Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - First MLB Sweep Week of 2024 | MLB Recap | 827

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Use code TALKIN10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN10*Up to $25 offRefine your style with @cutsclothing and get 20% off with code TALKIN at https://www.cutsclo...thing.com/TALKIN ! #cutspartnerGet 50% your first box at https://thefarmersdog.com/talkinEnjoy 10% off all officially licensed MLB® MOVA Globes when you use code TALKB10 at: https://bit.ly/talkinbaseballmova Valid through Oct. 31.++++Timestamps:0:00 Intro3:00 Sports Equinox4:20 American League & National League Recap9:10 Standings Check12:00 Important Picture13:30 Orioles Beat the Royals22:10 Guardians Sweep A's26:05 Can You Dig Yourself Out of a Hole?27:25 The Twins Have Dug Themselves a Hole, Lose to Detroit31:25 Tigers Bullpen is Nasty32:10 Mets Beat the Dodgers!36:40 Blake Snell vs. Jordan Montgomery38:15 Cubs and Marlins Split39:20 Brewers SWEEP Cardinals44:20 Interleague Recap48:35 Say Spencer Turnbull's Name49:45 Braves vs. Rangers Heavyweight Matchup51:30 Red Sox & Blue Jays Impressing57:20 Reds Sweep Angels, EDLC is Fully Going58:50 CRAZY Fan Interference Call1:01:20 It's Time For Houston to Panic1:09:05 Steven Kwan Has Been AWESOME1:10:45 Travis d'Arnaud 3-Homer Game!1:13:40 En Fuego & Roger Clemens1:21:00 Injury Updates1:23:45 Orioles are the Best at Drafting1:32:05 Jackson Holliday is STRUGGLING1:34:00 Obi-Wan Kenobi Award: Justin Verlander Looked GOOD 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Did we have our first sweep week of the year? A lot of teams went to work. And Trev, the standings, we're seeing a little bit of separation. It's early. It's early. Let's talk ball. Oh, it's a right field.
Starting point is 00:00:28 Flipped. Foul ball. Foul tip. It's a foul tip. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Presented to you by Seatgeek. My name's Jake Storeeally. That is Trevor Plouf.
Starting point is 00:00:40 That is Big Baby David Mendelson. And we want to thank our presenting sponsor. Seat Geek. Thank you to Seekkeek for being with us. Go see some of the beautiful baseball being played around this great nation. And new special offer. Talkin' 10. Gets you 10% off.
Starting point is 00:01:02 So if you've already used one of Seat Geek's awesome promos, You're back because sometimes they're first time users. No, this is just on the table. Code Talking 10. Save yourself 10% off your next order. That goes through April. So if you're going to see if Trev's twins can write the ship, if you're going to see if our Yanks can keep it going.
Starting point is 00:01:27 If you want to see what the heck's going out in Cleveland or Houston, different ends of the spectrum, go check it out with Seek. Trevor, how are you, my good man? Jacob and Bieber, it's great to see you on this Monday morning. I'm doing fine. I had a fun weekend in Vegas. I got home yesterday to watch Teddy play two games, SoCal Padres, he went one in one.
Starting point is 00:01:51 Okay. I love watching him play and the youth baseball world. These guys, they just are having fun out there. And it takes me back a little bit, man. So, you know, I'm trying to watch as much Major League Baseball. as I can, but I'm falling in with the youth game, man. It's awesome. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Starting point is 00:02:14 Jake, how are you doing, though? Good. I'm good. I told you that before the show. The black shirt, which we'll talk about later, but your skin looks good. Bies are popping. I'm having a decent hair week. I think we're at a good level right now. Yesterday was a pretty special hair day for me.
Starting point is 00:02:30 Those are, you know, I'd say twice a year. It just kind of gets fluffy and nice, and everyone's like, Jake, do that. Today's just okay, but we'll take okay. And yeah, man, I'm, dude, it's like a sport. I'm calling it the sports equinox. I mean, basketball and NHL playoffs, man. Those are always a good flip.
Starting point is 00:02:52 Baseball is fully into it. NFL drafts this week that like... Big boxing match this week. Yeah, I kind of got into that. How about Garcia won some people some money, plus 550? Okay. Now you're speaking my language. So yeah, man, you know I'm a sports junkie,
Starting point is 00:03:12 and even in between all that went to a Broadway show this weekend. And Juliet, it was really good. So I'm just a man of class, dude. I will say, you know what, I'll get a quick laugh out of everyone. We go to this Broadway show on 420. Do take a nibble before I go in there. Have a couple glasses of red wine, because again, I'm a worldly fellow. And the lead, who played Juliet, she crushed her performance.
Starting point is 00:03:40 I got a little teary-eyed for her. I was proud of her. So Jess turned to me. And yeah, eyes are just full bloodshot red from crying and gummies and wine as I'm enjoying the performance on Broadway. So a little window into my world. It's either super hot or just a huge turnoff. I'm not sure yet.
Starting point is 00:04:04 I think with how red my eyes got, I think it's turnoff. But, yeah, you know, I'm an emotional guy, Trev. And I love ball. So let's talk some ball. I might, uh, it's a huge interleague, so I might cram together some AL and NL. And we'll, we'll hit it hard. Oh, Vegas, baby. Trev, speaking of hitting it hard, we are starting off two young, fun teams.
Starting point is 00:04:35 You mentioned baseball's supposed to be fun. and the youth spring that out. How about the Orioles and the Kansas City Royals? The Royals trying to build on their hot start and take on one of the powerhouses in the American League. They take game one. They put up a nine spot on the board. MJ Melendez and Vinny Pasquantino.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Ho! They both Homer. But it's birds the rest of the way. How about a pitching matchup on day two? Burns and Regans. What's this? A one-nothing? Nine to seven.
Starting point is 00:05:05 The Orioles, Jordan Westberg, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander. And man, it just comes from everyone on this Orioles team. Westberg, Couser, and Mountcastle again in the final game with Cole Swerve and Irvin. 6.2 shut. That's the thing, man. These Orioles have been pitching a ton. And so when they get a seven-run second inning on that second day, that can be the difference.
Starting point is 00:05:32 Orioles take two out of three. Yanks take two out of three from the race. A Yankees sneak out a win in that first game, if we're being honest. The five-run inning, they get a ball. It hits a rock, bounces over Yandi Diaz that allows Juan Soto to do Juan Soto things. They get shut down in the second game, two nothing final that on the rubber match, they win five to four. Big Verdugo Day at the office, Luis Heelman, pretty gross.
Starting point is 00:06:00 It's a funky race team, it always is. Their bullpen's getting rock. That's the only part that's one. weird. Guardians sweep the A's, and that's obvious. The A's are still the A's, and the Guardians have your best record in the American League. Uh-oh.
Starting point is 00:06:17 Chris Rose? Gonna pop out another baby, empty nester? Tristan McKenzie, Logan Allen, and it's a vibe. Get it done on the bump. While they get some offensive performances, Estevan Florial off the scrap heap, and Josh Naylor
Starting point is 00:06:32 has been awesome, and he's been good against lefties, too. He's really becoming complete player. Trev, what is going on? Lake Minnetonka, the twins. They drop two out of three to the Tigers. Your guy Jack Flaherty with a nice start. They end up winning the bread games.
Starting point is 00:06:51 The Nightmare Bailey Ober gets it done with Austin Martin and Byron Bucksin in that middle game. But Casey Mize, how's your 1-1-6 shutpiece? Buddy Kennedy. I feel like he always has a big game. I need to look at his baseball reference. What's all that about? Tigers, they take two out of three.
Starting point is 00:07:09 In the National League, snakes in San Fran, they hate being called that, but I do it. San Francisco, they split four games. They go every other throughout. Logan Webb, seven shutout, gross. Jordan Montgomery makes his debut, and they put up 17.
Starting point is 00:07:28 He, yeah. Giants bounce back, and then snakes, back and forth. We'll talk about that series a little bit, some controversy, foul tips, as I joked about. Marlins, Cubs, they do the same thing. Okay, a little back-and-forth four-gamer.
Starting point is 00:07:46 Cubbies go one and three. Marlins go two and four. We get some nice offensive. James and Tyone came back for the Cubs. That was big. Brian De La Cruz and Hazer Sanchez, he goes deep fly to center in that final game. While if it's a show today, it feels like the Cubs win.
Starting point is 00:08:05 Michael Bush with two ribby. We'll get into that one. The New York Metropolitan's take two out of three from the Dodgers. They are hot. 12 and 4 after an 0-and-5 start. Manaya gets it done and they knock around Yamamoto a little bit. Frankie Lindor with the big game. Starling Marte was all over this series.
Starting point is 00:08:25 Good to see that for them. Final game, 10-0 Dodgers. Glass now dropped it on them. Shohay, a historic homer. We'll talk about that. And then your final series, the Milwaukee Brewer sweep the Cardinals. Oh, no, that first game goes to extras.
Starting point is 00:08:41 They try to outlast Peralta. They can't get it done, and then Chirillo goes off. Bryce Terang keeps it up for the Brew. They win on the final game. Colin Rea outpitch is sunny gray. The Brewers stay hot. Cardinals first kind of yellow flag of the season, and that's what happened in the National League.
Starting point is 00:09:03 Yeah. I mean, I'll snap for myself. A&L. N.O. combo to start your Monday morning, okay? Whoops. Now what am I supposed to do, probably? Now I'm in the pickle here. Give us a... You know what, Trev? Do whatever you want. If you want to do A.L. If you want to run the whole thing, give me some standings.
Starting point is 00:09:21 I'm going to go back and forth, okay? How about the east? Okay. I love it. The plural. I love it. This is how everyone enjoys West. Yeah, East Coast Ball. That's all we care about on this show. We'll start in the AL, because that's a L, because that's a plus. that we do on Mondays, the Yanks.
Starting point is 00:09:37 Your Yanks at 15 and 7, Baltimore, right behind him at 14 and 7. Those Red Sox can twirl at Cutter Crawford. You are disgusting. 13 and 10. Toronto, 12 and 10, and the raise at 12 and 11. So everybody over 500 in the ALE East. Oh, oh! In the NL East.
