Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Edwin Diaz Demoted From Closer Role & Astros Might Be Back | Weekly Recap | 839

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

Use code TALKIN10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN10*Up to $25 offGet 30% off sitewide at https://tommyjohn.com/TALKINGet 50% your first box at https://thefarmersdog.com/talkin++++++Timestamps:0:00 Jake Was at the SNL Wrap Party and Plouffe Knows Sabrina Carpenter7:30 American League Recap12:00 AL Standings15:50 Guardians Might Just Be GOOD21:35 Yankees Look Perhaps the Best They've Looked in Jomboy Media History?24:55 Are the Toronto Blue Jays in Trouble?28:40 Gunnar Henderson is THAT GUY32:15 What's Wrong with the Mariners?35:00 Good Job Again, Royals36:40 National League Recap41:20 NL Standings47:00 Paul Skenes Might Be the Best Ever & the Pirates Should Make a Big Trade!53:50 Are the Padres the Best .500ish team right now?51:15 Yu Darvish's HOF Candidacy59:40 Tigers and DBacks Got Chippy1:03:25 Jake's Final Notes: Outman, the Reds, and Devers Heater1:05:30 Edwin Diaz is Not the Mets Closer Anymore1:11:00 Walker Buehler Gets First Win in Two Years1:12:30 Shota Imanaga's Numbers are Still SILLY1:16:00 Kyle Tucker Changes Equipment then Goes OFF (+ CBA TALK)1:20:30 En Fuego1:24:50 Injury Updates1:25:40 Phillies are DISGUSTINGLY Good So Far1:30:40 Jose Ramierz is the Best + Long At Bat Homers 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. Couple of the big boys dominated this weekend. Studs, Devers, Darvish. Skeens, oh my. Let's talk ball. Ball skeins. Sorry. Carl Ravage busting out the Little League ball on you.

Here comes the smoke. Speaking of here comes the smoke, hello and welcome to talking baseball, presented to you by Seatgeek. Code Talking 10. 10% off. Trev, BPD, myself, May 20th. A big weekend for sports.

A couple NBA teams eliminated, including me and BPD's Knicks. Some good golf this weekend. Times are great, Minnesota. What are you talking about? Yeah, is Aunt him? But there was a lot of good baseball played this weekend. And I'm excited to talk it over with you, Trev.

How are you? Jake Beavers, I'm doing great. Again, you're totally right. A lot of sports this weekend. All the major sports, and then I had a lot of youth sports as well. So I got my fill. I had a nice little barbecue last night. Through a bunch of stuff on the Santa Maria grill.

So I smelled like smoke this morning. Santa Maria! Just beautiful oak musk on me. I had to take a shower. So I'm back. I'm clean. I look a little pale. A couple of medalles?

A couple of medall. Madelos by the grill? Some red wine yesterday. Okay. I kept it classy. Yeah. Not that Madello's not classy, but...

No. Maybe a few Valencia orange peels. I don't know. How are you, Pop? I'm good. Had a little bit of a life bender past couple days. Went to, like,

a getaway resort with Jess. They had a little fire pit there. A little, like, personal fire pit. Forgot how much that, like, hits my core living in the city. That's something you don't get it all. So true. So I, yeah.

So I, you know, Jess calls it. It's me in the fire. I've got, got some Rangers hockey on the phone. Bought a couple beers. Didn't know they were 10 percenters. So I got at this like wellness retreat, got a little tuned up.

And then I came back. And I went, had a really cool, like lifetime. Backstage at Saturday Night Live. with Jillon Hall and Sabrina Carpenter. Okay. Yeah. Shout out to Michael Longfellow.

He's a big baseball fan, a member of the cast, awesome dude. Snake Sky, who's also transitioning to, like, Yanks being in his AL team. So we're kind of ships crossing in the night. And it was also, yeah, Trev, I was kind of saving this for you a little bit and beeps. It was the last show. So they had, like, their season-long rap party. too and like dude it was like fucking like real famous

like John Ham chilling I watched Top Gun Maverick last night obviously yeah I have a pick I'll send it to BBD maybe we'll save it at the end for the YouTube I took I took a pick of Jess just having a good time and John Ham is like directly behind her and I always thought

I'd walk in on that one day but now that I have the picture so yeah it was a pretty cool Sabrina Carpenter, like people are obsessed with her right now, dude. My friend Sabrina, I caught a first pitch from her. People forget. What? Yes. Time out.

Olivia thought she'd walk in on that one day. No, Sabrina, this was many moons ago. I didn't, I mean, she was still like a very, I mean, maybe not super well known. She's turned into like a full on pop star. But that's awesome, man. I didn't know you did all that. When did you catch? And then I went to Knicks game seven just because I like,

like to kind of bottom out and empty a weekend. So yeah. Holy. Really went, really went through it. And in between that, I watched a lot of ball. I was on MLB Network watching Cliff Floyd and Vescursion. You're twin.

You got to answer to Guardians fans, Trev. Yankees, Guardians. This is my nightmare. Dude, Yankee fans are hot. We got to talk about that a little bit. Lou J fans are in. they're in a weird spot. We're getting GM quotes.

There's Jess and John Hamm. She's having a great time. She didn't know. I did when I was taking the picture. I was like, this is going to be funny. She had no idea. You just told her you were taking a picture. Oh, I know.

You think John Ham's like, hey, listen, you little, I know what you're doing. Oh, dude, definitely. Definitely. I felt bad. I had a good exchange with Keenan. I hit him with a I was just like he was

we were ships crossing in the night hit him with like dude thank you for so many laughs and he like appreciated that like that was a good quick hitter comment oh complimenting people usually makes them feel good

and the other thing you'll listen the other thing you'll really like um Sabrina Carpenter do you know who she's currently dating I do not Bebs I don't I don't believe I do

Barry Keogan I'm not sure if I'm saying the last name right He's the little freaky guy Um What was the saltburn The big movie this summer He's the freak in that Yeah

Oh like the ugly good looking guy The handsome Irish kind of yeah We don't know if he's good looking Yeah Like he's kind of stunning But it's also like I can't help but I can't stop looking But like I can't call him hot

Okay I never tell him Me and him, you know, basically two little freaky alpha staring at each other. We had a nice exchange. Let's talk some fucking baseball. That's yuck some ball. It's yuck some ball. Enough of us being sluts. God, you are.

For celebs, you are. Go to seekeek. I did that and I watched the Knicks season end as a part of this weekend. Again, you got a bottom out sometimes. Treb's got a seat. I'm sitting in a seat. Bebebs also in a seat. and with code talking 10, 10% off any tickets on Seekek,

whether you're a new customer or not. So if you're going to something, save yourself a couple doll hairs and use it on something else or save it, invest. Bitcoin, we'll get to that. Add code Talkin 10. Talkin 10 at Seekek. Download the app, click the link in the description. Let's talk some ball.

My gosh. That's awesome. Me and her That's crazy So what year That's 2017 She's a child there That's crazy

She's a child She's a child She's not child anymore No No She's like a legitimate pop star I tell her all the time Like this

I like It's crazy For her though She's like She's had like a massive glow up She opened for T-Swit Let's talk baseball God damn it

We'll do our pop culture show later Because Treve We gotta talk about You want to... Could I see this in October? Seattle and Baltimore. Even like the pitching matchups, man, Luis Castillo,

Grayson Rodriguez, Kirby and Burns on the final day. Orioles take the series. They have their massive Orioles inning in that first game to start it off. Five runs in the first. That'll do, Pig. Gunner Henderson,

leading Major League Baseball and home runs. Okay. Sorry. wasn't that familiar with your power game, friend. Corbyn Burns shuts them down on the last day. They get to Kirby enough. The only game Seattle wins, they won with their secret recipe, Trev. Rain.

Rain. That's what Seattle does. Tampa Bay Rays, and the Blue Jays teed it up in some ALE East action. And the Rays took the first two games. Couple one-run jobbers, Ray's big three-run inning in the six. Tyler Alexander with a perfect game bid. Johnny DeLuca on the comeback, Trev.

And game two. Your fingerprints are everywhere. Deluca, Carpenter? Not talking Carrie. Trev, Blue Jays, a lot of bigger conversations are happening. They win on the final game to salvage it. Voguee bomb helps out. Romano gets his seven says it.

season, but Paredes hit a two run. I don't know. Some interesting convos. Ray's also getting back into the conversation. Trev, show some respect to the Guardian. Oh, dude, you never in the power rankings, dude. How could you? People are all over us. And maybe they're rightfully so, because the guard dog sweep the twins, a tale of two kitties for the twins, man. Who are they? They're Jekyll and Hyden. Meanwhile, Cleveland's just been rolling, man. So guard dogs. fans, you guys are right. It's a vibe. He out duels paddock. David Frye, how's your three for three

and a home run? Tristan McKenzie is dealing? Dude, I watched a Tyler Freeman, like, mixtape reel of what he's doing defensively. Uh, do it. That's what I like. Uh, even more than Sabrina Carpenter's Reddit. Angels, they take two out of three from the Rangers. Uh, they've got some guys popping up. Willie Calhoun with a big night at the stadium, sure. Jose Soriano pumping cheddar. Joe Adele's hitting homers, I don't know, Angel, Kevin Pilar?

