Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Historically bad White Sox FIRE manager | 873

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

Use code TALKIN10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN10*Up to $25 offHit the link to get your Fanatics Fest NYC tickets today! https://www.fanaticsfest.comTo learn more about T-Mobile, America’s Largest 5G Network, visit https://T-Mobile.com/coverage. See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com.Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase at drinkAG1.com/baseballControl Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get $5 off of your Starter Pack (that’s over 40% off) with promo code TALKIN at https://shopmando.com! #mandopod #ad+++++Timestamps: 00:00 INTRO04:20 NL recap10:28 NL standings12:06 Dodgers/Phillies17:22 Braves swept by Milwaukee23:52 Padres/Pirates30:28 More from the National League34:22 AL recrap40:32 AL standings42:25 Guardians swept by D-backs52:44 Astros/Rangers1:00:22 Orioles/Blue Jays1:04:36 Angels beat the Yankees1:05:33 What percentage of doubleheaders end in a split?1:07:22 More from the American League1:10:10 White Sox fire Pedro Grifol and hire Grady Sizemore as interim manager1:14:28 Standout performances1:19:34 En fuego!1:23:35 Injury report1:27:06 Awards!1:37:58 OUTRO 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. Jake is on vacation. BPD's on vacation. It's me, Jolly, and Dan, the bad boys of John Boy are here. Let's go. Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos. You got it.

That's what we were doing. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. A special edition, if you will. Like I said, this is the bad boy as a John boy. We're not going to follow any rules today. I got the dirty martini with me, right? there jolly olive my guy dan rourke number 99 or is that Aaron judge this one as always is brought to you by seek geek seek geek the best place to get your tickets red means bad green means good we also got a code for

you talking 10 use it for 10% off you can go to a concert to a comedy show to a play a broadway show Whatever you want to do, Seat Geeks got over 70,000 live events every single day. Jolly, my man. Thank you for filling in. How are you doing? I'm good, man. I mean, this is the bad boy podcast of John Boy Media. I mean, Trev, I don't know if you know this.

I got suspended one time, so I'm like a certified bad boy. It was for stealing a bag of chips from the lunch line, but it counts. So I'm there. I'm good, man. I'm really excited to do the show with you. We got like a lot of good series this week. A lot of changes in the standing one team out of playoff picture for the first time in two years. So a lot of ball to yuck.

Hmm, who are you talking about right there? Maybe the Atlanta Braves. I don't want to give away anything. How's that good one for you down there? I too, Jolly, have been suspended. And mine was for not snitching on my friends. I got lumped into it. Wow.

Yeah. Hey, respect for that. Respect. Yeah, they were stealing some calculators. It was a weird thing. Don't put that on me. I just didn't snitch. Okay.

Dude, what's going on in your high school? But you're right. Hey, there was a lot of great ball. Played this week, some flip-flops and the standings. We're getting down the crunch time right now. It's August 9th. Some would call it the dog days. Other would call it the moving days where you got to get into position.

I think there's some interesting talk about, you know, where the series, the season series lie because as we know there's no game 163 the tiebreaker is going to come into effect so you got the Houston worrying about that with Seattle I believe the Mets have it on the Braves is that true I might have a handful of teams but right now it's a little neck and neck with a lot of those National League teams it is it is so we'll get into all of that again we're going to try to do it our way because this is this is our show today it's like a the pirates took over the ship, man. You know what I'm saying? And the pirates did not take over.

No, they did not. Their ship. And we're going to get into that. And because it's Friday, we are going to start with the National League. And the National League, Jolly, is brought to us by AG1. It's a foundational nutrition supplement that delivers daily nutrients and gut health supports backed by multiple research studies. So you can trust what you're putting in your body. I love AG1.

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So this is actually a cool ad for me to read, Jolly. Vacation, Trev, crushing the ads, crushing the recaps too, right? That's what we got coming up. And we are doing that right now. Dan, hit the music, baby. And we are going to start out. in my hometown of Los Angeles where the Phillies came in and took two of three from the Dodgers. Dodgers won the first night behind a strong start by Tyler Glass.

Now some offense there. They won that one five to three. Then it was all Phillies and Kyle Schwabber. My goodness. Clayton Kirshod goes four and two thirds. Only gives it one run, but Christopher Sanchez matches him as well. Like I said, Schwabort in that game, two for five with a homer, two runs driven in. Amundo Sosa also with the homer in that game.

Game three went nine four Phillies, Schwabber four for four. Jolly, three Jimmy Jackson, that one, seven runs driven in. The Phillies own the Dodgers this year. They take two of three from our guys. And how about this one? Going out to Atlanta,

what happened there against the Brewers? Well, the brewers swept them. And they did it in convincing fashion. Oh, you act like you're not happy, Jolly. Look at that smile. What did I say? It went 10-0, 8-5, 16 to 7 as the bats came out to play in Atlanta. Colin Reyes continues to do what he does.

Seven in his pitch, zero earned runs in that first game, and Bryce Elder got absolutely shelled. Three and two-thirds, seven-earned run. After that, again, Milwaukee was just scoring. Jackson Trurio, he's really turned it on. Gary Sanchez, two for five. Joe Ortiz, three for four. Truro in the last game had two homers, four runs driven in.

We'll talk about William Contreras later on in the show. He had a homer in three RBIs in that last game. But what a freaking performance by the brew crew down there in Atlanta. And as you mentioned, and we'll get into this a little later, the Braves are now on the outside looking in at the playoffs. What is you doing, baby? And now we'll move to Pittsburgh and like a couple dads. After a long, no, I messed this whole thing.