Starting point is 00:09:56 Not everyone is over 500, but the Braves are 14 and 6 because, obviously, the Philadelphia Phillies looking, I really like the city connects for them. going to throw that out there right now. Alec Bome, I think he could be a model. He's so tall. 14 and 8 for them. The Mets, like we mentioned, turned it around after 0 and 5. They're sitting at 12 and 9. Washington, also surprising a lot of people. Might be talking more about them later, 10 and 11,
Starting point is 00:10:22 and then those Marlins at the bottom at 6 and 17. In the centrals, Cleveland, 16 and 6, best run differential in baseball. Kansas City Royals 13 and 9, the Detroit Tigers at 12 and 10, and then bringing up the bottom. Minnesota at 7 and 13, and the White Sox at 3 and 18. It's going to be a long summer in Chicago. In the NL Central, Milwaukee, just like everyone thought this year, going to be in front, 14 and 6, the Cubs 13 and 9, Cincinnati, 12, and 9, Pittsburgh 11 and 11, and St. Louis,
Starting point is 00:10:58 who I picked to win the division this year. they're sitting at 9 and 13. And then all the way out west, the wild west, if you will. The Texas Rangers in the AL are on top at 12 and 11. Seattle Mariners right behind them at 1111. The Angels falling back a little bit at 9 and 13.
Starting point is 00:11:18 Oakland, 8 and 14, and then the Houston Astros are sitting at 7 and 16. We are almost a month through the season. People in there in last place. The Dodgers in the NL West, only 13 and 11. They've been slipping a little bit, those Dodgers.
Starting point is 00:11:33 Andy Pahes is here to save the day. The San Diego Padres sitting at 12 and 12. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Jake Snakes, Dalton Snakes, really, if I'm being honest. 11 and 12. The San Francisco Giants, 10 and 13. And then the Rockies. Sitting at 5 and 17. And those are the standings.
Starting point is 00:11:52 Trev, fantastic stuff. Before we get into it, I do want to tell the people about cuts. There's a reason Treves been complimenting how good I'm looking. It's because I'm wearing a cut's t-shirt. Most t-shirts, they can't pull double duty. And that's what I'm wearing this at work. You could wear this at date night. I can't wait to show you where Trevor Plouf was wearing his cuts. And you might be familiar with their shirts. Their shirts have been around a little bit. It's why I'm looking like a handsome pizon at the club right now. They also, they sent us some pants. Oh, boy and there it is. Trevor ploof.
Starting point is 00:12:32 I had it tucked in. You see that. I dressed mine up a little bit. Trevor ploof is in Vegas with the world champion Rams and everyone's beautiful wives and he's wearing his cut shirt. So if that's not enough for you, I just don't know at this point because we're also offering you a 20% discount off your entire order when you use code talking at checkout. So cutsclothing.com. Code talking supports our show gets you looking good save 20% there's a link in the description thank you to cuts uh trev i think we start out at the top the orio's in kansas city i i said this about uh what was it Arizona and Chicago a few weeks back this would be a
Starting point is 00:13:20 fun little playoff tester uh you know the royals there they're gonna have to pull their weight a little more this season to be a part of that but like we've talked about two really young teams, two teams feeling the fun part of baseball when you're winning. And I, you know, I think the Royals took this on as a test with the Orioles coming to town and, you know, we're the Royals here. They get that first game, but then they kind of get Orialed the rest of the way where they saw, they saw both sides. They saw the Orioles put up a seven-run second inning in that second game.
Starting point is 00:13:54 And then the Royals get shut out for the first time this season in the final game. game. And that's what the Orioles can do to you. They can beat you in a variety of different ways. You know, Corbyn's line, second game doesn't look as good as it should have. He's five and two-thirds. He's one strike away from going a full six, no earned runs. One and two on Sal Perez and Sal Perez hits a homer because that's what he does. Big Sal. So, you know, a nice start there gets spoiled a little bit at the end.
Starting point is 00:14:26 But, you know, I'm going to talk about a lot of these guys later. the offense can come at you in just so many different ways. And Rosie posed this question to me on baseball today, is this the most complete lineup in the AL, 1 through 9? And they're up there. I mean, you could talk about, you mean, you can say in the big leagues.
Starting point is 00:14:45 I mean, you could talk about, you know, the Rangers and what they're able to do. You can talk about the Braves and what they're able to do. Go ahead and look up and down this lineup. I mean, it's,
Starting point is 00:14:55 there's not a time that really take a breath, if you will. You know, I know Jackson Holiday hasn't been, you know, what he's wanted to be. He struck out a lot. So maybe when you get to him, you can count on a K, but that's not going to last for very long. And when he starts going, they almost have too many good players.
Starting point is 00:15:11 I don't know what they're going to. I'm serious. Like their position player depth is so good. And guys are performing so well that's like you almost have to platoon some guys that you don't want to. And what does that mean for them at the deadline? I don't know. But this team, like I said, they're just. Cole Regans and Seth Lugo have been having great starts to the year.
Starting point is 00:15:35 And look at the lines. Cole Riggins goes one in two thirds, gives up the seven earn runs. Seth Lugo, I believe, get his first homer of the year against them. Like they are, again, just righty, lefty, doesn't matter what it is. They are able, and they're pounding the ball, they're getting on base, which hasn't necessarily been their calling card. They're more of a slug team. but some of these guys have been getting on base
Starting point is 00:15:59 at a really nice clip and it's just been fun to watch, man. And I do agree like this could be a very fun, upstart type of playoff series. I mean, I've got a fun statement. The Orioles are first in home runs. Yes, they are. And who on their team is a home run hitter?
Starting point is 00:16:18 You know what I'm saying? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Kind of everybody now. Right. It's either, it's like everybody or nobody. because there's not a lot of guys you look at and say, are they going to get 40 this year?
Starting point is 00:16:32 Like Santander's got a couple big years, but I don't know. I mean, hey, maybe Gunner's got another level to them. Well, very young, Jake. Right. Like they haven't even gotten to the point where we're going to say, okay, you know, power will come last. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:47 Like you get to the big league, you got to learn how to hit, use the other field, other way, excuse me. And then you learn how to really truly hit for power in the big leagues. It's actually a really scary thought for the AL in general to say these guys, I mean, they're all like pre-arb guys. We've got to figure out all that as well, the money side of this thing. But they're set up for a long time. Right now, they're third in all the baseball in OPS only behind the Braves and the Brewers and they're right on the Brewers' heels. So this is, again, a team that you mentioned, the starters have been really good. Bullpen's been decent. They've
Starting point is 00:17:22 giving up some runs as of recent, but when you can score like they score, it's, they're just a tough series. And I believe they still have the streak of, since Adley Rushman has been called up, they haven't lost, or been swept in a series. No need.
Starting point is 00:17:39 No need. It's like 90-something series in a row. It's pretty nuts. And hey, as we're giving credit to them, Royals at one point, they won nine straight home games. So they were, They were feeling pretty juicy.
Starting point is 00:17:54 And you mentioned the bullpen without a big eighth inning. Danny Colom, your guy, former twins, great. Punches Salvia Nelson Velasquez in the eighth. Otherwise, we'd be sitting here being like, we got to take these royals seriously. They just took two out of three. So I think that's the, as I look at the Orioles in their stat page, again, they're pitching.
Starting point is 00:18:18 It never seems to wow, but they're sixth and starting pitching ERA. Cole Irvin shuts them down. They do it on a lot of fronts. Where are they going next? They've got the Angels and then Oakland coming up. So I think Baltimore's about to get it fully underway. And let's see, the Royals, they host Toronto. That'll be a fun series before they've got a little road trip coming up.
Starting point is 00:18:44 I don't know if I don't think anybody's giving anything to Sal Perez later in the show, but I think we need to give them some snaps for the start of the season that he's had. hitting 333, 395 on base, 590 slug. How, I mean, seems like he's 40 years old. He's only 33. He's been doing this for a long time, man. 252 career homers from the catcher's spot is nothing to sneeze at. And I've seen this, been a part of this one.
Starting point is 00:19:12 He backpick Gunner Henderson. And he loves that throw to third baseman. He actually was down on one knee, which is, you know, I believe a second and third one. out, you know, Gunner's like, I'm going to get a little head start here, you know, try to make sure I can get home and Sal's on one knee and just pops and freaking absolutely
Starting point is 00:19:30 hammers one down there and throws out Gunner, so he can still throw the ball. Crazy start to the season offensively. I like the Royals, man. I'm actually scared of them. I'm my twins, which I don't even know if we're going to talk about them too much. There's not much to say. They are going to have a hard
Starting point is 00:19:48 time coming back and winning the Sale Central man, because some of these teams the Guardians, which I'm sure we'll get to soon, them and the Royals look like they're going to be there. Well, A, some more snaps for Salvi. I mean, the way he's playing and, you know, baseball reference. And if you want to debate in the comments, but is he, you know, Hall of Fame-type trajectory,
Starting point is 00:20:09 I mean, with that kind of home runs from the catcher and, I mean, eight All-Star games and stuff? Like, some of those numbers are getting... Okay, yeah, I never thought of that, Poppy. I don't know. People are going to be mad. The fact he is 33 is insane. I mean, if you put me and Salvador Perez next to each other in a picture,
Starting point is 00:20:25 you'd say one's a boy and one's a man. I'm older than Salvi. That blows my mind. And the other snaps to another kind of Hall of Famer in this series. He's a Hall of Famer. Dirty Craig Kimbril. Ties Billy Wagner, who just got in the Hall of Fame. Or is he on deck for next year?
Starting point is 00:20:47 422 save 7th all time And a reminder on Craig Kimbril He's 35 and he's closing for these Orioles right now Like he's where he's gonna be I thought he was done Where he's gonna be in some record books Is gonna be nutty And if you're looking for the Orioles vibe tribes
Starting point is 00:21:09 Colton Couser caught the final out Threw it into the stands Threw it actually into the drink The fountain Yeah. So it couldn't be authenticized? That's not the word. Authenticated.
Starting point is 00:21:23 Authenticated even. Authenticized. Authenticized. I like that. And if you're wondering how the vibes are, Colen Kouser told the reporters who asked him, hey, did you throw it into the fountain? He goes, I just yeaded it behind me.
Starting point is 00:21:38 I didn't think much. So that's just, these are kids. These are kids who are demolishing. out of a freaking octopus bong calling it a hydration station. That's just happening. It is. And yep, in the dugout.
Starting point is 00:21:55 Trev, let's actually keep it a little central focus for a minute. Because I, Guardians snaps for you while we're giving out snaps. They, they sweep Oakland. They take care of their business there. They blow open that final game.
Starting point is 00:22:10 Late Naylor gets McFarland, turns on a double down the line. everyone's coming home. Again, this is, this currently is, and we've seen this as talking baseball has lived, right now this is good team, bad team. Cleveland has the best record in the American League and Oakland's Oakland. So that's where I don't know, I don't have too many thoughts to add on it, but if you're looking to get your Cleveland thoughts out, now's the time.
