Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Historic Win Streak & Scary Collisions at Home Plate | 647

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKINEnjoy baseball around the clock with the start of the new season. Download and play MLB 9 Innings 23 https://bit.ly/MLB_9I_Jomboy_2023This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/talkinbaseball and get on your way to being your best self. ++++++Timestamps:0:00 Trevor Loves the Baseball6:15 American League Recap10:55 Rays are 9-0 to Start the Year23:15 Twins Beat the Astros28:05 Boston Sweeps Detroit30:45 Guardians-Mariners33:25 Yankees-Orioles37:00 Angels-Blue Jays40:45 National League Recap45:55 Phillies-Reds49:10 Mets-Marlins52:05 Brewers-Cardinals (Brewers HOT Start)55:35 Padres Beat the Braves56:50 Collisions at Home1:02:40 Rockies-Nationals1:03:50 DBacks Beat the Dodgers1:09:15 Interleague Recap1:11:25 Cubs-Rangers1:14:00 Pirates-White Sox1:17:15 Matt Chapman1:20:00 Sonny Gray1:25:05 En Fuego1:27:25 Injury Report1:29:25 First Impression Award: Jordan Walker1:34:45 Different Kind of Freak Award: Nestor Cortes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball, a historic win streak. Treff's twins are looking good. Great weekend of baseball. Let's get into it. A lot of home plate action. Collisions, brawls, UFC. I took some swings this week. Hello and welcome back to Talking Baseball.

Myself, Trevor Pluve, BBD, on the series. Recap episodes. Big weekend of baseball. I got to go to Baltimore. Orioles opening day. That was exciting. That's something I didn't ever know I'd do in my life. It was Easter, Passover.

Hope everyone celebrated that. UFC Masters snuck in, but a huge weekend of baseball around the league. The raise won't stop winning. Trevor Pluth out on the left coast. How are you doing, my good man? I'm doing great, Jakey, boy. You know I love Monday episodes.

The weekend was excellent for me. You were talking about some pictures. They were on Instagram. I had a nice little get together with some fans. I watched a ton of baseball, man. It's been drawing me back, and I don't know if it's the pitch clock. I don't know if I'm just excited for some teams. But this is probably the most baseball I've watched the last couple years.

And you know what it is maybe? Teddy's always wanting to watch baseball. and it's warming my heart, bro. He's like wanting the ball. We're playing catch in the backyard. He's like, I want to work on my swing, dad. I got the blast motion, not for any particular reason.

He wants to see how hard he swings the bat, which I'm like, hey, it's fine, bro. But I'm like living my best life because I'm playing catch with my son. You know I just love to play catch with people. So I have like a built-in throwing partner in my family now. I'm going to start crying, I think. Oh, boy.

On this Monday morning. It's going to be one of those ups. How are you doing? It's going to be one of those Zeps. I'm doing good, man. I, you know, I went home for Easter for a little bit. I've got my nephew. He can recharge my battery a little bit that there's something about that little kid energy.

That's pretty cool. And, yeah, you know, Easter was kind of out of my world for a little bit because there was no little kids around. And now, you know, the Easter egg hunts and the bunny and all the fun stuff that my nephew's around, we could start to do that. And yeah, I mean, you know, the Orioles experience, was that Orioles opening day, quite the treat, Trev, pickles outside the stadium, ripping, went to the Babe Ruth Museum. I'll talk about history, Babe Ruth's kimono.

A lot of work done in that bad boy. That's a big kimono. So, yeah, I didn't, I'm trying to get into a Sunday tradition. We record talking yanks every Sunday of, you know, we got these TVs in the office, let it rip and see what we can. So with that little master's action, that's kind of becoming my Sunday baseball binge with a little kick of Sunday night baseball, little Braves Padres action too. That's a tough one.

Yeah, well, not for Padres fans who are trying to get back on the board this season. So I think it's time we get into it, Trev, and we'll get into it with our presenting sponsor, Seat Geek, the Geeks of Seats. If you don't know what Seekkeek is, what are you doing at this point? Not to be rude, not to be rude at you. But Seat Geek is the number one rated ticketing app. 28 million downloads. They have 70,000 events every day on Seekek.

That one kind of blows my mind. But between sports, concerts, festivals, whatever, wherever you can get. a seat, you should go to the geeks of seats. Seat Geek. And now, with Code Talking, you'll get $20 off your first purchase at Seatkeek. That's $20 off your first purchase. With promo code talking, click the link in the description, download the app. It's so easy to use.

Green means a good. Red means a not a good. A little analytics for you as we get into the episode. Code Talking, $20 off your first. purchase. I was excited this week and had a few people tag me in their tweets, saying they used the code to go to a game this weekend. So I like that a lot. I like that. When are you going to a game in person, Trev? I think Rose and I have this Cubs Dodgers series lined up. It goes, Cubs, then Mets. And we'll probably try to hit one game for each of those

series. I'm excited. I need to get out tomorrow, man. The Dodger have kind of been on the road to start the year. And then, yeah, we'll go Cubs, Hap, that whole thing. Yeah, I love that. And belly might hang out, you know. Oh. I'm just kidding.

He has, I don't even think you knows who I am, so. The boys. Yeah, but you know Cole Tucker. He likes Cole Tucker, so there's your common ground. Yeah, man, it's, uh, I'm, we're still a step away from, like, just the pure routine of it. the what what happened over there

I just thought of me belly Cotuck Jayflair Pete Crow Armstrong Duky who's the F man out there yeah I think you know

I think you know all right go on I think we've got one more opening day left with like ceremonies I forget who it is someone I think someone one just came back in this Monday. They're doing opening day.

I could be wrong. But yeah, I feel like we're a step. I'm, maybe it's just me personally, step away from the routine of like every day, watch the game, normal, 7 p.m., maybe 1 p.m. on the weekend. Um, but either way, let's talk about what happened in the American League this week,

Treve. And I want to be. want to start with your Minnesota twins, and I might talk about them a lot this episode, Trev, because they're pitching the ball. They win two out of three. And your words, they're passing the early season I test, which pumped that into my veins. Because they won at home versus the Astros. You know, they played in the playoffs a couple years ago. I remember that Sonny Gray, seven innings pitch, 13Ks. You might hear about him. The one game that Houston won, You can bottle this up because it could change their season.

Hunter Brown, seven innings, zero earn run. That slider's coming in at about 92 miles per hour. Might be a problem. And how about Kyle Farmer with the walkoff in that game? Twins, they take two out of three from Houston. Nice win for them. The Boston Red Sox, they head on the road. They face the Tigers, and they sweep them.

Good for you, Red Sox. Chris Sale, with a nice. nice outing after walking the first two batters on eight pitches. He then strikes out the side. Good for you, Chris Sale. Devers multi-homer game. Adam DeVall can't stop, won't stop. He gets down, baby. The race. Speaking of your ALEs, they sweep, you know, because they haven't lost yet. They swept the Oakland Athletics. The final two games are both 11-0. Springs and Rasmussen, The best two pitchers you might not know. They each go seven innings,

shut piece in this. Brandon Lau shows up. Randy, Ramirez, Paredes. These rays, we're going to talk a lot about them because you got to. They're one of the storylines of the season. Guardians, Mariners. Treff, second time these teams have linked up. They're not going to play the rest of the year,

and these might be two playoff teams. And the Mariners, they come out, they win the first two games. It's looking like they might have the sweep. No, guard dogs, battle it out. The last game, they bring it to extras. They win it in extras. They win in 12 innings. Juan Brennan Jimenez, Julio Rodriguez, all over the box score in that first game.

Eugenio, you boy, three hits with Kelnick in that middle game. Mariners take it two out of three. We're going to Baltimore. I was there. Joe's McFly, Dan Canobio. We saw a loss for the Yankees. The Orioles win on opening day. Up and down, game 7 to 6.

Yankees come back in the next two to win their third straight series of the year. That judge guy. Yeah, him. Him and Stanton hitting some nice home runs. Franchi Cordero, yes sir. Exit Velo King, is he going to resurge with the Yanks? You don't care. Blue Jays take two out of three from the Halos in Anaheim.

Basset. Redemption arc begins for them. Halos win that middle game Renfro Rendon and Trout. Don't put it there, Adam Simber. That's a mistake. But the final game, Electric, 1211. We've been seeing so many of these games, Trev. What does it mean?

Is it pitch clock? Is it hitting? I'll tell you what. Matt Chapman, your guy guy. He's been hitting a lot. They come back from down 6-0 to take that final game. And that's what happened in the American League. Ooh.

Excellent job. Excellent. Give me the standings. Your standings, Trev, race. Nine and O, that'll get you on top. Followed by the Yankees, Blue Jays, socks and Orioles. Oriel's.

Only team under 500 in the AL East right now is the Sox, 5 and 4. Twins are 6 and 3 with the Guardians, 6 and 4 atop the Central. White Sox 4 and 6, Royals and Tigray's. A little slow out of the gate. Halos and Rangers tied atop the AL West. Mariners and Astros both 4 and 6 with the athletics, a 2 and 7 to get it going. Trevor, I think the story for me, it's the raise. Let's get into it because it's landed in a perfect sports talk situation, right?

You know, everyone was the raise or the raise. They've been good for a few years. They were injured a lot last year. How good can they be this year? Tough division, et cetera, et cetera. Nine and no. That's really hard to do in baseball, whoever you're playing. but they probably did play three of at least the bottom four or five teams that we will see this baseball season.