If I was trying to have a pun in this one, but the dads are headed to Miami Happy, like on a golf trip or something. There you go. Jolly, because they went and swept Pittsburgh, and this was a hard-fought series. They win the first game, 6-0, rain delay galore, Padres take care of business. But then it was a back-and-forth affair.

Podgers won the second one, 9-8. That was an extra innings. And then 7-6, the last one. Randy Vasquez started for the Padres, five and two-thirds, six hits, three earned run. in the last game. Michael King goes five innings pitch, three earned runs for them in the second game. This one was a lot of Jackson Merrill. He had two homers in that second game. After that, David Peralta, Mani Machado, all the usual suspects for the Padres. But again, this one was back and forth a hard-fought series by the Pirates. We saw David Bednar blow two saves. Pirates, are you guys kind of done now? Is that it for you? I think it might be Padres sweep. They're looking freaking good. We talked

I put the dying back a lot, and the Padres are like, what about us? Speaking about what about us, the Cardinals take two or three from Tampa Bay. They win the first two games before losing the last one. Sunny Gray, seven-nings pitch, two earned runs for the Cardinals in game one. Eric Feddy, five innings pitch, one earned run for the Cardinals in game two. Kyle Gibson, six-in-s pitch, two earned runs for the Cardinals in game three. And that's really all you need to know. They were able to pitch, hit just enough, four, three, five, two, before.

losing 6-4 in that last game. Brandon Lau, he's been going off for the race. He gets the job done in game three. He goes two for five with a homer and two runs driven in Cardinals. What are you doing? Two and a half games out of the NL Wildcard. Are we going to be talking about you? We will see.

Moving on, we'll go where the Giants took care of business against the Nationals. How much do we really care about this team right now? Can you do something? I guess this is something. Three of four for the Nationals. They won the first game, 4-1. the second one, 11-5, and then go 7-4 before winning in extra innings in the last game, 9 to 5.

Logan Webb goes 5 and 2-thirds, one earned run. Hayden Birdsong. That's Jake's favorite pitcher in all of baseball. Does not have a good start in that second game. Two innings pitch, seven earned run. Blake Snell delivers. Kyle Harrison, goes four and two-thirds, two earned runs. Giants take three or four.

We'll dive into that one. Maybe a little bit. I got to get this thing going, Joy. I'm always so long on stuff like this. Cubs take two or three. three for my twins. David Festa looks good in game one and then the Cubs just pour it on Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan comes out hurt. My twins, you got to make a move here. What are we doing? Pop, I know we're only three games out of the Central, but this has not looked great. Go Shoda.

He's the man. Sevenies pitch, two earned runs and Ian Hap in that last game goes one for five with the two runs driven in as the Cubs take two or three. Your Mets Jolly. They take two or from the Rockies. They, right now, flip-flop over the Atlanta Braves. They lose the first one, six to three, four winning five, three, nine-one. We'll talk more about that. And then last series I got to get through right here.

Reds take three or four from the Marlins. Are you guys, do we have to talk about you? I don't think we do. Five games back in the wild card. 10, 38, two, before it was six, four, Marlins on Wednesday, and then last night, Reds, 10 to four in 10. They take three or four.

Hunter Green, doing his, thing as always, and that's what happened in the National League. I don't know how Jake does that. I really don't know how Jake does that. The bad boys of talking baseball do the recap on their own time. The music doesn't dictate us, right?

Was I way over? I thought I can't hear the music. It's way done. Hey, it's all right. Jake makes it look easy, dog. I don't know how he doesn't either. Dan's supposed to keep playing the music. Yeah, he left you hung out to dry.

It only goes so long. It just stop playing. Who cares? Who cares? Treb, you know what I care about? The National League standings. Because they're juicy. We need the standings, Bob.

They're juicy right now, Pop. It's Friday. So we start in the East. The Philadelphia Phillies, they just took two out of three from the Dodgers. 69 and 46, after a little bit of a lull, still got that 600 winning percentage in second place. The New York Mets, 61 and 54. A half game ahead of the Braves at 60 and 54. The Nats fallen out of it.

and 64, and then the Marlins, 30 games under 500 in last place. Still in first place in the National League Central, Milwaukee Brewers, seven games ahead of the Cardinals. So the Cardinals not really searching for that division anymore. It's becoming a wildcard chase. The Pirates fall even further, 56 and 58, two games under 500, nine games back. The Cubs lurk in 57 and 60, and the Reds kind of still in the mix, too. They're 56 and 59, all four of those teams.

are within five games of the wild card. So they're all still kind of in it. The Dodgers, they still have their NOS lead, 66 and 49, only a two and a half game lead over the red, hot San Diego Padres who just don't know how to lose 64 and 52, the top wild card team. Behind them, the Arizona Diamondbacks, 63 and 53, 10 games over.

They just beat the best team in baseball. San Francisco Giants 59 and 58, a game above 500 for the first time since May, and then the Rockies, doing Rockies things in last place. Fantastic NL standings. Fantastic right there. I guess we got to start with Dodgers Phillies.

It's at the top of the sheet. We are a Cron pod. That's how we do things. Dodgers, I believe, went one in five against the Phillies this year. They got swept in Philadelphia. They win the first game of this series. I was actually in attendance for it, Jolly. Saw Tyler Glass now look absolutely natural.