Starting point is 00:22:36 I like seeing sticks, have a better outing. He's just walked to the ballpark to start the season. He goes five innings here. He gets the 6K. I don't believe he's been striking out anybody either. Still has three walks in the five innings, which is not great for him, but I think the Ks are nice to see.
Starting point is 00:22:50 And, you know, the five innings pitch, one and runs a nice stepping stone to get him back where he needs to be for the season, but they haven't really even needed him because the offense has been really good, too. I'm going to talk about Stephen Kwan a little bit later, but, I mean, Nailor, is he just turning into, like, I mean, obviously a fan favorite there in Cleveland,
Starting point is 00:23:07 but is he turning into like almost a must-watch AB right now with his antics and how hard he hits the ball? and just the way he plays. I think so, Jake. I think that's what they're kind of missing in Cleveland. And maybe they don't even want it. Like, who's the star there in Cleveland? I know you're going to say Jose Ramirez, obviously.
Starting point is 00:23:25 But he's kind of like an understated star. I like the idea of Josh Naylor just being out there and being your show pony a little bit. The guy that's out there, top step, you know, kind of creating that team energy for you because you do need that through 162. And you can only do that, Jake, if you're Rakin right now. And he's had a fantastic start to the season.
Starting point is 00:23:52 325, 393, 623 for the one dot for Josh Nailer. And that's just a lot of fun to see. He's a big boy having fun out there. I know you can relate to that. I can relate to that. Josh Nailer, 22 through now, 824 OPS, a 132 OPS plus. He's 26 years old. he got called up really young.
Starting point is 00:24:15 It kind of didn't fully click. And the thing that we kind of thought was going to become Josh Naler, like, okay, well, you know, he's probably a, he hits right, he's pretty good, he's probably a platoon guy. He is mauling lefties this year, 400 batting average. So I don't know, going through the last few years, like, you know, with Jack Peterson, we saw him, you know, he kind of became a firm platoon guy. The lefty opportunities fizzled out.
Starting point is 00:24:42 good on Josh Naler for when he's gotten those opportunities, which again, getting opportunities at the major league level is really hard to come by. He's now attacked that. He might have made a weakness of strength. And if lefties can't get him out, he's a problem. I will need to take Cleveland a little more seriously, offensively. I'm going to need to see one of these Will Brennan, Tyler Freeman, kind of become a staple.
Starting point is 00:25:07 And they've been playing good ball lately, so maybe that's coming. It's just next man up kind of thing Like you know The seasons on a whole Might not look great But they've had big games To help them win games They kind of
Starting point is 00:25:18 They kind of can do it You know all different ways Cleveland can And they still haven't had Gavin Williams They've lost Bieber After that great start To the season that he's had Stephen vote credit
Starting point is 00:25:29 Do like we Is that what we're doing here? You know I want to give them credit But you know I'm also anti-manager So it's tough for me right now I'm going to pickle again Just a couple pickles today for me
Starting point is 00:25:39 for me. Hey, we... You've got the boys fired up at least. Look, man, if you can get out to a start like this and survive, you know, an injury to your star, your, your ace pitcher, there's something going on in the clubhouse, which is really nice to see. Can they keep up that winning percentage all year long? Probably not, but they're definitely going to be in the running here the entire year. Well, Trev. The energy-filled baseball. I like it, man. Let's talk about that a little more, because the guardians are full-blown hot start. Fully out of the gate, 16 and 6. We saw the raise last year.
Starting point is 00:26:13 A little different. 22 and 5 was looking up their hot start the other day. But Trev, I dove into it. Me and BPD dove into it on Wake and Jake this morning. I wanted to look at because we can't make player conclusions yet. We're not a month into the season. How many times have you seen good players? They have a bad month and then they have a great season.
Starting point is 00:26:35 Or vice versa. You can have an awesome April and then taper off the season. and then taper off the rest of the year. So to draw conclusions on players is really tough right now. We can start drawing conclusions on teams. I looked at the last couple years' standings. No team has really dug themselves a hole in April and made the dance.
Starting point is 00:26:58 Like the only example over the past two years of a team that dug a hole and made it to the playoffs was Cleveland in 22, but it was about this time they kicked into gear. one what was a week central. It caused a lot of talking baseball debates. And they got it going quick. Like I think they were seven and 12,
Starting point is 00:27:17 and then they got to 15 and 14. So it's kind of go time, and I bring this up with your twins and tigers. The twins have full-blown dug a hole, Trev, and like, it's got to start happening. Otherwise, Cardinals last year. I don't, yeah, I mean, like, I don't know. what it will take to turn the twins around.
Starting point is 00:27:41 The pitching depth has been tested already. You know, Varland has not had a great start to the year. Paddock has not had a great start to the year. So there's been that. But, I mean, the main thing is the offense. I've said it, I don't know, the last three episodes, not hitting a Varns with Gron's Gron Position, not hitting in general. I mean, even in this series, you're looking at nine runs in three games.
Starting point is 00:28:05 Like, three runs a game is just not going to get it done. I don't know where the help is going to come from offensively. Now, I know Correa has been out. You're still waiting on Royce Lewis, but this quad thing is, it's a big, it's a, it's a big injury to him.
Starting point is 00:28:22 So now it's like, okay, when he comes back, how are they going to treat him? Is he just going to be full at third base every single day? Because that's what they need. They need these guys to be in the lineup playing every day. And now it's like you might have to have some kitty gloves
Starting point is 00:28:34 with the guy like Royce. But, you know, Kepler's coming back. maybe that's going to help them out offensively. But injuries and poor performances have just been, they've crushed the twins in the early going. A couple guys, Julian's has bats have looked okay,
Starting point is 00:28:51 but not a great start to the year for him. Matt Walner, who had a very promising year last year. He's already been sent down, been optioned down to the minor league since he was striking out a ton. It's the depth has not been there. They did not do much to add this offseason. and we got Carlos Santana, I was clamoring for Reese Hoskins.
Starting point is 00:29:11 Yeah. In Minnesota. I said that is the perfect fit. Put this guy at first base, let him go. Santana has been very serviceable to say the least the last couple of years. It actually surprised me when I looked at what he's been able to do, especially defensively too. But this hasn't worked out necessarily either.
Starting point is 00:29:32 It's been a pretty rough showing to start there. But yeah, credit to the Tigers for coming in, doing what they needed to do. I know Flaherty is getting a little chippy on the mound, some, you know, not so great defense behind him. But they take two out of three. Carrie Carpenter, I know I've done my Jesus was a carpenter and how good was Jesus, really. We don't really know. Could have been just an okay carpenter.
Starting point is 00:29:54 You'd have done this. Yeah. He's like a G, huh? Okay. Yeah, like kind of like Swagman. I didn't know that. Didn't know that. Jesus or Carrie?
Starting point is 00:30:08 I don't know how much swag Jesus had. That's debatable. We don't know. Did he use those powers to impress people from time and time? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. I think his swag plays now. I don't know if in his time did that count as swagg? Interesting.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Interesting. Sound off in the comments. Trev, for your twins, the good news is, well, actually, I don't. I hope it's good news. Let's check in. I think we'll have a Friday episode. May the 3rd.
Starting point is 00:30:37 The next 10 games for Minnesota, seven are the White Sox. The other three are the Angels. And I will be there calling the games. In a very genuine statement, Trev, this is like do or die. The White Sox are awful. Three and 18.
Starting point is 00:30:55 If you don't come out of this stretch with six, seven, eight wins, the season's kind of like actually. out. What would that put there? Okay, right now they're sitting at 7 and 13. 7 and 13. So you get back to, you know, 14 and 17?
Starting point is 00:31:15 500. I mean, you gotta go. You gotta go. You gotta go. Let's see. Do I have any other Tiger commentary? Hey, number one, bullpen, ERA, and whip in Detroit. Nasty.
Starting point is 00:31:31 That helps. Nasty. That helps. I got, I always love a team with that formula Because we always reference that Royals team But man, it can end a game And more so you just feel it Yeah, it's a momentum
Starting point is 00:31:47 If you have a bullpen that's getting the job done for you It's just a momentum keeper, if you will. The viewing experience when you have a bullpen you just trust So nice. Yeah, so nice. Our Yanks kind of First time in a while, Yanks, don't fully have that. That's our current first world problem in Yankee land.
Starting point is 00:32:10 Let's see. NL. Trev. God, the Mets are still a topic, right? Like, they're full-blown hot. They are 12 and 4. The boys are having fun, and they just did against the Dodgers. I said, survived this West Coast trip, and I'll take you guys kind of fully seriously. I mean, they've essentially almost checked the box for me. And they do it an impressive style. I mean, they hang a nine spot in that first game.
Starting point is 00:32:41 And my guy, Budo, you know, I love him. Yes. It's, you know, it's a survival start, but it allows the Mets to do enough offensively that they win this series. They get killed in the last game, but I don't think they care. The Mets are hot. Mets are hot.
Starting point is 00:32:59 I know there's a couple different reasons for it. mentioned the Yankees bullpen not being there. The Mets bullpen has been great. You get Edwin Diaz back, obviously. That's massive for them. But then Diamond in the rough or I don't know what you want to call. My guy Red Garrett, just kidding.
Starting point is 00:33:17 Reed Garrett has been absolutely filthy. For the Mets. So that's massive for them. A guy like DJ Stewart, by the way, wasn't he an Orioles draft pick? More on that later? I believe. Beaver's fact-checked me there. He's had a great start of the season. I think one of the biggest differences
Starting point is 00:33:34 for the Mets is Starling Marte looks like healthy. I know he's been dealing with somewhat groin stuff last couple years. He's running the bases, swinging the bat, doing, you know, everything he needs to do. And then this series, you get a little Frankie Linderre hot streak. He was struggling big time. So you get him going. That's going to be a problem. I think that I think that a lot of people have written them off because of last year and it's kind of tough to do like sometimes you just got to turn the page on the year they look like a playoff team to me they really do got to do a little dj stewart mini section yes he is part of the orio's first round pick club 2015 25th overall pick uh he was a yankees draft pick in
Starting point is 00:34:18 2012 he he passed on that to attend uh florida state uh and do we know what uh dj stands for Oh. Doing justice. David John. I wish. Demetrius Jerome. Ooh. Awesome.
Starting point is 00:34:37 Didn't have that one. Baseball reference list is Asian. Is it usually like something junior? A lot of Js are juniors. I would have liked to see DJ Stewart ripping it up in Tallinnasty, Florida for a couple years. My goodness. Warren in Gainesville.
