Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Harper's Birthday Blast & Rangers Take BIG 2-0 Lead | 732

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

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Hello and welcome to talking baseball. The Phillies win game one and the Rangers win game two. And we're going to talk all about the baseball. Hello and welcome to talking baseball episode number 732. We're in the midst of the championship series and we've got two shutouts. Diamondback 7-1, any of their one games that happened today. And the Rangers win game two. Hold on to win by just one.

run, both games started pretty loud early on, and the guys who hit homers continue to hit those homers. This episode is brought to you by Seatkeek, code John Boy postseason. We'll get you 10% off any ticket, any time. Doesn't matter if you've used the app before or not. You buy a ticket today, 10% off, or you buy a ticket tomorrow, 10% off code Johnboy postseason. Jake, how you doing? James, Trevor, BBD.

I'm doing well. I mean, the CSs are both underway now. Man, it feels like we've come a long way from the start of that Houston game today. Remember that, that first inning, a bleep, a bloop and a bloop, bloop, bloop. And then the first inning of the Phillies game, Snake's game, also just absolutely electric.

Schwabbeau harps. I'm doing well. I think you can hear it. You can hear it in my voice, Trev, that I'm feeling the juices of October, my old documentary. The juices of October? You know what, James asked you how you were doing, and you started to describe the games.

That's for later, bro. That's how I'm doing. Calm down a little bit. It was. I was interested in you personally as a friend. That's how I'm doing. I'm sweating. That's why you want to hear of sweat.

You're sweating. Yeah, I kind of wanted to see, you know, what your body temp was like. You're sweating. I get it. You're running hot. Yeah. I'm doing great. I'm excited to talk.

Ball. We got everybody here tonight to talk about these beautiful games that happened. I don't if you guys saw, but I did the 31 blow out the candles, Bryce Harper, which is the new thing. Now, everyone's going to be blowing on their fingers

when they cross don't play it in a home run. Just how it is. Am I doing it right? Is this 3-1 for you, for the viewers at home? For the viewers at home, it is. Harper technically did it backwards and he did it.

Yeah, what am I? Hold on. Jake, where this? I can't even do it. Yeah. Jake. I can't even do it. Oh, you don't have enough fingers?

No. I hope Longo busts out the three sevens. Oh, I can't do it. Grafts a teammates ham. Toro the Vela. Why are you pinch hitting for Longo? Yeah. Man, if Longo Homer's,

then he just opens up his palm and it says, I'm 37, that'd be awesome. That'd be really good. Yeah, let him know that'd be awesome. Treb, I haven't slept in... I haven't slept like over the night I didn't sleep. So however long that is. So what was going to say 24 hours, I think it's actually like 36 or whatever. So I might be a bit loopy.

I took the red eye flight home. Oh, yeah. I had the one seat on all of the plane in Delta. They gave me a redemption code or whatever recoup. There's one light bulb that just didn't go out. It was above my head. Oh, on a red eye? A red eye, yeah.

Holy. That's not what you want. What did you get a redemption for? I mean, where? I think they gave me 50 bucks. That feels super low. It's 550 or 500. It should be 500.

Just for the light? Yes. And just the one light being on is worse than if all the lights on the flight. Just for the light. Just for the flight. Pop. Oh, I didn't say anything.

That's what it is. I signed the thing. I was in that window and there was two sleeping girls to middle on the aisle. And she's like reaching over like, is this your name? Like, they're sleeping. And I don't go away. I'm just in my light here Only one on the plane

It felt like a music video Where like the guy singing is the only one Let up on the plane That was me If you sing No I didn't sing I just edited all flight So I haven't slept

Yeah You want to burn game one I can try Okay I get there I'm not there Subscribe if you're new He's there's there's there

Game two of the ALCS In H-H town There'd be a Framber alert out for the Astros offense as Valdez would try to do his part to shut down the Texas Rangers while local boy Nate Doggivaldi would try to make it regulate top one uh gross man we're covered in simeon throwing error scores one Garcia garver and low all are single and ready to mingle four nothing Rangers after one ahoo but bottom two let me see you You're done.

Framber's new shoes couldn't stop. Big time, Heim from Homer. And five to one, Houston would we have a problem? Breggie Smalls, I'm sicker than your average. Cuts the lead down. Michael Brantley with the RBI double. And then you're done. Two times, it's five to four.

But that would be it from spores. Chapman and LeClerc. Nate Dogg goes. six innings, three earn run, nine Ks. Texas, they take both games down in Houston. They invented the AC there, John. It's true they did. What a game.