He had a bunch of Ks that came. But then after that, it was just Kyle Schwerber and the boys banging on the Dodgers a little bit. And I think the Phillies needed that. The Phillies needed to go out and win that series. But the Dodgers need to, I guess, wake up. Like, I don't even know if that's the correct term because, you know, as they're losing, yeah,

you can understand that's part of the season, but they're doing it at the worst time possible because not only are the Padres absolutely surging. but the Diamondbacks are looking like one of the better teams in baseball as well. So as you mentioned, two and a half games back for the Padres, three and a half games back for Arizona. And is it just, I guess we're looking at this Dodgers team that's, they're pretty banged up right now,

but they just don't look like that juggernaut team that kind of everyone always expects them to be. Yeah, I mean, this might be unfair to say, but I feel like every year for the past few years, the Dodgers, or at least from an outside fan perspective, outside fans feel like they sleepwalk through the regular season because they're so talented and they just mow down opposing teams and get their 100 wins and get their postseason ticket. But when you're as banged up as they are and when you're getting less than five innings from your starters pretty much routinely, it's really hard to win ball games no matter how much talent you have on your roster.

And when you're missing as many guys as they are, it gets even tougher. Now, that's not an excuse for them at all because this was, you know, two really good teams playing each other. The Phillies were scuffling. like this is an impressive series win for the Phillies a good response to adversity in my opinion they just dropped a set to the mariners who have been losing to everybody they got swept by the Yankees and then lost two out of three to Cleveland so this was like a stretch of these are the teams you're seeing in October potentially and the Phillies were losing to all of them so to go out there and beat the team that they've been like matched up with to play in the NLCS I think was big for them cow shorber quietly having like an amazing year by the way like he's not this like 190 back batting average guy anymore. He's a complete hitter, drawing more walks, still hitting homers. He's been, I think, their best hitter, especially with this Bryce Harper slump, and he got to shine with that three homer game. We had some stuff go on. First of all, Dodgers lost another guy in Bruce Starr-Graderol, who was making his season debut, or I believe it was his season debut,

and comes out with a nasty hamstring strain. He's going to be done for them. So that's just another person on the eye. I mean, every team deals with this, Charlie throughout the season. You can say some of the, you know, like the Braves who were about to talk about, they obviously had their two, you know, franchise guys go down for them. So I guess you can't really use that as an excuse. And I guess what I would say to Dodger fans is with all the injuries that you've sustained and the pitching staff kind of being all over the place, still in first place, 66 and 49. Like, I think you're still in a good spot.

But yeah, guys got to get healthy. You got to turn things around. in the last game the Dodgers actually got out to a 4-1 lead and then there was this really weird call in the sixth and that was when this ends up scored five runs it was the Miguel Rojas interference play shoreboard doubles no outs and then Mars tries to move him over um and keke no excuse me Enrique Henan wait what is it going on right now was Miguel Rojas trying to put tag down at third and then I think he was running to the bag. Mickey Rojas runs to the base, tries to field the ball to catch the ball, ends up, you know, getting his foot just barely in the way. I said this on baseball today.

You know, Bowman's momentum never really stops. And you have to be able to like try to catch the ball. But Hunter Wentlestead ends up calling him safe interference. And then the Phillies are able to kind of pour on after that. I just I know they're trying to call this more often this year that's kind of like what's been going on around baseball you know it's second base you can't block the base whatsoever on steel attempt so it's really made it interesting for short stops in second baseman around the base there but this one to me was like you're he's he's moving he's going into trying to catch the ball I didn't love the call I thought it was kind of like a lack of feel really there but that's that's that's that's hunter and I mean like this is all I feel like the rule kind of it was made. for second base and maybe should just live there. Like, I feel like I've only really seen it on stolen base attempts. And sometimes when it's called, it's valid.

I don't know how necessary the rule was. And if it's effective in preventing injuries anyway. But, like, that was a spot where, I don't know, it's not clear cut. So it's really hard to make that call because it's such a definitive call. And replay doesn't help them look any better. So just a tough spot there. Dodgers got to get going.

Let's move to the team we talked about, like the Dodgers dealing with some injuries, the Braves. It ain't going so good right now, Bob. They get swept by the Brewers, and this one wasn't particularly close at all. The Brewers came out, and this is exactly what the Brewers do, right? You know, they lose Christian Yellich.

Obviously, they traded Corbyn Burns before the year. They haven't had Devin Williams until recently, and everyone thought they were going to be just kind of a ho-hum team, but here they are sitting in first place. Seven game division lead, which is only second to Philly over your Mets in all of baseball. So they are firmly entrenched in first place in that division. And they're just kind of like,

they just get the contributions that they need to get, Charlie. This one was something. I think this actually, more than anything, kind of showed where the Braves have kind of been vulnerable. Yeah. This year.

Bryce Elder gets knocked around. Charlie Morton goes two and two thirds. eight earned runs against them so they open up there. Even they got an early lead on Chris Sale. Like this, the brew crew, there's something else, man. They just continue to get the job done. Yeah, I don't want to discredit the brewers because they banged around and like things are really coming together for them. Like especially with Jackson Shorio like producing now.

What is he 20 years old? He's already like a good big leaguer, which is insane. On the brave side of things, like they kind of had a quiet deadline. The one guy they got was Solero. He hasn't been great. far from them. But the name game is the pitching. When they're as short-handed as they are, and even a guy like Chris Hale has been terrific gets knocked around, they have virtually no chance to win. Lopez just went on the IL. Freed, of course, went back. The Braves are scuffling, man. I want to

bring up this because I don't want to make excuses for them, but I do think this is a valid claim. David O'Brien, who covers the Braves for the athletic, made a good point. So he got a little guff for it, but I think it's valid. When you think of the Braves of yours past, do you think of solid defense, you think of them banging around the ball and doing enough on the pitching side? This is their first year in a while

without Ron Washington in the dugout, Eric Young Sr. on the base path, Chipper Jones in the dugout giving advice. Like all three of those coaches are now gone. And I don't think this dramatic shift in their production on both sides of the ball happens if they have that staff together. So I think not only are they battling these injuries

to Kuna and Shreder and everyone else in between, but it's not the same personnel, and I think these guys have been a little affected by it, because it's a long season, man. I feel like players tend to rely on coaches more often than people tend to think. But in a series like this, where it's 10-0, 16-7, like when it rains at Pores, man, and the Brewers just took full advantage of a team that didn't have a lot of momentum. They had a chance to beat Miami and get a series-winning get momentum, and they lost the last two to split.