Starting point is 00:34:55 Treb, I've got. a slightly unfair one for you, because I think I want to end with a little brew crew, St. Louis talk. We had two four-gamerers that both got split. Snakes, Giants, Marlins, Cubs. Four games like that when it gets split again,
Starting point is 00:35:15 it's kind of tough to, I don't know, it's kind of a push. But I think I want to highlight Zhang Hu Lee has a real hit streak going, like that for him, as we're figuring out who Zhang Hu Lee is. Got to 11 games. Did it get to 12?
Starting point is 00:35:30 I think, no. It stops at 11 games. But still, good for him. Patrick Bailey goes 4 for 4 and puts one in the drink on his own bobblehead day. Yeah, we're doing Patrick Bailey bobblehead days. Into, straight into a kayak. Yeah. And I'm not sure I couldn't tell by the video if the catch was made or if it just landed in the person's lap.
Starting point is 00:35:53 There's a two-person kayak out there on his bobblehead day. hits one directly into the kayak. What are the chances of that? If we sell it, will you get in a kayak with me for a day? 100%. I love a kayak. Okay. Coyacks are awesome, but also terrifying
Starting point is 00:36:12 because you're so close to the water. Right. I would take them out off the coast here. There's sharks out here. There's great whites roaming, and you start to get in these little kelp regions and I'll fishing for some calico bass. All of a sudden you hear a little bump on the bottom of your kayak.
Starting point is 00:36:27 don't like that. They're not exactly the sturdiest vehicles, but I'd get anyone with you. Okay. Life vests for sure. The other major thing of no, uh, Snell, still off to a tough start. You know, didn't get the full spring training, but on the other side, he's against Jordan Montgomery, uh, who pitches six nice innings in his debut. So he's back. Um, I think that's, that's kind of where I'm out on that series. I don't know if you, you want to add anything there. No,
Starting point is 00:36:59 it was great to see Montgomery out there. I think that was kind of cool seeing the juxtaposition of Snell and, and Montgomery, you know, as much as you want to make excuses for Snell saying, hey, like,
Starting point is 00:37:09 you didn't really have a regular spring training on here did Montgomery. So, um, Snell's going to be okay. I think he is a little rusty. I think he is getting, you know, back into a full on season mode.
Starting point is 00:37:22 Uh, but it hasn't been pretty for him to start. And it was, again, nice to see Jordan Montgomery out there. And the snake's like, I got some pitching depth, dude. They really, really do. I believe, didn't Merrill Kelly just exit a start? Did he go on the IL? I think he left early in this one.
Starting point is 00:37:39 Did he go I.L? I don't think so yet. You know, I hate the IL report. Good to get, let's see, scratch with a sore shoulder. So. Mild strain. You don't love that. for a 35-year-old Merrill Kelly.
Starting point is 00:37:58 But you have pitching depth, which is very nice to have when something like this goes down. inevitably it will. The other four-gamer I mentioned, Marlins Cubbies, again, Jameson-Tayone comes back.
Starting point is 00:38:16 I think that's important. My other, Nico Horner is so beloved by Cubs fans, and I completely get why. Some of the highlight plays he makes are just, you know, he fights off a pitch that he turns into a double. And yeah, I mean, for Miami, like, I'm happy for you. Lazzardo has a nice start. Jesus Sanchez, pissed on a ball to center field.
Starting point is 00:38:38 They split four, which is nice. Marlins, you're 6 and 17. Like, I know a lot of people didn't have Marlon stock. But, again, their season is more or less, like, kaputs without, like, a 10-game win streak. and they haven't given any signs of that. They're about to play the Braves. Yeah, that's going to be tough for them to come back.
Starting point is 00:39:01 I want to give a shout to my guy, Shoda Imanaga, who finally gave up his first earned run of the year, four starts and first home run of the year as well. He's been so fun to watch. And if you're a Cubs fan, obviously you've seen it all year. You saw it in spring training. But he's this, like the steel of the off season. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Yeah, it looks great, man. Incredible. Incredible. Trev, before we do a tightish interleague, Brewers sweep the Cardinals, man. You're hearing it in my voice. I'm feeling conviction about teams that have either had a fully hot start
Starting point is 00:39:39 or a fully cold start. Cardinals aren't fully cold. It's 9 and 13. Getting swept by the Brewers, who are now 14 and 16. Bryce Terang, keeping it going, is massive for Milwaukee. What he's been doing.
Starting point is 00:39:54 Chirio feels like he's getting more and more comfortable every day. That, yeah, I guess for me, after I looked at last year, the past couple years of standings, and sure it sounds a little obvious, but there's some teams that get off to hot starts and fade. Last year's Pittsburgh Pirates were 18 and 8 at one point. It is really hard to get off to a bad start and turn the ship around.
Starting point is 00:40:22 There's not a lot of examples. that for St. Louis, it's not panic time. You got a couple more games this month. Arizona, and it's a road trip to the Mets and Tigers who you're battling with. Again, it's kind of go time. And I don't know what the Cardinals are leaning on right now. Their offense has been really tough. Like, the light bulb needs to go there.
Starting point is 00:40:47 And soon. I want to highlight, I mean, I think this is cool. Whenever this happens, the Contreras Bros. playing against each other. That's just like some of the coolest stuff, especially when you're both catchers. You're getting that shot of them, you know,
Starting point is 00:41:03 together at the plate and behind the plate. I think that's really cool. William Contreras, doing great this year. Of the card, excuse me, of the brewers, Wilson, slashing 353, 471, 647.
Starting point is 00:41:19 He has a 255 game on base streak. It's the longest active streak in the majors. So this is the stat I wanted to get to, though. Okay. Wilson of the Cardinals. 171 weight of runs, created plus. Trails only Sal Perez and his brother William among catchers.
Starting point is 00:41:41 So there's a little bit of a hot start. Who's going to do it for longer thing going on there? Williams has the 184 Way to Runs Created Plus. He leads all major league baseball catchers. It's this really fun. when you have a family like that because, you know, Wilson comes up, he's, you know, just kind of like
Starting point is 00:42:00 a star right away almost. It comes up and it's just, has been this force offensively, and then the brother comes up and you always wonder about the brother. Right. And William has done a great job with that as well. So we talked about that trade a couple episodes ago how the Brewers
Starting point is 00:42:21 absolutely stole that trade. That's for a reason you get Joel Pye-Amson, William Contreras. That's, I was trying to relive that more, and I think it was, you know, can William Contreras stay a catcher? And if he can't, then you need to find a position, or is he de-hing? And it's like, oh, Brewers, no, we'll just have him be one of the best catchers in the league.
Starting point is 00:42:43 No, we're fine with that. For the Brewers, Jackson Trio has been, I mean, a lot of talks about other Jackson's to start the year. he's been awesome he in his previous six games is only three for 26 but then had a really nice two for three day with a homer
Starting point is 00:43:03 on Saturday and then Bryce Terrang last 12 games 302, 362, 512 three stolen bases like having those guys contribute offensively is a massive part of why the Brewers are able to get out to this start that they've gotten out to. They look like the real deal they really do.
Starting point is 00:43:18 Nolan Aeronado, one home run in his last 48 games you. And Blake Perkins robbed Lars Newtbar in the first inning of this game would have been a three-run homer. There's something to vibes in a season.
Starting point is 00:43:31 I don't have to tell Cardinals fans coming off of last year. Don't let those bad vibes creep in. It's kind of go-time, St. Louis. Let's see, who do they have coming up? Schedule watch. Oh, I said, Arizona, Mets, Detroit. Okay.
Starting point is 00:43:47 Find something. Find something. Can I start, Gibby. Gibby. I don't believe. I don't know. I'm still on the fence about Ollie, even though Gibby's told me I need to be a fan of his.
Starting point is 00:43:57 He had another kind of interaction with a reporter. Like I asked kind of a weird question, and he just, he has no time for that. It seems like, Ollie Marmal does not want to talk to the media. He's got no time for your stupid questions. I wish he was a little nicer. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying, people.
Starting point is 00:44:18 Let's do some interlink quick. I had people telling me, would this be a good world series matchup? The Texas Rangers and the Atlanta Braves, you're talking about complete lineups. Hello. Braves, Travis Darno, their backup catcher. How's your three home or day? Meanwhile, Chris Sale goes seven innings, three earn runs to win that first game. Travis Darno again the next day with a home run.
Starting point is 00:44:49 My goodness. and Charlie Martin salts him away with six innings of his own. Texas takes the final game. Michael Lorenzen again. Doing enough on the bump, quality start. Adoles, Evan Carter, Andrew Nizer. It's a great week to be a backup catcher in this series. Braves, they take two out of three.
Starting point is 00:45:11 The Blue Jays, they're starting to win some series, baby. They take two out of three from the Padres. Going for the sweet Basset Musgrove. Put it into my VIII. veins. Zander Bogart's, he had some other ideas. He hits the Homer, Musgrove, seven innings pitch. But these Blue Jays, Yario Rodriguez, with a solid outing, Dalton Varsho's been kind of going nutty on them. Your guy, Jose Berrios. Blue Jays starting to rack up some wins. And it's an ALE East program, Trev, because the Boston Road Sox, they can't stop, baby. They sweep
Starting point is 00:45:48 The Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC. Your guy Brian Beyo shuts him down the first game. While you're a brayu, two hit, three hit games in this series. And you mentioned Akata Crawford. They're really good. I think he's really good. Six innings, one earned run. They bust out the broomsticks, and they're loving that road life.
Starting point is 00:46:12 Unfortunately for the Angels, they are not as the Cincinnati Reds bounce back after getting swept. They do the sweeping. Nick Ladolo, 6.1, one earn run. That's significant. Frankie Montas gets knocked out, hit by a comebacker. Only 0.2 innings, but they piece it together. And a huge Christian and Karnassion Strand.
Starting point is 00:46:39 Two strike, double in the gap. Reds win 3-0. They sweep them. The Angels to bounce back. Trev. Houston, you're hearing everything I'm saying about the standings. Nationals take two out of three. Justin Verlander comes back.
Starting point is 00:46:57 Six innings, two earn runs. Looks like Justin Verlander. The next two games, Trevor Williams, friend of the program, shuts him down. And then young Mitchell, Parker, seven innings. Shut out, a little bit of a funky delivery on him. Luis Garcia with the three-hit day. C.J. Abrams in that middle game. Nats are playing.
Starting point is 00:47:18 a fun brand of baseball. They knocked around Hunter Brown in that first inning. Astros drop another set. Mariners, are they getting it going? Two out of three from Colorado. They take the bread games. One of those is on double-header day. Rockies thought they had the walk-off home run.