What year is it? Mean. Rangers took them 13 innings to win that middle game. What they do? What's going on, Texas? Let us know. Let us know.

The whole West is looking a little bizarre, because guess who's not dead? The Houston Astros. They take two out of the. three from the Milwaukee Brewers. Some fun baseball. I mentioned Kyle Tucker. Two Homer night after changing his gear, Trev. That's, what's that about?

Baseball players are weird, man. Let's see. Hunter Brown and Freddie Peralta. They both got hit a little bit. Joey Ortiz is putting up some big numbers. How's your Corbyn's trade return? William Contreras is like an MVP candidate, but it's too much from Houston as they. They're starting to win some baseball games.

Yankees sweep the White Sox. Uh, yep. Juan Soto, he's that guy, pal. Uh, yanks are doing fun things on defense. They're starting pitching. They're going six innings. It's, Yankee fans are high, Trev. Might have to have you talk me off the ledge.

And can I say something? Kansas City Royals. They've just been good, like, all year. They sweep the A's. I know the A's are having a little bit of a bottoming out, but Cole Reagan's shoves, their starting pitching is giving them effort with some star powers like Salvi, Bobby Witt.

I don't know. Kansas City deserves a little more love and maybe we'll give it to him as we get the standings from Trevor Plouffe and the American League. Unbelievable, I missed that, Pop. I missed the burn there. You and me need to fight. I do have the standings.

You and I need to fight soon. I think that you and I need to have it out of the town. Yeah. And then we fight at the end of the night. That's what we need. In the American League, Jacob and Bebers. Yes. Your Yankees are 33 and 15.

Congratulations, guys. You're leading the A.L. East. Baltimore, two games back at 29 and 15. Tampa Bay Rays over 500, 25, and 23. and then it's Boston at 23 and 24 in Toronto at 20 and 25. And the central, those guardians, man, they just win baseball games. And I've been getting yelled at all weekend long on my social media. They're 30 and 17.

The Royals are 29 and 19, just a game and a half back from those guards. And then Minnesota, great stretch of ball, bad stretch of ball. That's what's happened. 24 and 22, the Detroit Tigers, little scuffle out there. Arizona. A couple of our guys. I know. We got to break that up, I think.

Yeah, 23 and 23 for the Tigers and the White Sox, 14 and 33. And then the West. You mentioned the Mariners. Right now they would be playoff bound, Jake, 25 and 22, they're leading the West. And they are the only team over 500 in that division because the Rangers

are at 24 and 24. Houston on the way up, 21 and 26. And then it's Oakland and 1930 and the Los Angeles Angels at 18. and 29. It's beautiful, Trev. Things are on the way up for a lot of these teams.

Yeah, man, and I expanded wildcard. We talked about a lot on this program just because there's something to the baseball purist side of it that it's like, you know, we play 162. Why don't, like, that used to be the reward for teams. I'll tell you why they expanded, man. Look at the wild card standings. Like, what's in the AL. It was my first time looking at it.

Tampa Bay, who I don't know, felt like they had a bad start to the season, currently tied with the twins for the last playoff spot. The Texas Rangers are a game out. Detroit is a game out. The Red Sox are a game and a half. Like, the Astros are three and a half out. The Blue Jays, teams that we're talking about, like, one of the topics that I think is a good topic to discuss today is like,

are the Blue Jays doing? Do they need to reset this? whole thing, and with a quick week, they would be back in the playoffs. So I don't want to, I hate when we leave, I leave that personally as a cop out. Like I say, hey, if a team has a hot week, blank, because you could do that basically till August. That I don't know. It's, it's really exciting to me because we're going to talk about how good a couple of

these teams are right now, and whether it's injuries or just a bad spell. Like a lot of these team seasons are going to. be flipped on their heads. Why don't we go to the central Trev? Because one of the topics written down on this sheet are the Jekyllden Hyde twins, and I'd love to get your thoughts on that. And then Cleveland does deserve more love. Like, they're basically, they're the brewers of the AL.

Like, if you look at, we got tagged with their, you know, their season history. Cleveland runs a good franchise. I know we want a little more. Like we want that Reese Hoskin step that kind of we've seen Milwaukee done and we've given them their flowers. But dude, I meant Tyler Freeman, what he's been doing. Jimenez has taken another step. Like Cleveland has been one of the best baseball teams all year. Yeah, I'd rather talk about Cleveland than Minnesota, to be honest with you.

I think people know how I feel about Minnesota. Great stretch of baseball. And then they kind of just ran into a couple of buzz saws. I mean, the Yankees and the Guardians are playing good baseball. and again, I'd rather kind of just give the guardians their flowers. I mean, really good at bats off. You want Duran. That's kind of a topic.

I'm doing the pre and post game for the twins. That's going to be a topic because he two curveballs got hit. The guy that throws 105 miles an hour and you're getting pumped on your curveball. So that's interesting. It's been called his best pitch from time to time. But really, you're right. The guardians are just since 2013, Jake, because that's the picture of your time. talking about. Since 2013, they've had two seasons under 500 ball. And, you know, like,

we get called out for not giving them enough credit. And I told the person that called us out, I said, you know, one of the reasons is, well, a lot of times it's new faces. So when there's new faces around, you don't have track records, it's hard to really like, you know, put an identity to a team. They're starting to build a little bit more of a core here. Obviously, J. Ram has been there and been doing his thing for quite some time. But I like the comparison to the brewers because, you know, Bieber gets hurt. Kwan goes out and you're like, okay,

it's probably going to start, you know, coming back down to Earth at some point for these guardians, but they keep finding ways to win. And like, they're getting the timely hitting and they're getting, you know, the defense is always kind of there for them. But it's, and we've seen it with the Royals. We've seen it with, honestly,

the Phillies have been this way too and the Guardians. It's a bunch of guys stepping up at the bottom of the lineup or, you know, just spread throughout. It's not one or two guys just getting the job done. For them, if you look at the stats, like, oh, yeah, Josh Naylor's crushing the ball. And like, he's a big reason why they're there. And he is. But it's these timely hits from, you know, Fry and what he's doing and Jimenez. And like, obviously, you know, Ramirez is doing it as well.

Like, that's kind of been his M.O. this season has been timely hitting. So they, man, I don't know. They're a team you wouldn't want to face in a playoff series. Like they have kind of a recipe to stifle the bats. And like I said, if you're getting those hits with runners in scoring position, like, go Guardians go, man. 30 wins already. This is, I mean, I think we all thought the Central was going to be a good race.

and the twins were going to be maybe at the forefront of it, but I don't think the twins are that far behind as far as roster construction to the Guardians and I don't think the Royals are that far behind and even the Tigers have a chance, although I think offensively, they're probably the worst team.

But it's going to be a great race all the way through, man. It really is. I don't think any team's going to run away with it. Man, they are getting an incredible effort out of their bullpen. Go look at Class A's, stats if you want to do like is this a video game or is this real life?

That's a 039 ERA. And yeah, I think if we told you the Guardians were going this year, you'd probably be like, well, that young rotation must have taken the step. Like, Bibi is doing his thing. The ERA is a little boosted, but, you know, that can happen. He's throwing innings. Tristan McKenzie is starting to go. 3-2-3-E-R-A.

Like, I don't know. Their hitting has kind of been their strength, and we've talked about Naylor's breakout. Freeman has gone nuts this year. I shouldn't say the hitting's been their strength, and I think what they do year in and year out, that I think, again, the Brewers overlap. Like, they find guys that can play defense, like what run prevention, that's what front offices like to label it. They always have someone who can throw the ball a little bit,

except when they shut down their whole rotation in August last year, and it's the things like that that rub us. the wrong way. Treb, old school guy, fifth and runs. Yeah. That works. That works.

Every time I press Chris Rose about the guardians, I'm like, okay, Chris, like, what's going on? Like, you guys are great? How are you feeling? You must be happy. He's, oh, I don't know. I'm just kind of waiting for the bottom to fall out. Like, we can't keep relying on a guy like David Fry.

And then he'll be like, oh, if you've seen what David Frye's, I'm like, are you giving him enough credit? He keeps, it's like, I don't know if it's just him or not. But he's the person. person I talked to the most. That's a Guardians fan. And he is on that page of like, I don't know, man. It's going to come crashing down at some point.

And it's not going to. Like, they just, they're finding ways to win baseball games. And I'll go back to the Brewer's reference. Again, we knew as soon as we thought the Brewers are going to be bad, that they were going to be good. Kind of the same way here.

A little schedule check. Guard dogs have the Mets. It's angels and rocks coming up. So, like, they... You keep it rolling. And their record's going to be in a very impressive spot. David Fry has a one dot. Sure.

460 OBP through 100 plate appearances, man. Go off. Go off, King. Who was he drafted by? The Brewers. Look at that. That's called Full Circle in the biz. Great stuff, Trev.