So the run differential is insane, Trev. They're starting to bust out old baseball teams that you haven't heard. The New York Gothams and the St. Louis Maroons are being quoted. So with all of that, Trev, what are you doing? What did you just say? Yeah, their plus 57 run differential is third all time behind the 1884 St. Louis Maroons and the New York Gotham. So with all of that, Trev, what are you doing with your Tampa Bay race? I'm buying.

I mean, look, this team was going to be good, if healthy. And I think most of it stem from the pitching staff, and they've been lights out as well. There's some funny stats here. I have an article up from the athletic talking about pitches per inning, and they trail only the Dodgers at like 14.3 pitches per inning. That means you're getting out there. And in 14 pitches, you're getting back to go hit again. That's insane.

So pitching staff, it's been good. We expected to be good. The offense is absolutely clicking, and I think that's kind of, hasn't surprised people. but we didn't really put that offense in like an upper echelon offenses for the big leagues and they're leading the league in OPS and you can talk about those teams. They're still big league teams, man. And again, I'll go back to it.

I think when you play those teams that are kind of bottom of the barrel roster teams, you could expect your pitching to dominate, but you know, you still got to go out there and hit. I think offensively, you know, you're going to have. some big games, but there are still big league pitchers who on these teams, like, you know, there's some guys that can chuck it a little bit. I think that's the thing that's most impressed me has been Tampa's offense. They don't have anyone. I'm reading this right now in the top 10 in OPS, but they have like their entire lineup just absolutely crushing the ball, which that makes

sense. It's not one guy carrying this team. It's a bunch of dudes having really good starts to the year. You can play defense. They can run. I mean, this team is, you know, you're a Yankee fan, so you've seen it up close and personal. They're a very scary team. And I can't wait until they start, you know, playing some teams where people are going to give them credit for. Because I think you're right about the sports talk radio. It is the perfect storm. And you can, I think it's viable to talk about the teams they've played.

I think it's fine. You could do both. You could gush about the race start and how good they look. And you can point to their health. But you can also say, look, they play. some inferior teams, I want to see them do it against big boys. And I think you're perfectly fine saying both of those things. Trev, they, you know, it's the start of the season so you're, you know, you can cook the

books. Guys are still hitting 400 or guys are getting on base at a 500 clip. The Rays have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven batters that have a one dot OPS. Yes. that have played, that have 23 played appearances or have played in, you know, the majority of their games. Up and down the lineup, they're doing it. The pitching, which, you know, when I think the generic baseball fan

thinks to raise baseball, you're like, yeah, they're going to pitch a little bit. The pitching has been lights out. And yes, it is Major League competition. There's no argument about it. And, hey, you know, I think two of their games have been close wins. They have two, one run, or no, those are just off days. Everything's been a blowout. Everything.

It's impressive. It's impressive. I think the problem and where we say it becomes that sports talk radio is, you know, every side is right. It's very impressive what they're doing. Let's see it against other teams. And what does that look like? Because, you know, I doubt that all seven of those guys are going to have a 1.0PS.

And I don't know if Springs and Rasmussen will go the whole season with zero ERAs. Like, you know, so let's see that next step. They play the socks and a four-gamer. And, you know, we've set our piece on the Red Sox. We think they're going to hit a lot a bit. We're not sure how much they're going to pitch. but it is a step up from the competition they've seen. And then I think they go at Toronto after that.

So, hey, either way, and I saw a couple comments that, actually it was on Wake and Jake, where I was talking about in 2021, I think it was the, or what year did the, the Rays won the division, and they went 18 and 1 against the Orioles. And I said that to won the division. And a couple of Ray's fans weren't happy about that. because they ended up winning the division by eight games that year

over the Sox and the Yankees. And a little bit of that is Fugazi math because the Yankees and the Red Sox did not have the same record as the race against the Orioles. So I don't mean it in a chopping way because guess what? Each game of this 162 schedule means the same. So if you can dominate these lesser teams,

you put yourself in a better position. And I know for the Yankees, and I would love to hear from some of the other teams around the leagues, that when they play some of the lesser teams in previous years, they don't view it as a let's dominate and go. They view it as let's survive with lesser pieces. You know, there was a Yankees Tigers series, I think, in 2001, that they called up two or three or three.

three AAA pitchers just to pitch in that series, that they were like, if we can keep our other guys healthier for the other games. And I don't, I see where that mindset can come in, but I don't think I agree with it. Get your wins where you can get your wins, because you know during the season, there's injuries, there's slow streaks, there's bad times. Whenever you can get a win, get a win in the race, they're 9 and 0. Like, they've built a 9.5. nine-game cushion above 500, that what, if they play 500 baseball the rest of the season, I know this is a weird way to look at it,

but if you end up nine games above 500, that's a 90-win team, is my math right there? Yes, wow. Wow. How about that? A little math. A little math pod for you. That, hey, collect your wins.

Let's see what it looks like against everyone else. You know, I know Siri just went on the 10-day I-L for them. I hate that for them, but I know Glass Now is on the path back that, yeah, man, this is a talented race team. Yeah, let's see them play against everyone else. But also good on them for 9 and 0. That's tough at any point of the season. We talked a lot about going into the season.

You know, there's some guys on top of the race lineup that are going to not, they're going to hit the ball. You know, Vandia Rosa Rain, Wander Franco, like, you know, Yondi Diaz could do it. Elao, like there's a lot of guys up there, but we're like one through nine, how are they going to do? You said seven dudes with a one daughter right now. I can go even better. Eleven dudes that have 20 late appearances or more have an OPS plus over 135. Contributions up and down the lineup. And if you want to talk about the schedule, which like I said, you can.

but if your favorite team doesn't go 9-0 against the national tigers in the A's that want to hear anything. That's difficult. If you saw that, okay, if you're a good team and you saw those nine games on the schedule, I know you're thinking, six and three, seven and two,

you're thinking that. You said, we got to go get these games. We got to go win these series. Nine and O's different. And the way they've been doing it, I think, is the, is the biggest thing, just absolutely demolishing the baseball, lights out pitching. Red Sox come in.

I don't expect their bats to cool down at all. The pitching might have to, you know, work a little bit harder with that Red Sox offense, but the bats are going to stay hot. Oh, what do you think, man? Is it a four-gamer with the Red Sox? Three-gamer. Four-gamer. What do you think?

At end of the series, you have four games. Where are they? Let's see. home. Honestly, I would assume they'd win three out of four. It's at home. They're playing good baseball. Like, they've been, because they've been dominating this games, like, I just looked at their bullpen usage. Like, nobody's getting overfried or burnt out down there. And I think if you're the race, like, you know, guys do listen to the media. You know, think about this. If this was your career and you were a ball player,

which Trev probably unrelatable for you, you know, you kind of want to know what people are talking about you and what's going on. You know, there's a couple guys that are, you know, your big country boys that don't know what a podcast is still. Yeah, they don't hear it. They do not. But a lot of the guys do that the race know the conversation

and they know that they're playing a team of step up and they're going to want to show people that, yeah, We're here to do it this year. And, you know, if you, I guess for me, if you told me before the season, the Rays were hosting the Red Sox in Tampa for four games, I would have told you they would have won three out of four, too. So in a way, it hasn't, my view hasn't shifted too much. Okay.

I mean, my view has definitely changed on them. I thought they were a good team. But if you're getting these offensive contributions down the lineup, which, again, you stated they're not going to be won daughters throughout the year. But you don't have to be. Like, let's get like, with that rotation and that entire pitching staff, like be an average offense. Yeah.

If you're going to the playoffs, if you're above average of all, you're probably winning in the division. Yeah, and I guess a couple names that jump out to me. Well, actually, it's a lot of names, man, because I was going to go young guys, Josh Lowe. They talked about him last year, and it kind of didn't happen. So maybe this is the year he's 25. He's a prospect.

Paredes was a big prospect. They got him from Detroit. You saw him in the WBC, Thick King. And then Wander in Lowe. You know, their middle infield that on any given day can be some of the best players on the field. Yeah, man, let's see more of it. But, you know, if you almost guaranteed yourself an 18 win April, you know, that sets you off for a good season.

So, congrats to the raise. Ace fans, Adam Aller had a nice start in the first game. So that's, you know, that's exciting. That's exciting. Trev, I think in the AL, I started out down the sheet, your Minnesota twins. They deserve some love. And again, I want to hear more and more about your eye test. but the Houston Astros who are, I don't want to say, limping out of the gate,

but they're 4 and 6. That's not what their fans probably wanted to start the season. And I'm, you know, I've got the pulse of Astros fans. They win that first game in extras. Like I said, Kyle Farmer with the walkoff, Sunny Gray, who I'm going to talk about in a little bit, teaser. But how about the twins' rotation through those first seven games? One, one, two.

what's going on in Minnesota, Ploofi? They look really good. You know, the Astros coming into town, obviously that's a test. Sonny Gray's the home opener. He comes out, strikes out 13 people. I think more on him a little bit later. I just watched him this morning on N. And we'll be networking.

He's having a good time. They're talking about 50 shades of gray. He's putting that book on the nightstand every once in a while to see just to see what happens. Oh, boy. Don't hate the idea, Sonny. Don't hate it. Oh, my. No, they look great.