What a bad start by Framber. Good start by the Rangers who's scoring bunches. They're kind of nuts. Four or nothing, and then they pushed one across later on. Was the biggest inning, the bases loaded no outs that of all the escaped? I know that they did, I know they did eventually start coming back, you know, and add runs, but that was a big one. Yeah, it was bottom five right there. We have, you know, two singles in an air.

Then you have a pinch hitter and you on your Diaz come up, come up, and he looked outmatched. There's a, what do they say in Hamilton, outgunned, outmatched, or some song about that. He looked like that. Not even close. And then you get a great pitch sequence on Altuv. Actually had it up on my phone. the classic climb the ladder back down to the splitter to get the K on him. Typically, Jose doesn't care about that stuff.

But rolled the ladder up, splitter down, strike three, and then our boy Thickneck over there gets another chance with a Bregglin ground ball, makes to play this time. And yeah, he escaped it. And it seemed like whenever he evolved, they got into trouble. And that's kind of what they were saying on the broadcast. You know, he likes to bear down in those situations. He becomes a little bit different of a pitcher,

executes a little bit better, gets a little more nasty, and you kind of saw that throughout the game, dude. But again, you mentioned it, James. These big innings, that's the story of the postseason. Big bunch innings, you come out and you do that right away again.

How do you quiet a crowd down? You go out and score four runs in the first, dude. You single on the first pitch that you see. I kind of love that approach by Simian. I believe he did it. First two at bats, first two pitches, he saw two singles

like he was up there swinging it was clear they had a plan and then Framber who I didn't know we had a problem throwing the basis Smoltz kept saying that is that like a thing I don't think it's like a

I think he's had a couple like a Matt Garza situation or John Lester but he's I mean you zoo that ball in the first and he tried to like look at third to get Simeon

and then he couldn't get back in time and then kind of of snowballed from there. A really, really nice swing from Adelis Garcia and the first thing, going the other way, getting the single to ripe. But I think that Texas is coming out and just throwing that punch right away. I mean, we've just seen it time and time again this postseason and they ever hold the lead.

Of all the, I started making a breakdown a little bit on escaping that jam. So I was slowing down and looking at his pitches a ton. And he was just dancing outside, inside, soft inside, fast outside. soft outside, fast inside. That was a lot of the sequence he was doing. And in that inning to escape it, like it's almost paint by numbers outside, inside, outside, inside. He gets out Tuvae on a great four-pitch sequence.

Yeah. That's actually a really cool sequence by Avali with his pitches. But he just bared down. He got some chase swings. The first out of that basis loaded jam was a 3-2 curveball off the zone that he got swing and miss. but I won't move too far ahead, Jake. Well, no, I think focusing on Avaldi

because, hey, all right, you get the four runs in the first. It's a little messy. There's, you know, Smaltzy was having some good pitcher talk at first because he was like, you know, none of these are hits, basically, until Adoles. He's like, that's the first good swing we've seen. And it's like, yeah, you're half right. But for Avaldi, yeah, it's just fun.

I mean, that change up, he threw three straight to McCormick one time. So I think that's a fun part of playoff baseball. Like it's a little less, you know, that June, you know, evening game where it's like, hey, let's see what Avaldi's got and what he's got. It's like, oh, okay, Chaz, he's not seeing that pitch. I'm going to throw him three straight. Got him. Now, your Don, on the other side, who hits a homer off of him,

and that makes him eight for 12 off of Avaldi with five homers or something like that. It was interesting to see Avaldi go to his cutter because he was all. over his straight fastball. But that slight mile per hour difference and a little bit of cut had Yordaun followed off. He threw a couple nice ones to Tucker two. Much like the final strike of Blitzball Battle one. Semi-final.

The final pitch of the semifinals. I knew where you were going with that. I struck out Trevor. And then he even- I'm Yordaun in that situation. I'm okay with it. And I think also he opened up Yordaun with a big curve ball, his first big curveball. So watching a Valdi pitch today was a real treat.

And then I don't know. have all the playoff thoughts actually creep into your head because like montaro comes in he looks good jp france gives them an effort and the astros are chipping away that you're like wait five four and you've got you know the guys you know coming up that are able to one swing away flip the whole tone of this series it doesn't happen uh leclerc comes in to save chapman because oh my god if you if you want to watch scary baseball come watch or roll this chapman pitch in these games joe's mcpherson fly who has a way with word sometimes. Sometimes he doesn't, and it's like the worst words you've ever heard.

Sometimes it's beautiful. He goes, the Houston at Bats against Chapman are as comfortable as at bats as they take. They're just, there's no fear. Like there's no threat of anything. They either think they're going to hit a home run or walk. And it's just wild to see because he's still, the stuff is hit in hundreds. Like the off speed stuff moves a little bit, but it's either 100, yes, but middle middle or a ball. That's what I got.