Let's do a little American League bookends. Because Trev, Yankees, I tell Jimmy this sometimes. He would be the worst poker player in the world if he got into that hobby. But he'd actually, he'd figure it out by the end, and he'd have tells on everyone, and he'd watch videotape. So he'd get good at it. But he's bad at holding in his emotions. He's highest on the Yankees that he's been since the start of talking Yankees.

since the start of Johnboy Media, which goes back to 2017. There was the upstart Yankees that were young and fun, and you don't get that in Yankee land. 2019, there's a lot of hope that season, but there's kind of a lot of fluky things happening. 2022, they got off to the great start. That they were like 40 and 15 at one point, and Rizzo, Judge, like, the Yanks are back.

That team had question marks. The Yanks look good, Treve. So I don't know if you want to talk us down Or I think the other thing I stumbled into last night With Houston not currently looming Like Houston has been I think that has Yankee fans Standing a little taller as well

You have to be happy I mean you guys are doing all of this without Garrett Cole Yeah The rotation has just been incredible for you guys And I think that's I mean if I was a Yankee fan That's what I'd be pointing to most I was like, okay, you have Juan Soto, you have Aaron Judge,

Stan's starting to go a little bit, but when you have, I don't know, five, six guys that you can rely on once Cole gets back, like it's, it's, you have a chance to win every single night. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's the good feeling. Throw the ball, pitch the ball the way we can. Our offense is going to pop off.

We have, you know, generational type hitters back to back in this lineup. I mean, what's not to like? And again, it's, it's, it's, makes it even better because the rotation wasn't supposed to necessarily be the strong point of the team. Right? Like coming into the season, probably weren't thinking that necessarily when Garrett Cole's out. You thought there was a chance with Cole to be really good because, you know, Stroman, Rodon, Nestor, those guys have. But Rodon, you know, coming off his season and Stroman first year in New York and Nestor, what he did last year, was injured a lot of the year.

I've talked about this a lot on baseball today. Like there was a lot of question marks. Yes. And now there's no question marks. And you get a, you get Carol coming back. So, I mean, I'm not talking you guys down anytime soon.

I think it's still a long ways to go. But things look great. I'm happy for you. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. And then I don't want to break up your bubble. It is the white socks. It is the white socks.

And the twins ran through them too. like seven straight against them. Let me see where we are in a week. These are the next seven starters the Yankees will be seeing. Logan Gilbert, Brian Wu, Bryce Miller, Luis Castillo, U. Darvish, Dylan Sees, Joe Musgrove. We'll find out some things in the next week. We will.

I like that. Yankee fans are feeling good. On the other end of the spectrum in the beautiful AL East, Toronto Blue Jets, we got, you know, the GMs talking to the press and they are at the bottom of the American League standings and I think the thing that's scarier, Toronto is some of their, they are 29th and runs. The White Sox are 30th.

And if you go look at what the White Sox are doing, you know, they are last year's A's currently. Like, you don't. almost when you're doing league stats offensively, it almost starts at 29, because they've kind of got the 30th spot locked up. 29th in runs. Vladie, Bichette. Again, it's this version of the baby Jays we had in our head that they were going to be

hitting for the next decade. And now we're sitting 20 and 25. They just lost two or three again to the raise. division who they're now back in kind of where you expect the race to be in the standings. I don't know. It's interesting. These quotes are interesting to me. Like, what are we doing here?

Is this trying to get the clubhouse going? Like, if a GM comes out and says stuff like that, there's a reason for it. Like, so I'm assuming that's what this is. But, I mean, yeah, there's been some very unspectacular performances from the Blue Jays this year. you mentioned their 29th in run scored they've given up the ninth most runs in baseball

so like that's not a great combination I think they're I think their run differential is a third worst in the American League it's like white socks and A's and then it's the Toronto Blue Jays that's not something we expect out of these guys

I mean they they've kind of like went out and done it I think the way that you and I like teams to you know build a roster like you have your homegrown guys you go and supplement it with talent You go and fortify your rotation. And then it just hasn't worked.

And, you know, there's, there's reasons for that. I mean, you got, you got Boba Chet, who's negative war right now. You got George Springer, who's negative war right now. Justin Turner really hasn't done it. I mean, Boba Chet, 70 OPS plus. Springer, 62 OPS plus. Like, these are guys you're counting on to, you know, lead your offense. And it just hasn't been that way.

They've hit 36 homers. That's the third fewest in baseball. It's like the pop isn't there. Where would they be without our guy, Dalton Varsho? I mean, we've been waiting for them to turn the corner and become this powerhouse team. It just hasn't happened. Trev, we're going to find out in 10 days. That's the good news because they have their two series with the White Sox.

So the whole wild card speech I gave at the beginning of this episode that a lot of you teams may be talking yourself into. I mean, it literally, it saved the twin season. Like, not to be dumb, but it has the twins still in a fine position. If you're the Blue Jays, if you can go hit for 10 days, put up an 8 in 10 or an 8 and 2, you're back. If you don't, yeah, White Sox have been the medicine. They've been the medicine. It's a good dose.

It's a good dose, too. Trade Tommy fam somewhere. He's bawling right now. You're guy, Tommy. They could have used Luis Arise, right? I thought it was a fit. He's playing somewhere else now, Jake. I thought it was a fit.

And those Padres, they're feeling pretty good about themselves. We'll get there in a second. Treve, I think the only... There's some high-level AL stuff. I think from this weekend, it was the first series I started with, and it's the other favorite in the AL, Baltimore. Again, some great pitching matchups. A lot of good baseball players on the field when

you're looking around. The Orioles, they hold serve, including that last day, Corbyn Burns Kirby. They get to Kirby pretty good. Big part of it, Gunner, which maybe that's where the time should be spent, man. Like this, again, I've done the overshadowed by Adley on one side and then holiday on the other side. Like, this is the guy. No,

he's the guy. He's the man. An absolute stud, he'll pump you to right field. He'll pump you to left field. He'll make great plays. Like, he does everything on the side.

I tell everybody that, like, is a casual baseball fan. I got guys over last night. We were watching some ball. And I was like, this is Gunner Henderson's the guy. Like, he's an absolute freak. I believe it's him and Tucker,

15 homers apiece leading the league. what can you say man I don't know the Orioles the Orioles are another one of those teams they just have so many guys they can beat you and then you have a guy like him who's been so consistent it's like you're trying to dodge

you know all these other landmines and then here's Gunner Henderson you can't miss him so it's like you're trying to navigate a lineup I mean look I mean Seattle's pitching is they're calling card like these guys are legit and they got roughed up because Gunner Henderson wakes like

first inning just I'm going to hit homers like he sets the tone dude yeah uh like I think that's the best way to put it like for the Orioles he is the tone setter and like I said after him it's like you just got a bunch of other landmines and what are you going to do and this was a great series uh Seattle you know the offense is always always the question mark I mean in three games they scored nine runs and like playing against the Orioles it's not going to get it done dude um But, yeah, Gunner is... He's on a different level, man. And now the Orioles get Grayson Rodriguez back.

Like, you've got to be scared of them. Oh, yeah. No, I think... I think the Orioles and the Yankees are the current American League favorites. And it's, you know, do you look at the Yankees as the new Yankees, the team that can't get it done? And they, you know, hey, stop. Don't tell me about the rings, bro. You know, if that's your angle, cool.

All right. For the Orioles, it's kind of, you know, the baby birds, they haven't done it in October. That's what they're missing. So those two are the favorites right now. I'm interested to see who emerges from the West. In Seattle, like, I'm doing a head tilt on the YouTube and make sure you guys subscribe. That'd be cool. Mariners, I'm not bought in yet.

It just feels like the exact same Mariners team. You know? It feels like we've had the same conversation about the Mariners for two years. Like, wow, that pitching, man. But the hitting worries me. So, hey, maybe it's dumb. Like, Julio's going to do his second half thing again. Luke Rayleigh has kind of been bawling.

That was one of their weird transactions that looks like that might be paying off. So I don't know, Seattle, I guess tell me, because you guys know your team better than me. Does it feel any different? No, it is the same, Jake. I don't think they need to tell us anything. I mean, we're watching the same things they're watching. I mean, you have everything that you need except a guy, maybe two guys, to really fortify the offense. And, you know, like you said, they went out and tried to do things and changed their offensive approach hasn't worked out.

I mean, you can't have your superstar guy who you paid how much money to. You can't have a 655 OPS. Yeah. Like, Julio needs to go. like he has to play like they were banking on him being that guy being Gunner Henderson

and then everyone around him do their thing and he just hasn't done that yet I mean that's what I talk about Gunner Henderson first first game of that series they're down 1-0

and he pumps a solo homer gets the lead right back and they end up scoring 5 like that's yeah what are you gonna do and all of a sudden you're Seattle pressure's on your offense you know how that goes

like I think that when it's all said and done, at the end of the year, I think Gunner Henderson might be, I mean, he's going to beg a top three MVP guy, which is how old is he 20? Everything checks out. It's nuts, man.

Top prospect, rookie of the year. We've, like, seen him get better on the fly. That, yeah, him in that Abe Lincoln MFer. Go look at Kyle. Can you hear more about them? Go look at Tyler. Tucker's stats. 15 home runs.

You can't wear green cleats, bro. Kyle Tucker's 27. He's got 21 career war. He's got three war on the season. He's one dotting. Seven stolen bases, no caught stealing. Kyle Tucker can do everything you ask on a baseball field. You know who would love Kyle Tucker?