Sunny matching Arcite that first game. And then, yeah, Farmer with the big knock, Miranda with a tie game, and Farmer with the knock who's getting more playing time because we got a few injuries, Gallo and Kepler. He normally wouldn't be playing against Ritees, but he's out there. Second game, Joe Ryan gets tripped up. I think they had a four-run lead at the time. If I'm not mistaken, then he gives up the Grand Slam to Yorda,

which is really his only blemish of the day. That was our social media team had a real fun time with that one. Yeah. It was just a middle middle fastball like 92 or something. Yeah, it's like 91.5 middle middle and yordaun with the bases loaded. That's tough. Yeah, Yordaun is not going to miss those. But Farmer with another big game there.

He went three for four with a homer and three RBIs in the second game. So they pick up the first two. And then as you mentioned in the burn, dude, Hunter Brown came into town and just shut him down. So a good series, definitely one to hang a hat on. They're feeling good about their team. The pitching's been great, obviously. They haven't had Carlos Correa perform pretty much at all. He's a, what is he hitting?

182 with a 37 OPS plus. I don't think that's going to stick that way all year. He should be better. But Buxton looks really good. Larnick, who, again, like, wasn't even sure he was going to make the team. He's been probably the best hitter throughout the first. run here in the season. So Twins are the good. Bullpen looks great.

Couldn't be happier right now if you're a Twins fan. Yeah, the offense for the twins hasn't really gone. Man, that's interesting. But literally up and down the rotation and those guys at the back end of the bullpen, which if you're a Twins fan, that's a breath of fresh air, man. It's been the opposite story for two to five to 20. 25 years. Yeah, and Lopez keeps getting, you know, glowing endorsements from everybody, which is really

cool. Sonny was talking about him this morning. He's kind of set a bar showing up to the field early, doing all the right things, leading by example. Then you have Sonny there. It's kind of more outspoken. They just got some dudes there that are really forming, like, an identity for this team. I know they're not scared of anyone. I don't want to say these aren't your grandpa's twins ain't your father's twins but these ain't your deep pluf wins if you catch a hundred these these boys are built a little bit different it's be fun to watch all year at target field it's gonna be some good baseball being played in the uniforms looking nice okay a twin cities you see it yeah sure did looks well in the field

Houston they're going to Pittsburgh and they've got Framber Javier Kiti lined up and they're coming off a game, that final game where they had 11 hits, they're most of the season. So we'll see, you know, I'd expect their train to start leaving the station. Yeah, Bregman's been slump in. Pena has been slumping. And you got slid down. He got moved out of the lineup, the leadoff spot for Chas McCormick.

So, yeah, we're, you know, we're starting to hit that point of the season where it's like, okay, let's start to see something. And I bet they will. And yeah, that Hunter Brown slider. Comst to DeGrom, the only slider with more Velo than his. Oh, my gosh. They might have that in the chamber. Sox sweep the tigers, Trev.

I think this is a quick one like we talk about, and we just did a lot with the raise. Anytime you can sweep a Major League baseball team, that's huge. Sox do it in the way the socks do it. Devers, Duval is on all. of this. On fire. Cossus with a big game in the last game.

And, hey, I guess if you're a Sox fan, you got five innings out of sale. The strikeouts were there. You know, if they're going to be a part of this, you'd like to think Chris Sale is going to be a part of this season. So, you know, after watching them throw eight straight balls to start the game, that must have been a tough feeling. And then to see him bounce back, you go, okay, we're still figuring it out.

And there's a couple pictures around the league that you, you forget to actually get into rhythm and, you know, be hitting your spots. We're going to get your boy Jack Flaherty had another, I think, like six-walk start. Yeah. That, yeah, you know, some guys in the early season, you're going through it and figuring stuff out. Sale gave a credit to the mound visit. So good for him. I mean, eight straight balls, you strike out the next three people.

I'm wondering, like, is the pitch lock affecting pitchers? I know they won't through spring training with it, but it's different during the regular season. Jimmy, the breakdown of Kopeck out tipping his pitches, kind of wondering that out loud, like, is that going to happen more as these pitchers seemingly get into like just a rhythm, like trying to, you know, keep pace with the clock and, you know, trying to decide what pitch to throw and you got to hold the runner on. Now, you know, are your tendencies further down the checklist? And if they are, are you going to be tipping more.

and more pitches and are using fucking AI to map your body and find out where your glove is and where you're, you know, like, I think all these things are happening. I have not heard any of this from any teams, but how could they not be happening?

And I don't know how I just got there, but it's kind of been in my mind until the last couple days. Simulation. And hey, a little shout out to Cutter Crawford two with a start that Red Sox fans will beg for all year. Five one, gave it to the pen, they locked it up. Duval, I think he lands on his wrist or he hurts his wrist in that final game. So that's going to be diving for a ball. Yeah. So that's something to

watch because he's been, he's been beating everyone early on in the season. Yes, it's really, really good. Trev, maybe the best matchup in the American League. Guardians in Seattle, again, second time these teams have linked up. That got a chuckle out of us. us yesterday like, well, all right, see you later. See you in October probably. And Julio and J.P. Crawford in that first game, each with a couple RBI. And then, you know, the whole kind of middle of the lineup, Suarez, Kellnick, Thai, France, in game two, get it done following a nice start by Marco Gonzalez.

And then, yeah, crazy game three. good on the Guardians to salvage the series a little bit as they head into a series with My Yanks Chris Rose's Guardians versus My Yanks. What do you have from this one, Trem? I think it's awesome that both teams went into the other team's respective city and it took the series. Did the Guardians win three of four in Seattle?

Was that what it was? I think so. I'd have to double check, but... Yeah, Seattle comes down. Almost gets the sweep. But Will Brennan just was not having it for Cleveland there. game tying two-run double to ninth force the extras

and then he hits the game-tying single on the 11th to force it to a 12th Josh Bell with the I guess it's a fielder's choice there to win the game and you're right that's a great way salvage it these two teams are a real fun to watch

they really are Julio doing his thing he's now the fastest player in Mariners history to 30 homers it's 140 games he's putting himself I love when these young guys come up and do a bunch of stuff I'm going to talk about Jordan Walker later.

Julio Rodriguez, they put their names in and their stats like are with a but Hall of Famers. I love that stuff, dude. It really gives me going. This one is Fernando Tatis Jr. and Daryl Straubbard as the only players in AOL and on history that have that many homers in at least 20 plus the weird. 20 stolen bases in 140 games to begin the career.

Power and speed is back, people. Yeah. I'm all about the stolen bases that are happening and the base running that's only down. There was a few. weird plays that I think we'll talk about soon too at the plate. Yeah.

But yeah, another good series here. Man, and, you know, sometimes the middle relievers don't get the love they deserve on this show. Gabe Spire, you know, kind of on the end of that Mariners bullpen depth chart. Game 1.2, zero earn runs that was huge in them winning game two. He got a shout out from Scott's service

after the game two. We love that. And then, yeah, the final. ALA.L. Series was my yanks in the Orioles. Johnny Brito, rookie, two starts now, two wins. Circle that. Hopefully that's important. On the other side, Clark Schmidt, a guy that's been around the team for a few years now. Two starts, and lefties are crushing him. I think closer to a 2.0PS. Oriel's opening day was a blast. The people of Baltimore shout out. Not in a corny way, Trev and I think the math checks out.

I think when your franchise goes through five pretty bad years, everything else around what you're doing has to be incredible. The vendors, the service, everyone working around the stadium was like 10 out of 10. Like go out of their way to take care of you. And it was awesome. Like the good people of Baltimore showed out. It was fun seeing King Felix Bautista come out of the bullpen. Judge has a two-home or day because he's a freak show.

And anything... Just call him King Felix. I have been because he's the size of a King. He's big. He's a big boy. They call him the Mountain. So I guess I need to start leaning into that more. But yeah, it was a cool display.

You have any questions for us about this series Trev? BBD showed up there on Saturday. I'm happy you guys let the Orioles win their home opener. Did they have a bunch of fire? because I played in, for some reason, I felt like we were at a lot of Baltimore home openers during my career and there was always fire. When the dudes ran out from center field,

there was just fire everywhere. Did they have that? They had some fireworks. I noticed fireworks on Saturday. Yeah. Interesting. Pulling back on the fire a little bit, the pyrotechnics. Okay. I watched some of this series, Oswaldo Cabrera made some catches out there

in right field. Like, is he is your favorite player still on the Yankees? he's a ton of fun like you anytime he's involved in something there's something fun happening whether defensively or hitting he uh he gets streaky i think he had three hits in that first game and then i don't think he had to hit the rest of the way but yeah he uh his versatility which is fun is getting limited because the yankees just need him in the outfield but yeah he's uh the way he plays ball is a ton of fun and then give me your uh thoughts on gunner henderson how does he look uh i don't care about a So how does you look out there?

Hot. I was there the day he D-Hed. That's tough. He made a nice play in the field in game three. I think he had a tough son one in game two. For me, it's always weird. Like, you know, he was number one prospect in baseball and he was D-H-in that first day.

That always just kind of rubs me the weird way because D-Hing's a tough ask of any player sneakily. So to have a young guy trying to do that, I'll tell you what. I was surprised he maybe got the second or third loudest applause on Orioles opening day, and I was surprised by that, but I guess prospect hype is a real thing. Adley Rushman, number one. Adley was one.

Cedric Mullins in the mix there, yeah. And if you'll remember, me and Ryan Mountcastle have a special bond. Our wives had their bachelorette parties together in Key West. Oh. So, again, he doesn't know that yet, but we have a special bond. Okay. And give me your stat on Nestor. Because you said before the show.