Starting point is 00:47:38 Jacob Stallings. Fan interference called back. They get the ship ride in that game. Otherwise, the Mariners blew him out in games one and two. Luis Cass. Castillo and Emerson Hancock. So you can pitch at Coorsfield. You just need the pitchers.
Starting point is 00:47:54 Chicago White Sox, they get swept by the Phillies, and that's a little obvious. Zach Wheeler with a monster start. Aaron Nola with a monster start. And you basically know all the players on Philly's offense because they wear swaggy outfits. Trey Turner and the John Boy Media, pre-game fit leads to a three-hit day.
Starting point is 00:48:15 And yeah, there's Schwerber, there's Bowman. You already know. That's what happened in the Interleague baseball. Say Spencer Turnbull's name, will you? Seven innings, one hit, zero earned runs. Spencer Turnbull. He's got four of those bad boys. Four starts.
Starting point is 00:48:36 The one, two, three, E, R. What did he sign for? One year, two mill. Stop. I think he was a non-tender. I mean, he was supposed to be the guy with the Tigers. Billy's found a way. I love Dombrovsky.
Starting point is 00:48:53 I fully flipped. That's not typical Dombrovsky sign, though. He's more of like, let's give some guys some money, some big dogs. This is like an under the radar. Dude, I was really... David Stearns-esque. Obviously, he's got the big dogs, but he's got some trade transactions. He's got some draft pigs.
Starting point is 00:49:09 Like, he... You know, me and him kind of had a tall, small rival at Rigo, and I'm all in. He's my guy. And I'm his muse. I'm like that for you. They get two out of three from the Rock. Some crazy weather in Colorado, crazy play out there. Imagine facing Luis Castillo when it's snowing.
Starting point is 00:49:28 That doesn't sound fun. Rather not. Well, he hasn't even been great, or he's been bad to start the year, but I guess a nice snowy start in Colorado is all he needed. Who would have thought? Luis Castillo in the snow. Trev, the heavyweight matchup,
Starting point is 00:49:44 before we get to a couple topics. Braves Rangers, we get a little Sunday night on it. I'm going to talk a little bit, Travis Darno in a little bit. But two of the premier teams in baseball. I was just about to talk about Travis Darno and what he did to Heen Dog, but I guess I'll leave it to you.
Starting point is 00:50:03 I mean, yeah, this is badass lineup versus badass lineup. Braves win this round, but I really do feel like these games could go either way, you know, pitch here, pitch there. I loved seeing Chris Sale out there. going seven strong. That's been a huge signing for the Braves.
Starting point is 00:50:22 Another just, I mean, you talk about executives, you know, AA down there with the Braves. He knows what he's doing. And obviously with the departure of, not the departure, but the injury to Strider, you know, that pitching depth is something they're going to have to figure out. But Sale has been a huge part of that.
Starting point is 00:50:42 He's still going, how old is Chris Sale? Three, five? I would guess 35. He looks really, really good. Like, he looks like he's got multiple years left in him. 35. 35. I think we looked that up, like, not too long ago.
Starting point is 00:50:59 March 30th birthday. Seems older than that, if we're being honest, but not the way he's throwing right now. Again, I could see this guy continuing to be down there doing that for a couple more years. And I don't know if I would have said that a few years ago. They paid him to do that. They paid him to do that. Man, Kirby Yates gross at the end.
Starting point is 00:51:18 That could be important. for where the Rangers get their season going. Let's see. Let's knock off a little AL East, Trev. Red Sox and Jays. How are you feeling about both those teams? I kind of ask the Jays to start winning series. They do it against the Yanks.
Starting point is 00:51:39 Now the Padres. The Boston Red Sox got off to that great road trip to start the season. Horrible homestand. And now they're crushing it on the road again. Has your perspective change on either of these teams? I mean, yeah, I think the Red Sox to be. Yeah. Obviously, coming into the year, we questioned the pitching,
Starting point is 00:51:59 and that's been the best pitching staff in the big leagues. You know, you bring in Andrew Bailey to, you know, figure things out, but you don't expect it to turn around this quickly. And it looks like it's sustainable as well. I think that was a question mark I had early on the season. You see a few, like maybe one. or two turns through the rotation, okay, you know, nice couple starts to the year. But the way these guys have thrown the ball, like, they're going to be in it because of that. Like,
Starting point is 00:52:28 they're going to be in games. So they're going to have chances to win games. That's Jakey Liddick's right then. Like, Cutter Crawford, his start to the year has been absolutely disgusting. Beah with an excellent, excellent start here. And then you get the opener in the third game. but you're going to, like I said, be in games. The offense now doesn't have as much pressure on it, so you're able to kind of win games in different ways, whether that's defensively, whether that's just a clutch hit here and there.
Starting point is 00:52:59 You don't have to go out there and try to make up for a pitching staff that struggles, which is basically what they had to do last year. I'm kind of in on the Red Sox, man. I believe there's room to grow offensively, and I believe they'll be, if they're in contention the way they are right now, I believe it'll be buyers at the deadline.
Starting point is 00:53:17 So this is a team that I'm definitely looking at to give us a playoff run. And it's been all because of the pitching, man. It's been absolutely nasty. And we talk about the starters a lot, but the bullpen's been just as good. And I think my guy, Tyler O'Neill is getting activated tomorrow. But, Trevor, if I told you Red Sox were off to a hot start, you'd probably think, you know, maybe Lucas Gialito, Nick Povetta,
Starting point is 00:53:42 Whitlock, Tyler O'Neill, Trevor Story, Kossis, von Grishom. would be doing big things for them. Ah, Kossis was. He just got hurt, but all those guys are on the IL, man. So I'm saying there's room to improve offensively for this team. If they can keep treading water and pitching like they're doing, you're right, man.
Starting point is 00:54:03 They're going to be a part of this season, which I, you know, maybe people think is dumb, a lie or obnoxious, but baseball's better when the Red Sox are in the mix. I know Yoshida had a pretty good series. Is it go time for him? Like, what are we thinking overall for a guy like Yoshida? 700 OPS right now, you know, he had a brilliant start to his career and then really tapered off. What are you feeling?
Starting point is 00:54:28 I mean, last year, 783 total OPS, 109 OPS plus, 700 OPS plus on the dot right now. Are we seeing a guy that's still getting acclimated to the big leagues or are we seeing this is what he's going to be? like a 750, 760 OPS guy? Um, I, I think it's too early to say that. I think, you know, we're, he's, he's got 100 OPS plus. Like he's, it's an okay, it's a fine start to the season. It's not good. It's not bad.
Starting point is 00:55:01 That if he goes out, like, if he has a big series, his numbers on the year will look good. So I'm, I'm fine on Yoshita for now. I'm interested to see how it develops. And yeah, just thinking of, say a Suzuki, you know, another guy that came over, you know, his numbers year over year ticked up. So I do want to see that from Yoshida after playing a full year of Major League Baseball. 874 in the first half last year, 663 in the second half. I'm curious if that was something he had focused on in the offseason, you know, trying to make sure his body's ready
Starting point is 00:55:38 for the 162 and not have that let down in the second half. Because if he gets going, that's a a big, obviously a big uptick to that Red Sox offense. And for my- Have they played the Yanks yet? I don't think they have. No, they have not. And for my Blue Jays, for me, I really fell in love with their pitching before the year. And then I got nervous about that because they weren't pitching so hot.
Starting point is 00:56:04 But getting Romano back on the back end. And, dude, their start, Burrios has been awesome, bass. Unreal. And Kikuchi has been standout. Now Yareel has joined the crew. Gossman wasn't off to a good start. I, you know, again, my Luis Surrise team. So just put that in your pipe.
Starting point is 00:56:27 Oh, to go there. Yeah. It's what they're missing. I really like their pitching. And that's, you know, they held the Padres to three runs in the first two games. And that's how they did it. And Varshot's been going. It'd be very, very interesting year for him.
Starting point is 00:56:45 Can he be a plus player offensively? Because with his, I mean, he's, yeah. With his defense, he can be a plus player no matter what, but man, if he can bring it on the other side, and he has been recently. He's had a bunch of homers lately, plus six outs above average, which leads all players in the big leagues.
Starting point is 00:57:06 He's going out and getting it out there in the outfield. Reds, I hope Reds Mania starts picking, up again. They sweep the Angels and 0-0 in that final game and they busted open. And Carnaccio and Strand, fun at bat to stay in it. And it's where Ellie de la Cruz, it feels like is fully on, like game on, like let's see this. Three stolen bases in that first game, along with a home run and a couple hits, two hits in the final game. That's massive to me. still not sure where I stand on the Angels the other sweep that's remaining
Starting point is 00:57:46 Philly swept the White Sox that again we kind of hit that off the rip with some Turnbull and some love there L.A. Day of the crew is 412, 639 for the one dot. He already has 10 stolen bases, Poppy. It's April 22nd. It's happening, man. It's happening.
Starting point is 00:58:08 Like, easy 30-30 for him? he's got six homers already too in Cincinnati I mean that's a decent pace to keep up for the homers for him but the stolen bases are obviously going to be there they might have multiple 30 30 guys on that team which is awesome. Lidolo pitching well is huge for them and their offense hasn't fully clicked yet
Starting point is 00:58:33 and I do think it's coming tough little schedule coming up Philly Texas San Diego Texas and San Diego on the road Okay, Reds, 12 and 9, keep treading. Treb, I do think the big final topic in this series, sorry Mariners fans, you did enough, you did enough against the Rockies, you took two out of three, happy for you.
Starting point is 00:59:00 Let's talk about the missed walk-off. Did you see? Yeah, yeah, we talked about it on Weekly Dumb. It was a homer. He wasn't going to catch that. Because Glove wasn't in the right position to catch it. And I don't think you really got held down by the fan. Now, did the fan interfere?
Starting point is 00:59:18 Sure, his glove was out over the railing. If anything, let him stay on second base. We're going to call him out. Again, a little ad for the Weekly Dom. You know, we slowed it down a little bit. He had a chance to catch it. The rulebook says that the fielder is supposed to be likely to catch it. It's tough to say he's likely to catch that.
Starting point is 00:59:43 I don't think he got up high enough there with the glove. I know. It's tough. I don't know the solution because you kind of, you want fans near that. We want home runs being robbed. Should each stadium have a little moat, kind of like, you know,
Starting point is 01:00:01 Phillies got that going on a little bit? I feel like the new Texas stadium that players can still rob homers, but fans can't interfere. I don't know. I think that I like that solution. Obviously, it's difficult to do that in all the ballparks. You know, go retrofit each stadium with a little gap between the stands and the fence. Because I do, I don't like when fences are too high where you can't rob.