Josh Young. Yeah, Young had so many balls. Up and down. A lot of plays for him. You know, the Astros did a good job chipping away. And, you know, you get the three solo homers by, two by Alvarez and one by Bregman. The thing that got me in this game was you hit these home runs. Look at the bats right after the home runs. You get Bregman, or excuse me, you get Kyle Tucker popping up on a first pitch after the,

the Bregman Homer in the bottom of the fourth right there. You know, usually that does not happen. You take better at bats than that. You know, you hit the home run and then you want to get a rally going. Instead, you get Kyle Tucker first pitch on a curve ball pop up.

Yorda on Alvarez gets calling strikes. You're not all sitting near two outs, nobody on. And the rally's done. The next time Alvarez hits a home run, Jose Abrae, two pitches, gets out. And then Brantley strikes out after that.

like it was the solo homer and then immediately shutting down any sort of a crooked number. And again, like you have to play this Astros team so perfectly. You can't let them, I don't even know. It's like when you're trying to like un, un twist a cap or twist a cap off and you can't get it and someone kind of gets it going for you, then it's easy. The cat never got easy for the Astros. That's the dumbest analogy that anyone's ever given. But you know what I'm talking about, dude.

No one ever loosened their lid. They just couldn't string him together besides that fifth inning when he got out of the out of the jam. When they had the momentum, it was quickly put out by Nathaniel. You know, Jordan's got to start in some doubles, getting some rallies started, all these homers. Jeez. He's the scariest postseason bat, I think I've seen ever.

Six home runs in six games and what he did last year as well. It's just inevitable. Scary than Bryce right now? Yes. Yes, he's scarier than Bryce. Different types of. Different types of fear. With Bryce,

with Bryce. He's a big moment, yeah. Bryce is a big moment, but also I feel like pitchers are like, Bryce will swing real big and miss some. Just try to like, you know, he'll ground some out. Where you're on,

it's like, if I put anything anywhere in his bat zone, it's a 100% 400 foot homer. The homer against Chapman was a first pitch slider on the black. away from him and it looked like he knew was coming all along. Yeah, he got, he was out extended a little too far, like a little barred out with his arms. Doesn't matter. Scary.

It's crazy, dude. He's matchup proof. Lefties and right of these, his splits are the exact same. Someone pointed out to me because I put out on Twitter. I don't think he sees people. He just, yeah, it's like if he sees a ball in his zone, he's going to crush it. He just has Terminator vision and everything's like black and then there's this red bulb that flies towards him.

That'd be an easy video game. about it. Oh, we got to just hit the, it's in slow-mo, too. I think moving on, if you're an Astros fan, or if you're the Astros, you're disappointed, but you're not incredibly uncomfortable. Obviously, they've been here a lot. They're better on the road than at home. And this is where the real difference in squad comes into play, which we talked about

in the preview episode. This is where you've got Scher and whatever he's going to do. You got Heen, you got Dunning. They have two pitchers they are comfortable with that I've performed better than Framber in the postseason this year and like most of over two years ago. So I think if the Astros win game three, all the sudden, in my head, it's almost like, well, it's going to go to two, or, you know, they're winning another one. So I think they're set up a little better.

They are on the road, but starting pitching wise, more comfortable. The teams that go up 2-0 on the road of one of the 90% clip in this format, but it doesn't feel like that for me. If the Astros, if it was a reverse series and the Astros went and took the first two games in Texas, what will we be saying? It's over. Like the Astros are going to run this. I don't feel that way, even though the Rangers took two in Houston. I don't feel like, oh, it's over. Now, chances are, like, they're going to go out and win this series. That's, you know, past, the past tells us that. Statistics tell us that. But this Houston team is a little different. So I think that the Rangers need to be cognizant of that and just go out and continue to,

you can't get laxadaisical. I don't think they will. These are professional ballplayers. But I think as a fan, you know, I'm not a Rangers fan, but I'm just kind of putting myself in their shoes. I wouldn't feel like too comfortable just yet because of what you mentioned. They have Javier and Orkidi going. We'll see what Max has.

We'll see the Heaney-Dunny situation before we get back to our guys again. But I don't know, I guess it just snaps for the Rangers. We're doing it, dude. I didn't think it was going to be like this. If you're Houston, you want that chance to punch first. You want that top of the first inning, Max Scherzer, who hasn't been pitching, you've got a chance to, you said, you know, Texas fans shouldn't feel comfortable. They should feel kind of comfortable that they won two in Houston to start the series.