Well, Treve, you'll have to wait to the end of the show because that's how the whole thing works. Oh, that's what you're doing. Yikes. Angels, halos. I lied. Yanks wasn't the last one. Blue Jays with a big comeback in that final game. I think you're going to be talking about Matt Chapman in a little bit.

Can I talk a little bit about Mike Trout swings? Yeah. I think it was, was that their home opener as well, that first game? I believe it was. he hits the homer off of Acid and one of the prettier swings you're ever going to see he was dotting that white truck out there

in the left center I think he had two homers this series if I don't yeah he got Adam Simber there their underarm guy on one too yeah that was just right down the middle as well I don't want to be this guy but you know I watched I watched one of the first game

and then I saw highlights of the or two. And you see Shoahe going off doing his thing, he's hitting homers. You see Mike Trout doing his thing, he's hitting homers. And then you look up and the Angels have lost the series. Like, that's kind of fucked up, man. Yeah, I mean, this one's tough. I mean, the final game, it goes to extras and Otani's up with the bases loaded, bottom 10th. Like, I don't know. Had a chance. This is Toronto. You know, this isn't just no team like, Bichette's doing his thing. Vladdy's doing his thing. So I you know

I'm not going to go there with with the halos yet. Okay. I'm reading a stat here. Don't get so mad at me. You know Angels fans. You know him on your side. I am an Angels fan. Everybody knows that. They had three hits on Friday. Guess who had all three of them?

Mike Trout and Shohei Otani. They went three for eight. Everybody else combined for O for 22. Not great, Bob. Yeah, but shout out The Blue Jays were going in there and doing that thing, especially taking that last victory. You're heading out. You're going back home, you know, extra innings.

And especially that was a long game. 12 to 11 was the final. You want to get to victory. They end up doing it. Yes, Matt Chapman will talk about him in a little bit, but he has the contract here came out and just gone off. I know it's, you know, only been nine games or something like that, but he's looking good to start the year. Long flight back for Toronto. Oh, Bichette had his freaking bomb in that game.

swing that he put on that thing. I love it so much. I put it on my IG stuff. Yeah, I know, Treb. I liked that. Just sitting around. I was like, God, that's a pretty swing. I got to let people know.

And you know what? He's been taking swing like that since high school. I used to follow this. I don't know how, dude. Whether it was like his mom posting or something like, same fucking swing in high school, hitting light tower freaking high as hell homers and just kind of having that little freaking walk out of the box.

is shit. People get mad when I say he's underrated. A lot of people, he's overrated. Actually, like, shut the fuck up. This guy is good. Go look at the offensive numbers, man. He's something else. And he hasn't got paid yet. You got to get paid. A little 362-400-996 OPS out of the gate for him this year. Are they going to be able to keep him? Are they like, what are they thinking with him? Toronto fans always tell me they got boatloads of money, so why not?

Vladdy's not locked up. Gladdy ain't locked up. Boba Shed ain't locked up. Oh, ain't locked up. Those are like your two guys that we're doing. Those are your cornerstones, and you've got to lock them up. I'd like to think so. Matt Chapman not locked up.

Varshow not locked up. Okay. Let's go to the National League, Trev. Let's do it. Love some NL baseball. Let's go out to Philly. The Phillies. Stope to be playing a National League team.

They face the Cincinnati Reds. And yeah, welcome back home to Philly. Here's Hunter Green. But they take him down. They beat Lidolo too. You took down Sincis. Big righty, big lefty. But they do lose that final game.

Jake Fraley with the big three RBI. And that one, we had Reesers out on the field, Hoskins, Harper, too. So, yeah, a lot going on in Philly as they take two out of three in this one. Castellanos with some funky bass running off third. That's a good time. Hey, the New York Mets take two out of three from the Marlins. Trev, you mentioned kind of that halos. You look up and the halos lose the series.

Getting that vibe with the fish early on. and I know, you know, they've played the Mets a couple times, and they've had to face Sanga again, who drops it on the tail. Tyler McGill jumping back into the rotation with a good start. Pete Alonzo keeps hitting home runs at a young guy, historic pace. Brandon Nimmo, how's your four walks in that first game? And Alvarez gets called up for the Metropolitan, so they like that. Jazz Chisholm tossed, a little quick.

A little quick on the toss for me. The Milwaukee Brewers wearing their shirt today. And guess what? They won the bread games. And good pitching performance. Got you the win in this one. Woodruff, 5.1 shuddy. Jordan Montgomery, seven shut in that middle game.

And then Freddie Peralta. Six innings, one earned run. Some of his best Velo in his career in this game. We saw Nolan Aronado hit home run three. Jordan Walker, like you talked about, is doing some special stuff with the twigs. But the brew crew, man, how about it? They're winning series early on this season. The Padres take three out of four, which finished on Sunday night baseball.

Seth Lugo, another good start. He's been banging the drum telling people I'm a starter for years, and it's paying off for the Padres right now. Also, Michael Waka. Six-inning shut 10Ks in a special one. What looks like the special pitching game in this series, Snell Strider, 7-6, neither of them have a great day. Braves won that one.

Padres take three out of four. Arcea with the walk-off on opening day. Bogartes continues to hit. And then the Nats in the Rocks, they split for a fun Colorado, Colorado start and close on their opening day with Freeland and Pierce Johnson, two Colorado natives getting it done. Colorado, bread, Washington, meat games,

Joey Manessus, Stone Garrett. How's your big day at the ballpark? We love that for you. And then the snakes. We play for rings in the desert treb. Three out of four from the Dodgers. Don't. You don't want it.

Man, they play with fire. Twelve runs on Saturday. Eleven runs on Sunday. Longo, three for three with a yacker in that second game. They just come at you, man. A lot of speed, clean bullpen in that second game. Alec Thomas, 0 for 16. How's your 4 for 4 in that game?

Let's go. Snakes, five stolen bases Sunday. Uh-oh. They win the series against the Dodgers, and that's what happened in the National League. Long go? Snakes. Uh-oh.

Taking the kids under his wing. Braves. Six and four currently leads. your NL East is like you might see all year. A lot of those teams could beat up on each other. Mets are 500. Marlins, fills, and Nats all below it. The Brew crew, your best record in the National League,

at 7 and 2. Hello, followed by the Pirates, 6 and 3. Reds are 4 and 4, Cubs are 4 and 4. Cardinals 3 and 6. Let's start getting some dubs in St. Louis. The Diamondbacks and Padres are on top of the NL like we all predicted. Dodgers are 5 and 5. Giants 4 and 5 rocks 4 and 6

Trevor talking about my ploof juice You want to cron pod this one? You want to start Phillies Reds? Sure I think that's good Not a lot of huge storylines coming out of the National League There's some decent series though Yeah

Reds who are starting off a little better than People expected We got their fourth win in 22 fewer games than last year, which is nice. Nice stat there, Dalton. Opening day there in Philly, it was a little tough to watch when you have Harper and Hoskins

raising the flag. It's just like, man, I wish those guys were on the field because that's the two absolute studs, and we're going to get Harper back. We're not going to get Reese back, and that makes me sad. But they take care of business.

Yeah, Hunter Green. Difficult start there, difficult lineup to face. Philly's a difficult place to pick, pitch. Bielder has a nice start. You mentioned Lodolo. He's something else. We talked about, you know, green Lodolo being like the cornerstone of the Reds, you know, franchise is going forward. You know, two real horses at the top of the rotation, young dudes. He looked really good.

Seven innings pitch, 12ks. You mentioned the Josh Harrison swinging strike, but the ball hits you. That's always when you got a pitcher that can do. that pretty good stuff right there but yeah philly takes care of business anyway they win the first two games if we're losing the last one i don't know how much we have to get into this series yeah the casinos leading off third is really fun uh diaz gets off the mound and chases them at one point it's one of those you know they got a little bit of a shift going and it's a rowdy philly crowd they're going nuts uh that's that's a fun scene and yeah man i you know like you said i

But the Hoskins part was tough for me. He's got the full leg thing. He's on crutches, and it's like he's not going to play this year. Where Harper's in a little bit of a different boat. Alvarado is striking everyone out at a historic rate. And Jake Fraley for the Reds, having massive eight, nine-pitch at bats. He saw like 30-plus pitches himself in that final game. Stock gets the walk off.

And, yeah, Philly, just glad to be playing. playing NL teams after just all that interleague. They've had a rough go of at pitching. I mean, they haven't really done much at all on that front. So they got to clean that up if they want to, you know, get back in this thing. What are they right now? Three and six, you said? Yeah, I mean, that first Texas series is going to ruin your numbers for a little bit.

So it's, you just keep swimming for now and you hope things will. things start to level off. Ladolo, man, you're right. That guy. Freak Show. Josh Harrison hit in the shin while striking out. Bad feeling. Howie. I want to mention one more guy on the Reds. We don't give them a lot of credits.

No, I don't like the Viking celebration. I guess I should have talked about the samurai celebration and with the angels. Oh, Hoppy. I like it. I think they're trying to keep Joe ain't down? Is that what's happening?

I don't know. Jason Vosler. Nine RBIs on six hits, all hit or extra base hits. No singles yet the season. That's a man that you and I can understand and respect. Extra base hits only. That's it.