The Mariners. Oh, God. You need somebody like that, right? Oh, God. Kyle Tucker would be God in Seattle. People would be dressed as Honest Abe in right field. They're already saying the Astros aren't going to be able to pay him. Not a lot of people.

Not a lot of people are going to be able to pay this dude. It's my favorite exercise. How much money will Kyle Tucker get paid? He's going to have some weird shit in his basement. Houston, still in the mix. Them and the Brewers, some decent baseball there. I don't know, series-wise, I don't have a lot of other stuff. So if there's something you want to hit quick before we go to the NL.

No, I'm going to hit some of the brewers in the later half of the show. I mean, snaps to the Royals for taking care of business. Nice start by Lugo and Singer, because that's just what they do. And they're another one of those teams. It's like they got their main guys, but the auxiliary pieces are kind of firing right now. And it's, they look pretty scary, man. a very fun athletic team out there just freaking playing good baseball. So I know it's the A's and sometimes we skip over those series because you're supposed

to do what you're supposed to do. But they look good. Yeah, Royals, your biggest problem right now is you're getting big brothered. Like if Cleveland didn't exist, we probably would have had a five-minute royals rant about how special it is and Salvi's a sicko, Bobby Witt, the pitching. But Cleveland, like we said, Cleveland has like a really good resume the past few years when you,

when you zoom out and the Royals don't. That's where they're getting hurt right now. Cole Regans is a freak. Yeah, I mean, look at the rotation. I'm looking at all the numbers right now. This is probably more surprising than the Yankees rotation. I mean, Lugo 179, Singer, 27, Reagan's a 37, Alec Marsh, 243 through 7 starts.

Like, okay. Here we go. Royals. How about it? That's the beauty of a baseball season. Excited to see how much we talk about them, the rest of the way. And the same with you, Houston.

You're getting a little more convo in a bit. Let's talk some National League ball. Let's do it. In the National League, how about them pirates? And how about Paul Skeens, man? Someone texted me Am I watching the best pitcher I've ever seen? Dramatic.

But he's got people wondering And the fact that you got people wondering Is because you went six innings, zero hits, One Walk, 11Ks. A guy who's pitching better than anyone ever Is also Shodaymanaga. That's the only game they win And it's a controversial walkoff, Trev.

Belly? Was he out? Kind of. One-nothing game. Otherwise, it was all pirates a couple one-run games. Our guy Jared Jones is still twirling the pill. Pirates kind of have a hitting problem that when they get Triolo or Nick Gonzalez or Swinski, they've got a chance to win.

Interested to see if they turn it around or the Reds, who they win the first game. A little Brett Souter opener, how's your lefties? And the Reds win that game seven to two. They beat Glass now. Ellie's a star. Is he going to steal 100? The Reds lose the next three. Walker Bueller six-inning shut piece.

What does that mean for this season? Andy Pahez, man. He hits the two-run Homer and Shohei walks them off. The Dodgers win three out of four. Reds, Pirates. Is anyone going to talk about that? The Padres, they currently have taken two from the Atlanta Braves. They're going to tee up a double header today. But the Padres have won the first two,

and they've shut down the Braves offense. You Darvish, oh my, you is twirling the pill since he's been back. He's just refusing to give up runs. Four straight starts. Matt Waldron, how's your 10 punchies? How's your knuckler? Padre fans are feeling good. Yes, they are. Interesting. And let's see what happens with the double dick today. Philly's. Sweep the Nats. Because that's just what the Phillies have been doing. Zach Wheeler. Their schedule.

They beat another bad team. Nats have punch, but not today. Aaron Nola, seven innings, two earn runs. Christopher Sanchez, seven innings. Two earn runs. Hey, Cody Clemens. Look at him joining the party. One dot in.

Impact. Nice word, Jake. Marlins and Mets played. It's two out of three for the fish. Jolly Olive, not happy with me at the water cooler this morning. Because I think all the Yankee fans are happy, and the Mets are currently not. How's your Otto Lopez walk off?

Treb's going to break that down for you in a minute. Tigers take two out of three from the snakes, like we talked about. A little testy. Tori, Jack. Couple Alphas. Can't have that. We got a.

We got a, I think is the Jimmy breakdown coming? We'll see. Tigers, they won the first two. 13-0-0 in that first game. Havi Baez was a couple big games. And Scoobel, kind of living up to some Sy Young expectations. D-back salvaged the last game. Ryan Thompson holds on a nice relay throw.

We love that. We need more relay throws in baseball. Love relay throws. I'll talk to Uncle Rob about that next time I get his ear. Tigers win two out of three. Cardinals take two out of three from the Sox. They won the first two games. Cardinals, are you going to get in the mix this year?

I don't know. But they've had an offense problem. And Lars Neupbar with a couple big games. Nolan Gorman. Like that's what they're going to need to get back involved. Sox, they salvage it on the last day. And Raphael Devers, welcome back to the conversation, man. Five straight games with a ding.

Donger. Rockies. They faced off with the Giants and the Giants sweep. And hey, congrats, Giants. Are the Giants going to go? Are they clicking? Hey, Rockies were hot coming into

this series, so good for them. Zhonghu Lee News. How much does that stink unless you're Luis Matos, who goes off after getting recalled up? And that's what happened in the National League. Oh, Sabrina! Okay. Relax a little bit.

I do have the standings up. I just have to find my page. Here they are. Great job, Poppy. Great job, Bobby. John Hamm. John Hamm. John Ham.

In the NL East, those Phillies, they only beat bad teams. Well, they've beaten a lot of bad teams because they lead all of baseball in wins. They're 34 and 14th. Atlanta, five games back right now at 26 and 16. And then it's everybody else in the division. 21 and 25 for the meds, 20 and 25 for the nationals, and 15 and 33 for the Miami Marlins. They used to be called the Florida Marlins. People forget that.

In the central, Milwaukee, 27 and 19, two games above those cubbies who are 26 and 22. The Pirates, 22 and 26. St. Louis, kind of make a little charge here. 20 and 26. And the Reds at the bottom of the barrel at 19 and 28. And then in the West, those Dodgers, who they just beat everybody, 32 and 17, except for the Padres, who are 24 and 24.

That was a nice little segue by me right there. Sick. The Giants with the sweep, two games under 500 now, 23 and 25. Your snakes, 22 and 25. And then the Rockies at 15 and 31. And those are the standings in the National League. It's great stuff, Trev. Great stuff.

That was all, the standings were brought to you by Tommy Johns, which for the YouTubers, that means, you know, I'm going to be showing my boxers in a second. Trev's Tommy Giant. It's the favorite T.J. in baseball. This is the T.J. You want. Again, I don't need the script because I wear them every day. If you listen to the show, you already know. This isn't BS, people.

I am Jake. I am unfortunately Jake. When I see people in the real word, they say, oh, my, I can't believe you're actually, like, wired that way. Well, fucked up. But They're not wrong I made an adult decision

I was like These are the best underwear I've ever worn I want to wear them every day So that's what I did I ordered a bunch of Tommy John That's what touches this skin And You should give it a shot

How about that Especially if you get 30% off Sitewide right now at Tommyjohn.com slash talking Tommyjohn.com slash talking They have a best pair you'll ever wear It's free guarantee

Okay I mean, that's kind of a big flex. Go click the link in the description. Make an adult... You're going to be so happy when you order Tommy John and then like three days from now you have fresh underwear.

That's such a good feeling in life. Go do it. Tommy John, the absolute best. They also have like other stuff, like sleepwear. I'm not like a big sleepwear guy you have him. Can I see? Yeah, there they are. But they sent me a pair of shorts and a shirt. And every once in a while, like,

I'm like, hey, it's a little... cold. I'm going to get into bed with a shirt on. I usually take it off in the middle of the night as Olivia is just trying to get at me all the time. But it's nice to start there. And then I was looking, let me ask, let me just ask people this. Right. Does anybody wear like actual underwear anymore? Like the, like, you know, like like boxer briefs. It's kind of what everyone wears, right? Yeah. That's what I wear. That's what you wear. I wear the Tommy John boxer. I show them on camera regularly, yes. But like the underwear-shaped underwear, who's rocking those anymore? What do you mean? Like whitey-tides? Is that what you're referencing? Yes, but like they'd have them

in like all their beautiful colors and fabrics, like the cut of that. Yes, like it looks like a woman's bathing suit bottom, but for guys, that that form of underwear. Is anybody rocking that anymore? Um, I mean, tidy-whites are kind of out. They've kind of been out ever since. Beavers, are you briefs? I'm a Tommy John man But what cut do you wear of underwear? Do you wear boxer briefs or do you wear like the boxer brief? Yeah No I...

You guys know what I'm talking about? Yes, no, I think there's... I don't think I've ever worn tidy whiteys. I think tidy whiteys are out. I think that cut of underwear, if a guy rocked, like if a guy really owned a pair, I think it could be a flex. Like, it's a little European.

like you're showing a little more skin on the beach. But yeah, no, that's kind of out. I'm just curious. Yeah, sound off in the comments. Tell us all about your hundies. Trev, how about this? Cubbies and brewers have kind of established themselves atop the NL Central. We talked a lot of NL Central because it's a fun convo.