Now it's five losses in a row. It's just an avalanche, and they're out of the playoffs. I think about this when you're talking about just the feel of the Braves. It's been a little ho-hum all year long. And some of that's from, you know, disappointing early on in the season performances by Riley, by Olson. But when you have Spencer Strider's like a spark plug, right? When he's on the mound, like it's energy. Like from the fucking get-go, that guy just provides the energy.

Ronald O'Cunia Jr., you can say the exact same thing about. So you're missing, you know, your bowl. leader, I would say, on the pitching staff, and then your energy offensively as well. I mean, yeah, like those, when you're in a clubhouse throughout a season, you need to have, you know, something like that, some kind of spark like that. And that's kind of what it seems like to me when I'm, you know, listening to Braves fans in the comments they always talk about. It just seemed like I would try to talk to Braves up and say, hey, man, like this is, this is a team, like the Houston Nationals, you're just going to give them credit until they show you they're

actually not going to do it. And all the Braves comments would be, how Braves fans' comments would be, you don't know, this team just doesn't look right. Like, this is not our year, all these things. And you got to think that's got to be a big part of it as well. Just the energy. You talked about the coaching staff, but having those two guys out is kind of detrimental for like the vibes. Yeah, I mean, it's, I think it's an energy-based thing. And like, the complete opposite of that is the Milwaukee Brewers who lost their star, Christian Yelich. They're not sure if they're going to get him back after he returned to MVP for him. one of my favorite stories of the baseball season.

Yelie coming back and, like, being the guy that he was. And instead, they're just, they're trucking on, man. Like, they're doing it without the, the big household names. Like, Joey Ortiz has still been fantastic. He's been fantastic the entire year. Bryce Terrang, his offensive numbers have slowed down, but he's still an important piece for them. Dude, their pitching staff is full of, I mean, the one guy you know is Freddie Peralta, and I'd say he's been their third best starter, like the Brewers.

are disgusting, man. They just find a way every year getting six shutout innings out of Colin Ray against the Braves. Like that makes no sense to me, except if you attach that to the Milwaukee Brewers. It's actually seven shuddy for Ray. But also, yeah, like Tobias Myers, he's like a, I don't even know where he came from. I actually had to go back and look at his transaction sheet.

It's all over the place. Yeah, how did he get there? I'm curious. They got him for free. Of course they did. Yeah. From the white socks. He got traded for Tim for Tim Beckham early on this career.

That's a name. He's been kind of all over the place, but here he finds a home in Milwaukee. They're able to, you know, kind of utilize his strengths, and here he is. Also, mentioning about the bird's Jackson Trurio, you mentioned how good he's been. It's got 930 OPS over his last 50 games. How old is it? So, like, that was, that was supposed to be the thing. The Jackson's were supposed to be the thing.

we're supposed to be the thing, right? 20 years old, Tripp, that's disgusting. 20 years old. And I was talking to Yelly about him before the year. Because I heard his name. He's like, dude, I don't really know much about this guy. I've seen him, but everyone I've talked to says, like, he's the best player they've ever seen. I mean.

Now, obviously, that's a little bit of hyperbole, but when you can put up 930 through 50 games and you're 20 years old, like, this guy's going to be a stud. So now we got Jackson Holiday. He's feeling himself. Cheerios feel himself. And I got Jackson Merrill, who I guess that's a great segue into our next series. Jackson Merrill has just been the guy all season long.

Is he going to win Enno rookie of the year? Who is it? Sheens, Shoda, and him? Yeah, I think it's probably Skeens until it isn't. But Merrill's been really, I mean, it's a good race. It's a very good race. I shouldn't say that. Because he's been like, that changes the entire trajectory of the Padre season.

They went into, remember the beginning of the season? where they're like we don't have an outfielder on our roster and then their outfield has been the best in baseball this entire season without Fernando Tatis that's crazy and they just swept the pirates just swept the pirates and that's a thing that I think I even forget about that a lot is as good as they have been just wait until they bring in one of the most electric players in baseball back into the lineup manny Machado continues to I'm actually going I'm doing the twin series again

them so I'll get to see him up close and personal. I'm very excited for that. Um, as you mentioned, they go into Pittsburgh and this is a hard fought series. The first game, a bunch of reigns. So Dylan Cs only goes one inning pitch. There was like a lot on the warning track. They win that one six nothing. And then after that just some incredible games, man. Trevkepoise for a second. Incredible games back and forth. Do you know who had four hits in that first game? Jackson Merrill. Your guy, Donnie barrels, who's a podron. He's been nuts. just like quietly nuts for them. They're,

they're such a complete team right now, dude. At the end of the second game, it was like Andrew McCutcheon versus Jackson Merrill. Cuts puts him ties the game for four in the fourth. Jackson Merrill puts him ahead in the fifth. McCutcheon puts pirates ahead, six to five in the six. Jackson Merrill hits the solo homer against Bednar

in the ninth. It's a third time this season. He's hit a game tying or walk off home run. Jolly, that's the most in Major League Baseball. We're talking about a rookie, a shortstop playing center field doing out there. And he's gotten progressively

like more and more feeling himself as the years gone on as one should. And when you start to have success like that in the big leagues chains popping just doing his thing. He is so his three go ahead homers, I mentioned or tying homers in the ninth

year later is the most by a player 21 or younger along the names like Francisco Alvarez, your guy. in 2023 and John Carlos Stanton did it in 2011. So he's getting the job done. They're 14 and 3 Padres are since the All-Star break. They're absolutely, they're flying right now, Charlie.