Starting point is 01:00:24 Obviously, Fenway, keep your monster great. But I want to see, I want to, that's like one of the more exciting plays in baseball. I want to see, you know, players with at least a chance to do that. But, you know, fans interfering. No big deal or no good. excuse me. This one I thought at the very least, Stalling should have been on second base instead of called out.
Starting point is 01:00:46 That's crazy. Can you imagine if you're him? Yeah, I mean, that stinks. I just hit a homer. And now I'm out. It's, luckily the Rockies won that game.
Starting point is 01:00:56 Otherwise, I think people would be a little louder. That's true. But yeah, tougher Jacob Staling. I don't know, have a walk off under your belt. I guess it's pretty sick.
Starting point is 01:01:06 That's a nice highlight to have in your career. Instead, you're just walking back to the dugout with your hands. It's a low light out. Trev, I think the final thing I want to hit because I'm pressing the button a little bit. I think everyone's scared to. Is that the panic button?
Starting point is 01:01:24 Houston, a little bit, man. I did this last week. It's no joke, man. It's not, you know, the Dodgers last year came out of the gate and they were kind of 500, and then they figured it off and they do Dodgers things. and I think they're kind of doing that again this year. Houston has dug an actual hole, man.
Starting point is 01:01:46 Like, I realize no one's gone in the division yet. Rangers are 12 and 11, Mariners are 11 11, if there's ever a team that deserves every final, like, oh, I won't be the one to say the Astros are dead because the second you say that, I think we're all like, oh, here they come. Seven and 16. Here's why I won't declare them dead, Jake.
Starting point is 01:02:11 I will not do it. I know there's been some low spots offensive Jose Ibrahim, they need to figure that whole thing out, whether that's giving Singleton some more run over there or something like that. I don't know. But there's still fifth in all the baseball and OPS. The offense is still, I think, going to be there at the end. It's just the injuries to the step.
Starting point is 01:02:29 How are you supposed to sustain that? On the IL right now, we have Luis Garcia, Christian Javier, Lance McClos, Jr., Jose Orquite and Framberalves. Like, how are you supposed to be? is saying that any other team would be like, oh, well, I mean, look how much they're injured. We don't say that about the Astros because we just expect so much out of them. And they have had Ronel Blanco, you know, step up.
Starting point is 01:02:51 And if it wasn't for him, it'd be way, way worse. I believe they've won all of his starts. And now you get Verlander back. So the injuries to the pitching stuff, if they come back and they tread water, they keep it, you know, a couple, you know, maybe five, six games under 500. There's no reason why this team can't soar back in the second half. We've got to see those guys come back. And then obviously the bullpen has been a massive issue in the big three, if you will,
Starting point is 01:03:20 have not performed well. But I expect that to turn around too. So I get what you're saying. And there are some statistics and some past history to point to where they have a lot to overcome. But I think they've just been without a lot. Do you expect the guys that back in the bullpen to be as bad as they have been all year? just no way. Now, I guess my question is, and I don't know, Astros fans, tell me if there's some sort of weird vibe there that I, that I don't know about. Like, is the Presley thing, Presley
Starting point is 01:03:49 Hater, like, drama? Is that, like, is it drama? You have a guy that's been your, one of the best relievers in freaking franchise history, and all of a sudden you say, hey, we're bringing somebody else in, now you got the eighth, and he's got the ninth. Like, does that cause something? I mean, mentally, I think it might to me. I know he said all the right things. at the beginning of the season, but like if your job has completely changed and now you feel like you're not the guy, like has that affected them?
Starting point is 01:04:17 And I think there's a lot, like, I think there's like a wave coming, an Astros wave coming. So I'm not ready to declare them dead. I think we're going to be sitting here like in August being like shit. Right. The Astros are now 10 games above 500.
Starting point is 01:04:35 And do you remember that poor start to the year? I think that's what would be. I'm more on that side than hitting the panic button and saying they're done. I just, I think that's what I want to get across. I'm hitting like a panic button has to happen because we, we did this with the Cardinals last year, man. Like, you know, they're St. Louis. They're a great team, you know, the Cardinals, they always find a way.
Starting point is 01:05:01 Houston has a lot more pedigree, the seven straight Cs and everyone on this team. I just know last year with St. Louis, there was a weird vibe of like, wait, what are we doing wrong? Houston, it's obviously the pitching right now. JV just came back. They're hitting a lot, which again, I can spin that as a good thing or a bad thing, man. Like, imagine if the hitting slows down. And I don't, just every time St. Louis tried to get momentum going last year,
Starting point is 01:05:27 it got knocked out by a bad bullpen game or something like that. They've got the Cubs, two games against the Rockies, and then Cleveland, and then I think Seattle and the Yankees. So at some point you've got to start racking up wins or at least stop losing. And I don't know. Seven and 16 right now. I'm going to say this,
Starting point is 01:05:57 and we'll maybe put a wager on it or something like that. End of June, 500 for me. Okay. Okay. Hey, everyone knows I placed a bet on the Cardinals figuring it out. It didn't work out last year. Cardinals were 10 and 17 at one point. The Astros would have to go 3 and 1 to get to 10 and 17.
Starting point is 01:06:19 Like, I don't know, man. Like, I just think we've been doing the like, it's early, they're Houston. Yeah, actually, like, it's legit go time. If they had all of their guys in that rotation and it was like this, then I would say let's hit the panic button a little more. I think it's just the injuries, me. You know, how can any team withstand that and, you know, and tread water? I don't know if they can.
Starting point is 01:06:48 I guess the Guardians are doing that right now, a little bit. I don't know. Bad vibes? I don't know. Chris Rose sent me a clip of, you know, Alex Bregman after the game and the vibes were kind of low there. You know, the swag hasn't come back. And it's hard to have that when you're seven and sixteen. I get it. So maybe they just got to artificially create that somehow. No dusty. I'm not set. I'm not saying The swag king is there He's missing Literally the swag
Starting point is 01:07:18 Literally the swag king Dosti Baker Uh invented Invented Were no combio bonko I five That's the king of swag Uh
Starting point is 01:07:28 Trev Let's move on To standout performances Standout performances Standout performances Are brought to you by Mova Globes Trev
Starting point is 01:07:39 You've got a Mova Globe behind you I've got a Mova Globe in front of me for my Yanks. Maybe you like that. Or Trev. Look at the Boston Red Sox. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Starting point is 01:07:54 Mova globes. They're rotating globes. They got your favorite team on them. What are they got? There's no cords or anything. Put it wherever you want. It spins via the light. Don't ask me that technology.
Starting point is 01:08:08 We don't know. Magnets in light, people. Do not ask me that technology. Um, Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, Astros, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, Phil's, Mets, all 30 teams are going to be available next month. Most of them are there now. They're perfect for the desk, for home, wherever you want it. And how about 10% off?
Starting point is 01:08:28 Talk B10. That's code Talk B10. Go order your globes now. MLB Mova Globes. There's a link in the description. Then, yeah, perfect for any man-torn. cave for anything. Not trying to be funny.
Starting point is 01:08:44 Not trying to get a laugh. I get lost looking at and playing with the movement pretty often around here. It's fun. The Yankee one especially spends a lot of time in this studio. And I just started looking at it and playing with it. It reminds me of
Starting point is 01:09:01 middle school snow days. Yep. Who's your standout performance, Trev? On a big 420, our guy Stephen Kwan of the Cleveland Guardian. went four for five, two doubles, two runs, and a stolen base. All Stephen is doing this year is leading the AL in runs, hits, and batting average. 358, 378, 474 for the 151 OPS Plus.
Starting point is 01:09:32 He's been a spark plug for this team. The slug is up this year. They're such a fun team to watch, finding different ways to win. And Stephen Kwan has just been one of those players. ever since he debuted in 2022. Like he's just come and hit the ball, bro. Like he's had no problem. This guy's still very, very young, 26 years old.
Starting point is 01:09:53 I don't know, man. There's just something about him when I watch him play. One of those guys, I want nine Stephen Quans on my roster. We'll get the job done. We'll hit and run. We'll move runners over. We'll pop one over the fence every once in a while. But on that 420, that national holiday, four for five,
Starting point is 01:10:10 358 batting average I mean it's exactly what you want the top of the lineup so snaps for Kwani great great two-way player and if he's going to give them that on offense it's how Cleveland can put together a 90-win team this year
Starting point is 01:10:26 one war on the-go gloves already first two years in the league too one war on the season 358 851 OPS hit that Kwan baby Trev I'm going with 300 home run specialists, Travis Darnow, backup catcher for the Braves.
Starting point is 01:10:48 Just the baseball life of Travis Darno is a funny one. I mean, you know, huge prospect called up for the Mets. He was part of the Roy Holiday trade. He was part of the R.A. Dickey trade. Big expectations. And kind of, it never felt like it fully clicked with the Mets, a couple nice kind of season, half season. He put together a nice run for Tampa and then the Braves.
Starting point is 01:11:20 And then he kind of becomes, he just becomes the backup as he's gotten older to Sean Murphy, one of the best catchers in baseball. Murphy goes down, darno, you're in. Three homer day, he homers the next day too. So four homers in two games. Trevor, there's a lot of backup catchers this year that I might not have four homer seasons and Darno has just been plug and play
Starting point is 01:11:46 and this isn't his first three homer game he did it against my yank so like this fucking guy yeah I never really consider him a backup anything he's like he's one of those guys that's you know whether it's D.H or he's behind the dish I mean he's just a big part of this team and to have him you know be a guy
Starting point is 01:12:06 that you can just kind of like hide at the bottom of the order or put him right in the middle of it doesn't really matter he's going to do it I love the swings it was I believe his first one against Heaney was a 3-2 fastball tried to get him inside I don't know if he changed
Starting point is 01:12:20 a lot looks a little different to me in the box right now for Darno he looks like a little more upright leans back turns on that first one and then smart he's a catcher next to bat first pitch off speed he's like hey he'd throw me that fastball again first pitch curveball Homer I love that one guys
Starting point is 01:12:38 Kind of understand that Make adjustments You're able to do it He's an absolute stud man And you know what I want to shout out to Darno brothers They built a facility out here in Long Beach I believe it's in Long Beach
Starting point is 01:12:49 Somewhere down there Down south of L.A And they're getting kids in there You know improving the game Growing the game of baseball And you can tell he put a bunch of work in there In the off season Because he looks really good
Starting point is 01:12:59 In the early going Love it Darno Bros shout out early I love the bros Man I wish You know, I wish my brother played in the big leagues with me. We got to play baseball together, though. Yeah, sure did.