One of these three teams is going to figure it out, and I don't know which one. And going back to the wild card standings are hilarious. The San Francisco Giants, whose season has felt like a disappointment, they're a game out of the playoffs. Yes. With a four-game win streak. The snakes, whose season has felt pretty much off-kiltre the whole way, they're a game and a half out.

The pirates are two games out of the wild card. And they've got some juice right now. Juice is a real thing. They need guys to hit. So to Cincinnati, so to St. Louis. I think one of them's going to happen, dude, and I don't know. I almost was going to do this as my award, and I was going to call it the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.

Because the Cardinals kind of have the names on the wardrobe. Ellie's kind of a witch. Love that freaking book. I love the three words. Like, I don't even remember the book at all, but I reference it a lot. Gosh, what's the lion's name? Asgar or? Yeah.

Anyways, I kind of want to stop pirates, pirates, because this is interesting to me. You mentioned they're, you know, they're close to a wild crab, I believe they're, what are they sitting right now? 22 and 26, so that what I said? 22 and 26. But you have a guy like Paul Skeen's come up who, uh, it's Aslan, thank you for that. Aslan, the lion. Did you just call me? Yeah.

Uh, you have a guy like Paul Skeens come up. And I know it's two starts in people, but like if you watch this guy pitched, you, you understand, like, he's not going anywhere. He is the deception, the stuff, everything is there. I mean, six innings pitch 11Ks, no hits. Facing a team for the second time in five days, I did this on a broadcast for the Twins. There are stats that say, you know, historically,

the ERA jumps up a quarter of a run when you're facing a team after five days. And Chris Rose asked me that question, before his second start, he goes, what is Paul Skeen's going to do? I say, he's going to be better. Because first start, you're nervous. The ball feels weird in your hands.

It doesn't matter who you are. I know Paul Skeens is a big badass dude who doesn't fear anything, but I promise you, like you get out there first time in the big leagues, like things are a little bit different. Second time, man, he feels a little bit more comfortable. This is what happened.

So now you got a three-headed monster, really, in the rotation. What are you going to do as an organization, you know that you need to go add some offense? Are they going to do that? Are they going to allow Skeens and Jared Jones to pitch the rest of the year? Like what's the plan there? Like you have the makings of a core. Now, what are you going to do to supplement it?

Because we have the expanded playoffs now. You are in the thick of things, even though you have a losing record. Like you're going to get better because you have these guys throwing the ball for you. Like what are you going to do as an organization? What are you going to do? Like that's one of the storylines for me to follow throughout the summer is what are you doing, pirates? Like you can't, you can't be selling and you can't stand pat. You like almost have to go at, right?

Or you're just going to shut these guys down. You're going to give them a taste and it's going to be great and you're going to shut them down at the end of the year. I don't know. I'm not sure exactly which way they're going to go. I guess pirate fans let us know if that's been out in the media or anything. But they're one of, if not the most interesting teams in the league to me right now because of these guys they have throwing the ball for them. Skeens is a fucking menace.

I'm so excited to see the next steps. And yeah, Pirates, I don't know. It's an interesting question, Trev, because they need offense. They need offense. So if they add, but you can't add, like, rentals. So they're 22 and 26 right now. So you wonder if there's a long, like, two and a half year guy out there that they can say you can be a part of our core.

But we talk about cores in baseball, the Toronto conversation from a minute ago. It can happen oddly quick. So when you've got a little bit of lightning right now with this pitching staff, you'd love to see them. All three of these teams need to hit. Some of the red stats are atrocious. And Ellie Dale Cruz is one of the breakout stars of the year. but McLean was so huge for them.

Friedel and Conaccio and Strand, all three of those guys are hurt right now. Mike Ford's in the middle of their lineup, which not to be a knock on Mike Ford, but he's been like a vagabond around the league when you're, like when you're really hunting for offense, Mike Ford gets thrown in your lineup, Yankees, Mariners, Reds. That I don't know. Seeing the Cardinals hit this weekend, one of these teams is going to be a 500 team,

and that means you're a part of the season. I just don't know which one. I'm looking at the Pirates' rankings right now. They're offensive rankings. And 26 in average, 26 in OEP, 27 in OPS, 24th and run scored. Their bullpen hasn't been great either. So like, but these are all things you can address throughout the season. I mean, the bullpen help is readily available during the year.

Like there's always guys that always, there's always teams wanting to capitalize on a guy having a good year in the bullpen. So, you know, go do that. And then, yeah, I don't, I'm trying to think of like a. good offensive fit for them. Really, it's like anybody. Just like anybody that can drive and runs. I've got him. I just stumbled into something.

Okay. You know, I know I just said no rentals. What about a little homecoming for Josh Bell? Run it back. Put him at first base. It's a guy you know. Like, what's his price tag right now? And it's what you and Jimmy talked a little bit.

It's what we've been trying to bring. Like, trade now. Like, imagine if you're the Pittsburgh Pirates. You just called up Paul Skeens. You just added a guy who has the chance to be a premier pitcher in baseball this year. That does something to a clubhouse. If your front office went out and got you a Josh Bell right now for a 19-year-old in low A, God, that would change the juice, man.

Jazz Chisholm Josh Bell package. Go. I don't know about all that. Why? Why not? Why not? I think that'd be great for them. You know the Marlins are going to be selling? Who's on the White Sox that's going to be sold? I don't know.

Could Andrew Vaugh use a change of scenery? Eloy? Again, this is, it's tough because if you're the pirates, I don't know. Come on, pirates? I don't know what their front office thinks their timeline is. But having Jared Jones and Skeens and the majors thrown bullets means the timeline's begun. Don't forget about Mitch.

You know I don't forget about Mitch. Okay. That got a little H. Let's see, Triv. What's that? Heavy? Yeah. Yeah.

It's a heavy combo all right. Let's see. I mean, there's a lot of good action. I guess topic was... Bauders Atlanta is in an amazing series, but we only got two games out of the few games. I know. They're going to...

Watch what happens since. And I, Padres going off, they are feeling themselves. Um, you Darvish. Um, I don't, are we talking about him later? I don't think anyone's talking about him later. Congrats. Two under combined wins. He's been freaking absolutely nasty.

Um, I like the Padres a lot, dude. Okay. Okay. I've found, I found the, how I wanted to do this of, because of the teams that are kind of in the 500 range. Like, you know, I'm, looking in the AL, the Texas Rangers, the defending champs. Yeah.

You know, Tampa has kind of climbed up slightly above that. Your twins, we talked about, they're hot and cold. Like, even if you want to throw Giants, debacks. Of the 500 teams, are the Padres the best right now? Is that why Padre fans are feeling kind of good? Yeah, I'm looking now. I'm looking now. I think, yeah, as currently constructed, I think so.

Like Texas, getting back some pitching will be awesome for them. I think they have the potential, obviously, to go on massive runs with the offense that they have. And what's Seeger doing right now? I don't think he's...

Okay. Looking this up right now. It's as bad as I thought. 7.09 OPS. Like, that's not going to be there throughout the year. So, like, he's going to go. I would say probably Padres Rangers

for that 500 kind of crew. I'm just a big believer in the podgers. I think they kind of have, they have the formula, man. Like they really, really do. You know, I think there's the, some teams we talk about like the moxie and like the attitude of the team

and we use it against them. I think that their attitude kind of suits them well this year for some reason. And you have the superstars and you have the guys that are, you know, giving them great seasons as well like ProFar and Merrill, you're getting the pitching. It's all there for them.

It's just go out and win baseball games, get into the playoffs and go. Like this is, to me, they're a playoff team. And I think we got asked that. I think we talked about that not too long ago. Like snakes or Padres, who do you believe in more this year? And I think the Padres have won me over in that regard big time. Yeah, you wonder how much we're letting the Arias trade affect us?

but the vibes just feel a little different, and vibes actually matter. I think that's something we talk about on talking baseball, but at the same time, like, I'm so scared. They're playing the Braves for two today. Like, we could wake up tomorrow, and it's Braves won two ball games, Padres, two games under. But I don't know.

I mean, what pro far has been all year is insane. Darvish. Yeah, I don't know. If baseball had a mid-season tournament, like the NBA added, I think the Padres would be like our sexy pick right. Ooh, I like that. Yeah. Eighth and OPS, seventh in runs.

They're hitting homers. They're stealing bags offensely. They're getting the job done. I mean, like, this is there. I know they've made moves already, many moves already. But you expect more out of them because that's just what Preller does. I'm in on this team, big time. Hey, I'll say something that'll maybe ruffle feathers.

Okay. You Darvish Hall of Fame? Like, it's a baseball Hall of Fame. It's not just major leagues. And, like, 200 professional wins? I think it is the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, I think. Pro Baseball Hall of Fame? I don't know.

I'll double check that because then I could be wrong. Yeah, I don't think, like, the Jazz League. Japanese stars are in the Hall of Fame. It's the National Baseball Hall of Fame. What's national name? What does national mean? Of the nation, I believe. That's what it means.

Okay, I'm looking at the career numbers now. This is a nice little exercise here. He's got 12 years, 107 wins. The wins thing is whatever. I mean, I used to get you, Hall of Fame. Strikeouts. We are at almost 2,000. 1975

he's got how many more years does he have on his contract? He's adding. He re-uped, dude. At least four. He's on the book still 2028. I'm going to say like no, but I don't know, man.