They're flying right now. And on the flip side of that, Pirates, four and a half games out, two games under. And they just have been able to line up things. You know, when their pitching has been good, their offense hasn't been good. And when their offense has been good, their pitching has been good. their pitching has been good. Had some bad back into the bullpen stuff happened this series. That's what I was going to bring out.

And, you know, it's, I don't know if it's time to bury the pirates. I don't want to do that. They're bumming me. They're definitely bumming me. Like, the only, I mean,

the pirates were a couple frames away from this being a series, went over the hottest team in baseball. And the difference in the series was bullpen performance. The Padres made headlines. They win in big, for bullpen pieces. Some were rentals like Tanner Scott, some were under control like Brian Hoeing.

But in that first game especially, they got eight shutout innings out of their pen. Then they got five innings, one and run the next game. And then they got five innings, two run runs the next game. So in all of these close bouts, they were getting the edge

because the pirates were vulnerable with their high leverage guys. The Pirates made moves that I liked. Like I liked getting an ICAF in the mix for, you know, not too much. Brian De La Cruz is a solid player. But it's become their Achilles Hill. They can't get clutch shut out frames at the end of ball games.

And like, it's mid-August almost. Like, it's go time. We've got to start beating these teams because these are the teams are going to be facing if we get into the dance. So part of me is like the Met fan of me is like, okay, cool, one less NL wildcard team to worry about if they keep losing. The baseball fan in me heard how loud PNC Park got booing umpires for bad calls and then cheering when they got strike calls.

And it makes me sad, man, because that fan base is ready. They're ready to go. They want to watch a winning team. They got a glimpse of it and they got an okay deadline. And now this feels like the usual part in the season where the wheels fall off for the pirates. And it doesn't get easier. They have road series against the Dodgers,

road series against the Padres again. That's their next six games. So like this might be the end right here. It might be the end. There were some silly stuff going on. Robert Swares had to come out of the game because Mike Schilt was trying to protect Machado because his bench was empty.

so it counted as a mountain visit. So second one of the inning, you've got to get out of there. That's some weird umpire stuff. Weird baseball stuff, bro. Like, what does this happen in any other sport? Just silly stuff like that. I mean the two run ground out from Higgy

to take the lead in that last game. That was some weird baseball stuff. Good for the Padres, man. They built up their lead, number one wildcard team. Two and a half games out of the west. They are a serious threat to win the National League last.

When do they play the Dodgers? Let's find that out. Oh, that's a good, that's a good call. Do they still play right now? Let's see. Okay. Oh, wow. Is it the end of the season?

The last six games of the Padre season are all on the road. Three at the Dodgers, three at the Debecks. Yes, I saw that. That could be everything. Wow. And then now we're going to look at their season series against Dodgers. I believe they have. They won.

I think they have it right now. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. I mean, you guys have been talking about the whole season. You know? Against the Dodgers this year, they're seven and three. Yeah, so they took it.

I don't know. I don't know. I personally, look, I'm from Los Angeles. One of my good friends just got traded over to the Dodgers. I don't really root for the Dodgers. I don't care. You know who I root for. I'm wearing the hat right now, my guy.

Of course. I would love to see those last three. games against the Dodgers, like really have meaning, which right now they obviously do. So let's keep it up. Podrays, let's go. Make it matter. Jolly, other than that in the National League, like I'm kind of good, you know, Cardinals, take two or three, take care of business against the race.

They're two and a half games back of the wild card. They got really good starts from all their pitchers. Tommy Fam doing his thing. You know, I'm, I need more. Let's go. Keep going for St. Louis. Tampa Bay. I think they're kind of just,

they're just done. They got Drew Rasmussen back, so that's good for them, I guess. But I think they're not focused on this. Five games back of the Wild Car. There are nine games back in the division. Here's a thing. Here's a thing. Tell me the thing.

About all these teams that were kind of going to skip over right here. Atlanta, we're saying their season. Like, what are they doing? They're out of the playoffs. We said that in 2021 with them to win the World Series. So, like, there is time for everything for all these teams to turn it around. I guess we should probably give the Cardinals a little bit more credit from where they're at.

They've been one of the better teams in the National League for quite some time. So, you know, shout to them. They took care of business. That's nice. Giants three or four. So I do a little jails. Again, like they're three games out. So I guess we should be talking more about them.

But, you know, this is our show. We're the bad boys. We talked about the teams we wanted to talk about. Do I need to talk about my twins? I feel like I skip over when the twins lose. People get really upset about that. Look, Pablo Lopez has not been Pablo Lopez. That's the bottom line.

He's really got to figure it out. Joe Ryan leaves the game with like forearm tightness. They're doing MRI today. We got to figure that out. We had some like weird bullpen stuff where John Durand came in the eighth against the seven, eight, nine hitters. And Griffin Jacks got the ninth. So we'll see.

I try to reach out and figure out what that was about. The twins are interesting, man. Like, I got nothing on the ones. I got nothing on the ones. They're really bad. And just when you think they're really bad, they turn it on a little bit.