Like, that's best case scenario. But if in the top of the first inning, Max, Scherzer's in his 33rd pitch and there's, you know, three runs on the board, that changes the whole tenor of this series. And everyone's probably going to point to the Nat series that every game in that series in the 2019 World Series, the Road Team won. So, you know, nobody's, nobody's ever going to rule Houston out till they're dead, man. I mean, that's like, it feels like in a scary movie or even like Austin Powers mockumentary, like, until you see them die, they're not gone. I see the body.

A couple things that make me... Tingle. A little bit weary of the Astros right now. And they're kind of silly, but I think they mean something. Okay, bear with me here. Framber tries to be like gangster wearing the white kicks out there. Doesn't work from. He changes the

kicks. Goes back to the old faithful. Been there done that. I get it. I'm not really worried about that, but there's a little something there. You look down and you go, these fucking shoes. These fucking shoes. They're too white. Shoes. Kyle Tucker going back and forth from BGs to no BGs? Like,

I know that's happened during the year a little bit. He's gone back and forth, but like in the game going back and forth, like it didn't even really look. This is stupid. It didn't look like his batting goes fit right. Wow. He's probably like, what the fuck are?

Maybe that's what happened. His hands grew. So, I can't honestly. I mean, I can't imagine doing going back and forth. Again, I know he's done it.

But he's 091 with a 336 OPS of these playoffs. He's searching for something, people. I just wanted to point that out. He's searching for something. And that's not typical of this Astros team. It is a Framber. Framber doesn't give a shit. He'll change his glove, his shoes,

as you've well documented, James. But Tucker kind of feeling like out of place up there, that's a little worrisome for me if I'm a nationalist fan. What would you feel more confident in batting gloves or no batting gloves? Or just, no bad goes, because that's his thing. There's no bad angles. But I guess he doesn't have enough time to get the dirt just right and spit in his hands and do all that stuff. So he's kind of gone back and forth.

But dang. Don't love that. It's got to get faster to spin and all that. Just hawking and a lugging. I mean, that's a sexual thing he's doing there. I do have two follow-ups for you guys. But I was going to do it in between. Okay

I don't need a hat Jake's getting something Oh I thought you were doing something for the show Yeah he's kind of for the show He said first Um Well are we done on this series

That's what I was trying to ask Oh um Again like another Like longer start to shorten the game And the Rangers bullpen This is who they've paired it down to Bors, Chapman, the clerk. These are kind of going to be their guys.

I mean, they get the job done. Chapman's crazy, but yes. Crazy, but they get the job done, dude. Okay, first follow up, Trev. I found this quote. Is this the one you were talking about? You just lost your own game. You're outgunned and out.

No, it's a song in the Hamilton soundtrack, but I do like that. That's stepbrothers, I believe, right? No, it's the other one, the other guys. And then the other update I found the email from Delta. For my voucher, $25. Yeah, that's... Oh, my... You shouldn't have signed anything.

I didn't sign it. I just gave him my... Would you sign? You signed some. She said, is this your name? I said, yes. She said, can you give me your email? I type my email.

I mean, maybe he had a barstool big cat. I think he messed up airlines. Oh, I don't care. I'd flex the YouTube numbers there real quick. No, you would. Yes, I would. I'll send the email now. They owe you like a thousand bucks, dude.

They ruined your fucking flip. like. They robbed you of a night of sleep from Alberta already. Dude, you need a blonde wig chop cut right now,

Karen. Geez. In the hills of Calabassey. You're not safe the rest of the episode. You're not safe. You need a chop cut right now. You're not safe.

All right, let's move on to the National League. Jake. Burn the game while you chugged your blue moon. It's brought to you by Blue Moon. Even under the bright lights

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Thanks, Blue Moon. Subscribe. It's wheels up to Philly as the defending NL champs and Zach would take on the baby snakes as the milkman. Zach Gallen tries to deliver for Arizona, but like a 1920s movie, the milkman got jumped by two lefties. Schwabom and Bryce, Bryce, baby, it's 2-0-Nob, make it 3.

Nicky Cass does another home run impression. It's 3-0. There's Harper again. 4, and J.T. calls the fuzz. Woo-woo. It's 5-0 after 5. But these snakes are different. Perdomo from the windows to the walls to run Homer for NL shortstop All-Star, Geraldo Perdomo. Alec Thomas sacrifices himself for the team, but that's all she wrote. Phillies, Wheeler, Sir Anthony, Alvarado Kimbril. Tell me if you heard that before. Phillies take game one in the Iledel 53 final.

