday night baseball game, we saw some tricks come out with that, that, you know, inquisitive managers from the dugout.

Oh, yeah. Excuse me. What was that? Oh, that was, oh, all right, all right. Like, there's, you know, there's always a way. There's always a way. But, I mean, a resounding success so far, which is pretty crazy, man. The offensive numbers are so cool. And, like, the base hits, baseball's been, it feels like a glass of refreshing water.

Like, I've been watching more baseball than I've ever watched because all these games are back in. forth, base hits, base runners, momentum changes. And I think it's just base runners. It's singles. It's guys on a threat every inning. I think it's been so much more fun. Yeah. The pitchers have been taken advantage of like, well, the fact that they control the variables and now they're able to really. Yeah, Trave, you're anti-pitcher. Scrum. I am anti-pitcher. And then let me tell you something. I was at the pool yesterday here. Okay. Stanford guy comes up to me. Obviously he knows.

also a Stanford guy. Stafford guy. Famously a Stanford guy. And we start talking. He said, hey, I'm doing some pictures tech thing. I'm like, well, I hate you because they don't need anymore. Number one. Number two, best way to do damages from the inside.

So let me get in on that, buddy. And he starts to explain to me that they are doing a sensor that they could put into any object that is thrown, essentially. but baseball is where they're starting. And now they're going to be able to get finger pressure maps. And the ball weighs and it feels exactly the same. It's like a thin sheet that goes inside the ball. And if they can do that,

I've talked about this on the show before. If you have pressure maps for your fingers, you can mimic any pitch that you want. So if you are a pitcher now that has a nasty pitch, don't be going and showing anybody, I think they're going to be worth like a lot of money. Like you'll be able to sell how you throw a pitch, especially because that's the last frontier here. We can slow everything down.

We have your arm angle. We have the spin data. But it used to be, okay, we saw on the adrotronic camera, you know, your finger pressure and where it was. But you actually have maps of it. Well, you just do the national treasure, right? And you get that invisible ink on their fingertips, shake their hand and then have them throw a pitch. And then you get that ball put under the blue. the black light and then you have it.

I'm just saying my example is always Corey Kluber and like the cutter like if you could sell that like really like you have all of the data on it now. It's like McGie charging for VP sessions. If you could somehow fucking just mimic his exact

bat path and everything great. That doesn't ever happen. But these guys are going to be able to do that dude. They're going to be able to find somebody ghost fork whatever you, whatever nasty pitch is. out there, they're going to be able to completely mimic it, and that's terrifying. Doesn't matter, Treve.

Arms race to nowhere, buddy. Get over pitchers information. I'm trying to be an investor in this thing, okay? What's up, Stanford guy? I don't know your name. And then destroy it. Yeah. Blake Sabo. Yeah. Blake Sable, my guy.

Blunt base hit. Your guy, guy. First ever. All right. Does there another topic? Tatee starts soon. I thought that was fun. Exciting. Playing in the minors. They're going to have a roster kind of shuffle there. There's a lot of guys.

Their depth is really good there. Our guy, David Dahl last night. Oh, I guess this is a couple nights ago once this is going to be out on Wednesday. Are you in on the Guardians, Trev? I am in on the Guardians. I like the way they play. It's fun, man. And again, this is a time about the Monday night game.

I mean, talk about back and forth and like your team identity. like showing up like class A blows it but you still have Ramirez diving all over the place like it's awesome me and Joe's made money on it four different ways how the hell does that guy take class A deep it's hard to hit the ball in the air off him I just put down a breakdown of Trevor Steffron chef it's nasty his three pitches a reliever to have three pitches that work off themselves like that is nasty it's crazy I mean on the guardians and the rangers I've changed my tune a little bit Nah, we'll see. You're still out? Okay. Bruce. I'm in on the Guardians and I want the Marlins to be good. I don't know if they're going to be good.

I don't know if I don't know if I'd bet on them be good, but they are fun. They looked like Team Curisow in the Little League World Series where you're like, wow, this team is flashy and pretty good. They could really beat you some days and like kick your ass and then they never win. And you're like, how come that Curisot team didn't win? They had a bunch of studs. And they're just like, ah, it's just sloppy. didn't really work out. Yeah.

That's what the Marlins reminded me of. One in four as they face the undefeated Minnesota twins. Who's one and four? firing. Joey Gallo's resurgence. That was the last topic. I forgot about that. Oh, boom, boom.

Homer, Homer. Nice. Some guys just need to feel comfortable. You guys were on him too much last year. Made him uncomfortable in his own skin. Don't get me started. Never seen a guy get more cheers than Joey Gallo for doing nothing. Yeah, he's fans love him.

I'm crazy Italian They did They love it's crazy But I tell you Well you gotta be happy for him now right I am I am I am happy for him I don't want him to be miserable And I'm the gang events got on him

But it was the most leash I've ever seen a player get You've heard me said Hey what happened when Boone You guys guessed the lineup correctly He said guest the lineup Well he gave like little hints throughout the entire show And then we were like so what do you got I wonder if he's allowed to do that

I do think there's like gambling things. You can't know early. Pocket that and bets that makes them bets. No, you can't know late. That's the only problem. But yeah. No, it worked out perfectly, Trev. We were laying our mouse trap and he gave us more than like he was a mouse like putting more cheese out.

And he was like, I'm going to bring my other mice to the trap. Because he was like, oh, well, Rizzos out today. So Glaver's hitting third. And we were like, okay. Yeah. Nice. Did you watch the video? His eyes, when he realizes what we're doing, like,

We were to, like, detectives, like putting the piece together. He just smiles and looks at us. He's like, you guys. You guys pretty good. Pretty good. He's a little smiling on your computer. My favorite third baseman. Okay, that's the end of the show.

Thank you very much for everybody tuning you. We'll see you later. I got to go catch football. I'm Matthew right now. We're in a race to 100 subscribers with four other channels on the channel. Subscribe. We need to sucks. We're racing other channels to 100.

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