Pop. The Mets, two out of three from Miami. City Field debuts their new scoreboard in Center Field. Uncle Steve rolling it out. You can see it from the highway. Um, Sanga, uh, two starts now, 14 strikeouts. Uh, Dalton, who's helping us with our stats, notes. He was at the game and sang was filthy.

So a little, uh, he did. Editor's note, I was at the game. He was filthy. Little, uh, little analytics there, uh, from Dalton. Hey, uh, shout out to our guy, Garrett Cooper, who's hitting for Miami. But, Trev, like, like we talked about her, you know, what matters now in the season or what we think matters

or passing the eye test, like you said with your twins, the Marlins, the issue is always scoring runs and entering Sunday, the Marlins were last in the major leagues and scoring runs. So, you know, Coop, a loop is hitting. But man, that's a,

when you think you know what the problem is and the problem is showing in these first nine, ten games, that stings a little bit. It does, and I don't know if there's any way around it for them. What are they going to do? I mean, this is the roster that they've constructed. You have to have several guys kind of overperform throughout the season to, you know, be in contention. It's just typically not a good way to go about your season.

Yeah. So I don't know what the solution there is. I don't know if, I mean, even if you had those guys, you know, So Lair and Abasseo Garcia and Jazz Chisholm have like, you know, say a career best year. Is that enough for them? Probably not. so we're going to be talking about this all season it's difficult because you you know you know what they can do on the pitching side and and you know they've had some

it's not all roses there either i guess you could say but they have definitely some high-end talent there and uh they got to they got to figure something out offensively but the met's talking about sanga go check out we just debuted our mowbpa collection the sanga shirt's like kind of hot like i would wear that just not even as a baseball fan so go check out that up, but he absolutely looks nasty. And thank goodness for him. No AV yet. Shersers just kind of struggled. And Sengas came in and kind of steady the ship a little bit for the Mets. And I mean, just calling it the Ghost Fork is so cool. That's so cool. You got Alvarez coming up. He got an RBI single and his first at bat. That was nice.

The Mets are going to be fine. Yeah, they're getting it going. And like you said, no JV yet. Like they'll, they're going to be good. Marlins, though. Yeah, they could become a not-fun talking point of this season, and that's what we always have in our voice when we talk about them. Burrs Cardinals.

Trev Cardinals lose this series. Monty Shubs, that's how they win the middle game. And I think there's a little Cardinals love coming in a bit, although Aeronado, I mean, just like all time, 300 homers already with all the gold gloves, the guy's a freak show. The story is the Milwaukee Brewers, best record in the National League, three shutouts in their first seven games. And then, yeah, you look at the guys who hit.

Yelly, he gets his yacker, Willie Adomas, with two big games in this series. Trev, how about this? have the brewers changed your mind at all about them like you said the raise kind of half yeah because look

we we were wondering where that offense was going to go this year you know we brought in some people we keep talking

about this Yelly resurgence I don't know if we're ever going to get back to MVP Yelly and that's fine but we need

other guys to step up and when you have young controllable dudes like they have now at the bottom of the lineup doing the thing I'll you know

Garrett Mitchell and and Terang and Weamer they're just they're providing the spark that the offense needs we know what they're going to do pitching wise especially with their stars

but the relievers also overperformed they're going on the road 23 and a third inning score the street going back to the series finale at Rig V field that's how you win games yeah You get the lead and you can hand it over to your bullpen

and they are lights out, you're going to win series, you're going to win games. And they did it against a really good Cardinals team who, like, I guess hasn't really hit their stride yet. You mentioned a couple of weird starts from my boy, J. Flair, a lot of walks. Yeah. I think he's just got a lot of testosterone,

a lot of energy coursing through his veins. But the brewers are definitely just very impressive of what they're doing. yeah man get yelly going you know three for five in the last game with the homer he put his head on he's really happy about that we're talking about these two teams dog fighting all year long for the nile central i think this isn't a good representation of where the cardinals are going to be at at the end of the season we got some weird stuff going on in the clubhouse the brewers are kind of hot right now so this is a kind of a best case scenario from milwaukee when you're facing the cardinals you got them at home they're going to

got shit going on the clubhouse and you're hot. Two out of three. And on our last episode, someone commented and I deserved it to be talk about about the Tyler O'Neill stuff. They were like, you know what would have quenched all of this if they didn't send them on Ronald Cunia. Like that would have never brought any of this to light. Yeah, hey, you know, again, like I'm saying, we're hitting that two weeks in mark or so

that, you know, you give your team a little wiggle room. Cardinals fans are going to want to start seeing some. some dubs. Milwaukee's got to be happy with the results. Braves Padres, two of the powerhouse teams in the National League linked up, Trev. And the Padres who needed to get some wins on the board. And meanwhile, the Braves, after winning that first game, they're six and one,

fourth time, you know, since 2000, they've gone off to a hot start like that. San Diego comes back, wins every game. Your boy, Honeywell. mixes it up for the boys with that screwball. And then really good starts by Michael Waka and Seth Lugo and, you know, 85-year-old Nelson Cruz, GM of the Dominican team, hitting 430-foot homers.

Just really doing it. Some people in the last game that you don't really expect to provide you with your homers and your offense, that would probably be, well, I guess you expect Nelly Cruz to do that, but Hassam Kim also hitting a bomb. Where's this power coming from, Kim? All of a sudden, you're just hitting bombs out of everywhere. Are you getting the Aaron Judge treatment this year?

Yes. Is he getting the Goldilocks balls just right? Hmm. Yeah, it was good to see Honeywell out there, though, because he has, you know, he's, if you don't know his story, I mean, this guy's, what was it, three, four operations on his arm. Yeah. over the last three years.

And he looks really good. He kind of saved him in that second game, doing his thing. And then I think we should probably talk about the Odor base running into Darno. Yeah, I guess let's combine them because there was two big home plate things. The other one's in the Interleague,

the White Sox Pirate series. Rugnit Odor is coming home and he collides with Darno. And the other one, it's Big O'Neill Cruz with a weird slide collision with Sebi Savala at home plate.

So the Darno O'Dore one, I'll give you where I'm at with it, Trev. It was kind of, Odor's coming home. I think he thinks he's got a lane to just run straight through. So he tries to bomb it.

That lane ends up closing and he gets Darno in the head, which is everything felt very innocent, but kind of just, just bad base running by Odor and you hate it because Darno's got a concussion history and now he gets another one and, you know, where we're at with all that stuff, that gets scary.

And then the O'Neill Cruz, Savala won it, throws a little high so Savala has to jump. Cruz is looking kind of nervous and he slides late and then he gets his ankle kind of crushed up and Savala doesn't realize that. So he talks shit. so that starts a brawl. So that's kind of all of it laid out.

What are your thoughts on both of those, Trev? I'm going to go back to even a Tyler O'Neill situation at home plate where I said it looked like he was just like gunned and didn't really have a good option as far as sliding into the plate. And that's the thing. When you're going into home, and the catchers are supposed to leave you a lane.

But they don't leave you a lane. They leave, this is your lane, bro. This is all they have to leave you, a little piece of home plate. So what are your options, dude, for both these guys, for O'Dore? He said he was looking to go in head first, but then Darno kind of whipped around, and all of a sudden he's on the plate.

I think at that point he thought he might have to jump or just try to step over him, which also isn't a good option. The third option for that play is just to slide really hard with your feet. And that's not a good option for Darno either. It's really not a good option for Ador. You're running into this guy with all this gear on, and it's just not

you used to be able to do things there and I don't think you should be able to truck the catcher I just I mean I know people probably come back to me for that but a lot of people still have that mentality of hey I got to go hard into home plate like you just grew up playing that way whether it's sliding hard feet first or you're gonna have to get the catcher

you just grew up playing that way you can't do that anymore so even with Cruz I don't think he knew what to do either like it looked like he would like thought about running the catchover and he's like oh you can't do that then he's like should I go in feet first and it was kind of late and it was awkward it's just sometimes at home plate you're just going to have a mess and we've seen it a lot early on in this season I feel bad for darno I feel bad for freaking O'Neill dude but there's just I don't know what the solution is I guess maybe we need

to redefine what a lane is you know to home plate because we're going to we're going to continue to have these things as the catchers just essentially block the plate. Name another position where that happens. That's another base. It doesn't happen. That's what's running through my head right now because you're thinking of the head first slides, which by the way, Starling Marte does a head first slide this weekend. He gets hurt and, you know, shoulders, hands, everything's at risk there, your head. But all of these plays happen at the bag where these plays are happening kind of in front

of the plate because once the catcher has the ball. they have the right to it. He just puts his knee down with all his gear on. I mean, think about that. When the catcher's tagging, here's the ball, I catch it, get the other hand in there, and then it's just my body. I put everything right in front of the base. Every other base, you're just tagging with your glove.

Not putting your body in front of it. Like you might put your feet in front of a base, but like you don't have gear on. You're not dropping to your knee, getting in front of it. front of the base. And if you do that, people call you out and say, oh, you're blocking the base. You're guys going head first. You're going to break my fingers. Like, it's a, it's a weird thing at home plate. And we've seen it a lot to start the year. Yeah, it feels, it feels like it needs to be reopened for discussion. But you're right. Like, I don't, you know, we, we like throwing stuff out, even if we have a loose idea of something to work. And yeah, maybe it's, it's opening up the lane. But

I don't know, you know, runners can take advantage of that. I don't know. I don't know. I I don't know. Because, yeah, I mean, the catchers really did nothing wrong here, except Savala talking a little shit. The base runners were just kind of... Well, Cruz was dead to rights. I guess Odor wasn't... Odor's got a slide there.