Jake Story Alley exclusive. Exclusive. Premier, premiere, premiere. The 5-0. That's cop. It's code for cop. Oh, we call him Killer Whales out here. Yeah.

Nice, dude. The Phillies opened the game up with a ton of home runs. Two. Well, three, kind of. And Trey got a hold of his ball, but it was a flyout. Or no, it was that. Marsh or someone else hit a hard ball in the first. Bowling.

Anyway, Gowan, very good pitcher. Looks really good. A lot of the times kind of does use the high fastball to set up all his other pitches. Only problem to Schwerber, the first pitch of the game, it was not high, and it was 92 miles per hour, and it was just like right in where Schwerber would want to hit. a ball. And then to Harper, same thing.

It wasn't high. It was another fastball. Right in the middle. What did Castiano's get? Same thing. Yeah, it was that fastball away. So you heard Tori Levello say in his like midgame chat, which actually was like, nice.

Tori actually, you know, gave an emotion at least. He was just like very honest. Like, yeah, he's throwing some bad pitches in some bad spots. He was like, oh, damn. Well, that's Galen's game is. location, pitch sequencing. He's like a real deal pitcher. He's got good stuff too.

First ball, you're talking with the Schwerber, 92 middle. 117 off of the freaking bat. That thing was as pretty as it gets. There's not many homers and swings that are prettier in baseball than Kyle Schwerver when he absolutely connects on one. So that was an absolute treat to see. I'm trying to get the pitch by pitch for Harper here. Well, Trey Turner, the next step out was four three, four seam fastballs in a row.

And Turner smoked one 103, right after. someone then harper gets him first pitch Bryce Harper 93 miles an hour middle up yeah they were just mistake they were mistake pitches yep um in in a game where he's going well

and he's more comfortable and I don't know I mean dude he's in Philadelphia pitching the playoffs like things are going to be a little different for you like those are yeah those are on the black and he is starting you off strike one you're like okay tip your cap now let's go with the bat instead these guys come on packing and he makes the mistake dude like that's what this Philly's team does up and down the lineup, they can pump you at any given moment.

And they showed that's nice. Got punch in the mouth, man. I mean, you know, Kyle Schwerber 117. Like, I know that doesn't matter, but it also does. Like, that's not, you know, oh, first pitch matters. Made an all right pitch and got beat on it by, it's like, oh, my God. He sends a missile, lights the Philly crowd absolutely on fire. Harper on his birthday, Treve, you've got the kids blowing out finger candle.

The guy is the best. Dude, that's going to be everywhere now. Like, I love it. I'm happy he did it. It's great for him. But I can't, like, these eight-year-old kids on the weekend are going to be doing that all the time. Is it a thing already?

Is he going to get credit? Is it a sorority girl thing? Or, like, that's definitely like a white girls of Instagram move. He makes it cool because Harper could make anything cool. But if you were going to say, what group of people do you think blow out imaginary candles? I would say, I don't know, like my wife's demographic. Jess and her friends. He's the number one predetermined thing person ever.

Just his whole outfit, the looks before the game. Like he came into the game saying like, oh, when I homer tonight, I'm going to blow out the 31 candles on my fingers. And everyone's just like, okay, dude, I guess if you can do that. I don't even a cool birthday either. It's 31. Why, I have a question. The coolest 31 birthday ever.

What if he grew up and his like, his fans. family and his friends, that's how they always did their birthday. Like that, they would just walk around the house and just be like, five, blow out their own candles. And he's right now learning. But there's a ton of tricky age. A ton of tricky age is. Like we just talked about like 17.

I'm sure his family has something that they'll work around there. But like right now he's like, wait, I thought that was a. We're joking. I'm the only one that does that. When Longo Homer's next game, we want him to bust out the three seven. I'm going to text him that. That's so funny. Right on your paw before.

Write it on your palm before and then hit a homer and then just as you cross home, hold up three. If you go these first three and then you throw the set, there's a way to you. Wait, no, the funniest way is if it says I'm 37. That's the funniest way. It's written in his palm. If it's written in his palm, he just holds it up to the broadcast. I would even. I'm 37.

One up you and I'd say take off the shoe and start doing it old fashioned way. At home plate, homers, shoe off. What's the shoe? How is it the old-fashioned way? You start counting with your toes. You guys never counted? Well, I'm over the fingers. I never had to use my toes.

Karen teachers were yelling at, you guys. I've never used my... Also, never used my toasting. You guys took different approaches on that. See, I had you split. I'm getting it... I'm getting it the old-fashioned way. Okay.