I actually don't, my barometer on like what a starting pitcher needs to do to get in the Hall of Fame is, I don't know. I'm just, I don't, I haven't paid attention to that, I guess. I know it's like 3,000 strikeouts.

The 300 wins will never, happen again. What else do you need to do as a starting pitcher? Like, what's, I know the benchmarks for a hitter. What are the benchmarks for a pitcher? Do I just mention both of them? Yeah, for me, it's, if we, if we allow his history overseas where he had a hundred sixty-four starts and had a one-nine-90 RA, like, I don't know if you Darvish had

pitched a couple of those years over here. I don't think you add that into it. You don't do that. It's the national baseball hall thing. America's pastime, you. 275 games started here in the States. Just keep throwing it, man. Let me whatever.

Force the issue. Good socials guy. Do we need to, do you text Jack Flaherty at all? I didn't. I was going to do it and say, what the fuck is going on out there? Then I kind of read up more about it. What's a very interesting thing for them?

First off, shout out Tigers is taking the series. good for them. But the more and more I read about, the more and more like I'm on Jack's side and like I, and that Tori had some quotes about it. Like he said that I could handle one thing, but this wasn't,

this was more than one thing. And like, okay, what was the other things? Was Jack just looking at you wrong? Was he talking shit about other stuff? Like basically, if you didn't see what happened, uh,

Jack's pitching, you know, I'm actually shocked this doesn't happen more often in the big leagues, but the mound is a thing. You start to dig into the mound with your cleats and you create holes. And apparently Zach Gallen, who it was his home field, didn't like the holes that Jack was making with his cleats. So every single inning he was having the ground screw fill those holes and tamp it down. And then something happened. I don't know.

They came back and that, I don't know what inning it was, but it was against Gallen and Manifax. to apply tigers take the lead and then it's this what you're seeing on the screen right now Bannister with those tatted up Bannister Yeah I'm not fighting Jeff Bannister No I played for him Holy smokes training no big deal He's a guy I liked him a lot actually

He was like exactly like I liked him as a manager Like he was stirred and like I liked it But this yeah I don't Jack after the game was like I've never had anybody complain about my mound before. Like, I don't know what was different about today. And he's like, I don't care.

You can change the mound and whatever he wants. Like, what, you know. So I honestly, I guess I should text him and try to get to the bottom of it. Or you can text Tori and get to the bottom of it. And then we'll see whose story, how they add up together. Maybe we'll do our own kangaroo court. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah, the pitching mound thing is interesting because I was debating if we should do it as a topic. but Sixthos Sanchez, remember the ace of the Marlins who went missing for four years, and now he's back. Sixtho Sanchez currently has a 1980 ERA. That's not a year. One 9.80 ERA in the first inning. A 1-88 in every other inning. So I was going to ask about, like, pitching, first inning nightmares.

Could we see this sometimes? And I think the answer is usually it's. just like getting adjusted to the mound and what stuff you have that year and you're facing the best hitters I do think that matters but yeah I'm surprised there aren't more pitcher fights because if you're

if you know this if you don't like a hole it can be uncomfortable well it's supposed to be you're not supposed to have big holes essentially like that's kind of the answer here like if the ground screw is taking care

of business and like the mound is is doing or is laid the way it's supposed to. Oh my gosh, I'm getting a little double entendre here. If the clay is right, you shouldn't be getting big holes, essentially. And I guess that's what was going on here. So shout out the grounds crew, like, or maybe Jack Flaherty just got big old feet,

big heavy feet or something, you know. Jack Flaherty has heavy feet. John Hamm, Jack Flaherty. What do they have on? Sound off in the comments. A couple other just quick hitter notes for me. Well, A, James Outman gets sent down for the Dodgers. Baseball comes at you fast, man.

Crazy with the year he looked together. Here's Andy Paez. Red's note, if you're someone who's got a little redstock, which you know I do. One in 11 in one-run games this year. That's, you know, can that change or can that not change? What was the other thing that jumped out to me? Oh, I like Devers going nuts.

Like Devers used to be in the conversation of best young hitters in baseball and I feel with the Red Sox fading and he had a tough second half, those combos kind of left. So him going nuts, I like to see that. Nice to see the Cardinals also put up some offensive numbers. That's what they've been lacking all season long.

Here they go. You know, you can't hold those guys down, I guess they did last year. You know, full season, but, but got to keep going. I can't say like you've totally changed things over the last two series. I need to see more of it. This is a good series win against a good baseball team in the Boston Red Sox.

Hey, you guys called out Katie Wu for saying that, you know, the Cardinals might have turned the corner. Maybe they're turning the corner. Katie Wu was just hesitant to say it. Just like I am too. Like, hey, we need to see more out of these Cardinals. I mean, again, I picked them to win the NL Central. Did we declare them dead?

Ooh. I don't think so. I think white sacks are the only ones who've got. I think I announced, I'm over the Cardinals until they show me a winning product, because I haven't seen that in a couple years. So I can't just look at the jerseys. Remember the line in which the wardrobe was the Cardinals, because some of those names on the jerseys, bro.

I like those names, but they need to show me a winning. brand of baseball before I can get into them at all. Okay. That's fair enough. Fair guy. Metz Marlins, like the Diaz situation. You don't want to talk about that? Yeah, actually I do.

I'm sorry. Like, I don't know, man. That was tough. I'd love, if I'm being real, which that's when we're at our best. Yeah. I'd love to do an hour and a half show on guys being sad in the locker room because I know it's a topic you and I have discussed a little bit

but just like real feelings man like grown men in a locker room playing for a career playing for a family now Edwin you know he's got the contract he doesn't have to worry about some of that stuff but you know this is a guy that started crying in his his press conference like that's tough man I think you think about it as this. You wasted a whole season last year. Like he got taken away from you and that sucks. And then this year you come and like the team is not doing great and you're struggling.

And I think a lot of it is built up from last year. Like there's a lot of this like, hey man, I wanted to come back and just be the guy that I was. Hasn't been that way for him. I believe they did announce like they're going to put them in some like more low leverage situations until he figures it out. Jolly Olive is. is saying can we do an Alec Manoa type thing

and send him or do you say Alec Manoa or Jose Abray either one not categories you want to be put in with your you know

all-star closer we don't need to talk about feelings but he hasn't got the job done man it's the life of our lever is so volatile save a few man

like if he hadn't have put up the numbers he did in 2022 the 2022 or 2021 where he was just absolutely lights out I think it was 22 we'd be saying he's a reliever man like things like this happen from time to time

you have really bad stretches as a reliever like it's such a volatile position I do feel bad for him I do I think both the brothers got roughed up this this weekend I still remember this is going to be a little lame

So I'll jake a little bit. A, one of the funnier stories of John Boy Media is when we brought on Jerry Blevins, asked Peter Moylan, I was like, hey, you know Jerry? Like, is this a guy we should bring in the mix? And he was like, one of the best people you'll meet, awesome dude, blah, blah, blah. Six months later in Arizona, or whenever it was, we did the spring training house. Peter introduced himself to Jerry. They hadn't met before.

And Peter, like, vouched for him like they were in the same battalion. And it's relievers, dude. Relievers are united because it's a brutal life, man. Like, we've done this a couple times, but I want everyone to actually think about it. You come in for one inning. A, is there a hole on the mountain?

That's something. B, if you're bad in that first inning, which starting pitchers get a game to figure it out, if you're bad in that one inning, you might have lost your team the game. And hey, we might need you the next day. If you're sore, you're not feeling so hot. I mean, that's, Peter Moyland was like, dude, picture me.

I'm a fucking Australian doing anything to hang on in this league. Hey, you need me to throw today? Yeah, my arm feels like it's going to fucking fall off, but I'll give you an inning, skip. Like, relieve your life, when you, you actually dive in, man. It's kind of gnarly. Yeah, and if you do your job and you take three innings,

your bulk and you do your job, but you can't pitch because you just do three innings, it might send you down. Right. We're doing your job. It's a tough, it's a tough business. The Mets, man. You got Steve Cohen coming out and tweeting and deleting,

talking about that, and then I think they've lost a lot of games. What are they, like, seven under the last 10 games or something like that? All right, standout performance. Hey, what about... What about... Eat Alonzo. Oh.

Going to the Pirates. Rental. Oh, God. Okay. That drop was brought to you by the farmer's dog. Hey, I've got a dog noodle. And he gets sent the farmer's dog once a month, and it's his favorite day.

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How about a deal? 50% off your first box and free shipping. Great time to give them a try. Click the link in the description and go check out the farmer's dog. And go check out. Standout performances. Where are you going, Poppo? This has been like a sad episode.

So like an emotional sad episode. I'm going to go with something like that made me feel good. Okay. How about Walker Bueller? Okay. Sixth innings pitch, three hits, no one runs, seven Ks, he gets the W. It's his first W in like two years. He talked about it after the game.

Second Tommy John, you know, that's a long time to be on the shelf, working your way back. And getting that first victory at home, kind of like feeling like yourself again, has to feel so good. And, you know, I know that he, we always call him the Moxie King. doesn't give a shit about anything, but this is more of like the humanizing effect. Like he's been through some shit. The IL sucks. Tommy John sucks.