I think it'd be slide. Heard's darno the same. Yeah, that's true. What are you going to go in with your feet? And he was kind of outstretched with his arm, his heads right there. I don't know, man. Just... Odor didn't even touch home plate.

I forgot to mention that. Yeah. And why would you ever, ever go back to touch the plate after the guy behind you is already scored? That is just, that was his biggest mistake. Yeah. Just run off the field. Right? Yeah.

Do you think anybody would have thought of that? Who knows? I mean, that would have could have led to a whole different discussion of, you know, they check out the replay, they challenge it. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, maybe they would have. I don't know. Nats Rockies, huge.

Rockies went on opening day. Stone Garrett? Stone Garrett with a massive day for Washington. Four for five, two doubles. Homer, five RBI. We love that. There was, where was the game? I think it was Saturday's game,

where the Rockies were down a bunch, and they fought back, and they get freaking Chris Brian up there. the chance to win it. And that was, I mean, that was a great game. He ends up striking out, I believe. But, you know, in the ninth inning, they scored a bunch of runs, get it back.

It was pretty cool. Strikes out against Carl Edwards Jr., and they were both teammates on the Cubs World Series team. So that's, there's layers of fun to that one. Lairs of fun. I mean, I don't know why I was watching that, but I was watching those is awesome.

Coming back, you get Chris Bryant's been really good this year, and that's good. Chris Bryant, when he plays, is really good. Natsl started the game with two homers. Lius Diaz hitting 300. Happy for him. Dodger snakes. Trev, are you buying snake stock? Three, two, one.

Yeah. Yeah. Not for this year. I'm not worried about 2023 first quarter, not really worried about 2023, any quarters. But I'm buying the same. stock. I love the way they play the game. This disruptor type of baseball, I think we'll be seeing more and more. The guardians kind of introduced it now with the pitch clock and the bases,

like base running is going to be so much more prevalent. And if you have a team like the Diamondbacks do, they just get on and just absolutely put pressure on every situation. I'm buying stocking that team. I mean, if it wasn't for Dustin May being a freaking wizard out there, they might have the freaking Dodgers. He was nasty that first game, throwing crazy pitches. Then after that, they just, they just did it, dude. Why did I, why did

Kershaw throw that pitch like he did? Is there an explanation for that? I just saw the highlight, I didn't really dive into it. What's up with that? Glitching in the sim. That's all that was. Right? Yeah.

Is there an explanation for real, though? Can we find one? Anybody in chat want to tell us? not sure. And Dodgers fans, I feel like we've, we've been brief with you guys to start this season because we, you know, we kind of expect big things from the Dodgers every year. How are you guys feeling early on about the Dodgers? I guess if your Dodgers fans sound off in the comments, you know, they've got a series coming up with the Giants who, you know, usual rivalry there. And I guess if they take care of business in San Francisco, they'll be feeling good. But yeah, I don't know, Dodgers. Is it feeling like a weird start to the season? Is

anything feeling different? Or do you guys even like, you know, let's start firing up the engine? We're the Dodgers. We're going to get it going. Okay, hold on one second. Yeah. We're going to talk about the Diamondbacks, but briefly with the Dodgers. Their ERA leads all of baseball. Is that what I'm reading here? Where is it? Dodgers? I don't think so. Through seven games, Through seven games, okay, yeah, the last couple of games, they got hit around. But through the first game, their starting staff has a 1-7-6. They got a bunch of guys hitting the ball right now. So I think it'll all come around for the Dodgers.

It'll be okay. Yeah, I mean, I think it's very much one series and the snakes are going to be pesky all damn year. But I guess I just, I want a little more Dodgers feedback. Maybe I need to watch a little more Dodgers games. And yeah, man, the snakes. Hey, they had a heck of a bullpen performance in that second game. Kershaw Madbom, by the way. Yeah.

A little historic lefties there. And then, yeah, man, the final game, everyone did it. Eight D-backs had an RBI. They're stealing five bags in that game. And I don't know, man. They're young. They're fun. I obviously biased.

Tori Lavello's an awesome dude. The franchise as a whole has been great to us. they have some fun hope this year and let's see what it means and hey go go prove everyone wrong get that last wild card why not we talked about longoria and corbin carroll going back to back that was really cool to see kind of like the old bull and the young stud that didn't make any sense our social team was having a field day with that saying that corbin carroll was seven years old when Longo made his debut. That's a compliment to Longgo.

Yes. By the way, still doing it. We got to see Michael Grove. Didn't go too well for him. Three and a third game's pitch, nine earned runs, because those snakes are pesky. Where are you at with them? I mean, are you giving them any sort of playoff potential?

They've got really cool. With the current playoff format, yes. Like, you know, I think with, with baseball every year, there's going to be one or two teams that you just don't know what their young guys are going to contribute or what else is going to be there. And yeah, man, I mean, if, you know,

if Corbyn Carroll, who's on pace to steal, like, 90 bags this year, you know, that can change your outlook. And there's sneaky veteran guys on this team. Cotel Marte, Gueriel, Walker, Longo. You know, those are guys that have had major league season. So if your young guys work, and your old guys work there's a path

Dre Jameson every time he pitches good things happens for the snakes and last year their bullpen was awful so if they could be not awful that would be a big difference too shout out James Outman Trace Thompson Miguel Vargas

some unsung heroes of the Dodgers early season right here we talked about them and their top heavy lineup a little bit And what we always say is, oh, they'll find a way every guy they bring up. We'll just be above league average. And here we are saying the same freaking thing with these guys. Damn thing.

Bebs, let's crush them interleague real quick. And then we'll get to the second half of the show. The Kansas City Royals, me and Vinnie Pasquintinos, Kansas City Royals, went out to San Francisco to face the Giants. Their opening day. A lot of funny business happening. in the bay. I don't know if you guys saw those videos. You had guys flying around and stuff. Royal Spoil it. How about it? Keller, 5.2-1-er-and-run, pass Quintino and Salvi go yard. We love that.

And then they win the Series Day too. Salvi again, Melendez. On Singer Day for the Royals, they get it done without their manager, Quattraros. He's in COVID protocol. So Paul Hoover jumped in to collect those two wins. Giants salvage a series on the final day. Discalfani. Michael Confordo with the big homer in the eighth inning. Be nice to have him being a part of Major League Baseball this year, and Giants fans really liked it then.

Cobbies take two out of three from the Rangers. They win the first two games. Rangers win the final day. Tyone gets hit a little bit. Bubba Thompson big day. But Dan's B. Nico and wisdom in that middle game. And Marcus Stroman, getting off to a hot. start this season for the Cubbies.

White Sox Pirates. Pirates take two out of three. I told you don't sleep on them this year. And they won the bread games, including 1-0. Copec Oviedo in that final game. Copac must have watched the breakdown, fixed what was going on. And yeah, the pirates win. Two out of three, they get another series under their belt.

I will say Luis Robert is going. And McCutcheon. First time back in a pirate's uniform in PNC gets a hit in his first at bat. We love that. That's what happened in Interleague play. Trevor protocols. What's that? COVID protocols hate hearing that.

I'm going to be honest with you. Hopefully he's feeling better. Trev, little hodgepodgey of weird matchups. Rangers, Cubs is probably your best baseball of all these three. I'll let you go. I just burned through them. So give me what you got on all three of these. I liked, yeah, the Cubs Rangers series, great series there.

Cubs kind of doing their thing. Strowman, another great start for him. I don't think he's allowed an earned run yet so far this year. He's talking about the WBC, kind of really getting him going competitiveness-wise and just getting his body ready to go. And since August 30th of last year. nine starts for Stroman, a one, six, seven. He's allowed one or fewer runs in seven of those games.

So he's like, I'm taking right now, and they need that in Chicago, who, you know, they're looking to be a wild car contending team. I thought that was really good. Some of the guys for the Cubs showed up offensively the second game. My guy, Wisdom and Dansby. Danzby, I think, is someone who obviously will talk with him a lot, this year. But he's really kind of just settled in there. You watch any Cubs games? Like he looks

like he should be a Cubs. Like the energy is there. I think he's really having a good time. I think he wants to be like the guy. Like that's the kind of energy I'm seeing from him. I don't know if he was going to be that in Atlanta. I think he could be that in Chicago. And he's kind of thriving there. So it's good to see. And then as far as, you know, Kansas City and Sam, Sam, Disco, that wasn't you out there in the bay? That wasn't me. What are those things called? The water jet packs.

I have no idea. I would like to do that. I've seen people do those. I've never done it. That looks like a Marvel movie type thing. You know what? You and I should make a trip out there. And we'll just do that next time.

Alex Cobb looked really good for the Giants in the first game. But it doesn't matter because Keller was up to it as well. And our guy Vinny goes, yard. Yep. They smashed into the water? I don't think it got wet. I'll double check.

Okay. Yeah, Giants tried to come back in that first game. And then Scott Barlow allowed a lead off triple to jock. Yeah. And then got out of it. That's pretty good. Nice navigating there. We'll talk more about these teams.