Starting point is 01:13:13 Trev, as always, guys get snubbed. Your guy, Wenziel Perez from Detroit. Obviously. His big day doesn't get. Harrison Bader put up a big one at the office. You know, Blaze, actually, I think you're going to hear about him in a minute. Julio four hit day. Mark me down for that.
Starting point is 01:13:29 We mentioned a lot of the pitchers, Webb Bay. I almost went MJ Melendez again. Why not? Why not? But, Trev, you know there's one place that every player around Major League Baseball wants to end up. Dirk Nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby, like Waco. Sorry.
Starting point is 01:13:49 Well, this first one we just talked about for the series, Travis Darno, he went four for six, had four homers, hit one the next night after the three homer night, eight ribbies. Second of this career, like you said, the first ale catcher since Dale Murphy to hit three homers in one game. first Atlanta catcher, excuse me, since Dale Murphy. Like that. Will you rebu for the Boston Red Sox? By the way, this guy's made some incredible catches out there in right field. Like him as a player, seven for 12 in the series.
Starting point is 01:14:18 Two doubles a homer, four runs driven in three walks for the one six, six, seven. OPS on the series. Then my guy, Alec Baum, like I mentioned, looked really good in the City Connect. Six for 12, a double, two homer, seven ribbies in that series. way to go. Alec. Love you. For the week, you just mentioned him. Blaise Alexander, shortstop for the Arizona
Starting point is 01:14:41 Diamondbacks. He went seven for 18, four doubles a homer. He had nine runs driven in. That led Major League Baseball for the week. And how about Mitchell Parker? He talked about him when he made his first start against the Dodgers and then did it again against Houston. That's a nice
Starting point is 01:14:57 start to your career. Two games. Two and no, 12 innings pitch, seven hits, two and runs, 12 K's to no walks. You know that gets my juices flowing. What sevennings pitched against Houston on Sunday only through 73 pitches.
Starting point is 01:15:14 You love that. Love that. Good job, Nationals. Fans. You got some... CJ Abrams, we didn't even talk about. Is he on here? I don't think he's on this list, but he's just been balling out, yeah. Holy snikey. How about
Starting point is 01:15:26 Leveland or Leaver, Tim Heron? Of course. Four games pitched in the week, four and two-thirds innings pitch only one hit. He struck out seven people, no earned runs. He's a moose. He's a moose. He's a moose.
Starting point is 01:15:41 He was a point four-three whip. Tim Herron, moose-like, yeah, Jake says. Two weeks, this is the one everybody wants to be on Sunny Gray. Hopping back into the swing of things, three games started. He goes two and one. He throws 17 and a third innings pitch
Starting point is 01:15:59 in those three games. Two earned runs. 23Ks to one walk, Sunny. And that turns me on. What I look at numbers like that, you're talking, 23Ks to one walk over 17 and third, fire me up, be the savior in St. Louis. And we talked about this guy a lot. He's been on this list all year long.
Starting point is 01:16:21 Cutter Crawford, are you kidding me? Three games started in the two weeks, 16 and two thirds innings pitched, only one earn run, 18 K's with a 0.54 ERA. He owns the best ERA marked by a Red Sox starting pitcher, which is 0.66. Since Roger Clemens produced a 0.66 ERA, they're his first five starts in that 1991 season. I think that's someone he'd want to be compared to to your Red Sox pitcher. Very nice.
Starting point is 01:16:47 And then finally, ending our Enfuego session, how about Texas reliever Kirby Yates, Jake? Yeah. He pitched six games. Seven innings pitch, struck out eight, one hit, no earnies. for the 0.43 whip. That's what you want to see out of your reliever. And that's Susan Fuego. Fantastic stuff, Trev.
Starting point is 01:17:09 Kirby Yates came in and was gross last night. D. Rob got pulled and he did a little, he did the reliever like, damn, I wanted one more. Like I'm one out away from getting out of the inning. And then he kind of did a head turn like, no, I'm actually cool with it. And I was like, wow, that was a quick turn. And then I saw what Kirby Yates did.
Starting point is 01:17:29 And, yeah. Yeah, like it was, he made Arcia look, look awful. You mentioned Cutter Crawford with Roger Clemens. Trev, I know he's tied to some Balco, some of the juice stuff. We moved on pretty quickly from Roger Clemens. Go check out the baseball reference when you get a minute. Top of your guy's head, career war. I know war is not everything, especially pitchers or whatever, but career war.
Starting point is 01:17:57 I think I've seen this. No, it's a big boy, not. Number. 101. 139. I don't know. I was on it. I was on his page not too long ago.
Starting point is 01:18:11 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven times lead in ERA. That was from those years range from 1986 to 2005. So. Excuse me? I mean, the page is covered in bold. He has seven Sy-Yungs. And we've just kind of moved on from Roger.
Starting point is 01:18:36 I mean, I want to, there needs to be more talked about when he was with the Astros and just only showed up on days he, I want more of that. I've said it a lot. Like there's no power play. Only on the team. There's not a bigger power play than that. Oh, road trip.
Starting point is 01:18:55 Am I pitching on it? Oh, I'm not. Okay. I'm going to stay and watch my son play some ball and eat some home-cooked meals. That is. Honestly, I almost wish more starting pitchers would do that. Get out of the clubhouse. Nobody needs your, you know, throwing the weighted ball.
Starting point is 01:19:12 You're not going to help. Just go somewhere else. Just be ready to pitch every five days. That's all we need you for. Do you remember when he'd be coming back, they'd air his minor league games? Yes. And somebody hit a homer off him and that led sports center. A minor league hit a homer off him and it like led sports.
Starting point is 01:19:29 That was just a different world. Roger Clemens' minor league game got broadcasts and led sports center. And who'd he end up with last year of his career? Your New York Yankees. We're all washed up players end of. A 44-year-old just hucking the pill. Is Judge washed that last year? Is Aaron Judge washed?
Starting point is 01:19:53 Okay. Relax. You know what Roger got paid that age 44, half-season with the Yankees? According to baseball reference listed salary? 10 mil. 174. Sure. Yes.
Starting point is 01:20:06 Why not? That's in the bank account. What was that? It's 2024. Oh, easy with that judge stuff. Hey, don't think I didn't see your clip. Rays were spamming judge with sliders away. It was not fair.
Starting point is 01:20:17 I didn't say it's not fair. Oh, you didn't say it wasn't fair? I was on the race. They should have kept spamming the slider way. It wasn't even close. It was a good reference. You said it was like a bad 2000s video game. I like that.
Starting point is 01:20:27 I was. I stopped playing baseball video games for a while. Like when you play like Street Fighter and the guys are just. just hit all the buttons. Stop spamming me. Stop. Stop.
Starting point is 01:20:36 Stop it. Unfair pitch. Now that we have gamers in the office, some gamer lingo is becoming more popular. And Jimmy at the warehouse the other day was like, yeah, just keep spamming that. And I was like, whoa. Whoa.
Starting point is 01:20:48 Jimmy? Yeah. I didn't think that. Cool guy lingo? He's been dropping a few spams. Wasn't familiar with your game. Trev, least favorite segment of the show. The IL updates.
Starting point is 01:21:02 Kyle Freeland from the Rocks. You remember the slide play from last week. He ends up on the IL. Ryan Nelson for My Snakes. Francisco Alvarez for the Mets. That's a bummer. Chad Green. Is Freeland on the I.
Starting point is 01:21:17 L because of that? Let's double check. Bebs. Kyle Freeland. Let me finish it off while Beeb's research is. A.J. Puck for Miami. He'd been looking gross. Tristan Kosses.
Starting point is 01:21:30 D.L. Hall. in Milwaukee. Okay, I'm circling that one. Christian Javier for Houston. That's no Bueno. And Anthony Rendon, who I know everyone likes to get their Rendon jokes off. He'd actually been bawling out. He'd been going nuts a little bit, so a bummer there.
Starting point is 01:21:48 Yeah, Kyle Freeland did go on the IL. It's an elbow strain. It is unrelated to the home plate collision. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just pitchers stuff. So just throwing too hard.
Starting point is 01:22:00 returning from the IL as we start uplifting ourselves. Jamison Tyone for the Cubby's. Patrick Wisdom, your guy, Trev. Let's see. Brent Rooker, back for Oakland hitting baseballs. Verlander, we mentioned that. Nathaniel Lowe, tilling the land, dating daughters. He's back at first base for Texas.
Starting point is 01:22:24 A couple other relievers around the league. You know, they're fun to hang out on the team bus, but we'll keep it moving now. Trev. You don't want to mention Cody Bolton? Sean Jelly. Saw some Bolton's this weekend, Vegas. Can we start the week?
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Starting point is 01:23:35 Always the right time to invest in their health with the farmer's dog. Click the link. Treve, where are you going? Okay. Well, my award has kind of changed from about an hour before the show to now, because I've found some new information. But my award is going to be called the Nothing to See Here award. Now, you know, magicians like to use sleight of hand.
Starting point is 01:24:02 And whenever they're trying to get you to look somewhere, you know, up here, they're probably doing something with the other hand down there. Now, I'm not saying the Orioles did this. I don't think it was just them. You know, Jackson Holiday was a huge topic all throughout the off season, all throughout spring training. We got a matchup between him and Paul Skeet. Do you remember that matchup in spring training when they didn't even have a real camera to film it?
Starting point is 01:24:29 And we were just looking at some iPhone footage. What are we doing baseball? But it was a talk of the town, man, and rightfully so. This guy is absolutely crushed minor league pitching. He's young, he's hot, he's got the lineage. All these things add up. You know, this is the guy we need to be focused on. It wasn't just Jackson Holiday.
Starting point is 01:24:46 It was Jackson Churio and now Jackson Merrill. But Jackson was at the center stage. But the Orioles were doing something else with that hand. They were letting a couple guys make the team and ball out. And when everyone was focused on Jackson Holiday, it's been Jordan Westberg and Colton Kouser, just absolutely crushing the ball. Now, that was going to be my award.
Starting point is 01:25:13 Let's talk about these guys. And I'm going to do that, but then I'm going to get to something else different towards the end. Jordan Westberg is leading the AL in OPS at 203. OPS Plus, excuse me, at 203. It's a first round pick. At a 2020, at a Mississippi State. 715 OPS in 2023.