It's me. I had something, like, really relevant to say, and you sidetracked me. so much that I've lost my train of thought. Horrible uniform matchup. Yeah, it's not great. It's not great. I like reading Trevor Plu's stuff.

He's got a lot of good tools. I guess I want to go to Wheeler now. Yeah. You know, but after the broken bat single to lead off the game for Corby and Carroll, you retires 15 straight. I mean, you do that while your offense comes and slugs homers. I mean, that's just keeping the momentum. That's how you win ball games.

you know, a late little rally there, Pardoma, really nice swing. Because Wheeler is one of those guys when you watch him throw his fastball, and I don't think I ever faced him, but 97 looks like 97. Like it looks fast as shit. Like guys aren't catching up to that.

Where other guys you see that throw 97, I don't know if the perceived velocity, you know, could be lower or higher with him in particular. But like, it seems like if he's like, I'm going to throw it by somebody. He can still just throw it by somebody. It's like easy, you know, nature that he throws the ball and just comes out like a freaking cannon.

Herdomo put a real nice swing on a fastball. That's your guy, man. You know, he's a... He made it a game there. They scored another one, gets a 5-3, but that, you know, Philly's bullpen continues to do their thing. Kimbril, with a great outing, gets a double-play ball.

Here we are. and looks like the Phillies are. I swear, man, they're like a team, not a team of Destiny. I don't want to say that. But I just, I can't see a World Series

without them in it. Trev, if you saw the Google Cloud graphic during the game, Zach Wheeler has better extension than the average MLB pitcher, so that could help with the fastball. Due to the circular joints.

You had a perfect read on that. Yeah, for sure. How was your read on that? I have a lot of respect for you in your career. I wanted to ask you, ask you about pitchers with two fastballs because Wheeler, what I was really impressed by was he would have his sinker that he would throw down and in and the guys were swinging over the top of, but he would also throw that four seamer top of the zone with rise. I guess how much of a challenge

does that does that offer when you're facing a guy like that? Because when a guy has one fastball and you're sitting fastball, you know, that's when a lot of hitters make their dough, right? Like, what does that do to you? I mean, you face a lot of guys that do that. So you kind of have to pick one. You understand when they're going to go to each pitch and what part of the zone they're going to do it in, execute in. Jake Peavy was a guy that could do that, you could really X the corner. He can go that backdoor sinker.

He could throw the four seamer up there, even cut it off of that as well. So, you know, that's why he's one of the best pitchers in the league because he can command all those pitches. You know, when you can, when you, people could say, I have five pitches. Great. How many can you throw for strikes on any given night? A guy like Wheeler who can command, you know, anywhere from four to five pitches just makes it really difficult because he's going to tunnel everything. And sometimes, you know, you're just trying to eliminate pitches with, you know, each pitcher that goes on the amount. What's he got today?

Okay, he's not really throwing that curve off for a strike. Fuck that's gone. You know, okay, that fastball at the top of the zone is never a strike. Fuck the fastball at the top of the zone. Let's hit that sinker. But with Wheeler, you can't really, it's difficult to eliminate pitches, you know, especially when he's on. So it does create a problem because you end up guessing, dude, and you just don't want to be a guess hitter against a guy that has stuff like that.

You're just, we're timing one. He got Guriel real bad. I was, was that him with the strike three looking? That might have been Marte. I think it was Marte. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Fastball looking at the end. But yeah, he was dicing people up. It was, it was pretty interesting because I was trying to figure out the diamondbacks approach and they basically had like the angsty. bad at baseball high school approach. We're like, fine, I work to count. I work to fucking count. I'm like, I'll be patient.

We need baserunner. So they'd take the first pitch. And Whaler would just drop it in there. And they're like, fuck that. I need to swing. And then Whaler makes him chase. And they think this big ass swing at a pitch, barely out of the zone.

And it's like, that sucks. You have, you guys are just all over yourselves right now. He was getting ahead of everybody. It was, you know, a very dominant outing. I know the end result, even though it's a quality start, six runs, two, and runs. I mean, he was close to, you know, going seven. shuddy, you know, but Perdomo puts a good swing on them.

Phillies are just, there's too much up and down the lineup, man. And I know the snakes have done that, and they've had, you know, a bunch of contributions up and down their lineup as well. It doesn't seem, I don't know if there's another team that packs as much of a punch. I mean, I guess you could say the Rangers. I guess, yeah, I mean, yeah, it looks like it's going to be the Rangers and the Phillies, and that's going to be, if that happens, I know we're only one game into it. fingerprints all over that stand.