We're kind of trying to get to the second half of the show. right now. Oh yeah, you know, the White Sox Pirates Pirates series, I watched some of that as well. The Cutch coming back home was awesome. Like that moment was really, really cool. We talked about that signing a little bit in

for the fans. Is it just for the fans? Is it just, you know, for them to see Cutch again and kind of like take a little bit of stink off what's going on with the pirates? But I don't, I don't think it is, man. I think they expect him to put put out some numbers, but even if it is just for the fans, like that moment, at home play, it was pretty special, dude. Like, seeing him go back there.

You know what? He looks the fucking same. Yeah. As when he first came up. So whatever you're doing, gosh, let me know your regimen, dude. I need to get in there. Brian Reynolds continues to freaking go off. Price is going up.

Yeah. They said they settled on a price and they're just talking about opt-outs for his contract. I don't, I think Brian Reynolds is like. Yesterday's price. Not today's price. Right? Every freaking knock I get, every homer I hit. Ting.

Anyways, that's kind of my thoughts in all these games. Yeah. Connor Joe, a couple big games early on. McCutcheon is hitting. So that's what I'm saying. That's fun. Pirates, six and three. And yeah, that Cubs thing you mentioned is interesting that Danesby's into that.

And I guess, you know, Treve, you talk about, you know, Hap's been there for a while, but Haps a free agent. Dan's be. he's, you know, going to be there for six years, some interesting dynamics there. And Danesby's wife, right before the game, Mallory, they're watching the U.S. women's game. Torn Patelotendon. She got carted off the field, so he's got to play after that. So that was one of those moments for me that's like, damn, man, you got to have a lot of other stuff circle into your head.

And you got to go out and play baseball. And we watch and then we talk about it. So, a lot of baseball, a lot of series touched on what we could. But Trev, we got to get to some of the standouts, the second half of the show, awards. And it's all brought to you by MLB nine innings. That's right. They are back.

I've been playing, Trev. And live on Togginz last night hit a home run with Aaron Judge. So the game is realistic. They got a variety of game modes. league mode to live person versus person. They've got over 2,000 player cards. Collect and using your dream, roster, and they've got the legends.

Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, lefty Grove, Carl Hubble. The game, it's easy to play. I picked it up, and I think I was playing mid-game, I think a minute and a half in. So why don't you download MLB 9 innings 23 today? There's a link in the description. And you can find it very easily at the App Store.

So if you're a baseball fan, which you're listening to talking baseball right now, you might like it. Give it a chance and go check it out. Standout performance. Starev. There was a shitload of them. Lots. Second baseman Orlando R.C.

Was he playing second base that game? Why is that listed as a second basement here? Thursday, I can double check. Okay, what doesn't matter? We saw him at the walk off knock, three for five with a double and a homer. Louis Rabele, three for five with two homers against the pirates. Trev, this isn't in Fuego, dude.

I need your standout, Pop. I messed up. I want to read everyone's name. I know you do, but there's one guy you highlighted that you love. this guy. I did. I did. Okay, my standout performance, not going to come as a shot to a lot of people. It is my guy, Matthew Chapman. Don't know if he goes by Matthew. Don't think he does. He went three for five. He had a homer. He had the Grand Slam. Five ribby's two runs. Also added a stolen base and a walk just because you know what's a contract year for him. We always talk about that. He's off to a blistering start 523 OBP.

523 OEP slugging up 800 for a 1.3. 268 OPS Plus. That is a nice, nice start to the season. And you know he's playing banner defense out there as well. So shout out that Chapman. Grand Slam got the Blue Jays back into that game. I think they eventually won it. Treve, a little bit of bold.

A little bit of bold on that baseball reference. Hits, doubles, RBI, batting average, And caught stealings. That's okay. Oh. Hey, if you're hitting that much. 14 ribbies. Yeah, he's got, he's already got one war on baseball reference.

So he's on pace for, for what, a 16 war season? So just keep that up. That'll lead to quite the payday. 16.2. And man, when he goes, that unlocks like another, another part of that Blue Jay's team. That it's like, damn, they are, they are a problem. Happy for him.

Happy for you. Don't love the little mustache he has in his baseball reference. He keeps this going up. One of the next time you guys go out to dinner, the dinner might be just a little nicer. It better be. It better be. All that mentoring I did.

Yeah, it's true. Where would he be without you? Speaking of, Trev, I mentioned that I was going to talk about Minnesota pitching. Sunny Gray, seven innings pitched. 13 strikeouts. I know, you know, in the strikeout generation, we've become, you know, partially numb to a number like that. But that's an insane day at the stadium.

And Sunny Pickles Gray, maybe it's a Pickles episode, Baltimore and Sunny. His two starts this year have been lights out. he's a career 3-5 ERA guy It's baseball's a weird sport that you know He's got that stint on the Yankees It doesn't it didn't work out And unfortunately a lot of baseball fans

Will remember that and just drop a like I couldn't handle New York Guess what the twins don't care Because he's in Minnesota and he's balling out And when his stuff is right man He's a guy that like you'd love to tap into that body for a day because he throws, what, six different pitches up there on a given day? He makes stuff up as he goes.

It feels like a little modern day David Cohnish. And I like that you talked about his personality a little bit because he's funky, man. This dude's been like a freak his old light. He was like his high school quarterback. He was a stud. He's been a stud pitcher. He was pitching playoff games for the A's like a decade ago, it feels like.

Yeah, he's been a big part of this Minnesota race. rotations, um, hot start. And man, I, I think if Pablo can be there one, which he's given that energy,

sunny can be a two. Um, and again, that would change Minnesota's whole outlook for this season. I don't think they're going to have like a traditional number one. I think these guys are going to be, they might put those numbers up,

you know, for short time during the season. But I think this is a rotation full of like, you know, probably full of twos. And I think that's okay. You don't have to like put your one. There are no Garrett Coles on this team. And that's okay. I think there's enough depth there.

And Sonny is, you mentioned the six pitches he throws or, you know, whatever it is. He's impossible to game plan for. When you face Sunny Gray, you're just like, what? You know, you know what he throws, but yeah, he adds and subtracts. And like a lot of his stuff just kind of moves a little bit differently. because of the arm angle or, you know, the slot is coming out of. It's just very difficult game plan against him. And funny, you know, he has 13Ks in that game, only 14Ks in the season.

So his first start, five innings pitch against the Royals, only 1K, he walked four people. So this, I watched a little bit of the start for the opener for the twins, and he was just doing whatever he wanted with the baseball man. Like, it was nasty. So yeah, Sunny, that's the thing. You get into a playoff series, and you can go Sunny, Joe Ryan,

and Pablo Lopez. I like your, I like your odds in that, man. Maeda, potentially, like depending how he looks, he looks, he looks really good.

I mean, the twins, like I said, they've been passing the test. Yeah, obviously it's a long season, people. And I don't want to, I don't want to bring anybody down.

But I think, I think there's, It's going to be, it's not going to be easy sailing for the twins this year. Like they're going to have to fight for the central fight to make the playoffs, but I think they have the dogs to do it this year. I do. Sunny Gray's most thrown pitch this year, the curveball. Ooh, that makes sense.

How about it? What do they take away from him in New York? They take away the curve ball and want them to throw more of a slider or something? Yeah, they wanted to heavy slider. And they did that with a couple pitchers. Yeah, it was kind of the end of a pitching generation. That was the end of Larry Rothschild in New York, I think. And, yeah, it was weird times all around.

And they were, yeah, they were fighting Sonny's pitch mix. He was fighting back, and everything got amplified. And a tough break. I don't know. The guys on the Yankees love Sonny. They were like, he's a dude. Like, he's awesome. And it was, you know, kind of tough breaks all around.

Glad he's landed where he's landed. He's doing great. Joy Gall, although he's hurt, was doing great. So the Yankees, you know, just give us the people. Give us ICF back. Did we have ICF for like a second? Sure did. 30 hours.

30 hours. Give us ICF back. I'm down for that. Give us Aaron Hicks back. We'll fix him too. The twins are just going to fix all the Yankees' broken parts, apparently. Hey, if you get your twins to send over an ICF Aaron Hicks trade, Tref, you will be the king of New York City.

All right. Those are the standout performances. Treff started reeling out a few of the guys who deserve them. I'm sorry. And maybe he will tie it into this week's. Dirt nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby. Like Waco.

Oh, in Fuego. Now I get to go pump my guys up. And there's not a ton of guys on the show. sheet today. But we're starting off with one of my favorite players in all of baseball. Milwaukee shortstop, Willie Adomas. He went six for 11, two

homers, four ribbies, and four runs through three games. Be low. Like the race need anybody else to go off right now. Three for six. He had two omers. He had eight ribbies and four walks. And that was only in two games.

They played three games here. He only played two. Lop. Pentetta, Luis Robert, five for 10, a double, two homers, seven ribbies. And how about this guy? Nelson freaking Cruz. I think he's paying the Padres to play for them this year. He said, I'll give you money. I want to be a part of what you got down there. Six for nine, Beavers.

Six for nine, two doubles, a homer, eight ribbies. And they decided to hit him too. Because, damn, now I'll stop doing that to us. We're going to hit you now. And that's your standout performance. We need some pitchers on this, man. Let me get some other guys some slow. Nick Ladola, we talked about.

Sevennings pitched, no earned runs. Stone Garrett, you talked about him a little bit. He's not a pitcher, but I wanted to give him a shout out. Two doubles, a home or five ribbies. Drew Rasmussen. Seven-ding pitched, no earned runs. Yeah. That's it.