We will see a huge series this weekend against the Guardians. They're three and a half games back in the division. They play four against the Guardians, including a doubleheader today. You're getting them at a good time, too. They just lost a series to the Diamondbacks. We'll talk about that in a little bit. You're Mets?

Yeah, I mean, Mets took care of business and cores, scared me the first game and then won the next two. Not too much to say there. they're in that weird road trip where they had to go to St. Louis for a day and then go to Colorado right after. And now they're going to Seattle. So they're tired. But they're winning games.

So I can't complain. Tired. But. And Reds three or four against Miami. And I wish we could talk more about the Reds being in this thing. But right now, they're five games back to the wild card. Nine and a half back last in the NL Central. Five games out is the same as the race.

So I'm kind of treating that the same way. I mean, Reds and Giants, they won series that they had to win because if you lose those series, then you can kind of fully write off those teams for a little bit. But I need to see more. Giants are over 500 for the first time in two months. Reds trying to get there too, but yeah, there's not too much to say.

Hunter Green's really good. Giants Reds, just to say they played a seven-game series. Who's the favorite in that? Oh, God. Treve. Giants, I mean, yeah, Giants. I'll give it to the Giants. You think?

Just on talent, like Blake Snow gets a start in there. I feel like. Logan Webb, Blake Snow. Logan Webb Blake Snow is a nice one too. Honestly, if the Giants get more in the conversation, that's kind of crazy to think about.

Undergreen's really good. I don't know, man. Why would they play? What's the context? I don't know. I'm just thinking about like, because in my mind, I think the Reds are a better team,

but I don't think that's necessarily true. Yeah, I don't know if I think, well, maybe that's your NLC. Maybe we'll see it. Maybe they climb all the way. Okay, we got to get it off of this. We got to get off of this, poppy. We are going to move now quickly to the American League

and this American League recrap, re-recrap. Re-crap. Bad boys of freaking John. This American League recap is brought to you by T-Mobile, America's largest 5G network. Golly for guys like us. So they keep track of everything going on. in the baseball world.

Being on the go can be very stressful. You know, you're talking about me being here in Cabo. You doing your thing following the Mets everywhere. You're in Colorado. You weren't there, but you could have been in Colorado, and T-Mobile would have hooked you up. So luckily, with T-Mobile, we have the best 5G coverage in the game. So we can watch the games, check stats, everything in between,

even when we're on the move right now. So it gives us a much-needed peace of mind. I don't need to be stressed out on my vacation, I'm trying to chill out a little bit, but I still work unlike Jake. Whether you're following the play-by-play or listening to the podcast like this one, it's better with T-Mobile, America's largest 5G network. So this summer, when you want to follow your team on the go, you need T-Mobile. Go check it out at T-Mobile.com slash coverage and stay connected to your team,

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Are we there? There it is. Okay. And we're going to start out with Chris Rose's Guardiansians, getting absolutely swept by the D-Bex. And yes, I'm reading this one. Excited because my twins are coming up, even though they're kind of mid.

It's okay, the twins are coming. The guardians are falling. 7-6 D-Backs in game one. That one was in 10 innings. 7-3-5. three. Ebacks get the sweep. Zach Gallin versus Logan Allen game one. Fott does his thing in game two.

Of course, Cookie Carrasco still throwing the pill for the Guardians. He's got to be 50 freaking years old. Josh Bell, what's up, dude? Thank you for filling in so nicely for Christian Walker. Oh yeah, I believe they got him for free. I don't know. There's a player to be named later, I think. Something like that.

That's ridiculous. Debacks take care of business. Moving on, what do they call this? The Texas Bowl. the silver buckle. A lone star series. Anyway, the Houston Astros. Take two or three from Texas

in Arlington. Rangers win the first game. Four three. That was in ten innings. Then it was all Astros after that. 4-2-6-4 Framber. Valdez almost had the freaking known of but Corey Seeger said,

I got you, pops. It's the two-run homer to chase Frumber. Astros win the series. They're tied to the top of the division with Seattle. They're doing their thing. Oh yeah, Josh Smith. You've been the same. saving grace for the Rangers all year.

He hits the walk-off homer in game one. Astros win the series, taking two of three. How about the Red Sox? Fighting the team right in front of them in the AL Wildcard. They take two or three from the Royals. They go into Kansas City. They win the first two games, 9565, before the Royals win the last one.

Eight to four. James Paxton. Oh, yeah, didn't they get him for free? Didn't the Dodgers just give him away? Six in his pitch, two earned run. They get to Boston gets to Brady Singer a little bit right there. Brian Beow does enough, four and two third innings pitch, three earned runs. Going up against Seth Lugo, who gets hit around a little bit by the Red Sox.

Yoshita does this thing, game one, Duran obviously. Yoshita with a home earn game two and Bobby Witt kind of took over the third game. He's like, we're not getting swept. We're not getting swept. We're not getting swept. Three for four, two home runs. He's been absolutely ridiculous, but Boston takes two or three. Moving on, Baltimore up in Canada. Baltimore, what's you doing, baby, a little bit right here? Blue Jays take the bookend games 5-2-7-6, the Orioles win,

the second game seven to three. Chris Bassett with a great start in game one. Trevor Rogers for Baltimore follows up his first start with a good one here. Five innings pitch, two earned runs, does enough for them to get the win, and then Gosman with a nice start in the last one for Toronto, eight innings pitch, two earned runs. Baltimore. Let's go, man. Don't be doing that right now. And how about this one? The angels go into the Bronx. Damn, let me see your face right now. Oh, no. The angels take two of three from the Yankees. Yankees win the first game. Five two. Oh, it's all good. The angels are here. We're going to sweep. We're going to create some distance in the ALEAS. No, you're not. You're not because Zach Netto exists. They lose a second game on Wednesday, 8 to 2. And on Thursday, they lose 9 to 4. Tyler Anderson. carving the yanks up, six innings pitch, one earned run, much more on this series later in the show.