Rehabing sucks. Walker Beeler does not suck and I'm happy to see him back. Like the Dodgers needed another toy. Here he comes. But I'm just happy, man. When you see a guy go through all that, finally get his first win and pitch the way he did, oh, that's cool to see.

It got me a little bit. Emotional. Yeah, it's when you start dreaming of this Dodgers team come the end of the year. You know, Walker Bueller, Moxie King, what does he look like at the end of the year? And this was a big start. Go on. Can I do one more? Yeah.

Just real quick. Oh, wow. So love that. Show to Imenaga. Yeah, dude. The numbers on the year. You're not doing him as an award, are you? No.

Okay. 5 and 0.84. He's 53 and two-thirds innings pitch. He's got a 0.9 whip. This guy has just been out of this world, Jake. Out of this world. I'm so excited for them. And the freaking Cubs, man.

Team options, 26, 27, 28 on this guy. Right? God, I'd love to see the our clips of that, the Shoda signing. Like, oh, he's probably not good if he didn't get paid. He don't throw hard. Just his story. Historically good.

Okay, there's a player option. You talk about Moxie King. We need to get into this contract now because I thought it said just a team option, but there's also a player option, so I guess it's a mutual option, so it's only two years? Maybe it's one of those.

Like they can opt in for four, but if they don't, he can opt in for two. I'll look into it. $20 million team option, $15 million player option. Which one would? more money? Team.

So that was, if Shoda's good, he declines his player option, but the Cubs can opt in and pay him more. Team can unlock a $57 million club option after 2025, which would be $20,000, 10 mil, $20 million. If decline, the player can exercise a $15 million player option for 26.

If the 2226 team options, so they can do this again, and the player can unlock a $42 million. No. if the 26 team option is declined, but player exercised the team then gets another chance to re-up the next year, $42 million, which would be 24, then 18.

And if that's declined, the player can do 15 again? Hey, can I ask a dumb question? Any of Sigh-Young escalators? And Ricky the year escalators. Who's the last dude that's come over from Japan and has been bunt? A pitcher or hitter? Here's a current list of Japanese players in the MLB.

This is from nipone.com in Japan. Usakakuchi, been better. Like, definitely not bad. No, Yoshida, Kenta Mayeta, Kodai Senga, Fuji is the only guy that's like, whatever, but he was supposed to be kind of whatever. Like that was the whole... And the stuff is still cool. He pitched playoff innings.

Somebody will solve that. Sayas Suzuki, Shoda Imanaga, Shoheyotani, Yamamoto, Yu Darvish, Yuki Matsui. I'm thinking it might be Nishioka. Siyoshi Nishioka, who stole my number. 2011, 2012 had a negative 2.3 war. He was like a god in Japan. came over just wasn't he wasn't for the American game

how about that uh yeah i'm glad you shouted out shodah um because again it's historic and like we mentioned that and then we kind of move on sometimes so you don't mention it for another couple weeks and like he he deserves the love and good for Walker bueller um Walker bueller Trevor i'm I'm gonna go Kyle Tucker uh okay

I think O for 3, 3 punches, changes the arm sleeve and the cleats, obviously, mid-game. He's not a green-cleet guy. Dude, Kyle Tucker's-flashy, be yourself. Kyle Tucker's whatever he wants to be, man. You want a stolen base? You want defense? You want to throw? You want the most...

Sometimes you've got to take a chance, right, I guess. You want the most homers in the American League? He led an RBI last year. Like, Kyle Tucker, man, he has three war. He's one of the best players in the American League. Again, he does this year and year out. He's like outfields Jose Ramirez. And again, I looked at the wild card standings for the first time this year.

The Houston Astros, who have been kind of all-time bad for them, or at least recently, you know, three and a half games out of a while. card. There's a lot of baseball to be played. And that Astros' offense has been humming, and now Verlanders' back. Like, Kyle Tucker's really good. This is my twice a year, Kyle Tucker's really good speech. Better than you think. He's from the skateboard capital of the world, Tampa, Florida. Sure is. No. H.B. Plant High. Same high school, I think Wade Boggs. Oh, I love that for you. Yeah. Love that for you.

Yeah. Tampa Roots. Here's his OPSs, OPS pluses, excuse me, since he had, let's just give him his first full season, 2021, 147, 129, 144, and this year it's at 197. It's a good player. 27 years old. Free agent after next year. It's a big number. Isn't that crazy? Think about this.

Think about this. Here we go. This guy's been all world, right? A stud. Absolutely awesome. And I'm not saying this is going to have. happen. I'm just saying it could be anybody. But let's say he goes out and has like a bad year next year or like maybe gets hurt. Right. I don't even know where I was going with that. No, you got to do it again next year to really maximize his pay. This is what I'm essentially saying. It's crazy. As good as he's been. You still got to do it. To get to free agency is hard, man, in the big leagues. And to hit free agency and have year after year after year after year of success is even harder. He's about to do it. If I ever. If the players union could figure out a way to get in contracts,

to allow guys to opt out a year before their free agency, I've dreamt this on the show before. I don't know, you'd need teams to get reimbursed with it with either draft picks or something. But like, if Kyle Tucker keeps this pace up this year, and he, like, won dots, he finished fifth in the MVP last year, let's say he finishes third this year, if he had some sort of like

opt out of now now now hit free agency now button like he would be guaranteed like almost 300 million I don't know and you're right like he can I'd hate to say this as a verb

a noun Michael Conforto like go look up his years leading up to free agency if he has another nine dot year he has hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. He's been doing like kind of one year opt-out deals. It's never going to happen because what they

would say is, hey, can we have money back if you play poorly? Yeah. It's a tough count. Do we reject this contract? Uh. If it could not hit... You're out. You're out of the players association. That would be... If teams could take it

off their books. It's a luxury tax, but the player still gets the actual dollars? Because he can't. I'm like an... Every five years amnesty cause. Can't take money out of guys' pockets. Guys hate them. It's not time to talk CBA. No, no. We're in, we've got a couple years. Do you know what time it is, though?

I sure do. That's part of the show. Dirt nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby, like Waco. I might have partaken in some nameless last night. Just saying as I was watching Maverick. Anyways, for the series, I mean, for life, Gunner Henderson, five for 12, three homers, four runs driven in.

So a lot of solo homers there for the 1.833 in the three game series against Seattle. Jake Myers, Jake. Yeah. Jake Myers. Right here. 7 for 12, a double two homers, five runs driven in. He also got hit by a pitch for a 1.7. That was against Milwaukee.

How about Hobby Buy? As we mentioned him, had a good series. 8 for 13. That's a 615 batting average. Four doubles. He had seven runs driven in. Here's how good Hobby Baez in this series. He entered the series with a 167 average

and a 422 OPS after the series, Jake. He got over the Mendoza line. 209 average in a 524 OPS. So he raised his OPS over 100 points in one series. It's still that time of year, people. Still that time of year. And Matt Chapman, who I was going to give my standout. I believe he got.

He reached base 11 times in a row. That's pretty good. He went 8 for 10. What's the average there, Jake? 1, 200. Yes. Four doubles, two runs driven in, seven runs scored.

Two stolen bases for the two-daughter. You don't see too many two-daughters around there, but he two-dotted it. For the week, you mentioned Luis Matos. John Huli, sorry, man, that's freaking sucks. I really like watching you play. Big fan of yours. But like you mentioned, Luis Matos,

10 for 26, three doubles, two homers. 16 runs driven in for the week. 16 people. He's tied with 2013 Chris Davis with a C, not the K, for the most RBIs by a player in his first six games with the played appearance of a season. That's since 1920. Raphael Devere has won 8 for 29 with five homers.

We mentioned that. 7th Boston player to Homer in five straight games. The first since? Yep. Ted Williams. Who do I want you to say? Justin Turner Bobby Dalbeck

Oh Bobby In 2020 he did it We've all tried to get 2020 out of our life In our memory 2020 Bobby Dalbeck hit five straight games with a homer Yeah don't you remember that? He was like guy kind of

That was the season Jimmy likes to joke they had a ghost running the team I about Luke Rayleigh going 11 for 24 during the week Two novels, two homers, five runs driven in, two stolen bases, two, two, two. I like that, Luke, really. And then this is the list you want to be on. And you're going to like this, both you and Bieber.

For the two weeks, Aaron freaking judge. What's up, Paters? 17 for 41, that's a 415 average, 7 doubles, 6 homers, 12 runs driven in, 12 runs scored, 12 walks. So he went with the 12, 12, 12, 12, which is nice. Who's number 12 in Yankee lore? It's a one that's been a revolving door. Oh, really? ICF.

That's a pretty low number. It hasn't been claimed for the Hall of Fame or the, okay. Podge Rodriguez had it in his stint. So 11. 11 is next up and they saved that for Volpe. So we'll see. And then 12 would be on deck. There's fantasies on Twitter people having Dominguez get it.

Hmm. Yankees stink, huh? Yankees stink. Oh. It's the best. We already talked about. you Darvish. He went 3-0 in these two weeks, 19nings, pitched seven hits, 21Ks. How about nowhere and runs? I'm not going to go up any earned runs.