Starting point is 01:25:30 One dotting it. 1.031 in 2024. Now he was a 76 prospect, according to Baseball America, before the 2003 season. So, like, he was on some people's radars, but it was always about Jackson Holiday. This year, 95th and average exit Velo, 99th in hard hit rate.
Starting point is 01:25:49 This guy's absolutely doing it. Big change has been how he's hit fastballs. Last year, negative 5 run value between the sinker and the four scene. This year, he already has a positive 7 run value against both. It's April 22nd people. It's a massive change. Now, Colton Couser, he's second AIL and regular OPS
Starting point is 01:26:09 with a 1.195 only behind who, Jake? Who's that? Juan Soto. Oh. First round pick in 2021. He's fifth overall to Sam Houston State. He had a 433 OPS last year. A 433.
Starting point is 01:26:25 And like I mentioned, 1.195 to start the year this year. He had a negative point nine war last year. They said he made some adjustments, moved his hands a little further away from the body. Right now, on baseball, Savant, 90th and hard hit percentage,
Starting point is 01:26:40 95th percentile and barrel percentage. He hit 118 on four seamers last year, Jake. He's in 500 against four seamers this year. So Holiday got all the hype and deservedly so, but these guys have flown under the radar until now. Now teams are game planning for these guys. So I'm very curious to see how the rest of the season goes for them. but right now it looks like
Starting point is 01:27:03 the Orioles have just figured out and one thing they figured out, Jake, this is kind of where my award's going to go to now. It's the Orioles scouting department. The way they've drafted has been absolutely absolutely insane. And I know it helps to have some high draft picks.
Starting point is 01:27:21 But I also think there's a little pattern here of what they've been able to. We're going to go back. We're going to go back to 2017 where they selected D.L. Hall with the 21st pick. Okay, D.L. Hall was good for them in the playoffs last year. You know, we're still on the fence about what he was going to become. You know what he became? Corbin Burns. Corbin. Okay. Nice start the draft.
Starting point is 01:27:45 2018, who did they get? Grayson Rodriguez, one of the best pitchers in the big leagues right now. 2019, who did they get? Adley Rushman. They had the number one overall pick. Didn't miss there. They haven't lost, they haven't got swept in a series over two games since he's been called up. Do you know who they got with the second pick? What'd they get with that second pick, Trev? Oh, just Gunner Henderson. Pretty good draft. Are you kidding me, people?
Starting point is 01:28:08 2020 was Heston Kirstedad. That was the number two pick. And then they had another first round pick, and that was when they got Jordan Westberg. So you're talking about 2019. You get Adley and you get Gunner Henderson. and then you get Kirstad who's sitting in the minor leagues right now, but he's very capable of playing in the big leagues.
Starting point is 01:28:34 And then you got Jordan Westberg, who's leading the AL in OPS Plus. That's nice. 2021, Colton Kouser, Sam Houston State, number five. And then you get Jackson Holiday. And then I'm sure last year, 2023 Enrique Bradfield out of Vanderbilt is going to be an absolute star. But they've hit on every single high draft pick they've had since 2017, bro. That is how you get to the point you're at now.
Starting point is 01:29:00 They're going to have to figure out ways to keep all these guys. I don't know if they're going to be able to do it. But that's, I mean, you have to give snaps to the scouting department for doing that. Because go look at your team's draft record. Go to their first round picture the last decade and just see like how many players are even in the big leagues. You'll be shocked at it. The way they've been able to do it has been nuts. And I kind of figured out what they want.
Starting point is 01:29:23 they ain't drafted no sissy California boys they ain't drafted no sissy Florida boys we're going we're going Oklahoma we're going Arkansas we're going Texas they want them corn fed Southern boys and you know what it seems like the recipe is working
Starting point is 01:29:44 so I don't even know what my award is called anymore it was the the sleight of hand award but now I think it's like just the congratulations arias you did it award I'm telling you people drafting, even with high draft picks like they've had, is not easy and they've just absolutely crushed it.
Starting point is 01:30:01 So good job, guys. Trev, kind of a good award. Again, unnamed, so I can't. I'm not going to say great award. For anyone who's a draft loser, it's NFL draft week, go look at the 2019 draft. My goodness, MLB.
Starting point is 01:30:20 I'm just going to read some names in no chronicle well, I guess they are in order, but Adley Rushman, Bobby Witt, Riley Green, C.J. Abrams, Lodolo, Jung, Langealiers, Manoa, Beatty, Stott, Corbin Carroll, George Kirby,
Starting point is 01:30:37 Anthony Volpe. That's all in the first round. That's in 19? I think I'm seeing Michael Bush. Michael Bush, like they... And a lot of these guys, there's another handful that haven't made it to the majors because they're like, high schoolers.
Starting point is 01:30:53 and stuff. And the first pick of that second round, like you mentioned Gunner Henderson. That's, it's exactly what you said. It's how you build it up. And I just think it deserves to be said. You know, you were kind of starting with Colton Couser and Jordan Westberg.
Starting point is 01:31:10 These guys were still prospects. It's not like they, oh, look what we found. Like, no. First round picks. Kouser was the five pick. Mm-hmm. How much did we hear about those? guys. None.
Starting point is 01:31:26 Dude, you want to know the next one I'm living in fear of? I don't know who Kobe Mayo is. I think he's supposed to have crazy power. 21st prospect in baseball right now. Haven't heard a thing about him. I think I heard one scouting report like stupid power. And I just
Starting point is 01:31:42 know I'm going to see him in the next year or two. And he's going to be a problem. Do we need to talk about a holiday a little bit? I mean, he is, I believe. I believe struck out in 50% of plate appearances, I believe only one hit so far. Like, how long do you let him do that?
Starting point is 01:32:05 It's a good question. I'm glad they sheltered him from those lefties at the beginning of the year. That really helped them out. I don't know, man. Again, for me, I don't care. Hmm. The day the Yankees called up Anthony Volpe,
Starting point is 01:32:22 they were never sending him back. down to the minors. Never. So it would have to get really ugly, I guess. And I don't know, but this is a different organization, and I actually don't like the Yankee way. Like, you can be called up to the majors and let's celebrate that and give you a fair shot, but being sent down to the miners shouldn't be like blasphemy. Like, that should be on the table.
Starting point is 01:32:49 So I don't know. If he's struggling that bad, I wouldn't be hesitant to. It's not there yet. Like, let baseball run its course a little bit. I think it's close. See you third week. Kobe Mayo, by the way, one dotting at AAA.
Starting point is 01:33:09 He's on that Norfolk team that's just healing people. And his career in the miners, 284, 384, and 918 OPS. So that's on deck when they want it. My God. What's Kirstad doing? Let's look it up. I got it right here.
Starting point is 01:33:27 Heston Kirstadt. Oh, he's only one dotting it as well. 1.176. I'll tell you, a lot of minor league pitchers do not like seeing Buck Britons, Norfolk Tides on the schedule. I love me some buck. I know you do.
Starting point is 01:33:42 And how about 10 homers in 21 games for Kirstad? Yep. Okay. Yep. Oh, Kyle Braddish. Did he throw it? with them. We'll do some more Orioles another time. Treve, I'm kind of going to the opposite end of the spectrum.
Starting point is 01:34:02 You know, that Orioles youth and how delightful it is. I'm giving out the Obi-Wan Kenobi Award. You know, you and I, we both have our sneaky loser sides to us between Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. I mean, sports in general, if we're actually being honest about it, but that's for another time. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Trev, you know, O.G. Film, number fourth in the movies in order. But help me, Obi-Wan, you're our
Starting point is 01:34:35 only hope. Justin Verlander came back for the Astros. He's the game they won against the Nationals. He looked like Justin Verlander, man, that fastball had some paint to it, some ride on the black. With Houston right now, it is the pitching. It's the bullpen. Hater and Presley can't be like that. won't. It's just a matter. They need to make sure they time up their good days at the right time right now because again, you don't want St. Louis last year, it felt like whenever they were about to turn something, Gallegos or Helsie or whoever it would would have the bad day. Justin Verlander came back, he looked good. Be the guy for Houston, man, because Javier just went to the aisle. They have a full rotation on the IL right now.
Starting point is 01:35:29 Framber, Erkiti, McCullors, Javier Garcia. We've seen all those guys pitch playoff games, like World Series games. And right now, they're without them. So I harped on it before. I've hit the panic button a little bit. Like we've got to go. And Justin Verlander, be the guy for that staff. Help, help reset the bullpen when you can.
Starting point is 01:35:54 Own your day. Start doing that rotation, pass the torch. Hey, I did my six today. You need your six tomorrow. Because it is go time. And, hey, if there's a guy that can lead your pitching staff, it is Justin Verlander. Can I add on to what Justin Verlander might help with? Obviously, when he takes the mound, he's going to give you a shot to win.
Starting point is 01:36:20 We saw that. He did look good. I'm very excited about that. I like Justin Verlander pitching in the big leagues. I just like that. Sure. Okay. Who is his like apprentice, looked up to him, tries to, you know, mimic his wind up. It's Hunter Brown. Hunter Brown. And Hunter Brown just hasn't been it. Like not just this year. Like just in general, he's had a few good starts, but overall career numbers haven't been good.
Starting point is 01:36:46 Seeing JV up close and personal, watching him work every single day. Are we going to see an uptick with Hunter Brown? Like, I'd like to think so. There's something to be said. Look, I know he's still got to go out there and pitch and there's been problems. And when you get around someone that you really, really respect and, you know, they can help you in your bullpens and you can just talk about, like for me, like if I'm around a guy who Josh Willingham was my guy, you know, right-handed batter, had some pop, you know, we talked about hitting a lot. When I was around Tim, I felt like I was a better hitter because he got my mind right. Honor Brown around Justin Verlander. maybe things are a little bit different this year. It gets around them. They have some discussions about pitch usage, sequencing,
Starting point is 01:37:31 whether it's changing up or routine, something like that. Maybe this is the start to the turnaround in Hunter Brown's season. That'd be really nice because they need that. Rotation is thin right now. They need some pitching and quick. Trevor Plouffe, excited to see you Wednesday. Yes. Great up. Everyone subscribe.
Starting point is 01:37:53 Buy 10 shirts. Listen this long, might as well subscribe. Go buy the hat Trevor Pluth is wearing. You liked it, we did a good job. Or a mug. Chick sucks. About to go see your athletics, Trev. Okay.
Starting point is 01:38:15 One o'clock game at the stadium. Fingerprints are not all over that team. Dude. We can get them. Mark Dodson. I'll let you know, maybe a little bit. Go off and I got Butler? Let's go.

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