As we head out to Seattle, Seattle, let's freaking go. The Tigers take two of three, four, two, six two in the first two games before the Mariners do enough there. And Hanny, or excuse me, four to three in game three. Tigers take two or three. I don't know, we'll talk about this for more. I'm so bad at doing these recats. I just want to get it over with. And this last one

Congratulations to the White Sox You guys won a game Pace take two or three We're gonna talk actually a lot more about this one coming up That's what happened in the American League Treve, you're great That was so bad You're great at recaps, babe

Come on, we just we stumble at the end a little bit That's all What sucks is Jake is so good at the recamps Yeah And he does him on his phone I watch him do it He just has his phone and he's like using his finger. I like went through this.

I had some notes down on what I was going to say. And then I just got nervous and I just, I didn't do any of it. I mean, he's the king of multitasking. It's really tough. It's really tough for me to know that he's so much better than me at something. But Jolly, let's get into it. But first, you got those standings?

Oh, of course I got those standings. Treve. Just wanted you to ask, that's all. I really respect the Orioles and Yankees. They have a mutual agreement that when one team wins, the other one wins and one team loses, the other one loses. And that's why they are tied at top the American League East at 68 and 48 apiece. Both of them, I guess we're just going to figure out who wins when they play each other.

So there you go. The Red Sox, 61 and 52, a game and a half out of the wild card, five and a half out of the division. Interesting. Tampa Bay Race, still a winning team, 58 and 56. Wouldn't it be funny if they made the playoffs, they're only five games out of the wild card. Then the Blue Jays, very sad. nine games under 53 and 62. The Cleveland Guardians who are stumbling for the first time this year,

they've lost five in a row. They are still 20 games over 500 at 67 and 47, but breathing down their neck is the Minnesota Twins, three and a half out, a half game up in the wild card, ahead of the Kansas City Royals, who are 64 and 52, four games out of the division. That's anybody's crown right now, so keep your eye on that race in the A.L. Central,

Tigers 55 and 61, they're pretty much out, and then the White Sox got their 28th one in the year, because it is May, let's go. In the American League West, the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners are tied once again, 59 and 55, 60 and 56. It's going to be division or bus for these teams, still four games out of the wild card, are both of them.

Texas Rangers, what is we doing? We're seven games under, 54 and 61. Why didn't we sell? The Angels, kind of hot. the past two series taken down both New York teams okay 51 and 64 then the ace took two out of three to be 48 and 68 that's what's going on in the American league standings beautiful jolly beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful and because we're a cron pod we will start with Chris rose's guardians getting sweat by the debacks and you know what as much as I want to pounce on the guardians and say hey man like you guys the cracks are finally showing up you know the starting pitching has been putting a lot of strain on your bullpen all season long and it's

finally going to be there the offense whatever whatever it's the debacks man this is one of the hottest teams in all the baseball so you like it takes a little bit of the sting off I guess although guardians fans will say what are you talking about and this one hurts a lot um true both these teams man yes I got a question for you I know this is the american league side of the ball but I'm going to cheat a little bit season ends today Twins didn't make the playoffs tough whatever American League MVP probably Dan's guy Aaron Judge sure

NL MVP right now season ends today who do you hand the award to I still think it's Shohay but you can point to your guy who I think you're talking about Catea has been absolutely unbelievable and you can definitely make a great

case for him I'm not saying Shohay runs away with this because I do believe you have to go nuts as a DH to win that award. If you're only playing on one side of the ball, it's tough. But the thing about showy is he swipes bags too. He's already at the 30-30 mark. So he gets that aspect. So he's not completely just a D.H. Usually D.H is don't run the bases like Shohay.

I think that's where he gets a little bit leg up. But yes, if you want to talk and tell Marte, go ahead. I mean, this is no longer just like a fun story. story. Like we are living in the timeline where Kitel Marte is not only a chance to win MVP, but is like one of the frontrunners. He's third in the NL for F-WR right now, trailing only Ellie and Shoah. And really, the only thing he lacks in is the thing you pointed out, stolen bases. He only has six, but he's top 10 in average, top five and on base, top five in slugging. He's got all the offensive numbers. He went absolutely nut job in this series.

He's got a 155 OPS plus as a middle infielder, which is not. very common in the game right now. He's almost got 30 home runs already. Like we're looking at a potential 40 homer season for this guy as the best hitter in the best lineup in the national league, maybe in all baseball. So Gatel Marte, when you talk about the Arizona dimebacks ripping off this hot streak to not only match the Padres and keep pace with them, but also contend for the division as well, he's a massive part of that.

And I think that should not be understated. So I wanted to make sure we gave him his flowers because Cotel Marte has been an absolute monster this season. It really is like a 1A, 1B situation. For B-Wore, 5-9, Marte 5-9, Otani. So their neck-and-neck there. Otani has them on all the offensive stats. He's got him in batting average.

He's got him in on base. He's got him on slugging. He's just, he's a menace, do any steel spaces. So like, I always, I tell people, like, whenever Showhays comes to you, you're sitting you have to go watch this guy because he's just different than everybody else um i i firmly firmly believe that but like we don't need to talk about autani right now everyone knows how good he is again he's already at 30 30 pop he's incredible but i i love i love watching

kattel marty play baseball i mean he's he's absolutely electric he has six hits this month and five of them are home runs um you don't put lindore up in that discussion as well he's slowed down a little I just ask you this. We had Ellie Dayla Cruz as our shortstop for the NL in our latest all-JM team. We had him over Lindor. It was a close call, but we ended up going with him. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that.