That's really bad to say. I just see, I don't know, man. It just, this team looks so good right now. Phillies did their formula. Wheeler was nasty, kicked it to the bullpen guys that you know. They did their thing more or less. It's out of Sir Anthony, who, you know, he has the error there that throws a wrench in that inning, too.

But, yeah, I mean, you get a Schwerver, Harper, and Cassiano's home run. You saw the Phillies. I guess for the snakes, and this was one of the topics coming in, that you've got two of the best defensive catchers in baseball, and Moreno and Real Mudo. Corbyn Carroll gets on. Broken bat single, first hitter of the game. Okay, snakes, we're in Philly, let's do this thing.

We were yelling at the TV. Why aren't you running, man? Like, let's do that. And yeah, he was doing some of the hop steps, and maybe he never got the read. But I don't know. For me, it's a little bit of like, if we're being honest, kind of what you're alluding to,

snakes are the underdogs, and they're playing with a little bit of house money. Like go put it on them. Put the pressure on them. You're Corbyn Carroll. You stole 50 plus bags this year. Like show them. Make Wheeler uncomfortable in the first inning.

They don't. They get nothing. Wheeler, when he locks in, I mean, it's like one of the more dominant pitchers you see in baseball. I think, you know, when any starting pitcher finds their groove, you start see him do that, you know, oh, they've retired the last 10 in a row, whatever it is. Wheeler, it feels like he does that regularly, especially this time of year. The other thing I'll add to my snakes, like you said, a little Longo Pardomo rally at the bottom of the order.

We like that. They get the zero off the board, so, you know, you don't have to do any of that for tomorrow's game. Like, you know, the snakes really, they didn't score yesterday. Like, there's none of that. They played game one. They got beat. They gave up three homers early.

Gallen got beat. That's whatever. Something that hopefully matters later in the series, if you're a snakes fan, they go to their secondary bullpen, which we haven't seen, because they've won every. every game. So they go Nelson Castro, Frius. None of them give up a run. And they had Ginkle

warming up, and we kind of had a moment, you're Kevin Ginkle, sorry, Trabb, where we were like, is he going to come in? Because, you know, this is a two-run game in the eighth inning. Like, you've got a chance to win an LCS playoff game. They don't go to him, Frius holds. And I hope for them, there's two things. A, they don't show their A bullpen. so hopefully when they do need to do that, the guys like Harper and Schwerber and Trey and all of them have less looks at them because we know that's a thing come to playoffs.

The other thing, hopefully for Snakes fans, there's a game when if they need to tap into Nelson or Castro or Frius again that those guys got their feet wet in this series and they can come in and be helpful what's hopefully, hopefully for Snakes fans a long series. I think the longer it goes, the more it favors them. I think you made fabulous points, 10 points awarded to you. and in a way because the Phillies haven't seen the D-backs good bullpen

but the D-backs are so comfortable now against the Phillies good bullpen because they saw him today Diamondbacks might have the momentum. I wouldn't go that far, but I was just echoing Jake. I don't think that. I was just what Jake was saying. I don't know about the momentum. I had a thought watching this game and I was hesitant.

I was going to tweet it out, but I was hesitant to the reaction. So I'd rather just say it because I feel like when you say it, the tone matters, context matters. You want Jimmy to read a couple of his replies before you get gone? I heard I saw on the stream you were reading some bad ones, tough ones, huh? They were being friends. Just reading the ones you saw. They're being, actual fans are nice to us.

Yeah, yeah, fat pussy, stuff like that. Yeah. Some people like that store stuff. Yeah. Zach Wheeler, when you watch him pitch, he is, like, create a pitcher, like, you know, in a lab. Like, he's the guy, like, mechanics look great. he's like he's like like stephen strasberg

is done play but like it's like Steven strasberg passing the torch to wheeler although wheeler's like his own person in his own right but like it it feels very similar to me watching these guys especially in the postseason

strasberg was great in the post season world series MVP all that stuff he's greater than regular season when he was healthy they look almost look identical when they pitch like it just like i love guys with super clean mechanics that look effortless on the mounds that are like tall riddies that throw gas that kind of throw the four or five pitch mix can locate do all the things like a real pitcher with plus

stuff a power pitcher that is also a pitcher you know the sequences it does all that stuff it's like we lost strasberg he's gone he's not going to pitch anymore but we got wheeler and we're seeing him do it on the biggest stage man i just was thinking about that during the game like I think we're people are starting to appreciate Wheeler for the type of pitcher he is but maybe they hadn't. After he left the Mets,

you remember his contract when they gave it, when the Phillies gave it to him, a lot of people laughed at it that what the fuck are they doing? He's the number three on this team. Noah Cindergarde's the guy you want. No.