Is that okay with you guys? Do you know what his ERA is through those three? Hey guys, sorry, Fowell got corrupted here. That's, that's on me. I think I fixed it. Hopefully the rest of the episode it wasn't noticeable. It looked good on my end. Anyway, Matt Strom's ERA over that period is zero. Love you. Strom is the scoreless streak of 18 and 2 3rd consecutive innings and now has 30 strikeout. with one walk on the season. That, like, gets me going. Yeah.

When relievers don't walk, guys, I'm in. Yeah. And that's who's in Fuego. Great stuff, Trev. And the good news is, from our best segment to our worst segment, the IL, there's really not much there. Max Muncie goes on the aisle, Keaton Wincher, Renhifo, so Lair's back, he mulled a couple balls.

Jason Hayward, man, his body is just, like, super impressive. like watch him track down a couple balls. Byron Buxton and Greyrod. So, hey, a couple teams in the mix getting some reinforcements. Can we start everyone's week? Rock pair scissors, she goes first. Just rock paper go. Rock paper go?

I saw you do rock and I still did it. It's rock paper scissors shoot. Anyways, I'm going to give out the Boring Brooms Award. Trev, I didn't, you know, sometimes I have an award plan. Sometimes I saved my award to see what we missed. So I can hit something or highlight something. You know, we got... What was it today?

We got tasty about the Yanks for a little bit. The Yank, oh, these are the best. Who's going to be number 12? There's been a clear best team in the National League this year that swept someone. We didn't really talk about it. And it's the Philadelphia Phillies. and can I tell you what? That's a really good sign

that if you're the Phillies, it's May 20th, you're sweeping people and we kind of shrug at it. That means you guys have been disgusting and they have been. And I mentioned Cody Clemens before. He, yes, Roger's son, which I think sometimes,

if you're like a famous athlete's kid and you're not that great, except Brony. Oh, he's a little rude. He's going to break out. Like Cody Clemens wasn't a top prospect. We saw him get some run and it was like, oh, you know, he's kind of bad with the Tigers.

In 11 games, he's been bawling out this year, a 1.166 OPS. 28 years old gives the Phillies a little juice. Alec Bohm had another 5-RBI game. The fight in fills. And Trev, you said the number when you did the state. standings. Five games up on Atlanta? Okay. Okay. Um, they're number one in runs scored. They are number one in starting pitching ERA. Pretty good formula. They're, um, I've been saying this

a lot this year, but it's just kind of like making sense to me in the baseball world. Like, you just have to have good teams, have guys step up for them. And, and Marsh and Bome the way they've been going and stock the way he's been going. Like they're they're such a complete roster man. I'm big time on the Phillies. I quite often reference their clubhouses like it's awesome. It's a great place to be a player. You know, you got Nick Cassiano's giving quotes.

You got him and Kyle Gibson when the whole Bone thing went down like what they did for him. They turned him from like someone. that everyone fucking hated to say, saying the right thing, say the right thing, kid,

you're going to be loved, and now look what's happened with him. But, what's his name? Okay. On Lovina, I record,

Mark DeRosa, managed the WBC team, and he talked about Swarber and JT. Routo and Trey Turner, and he's like, that's the club outside want to be,

and these guys are so professional. They understand everything, like how to be big leaguers, and it emanates when you watch this team play. Like, they are, They're legit.

Like hearing you say emanate. Yeah, and I mean, obviously they went out and got a lot of those guys you mentioned, but, dude, Bowman Stott. Go look at those dudes' pages and what they're doing. And that's before you get to, like, the whole pitching staff, which has been unreal. Ranger Suarez, Chris Sanchez, like Nola Wheeler, obviously. Phillies are stacked, man.

Phillies are stacked. They're my World Series pick. Okay, I think. I think, yeah, it's going to be, with all the excitement in Yankee land, the thing I've been tempering, tapering my excitement? Tapering. You temper your excitement.

Yeah. You tempered chocolate. Oh, now we're talking. These teams are going to change so much. Like the whole NL Central speech, like, like Paul Skiske. I don't know. Like, injuries and just performance is going to change with so many teams and players that I'm excited and nervous for that. Who's your award going to, Tram?

Is Paul Skeen's going to get a contract this year? I think that man is just going to wait until free agency. Why? Because I think he's going to get super paid. If I would say him, I would take my 300 million right now, and I would just continue dating Libby Dunn. going fastballs down people's throats. And I'd be a happy man. I'd be a happy man.

Okay. I don't really have a name for my award. I don't really even have like a fun story to go with it. It's just something that happened that was very, very impressive. So it's like, I'm going to call this my, I like it long award. Okay. Okay. Okay.

I have like a little something. John Ham. I was thinking about doing this. John Ham, Jack Flaherty, Trevor Plupe. What do they have in common? when you when you work all day and I haven't had I haven't had a job that's made me do this necessarily I'm talking like a I used to clean pools of my dad right all the time and we went almost every single day of the summer when we weren't playing baseball we're working my dad

and there's just something about like a long day's work when you're done you just feel good about yourself like damn I just did it man and it's over and now and now I get to reap the benefits of a of a hard work day. I'm going to go home. You like eat a nice dinner. Like I know a lot of people listening to the show. Like they go through that quite often. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass and it sucks.

But when you put the work in and then you get rewarded for it, I don't know if there's a better feeling. I think it's part of the, I think, I think that feeling, so many baseball fans have that. Because when that 7 p.m. game starts, it's kind of the signal like, I've made it. yeah oh okay yeah all right i'm in the middle of my award but here we are yeah so like that a long day's work you get rewarded there's just there's just something about that um we had a couple guys over the weekend go to work in their bets william contraris had in a bat against justin verlander it went 13 pitches fastball curveball fastball fast ball, curveball, curveball,

curveball, fastball, change up. Fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball. Verlander was trying to gas him up there at the end of that at bat. And he fouled off, one, two, three, four forcing fastballs in a row. Most of them were up and away in the strike zone. And then he gets one up over the middle of the strike zone on that 13th pitch and crushes a three-run homer

to give the Brewers the lead. So he works that long at bat, gets it done, hits the homer, William Contreras, you're a fucking stud. I had to throw you in this award, but the real guy I wanted to give the award to is Jose Ramirez. Because he also had a bat against my Bailey Ober, the nightmare. They went 12 pitches. And it went fastball, fastball, cutter, fastball, cutter, curve,

cutter, change up, cutter, fastball, fastball, then he gets the change up over the middle of the plate and deposits it. It's a two-run homer. J-Ram does his thing. Do you know how many times he's done that this year? Three. Three times.

He's had a 10-plus pitch at bat end in a homer, dude. Yeah. Think about that. You're working. You're battling pitches. These at-bats are, you feel good about them pretty much either way it goes at the end of them, but you'd rather win them.

It's like one of those, I don't know. He wins the abat against over. He's done it three times. And I think that he embodies, Jose Ramirez embodies those type of abats, dude. Like, continuing to battle and to foul pitches off. Like he had, let's see,

he fouled the fourth pitch off. He fouled the fifth pitch off. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, all foul balls until he finally got one in the middle of the strike zone and deposited it. And I just, I don't know, man. I just think it's so cool. It was on his bobblehead,

right. Putting in that work and then getting the reward at the end of it is awesome. And you ruin the pitchers day. Like Bailey over after that is like, fuck, man. I just wasted 13 pitches

and I gave up a homer. Like it ruins pitchers freaking days when you have a longer bat like that and you do it. So I wanted to give a shout out to him because again, I feel like that is what he embodies there in Cleveland, man.

Just putting the work and putting the work, and putting the work in and getting the reward three times this year. There's been six instances in the big leagues this year that's happened, Jake, and he has three of them. So snaps for Jose Ramirez. And Williams-Gencheris,

anti-France, you all set along at bat this weekend, but you didn't hit a Homer. I think you had a double at the end of it. Jose Ramirez, just a reminder. Top 10 in MVP voting six of the last seven seasons. currently off to like a bad start for him. He's got bold on his page.

A bold that we've got over with analytics, it's still very important. Runs batted in. Jose Ramirez, leading the AL and runs batted in. And William Contreras, another stat I like that's a little old school, he leads the National League and runs scored. How about that? There's got to be some trivia there.

When's the last time a catcher led the league and runs scored? I'll sick our nerds on it or comment below. Chris Rose probably knows it off the top of his head. So he's, so, Johnny Bench. More on Ramirez, he's had six homers in his career with 10 pitches or more. Like that's, that's gangster stuff right there. Only one other Cleveland player has even two

such homers. That's Casey Blake. And there's just two other big leaguers who have more than six such homers. And these guys are awesome, Grindr or a bat type guys. Todd Helton has eight and Paul Canerico has seven. Those are guys you want to be mentioned with. Good ball players. So shout out, Jose. Trevor. My dad. Yeah. I shouted my dad out. Yeah. And your pool man days. Trevor, I love you.

Love it too. Go watch baseball today with Trevor Ploof. Go watch ball and play with BBD and Trevor Plouf. Yes. Subscribe. We love you guys. We'll see you for the midweek. A little suck. It's a little suck.

David Fletcher went from cool knuckleball vid to different headlines. David Fletcher. David Better.