That was, and yeah, Rcia has only played shortstop this year. I looked that up. Devers, a couple of those Red Sox had been. big series. And credit to Dalin, biggest D-Backs fan in the office, I think there could have been a few snakes on here. And he, uh, I think he, he was scared of his, snakes on there. Scared of his own bias. Uh, Trev leading, Franky's hot. Leachy Cordero, watch out, exit Velo King. Um, leading up that might, we might have stumbled into a new segment, uh, just some injuries around the league. Michael Harris, too, banged up. He goes to the I.L.

Josh Donaldson on the aisle Joey Gallo left Friday's game due to some right side soreness like you mentioned Austin Meadows and Johnny Loisga to the aisle we hate both of those

I mentioned Siri Kyle Lewis Kepler Zach Davies Darno you know from the collision I don't like this segment Yeah I hate this segment too But I do think it is informative

Actually it is good to know I do think it's informative Starling Marte mentioned him Duval the same wrist that he had season-ending surgery on in 2022. So let's track that one close for a guy that's had as hot of a start to the season as you can have. You know, O'Neill Cruz and Andres Munoz, you know, wasn't there in that final game versus Cleveland, because he's on the 15-day aisle.

And so is David Dahl, our friend. We just talked about him and we were excited. I hate this segment. I hate that. But I don't hate this final segment. Trev, and this show is sponsored by Better Help. Getting to know yourself can be a lifelong process, especially when you're always growing and changing.

Working with a therapist can help you get closer to being the best version of you. Therapy is all about deepening your self-awareness and understanding, and if you're thinking of giving therapy a try, better help is a great option. It's convenient, flexible, affordable, entirely online. Just fill out a brief questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Discover your potential with BetterHelp.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash talking baseball today and you'll get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, help.com slash talking baseball. There's a link in the description. Trevor, I will let you go. My award is going to be called the First Impression Award. Now, first impressions are very important in how you've.

you people, it's very difficult to shake that first impression. Throughout my life, I've had a few people that have shook that first impression. Anthony Swarzek and I, kind of rivals when we first met each other. But then we became best friends. Okay? You and I, when we first met each other. It was you, Lucas O'Brien, Jimmy O'Brien, all at the local peasant in Woodland Hills, Lucas O'Brien horrible first impression stepped on my shoes We said it was a power move Not so sure he was trying to do it

Ended up that way Bad first impression You I was like who's this dude Trying to talk the gym here What are you doing here? Bad first impression Couple alphas

I don't know that's what I was thinking at all One Let me leave with one good first impression Zach Esposito Reusser Zee- Beck. Almost died working so hard in that first spring training trip that we took. And I've loved them ever since. This guy works till he's dead. Okay. So a good first impression. You want to note another good first impression? Jordan freaking Walker, who has nine straight games with a hit to

star is career. I talked about like putting your name in with legends. Okay. Longest hitting streak to start career. This one's from our friend Sarah Lang, slangs on sports. Longest hitting streak to start career, age 20 or younger since 1900.

Eddie Murphy? Heard of him? Yes. 12. Jordan Walker, 9. The other guy? Ted Williams. the Cardinals made the decision

to bring this guy in and have him be on the opening day roster he never played a game in AAA put him on there he looks the part obviously but when you get to the big leagues it's a little bit different he's done nothing but impressed you put him in the box you see the swing he's taking

353 he's 4.5 on base percentage he's slugging 588 he's almost at that one daughter to start the freaking career he's still six weeks away from being 21. He can't even buy a beer yet, Jay. Can't even buy a beer yet. But he is absolutely going off.

He's 6-6-2-45. He looks every bit apart of it when he gets in the box. Two homers already. I mean, the first impression that this guy has given off, I don't think he could do any better. I love watching him hit. I think he's going to be paramount in the Cardinal's success this season

and for many years to come. I can't believe there was ever any thought about this guy not making a jump to the big leagues. He looks incredible. Great first impression. Snapsed Jordan Walker. You are an absolute stud. He is hitting. Man, he's from Georgia.

I thought the Braves kind of had a market on not letting guys from Georgia go up. They didn't have a pick before the Cardinals in that draft. It's crazy. The can't buy a beer thing is one of those like, Whoa. I mean, this guy's like a college junior, college sophomore. But he's starting for your St. Louis Cardinals. Pretty crazy.

Can I ask you something? Sure. So I tried to set you up there. I said, Eddie Murphy heard of him. Right. And you said, yes. Yeah. Were you thinking Eddie Murphy?

Eddie Murphy? The comedian? Or were you thinking 19-19? 12 baseball or Eddie Murphy. Because that's who I'm talking about. I was thinking Eddie Murphy, the comedian, or Eddie Murray, the Oriole slugger.

No. Wrong. Both of them. Both wrong. You didn't have Eddie Murphy of 1912 in your... No, I didn't. Eddie, the only difference between Eddie, this baseball's Eddie Murphy, who went by honest

Eddie, he was five 9155. You like this guy then? I love it. I mean, I've always loved him. You know, a couple big years. A couple big years. He did lead the league and caught stealings one year.

36 stolen bases, 32 caught stealings. Not great. Not great. Jordan Walker is, and so is Nolan Aronado, who, again, 300 home runs, 10 gold gloves. He joined Willie Mays, Griffey, Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline, Johnny Bench, Pudge, and Andrew Jones, 300 homers and 10 gold gloves. So St. Louis, I know you haven't been winning,

but you've been seeing some special performances around the field. Drive, if you got a roll, I know we had one tech hiccup today. I want to hear your award. I told C. Rosie 9 o'clock. amp anyway. So my, my award is the different kind of freak, uh,

award. And, uh, I think I may have done something similar to this before, but the stat came out again and it's, uh, it's kind of mind blowing. Because Trev,

you said the twins, they might not have a standard one this year. And then you reference Garrett Cole. So, you know, there's some people around baseball that give Garrett some crap because, you know, he has some blowups and the ERA, uh,

hasn't been there, uh, in the past. couple years. He doesn't have the sigh. But he's, he's an ace, right? He's six, five. He's one of the best fastballs in the game. You give him the rock and you live by it. There's been a little guy behind him. Nestor Cortez Jr., who got the win on Sunday against the Orioles, who, by the way, has dominated the Orioles, a team that he was very briefly on over his career. I think 38 innings to the tune of a 106 ERA, something like that. He beats the birds again.

he has the best ERA in the American League since 2021. And the reason why I named it a different kind of freak award, I'm actually not referencing Cole. I'm referencing Shohei Otani because number two in your American League is Shohei. So that's a freak. Nestor Cortez, again, the guy was a party trick. and then he makes the All-Star team, everyone's clapping, he's talking, he's doing silly stuff with his legs. Also, one of the metrics, earn runs allowed, still important, especially as a result, maybe not predictive.

He's been the best at it. So Nester Cortez Jr. gets another win. He's 2-0 for the Yanks. And yeah, man, this guy's more than just a party trick. he's a great pitcher. A pitcher makes you think at the plate really hard to have a game plan against him as well. And then, you know, we saw what he did

that has done with his windup. And now he has the pitch clock to also mess with people. So he's kind of taking advantage of some things. But you're right. It's not just that. He's able to read hitters. He's able to add into strictly. He needs to.

And in an age of power arms, He doesn't necessarily throw like super slow, but he's not a power pitcher. But I think that also plays with his advantage a little bit. You know, you're geared up, geared up to hit just cheese nowadays. Then you've got a guy that's just kind of dissecting the strike zone, presenting pitches of strikes and they're not. And then he's able to work you. And it's really, really fun to watch. So I'm happy that you brought him up.

I did not know that he led the American League or all of baseball, you said. The American League since 2021. Incredible. Scher, Julio Ureus, and then Nestor. So, I mean, his career, the trajectory of it, Baltimore for three, four games, he goes to New York in the bullpen, starts only one game. I'm sure that was like a couple of inning spot start. Then he goes to Seattle, starts one game, five games in the pen.

Then he comes back to New York, starts in the bullpen, then he gets put into the rotation. And it's been, he hasn't looked back. no man like dude like that makes me like I love that like it when you have some failures at the big league level and you're bouncing around different teams you could give up dude I know he was pretty young at that time 23 24 25

but you can give up or you can just question yourself like I'm not good enough to be here like I'm not getting the results I don't know what do I don't throw hard like everybody else but he's he's on his way I think you have to like you know get him credit gotta give the Yankees staff some credit it for figuring some stuff out with him or letting him be himself maybe. But, I mean, one of the all-time turnarounds, my goodness.

I hope it keeps where he could get a real deal payday. And he's got a chance, man. He's 28. You know, this is going to be his like third or fourth full year. He's arguably like when you go to the Yankees like trade value. Like he's one of the guys that technically has the most trade value because he's a really good young pitcher. Yeah, cost control for the next three years.

I think this is his first year of Arb. So, yeah. So you've got 24 and 25 still. So yeah, he's got this one and two more cost-controlled years. I mean, good for the Yankees. And by the way, if the Yankees didn't have him, we'd be imagined. Yeah, I literally can't. Imagine.

Literally can't. Trevor, we got to get you going. We got to get going over here. Talking baseball people, thank you. We love you. We'll see you back for the midweek. John Bino here. Baseball's rolling.

Not that much. You're all right. Ends the day. So far, so good, too. Is baseball hot or just like I feel like I'm into it more than ever? This one's hot. Trev, you know where Nestor was born? Cuba. You know that.

I love Cuban dudes, my Miami friends. I love it. Thank you.