Javee. Zach Wheeler. I have a weird, a bunch of stuff came into my head while you guys been talking this whole time. But the most recent, one. Is Strasbourg most comparable career in NFL?

Andrew Luck? Yeah, but Andrew, yeah. Andrew Luck kind of pulled the plug on his own. And no, no Super Bowl. No Super Bowl. That's the biggest difference. But like,

you thought they were going to be huge? And then they were like, good. But then they faded. They were out earlier than you thought, too. I think Strasberg was not just good. I think Strasberg was great. But then, yes,

he had an abrupt ending. Okay. Because of injury. Yeah. Abrupt and earlier than you would have guessed. The other thing that way back, Jake was talking about Gallin, not stealing. And, yeah, not Galen, Carol. And I thought about a base runner getting the yips and just like trying to turn and run,

but their body just like feels like they can't. And then like watching that, like a video game glitch. And I was wondering, do you think of a base runner's ever got yips, Treve? Oh, yeah. And just stumbles. not stumbles, but, you know, pulling the trigger and saying I'm going to go, I've seen it happen a bunch where, you know, you might get, you might have gotten thrown out two times in a row and then all of a sudden your confidence

is shot. Now you're looking shit, it's J.T. Ruhumoto. It's got the fastest pop time in the big leagues. Wheeler does a good job holding on. And you just, you freeze. I'm not saying, he's saying that. Yeah. Yeah.

It does happen. I'm watching someone physically trying to run but can't. Like the end of a marathon type person. Yeah. Wheeler. That's a real thing. Being afraid to make an out on the base pass and being very passive and non-aggressive is definitely a thing.

Wheeler Strausberg is interesting, Trev. You know, Wheeler, who feels near his prime, like the past couple years and even what he's done this year, and he's been our number one like ERA FIPP example guy because he pitches in that ballpark and previously the Phillies didn't give him the most defensive help. they've gotten better. But, you know, Strasbourg, I guess what's different is Strasbourg got called up

and was torn on the pill at 21, and he was kind of done at 30. Wheeler's 33 and like doing the damn thing and still looks as good as ever. So it's going to be interesting to see, you know, sometimes we see these pitchers age like wine. We see the Verlanders and the Scherzers. And yeah, Wheeler deserves to be in every conversation with the top dogs in baseball. And I think, and I'll point the finger at myself, sometimes we get a little ERA shy because he's been pitching at that ballpark.

But, I mean, the guy can go toe to toe with anyone. Yeah, I like listening to people talk after facing him or talk about facing him. And here are the things they have to say. They were doing some sort of talk on the broadcast. And I don't know who said it, but they said, Wheelers, it's the fastest pitch you're going to see. So perceived velocity to them

They thought Wheeler It just got on you more than anybody else Regardless of the miles per hour It's getting on you It's tough to see It's tough to pick up Have we done this where we We guessed his

His salary Probably I guess yes It's really good for I mean So 16 mill a year For five years

Well I don't know what it is What the contract was He's making 24 and a half this year, which is very cheap for an ace pitcher. One more year, it goes down next year to 23 and a half. I mean, I know it's a lot of money, but when you're talking about having an ace like this and having him cost controlled at this price, I mean, dude.

Like the end of the contract, like this contract is going to end up being a steal for the Phillies. Five years, 118 is the total on that contract, and next year is the final year of it. So what is that, Beavis, five years, 118. It's, uh, you know. It's on average 23, 23.23 per year. Luxury tax hit.

People are making 40, bro. I'll say something. I think this game had the most hard hit balls from both teams combined out of all any playoff game we've seen. Both these teams are just hitting the balls on the screw. It's crazy. I mean, according to the stats, the D-backs had one. two, three, four, five, six, seven different batters have a hard hit ball,

95 miles per hour or more. And the Phillies also had seven. Phillies had three guys do it twice. So yeah, I, I'm right. No one else check any other playoff box score. This was the most hard hit balls we've had in a game. Everything felt crisp. Love it.

Nobody else check. Nobody else check. And wildcard round doesn't count. So, uh-huh. Okay. Trev, can you name the player who had the most position player who had the most war on the Oakland A's for everyone on our way out of the show? Yeah, Zach Gloff. Hell yeah.

Favorite player. Crush it. I knew it. Trevor May. Hey, big guy, tell us how you really feel. Enjoy retirement, man. That's awesome. Jake sucks.

Both Trevor's. James, did you watch them? Hey, Maripan on Fisher. Holy-old. smokes. I didn't watch the whole thing. I just saw the clip where he says, except one guy.

Sell the tea. He said a lot more than that. T2. T2. It's getting hot for time.