I mean, Lindor was ascending, and then he had a bit of a rough, like, a couple weeks there. He's still, I think, shortstop number two. But Ellie is, you can't ignore those offensive numbers. and he's been as good as Otani in terms of war. So, like, that's the pick. But again, two months to play. Lock and happen. Love that, man.

Go, Ellie, go. And Corby Carroll's been hot. He's been doing his thing. We're getting some pitchers back for the debacks. Again, I guess to kind of talk about the guardians a little bit, this has been what they've been worried about all season long. The offense is, you know, runners in scoring position, they're banging. They got a couple guys in Nailer.

And Ramirez, you can really, really count on. Other than that, it's like, hey, who's going to step up and do it? And when that doesn't happen, and you match that up with, you know, a taxing your bullpen, I believe they have five or six guys that already have 50 appearances. Wow. At this point of the year, when any other team, I believe the other leading teams have three of those guys. Like, they've been wearing their bullpen out. and votes done a great job and managing and trying to get these guys rest.

But eventually, you know, those guys aren't going to be as sharp. And that's what we've seen as of late. The bullpen not being as sharp, not being able to hold those late leads. And is that going to continue? I don't know. Like the bullpens are so fluid. Like these guys can just strap it on and be season savers for the guardians. But it really looks like, you know, they got to find some sort of length in their starting pitching

or else this thing could end up going south. Yeah, I mean, they're operating with one effective starter right now. Like Ben Lively's having a career year, but his last few starts have been rough. Cookies been not great pretty much all year for them. So it's been the Tanner Bybee show. And you can only live like this for so long, man. You're burning both ends of the candle here.

Their bullpen is fantastic, obviously spearheaded by Claucet. But when you're using these guys so much, even if it is just for one or two outs and you're rationing their arms, it will catch up to you. So I think, you know, teams like the Royals who are, you know, creeping up on them have that advantage of, like, they have Lugo, they have Waka, singer. They have guys that are going to give them six innings. And that could give you the edge over a two-month span where you're going to be playing these teams. With Cleveland, I mean, I think they're still getting good offensive production.

Like, Noel's been a great story for them. The Lane Thomas trade hasn't worked out great so far, but there's still time. But their guys need to go. Like they need better production out of Bo Nailer. They need more off the bat of Andres Jimenez. We know about his glove. If the guardians are going to stick to it and win this division, it can't be just off the bats of Nailer, Ramirez, and Stephen Kwan.

Like they need to be a more complete offense. An edge I would give to a team like the Minnesota Twins who have been great offensive this year and are getting health out of their best players. So when the guardians are vulnerable on both sides of the ball and they have two teams behind them that do great things on both sides of the ball, it has me a little bit worried about this. What is it a four game lead right now? Three and a half game lead with a big six.

And they're playing four against the twins this weekend. I don't know. I guess we'll talk a little snakes here. They're getting, I mean, they get Erod. He makes his debut. They're getting more starting pitching. Merrill Kelly on his way back. They had some end of the bullpen transition and Seawall comes out,

but they have like three or four guys that they can put back there, which you can't really say for, you know, other teams where you, hey, we'll just make this adjustment. We got young guy, you know, Martinez doing his thing out there, Thompson or Ginks, and they can kind of just mix a match and kind of just run a lane, whatever lane they want. They are so hot right now. They're so hot right now.

They had a good trade. 12 of 14, bro. Yeah. Josh Bell coming over for nothing, filling in for. Christian Walker. Insane, dude. Like, this is exactly, this is exactly

what DeBax fans were kind of talking about all season because you'd mention injuries for everybody else and you'd mention slow starts to everybody else. You just kind of, I even suggested, hey, let's see if we can trade Christian Walker. In his walk year, you know, where are you at in the standings?

Obviously, they didn't end up trading him. And maybe now it looks like they should have because you got hurt, but they shouldn't have traded it. No, I don't know if that was ever. But they are, they're firing right now, Jolly. They are firing right now, if you're talking about the two best teams in the NL, the way things are going right now,

it's the Padres and the Diamondbacks. They're the two teams I'd want to face the least right now. And I mean three weeks ago, the Diamondbacks were a 500 team. Same thing for the Padres. I think, one, these are two teams that could be, second half teams. The Debecks were a second half team last year. The deadline was big for the dimebacks. Like not only did they pick up Josh Bell for nothing, like you said, I think it was just

paying down his money or whatever. He has four home runs in seven games. They aided their bullpen. Like Mike Hazen has done a really good job back to back years of filling the needs of the team and like believing in the town of this roster because they got AJ Puck, who's been nasty out of the pen, ever since they stopped trying to make him a starter. And they got Dylan Floreau like five minutes before the deadline hit and those guys are going to be really important for them with Paul Seawald's struggles and a lot of their guys are getting used a lot like that is going to be big for them going forward on top of Monty's looked a little bit better. They just got Erod back. Like they've become a very scary team very quickly that I kind of just want the debacks and the Padres to play

each other right now because I want to see who would win. I do too. One last shout out from this series Anthony Gose makes his first appearance since 2022, promptly gives it the homererer could tell Marte, not a big deal. Everyone does him. I saw him as an outfielder, bro. Yeah, what was he?

Blue Jays, right? Against the guy as an outfielder. Blue Jays back in the day, I think. Yeah, and now he's pitching, so shout out him. Let's move on. We're going to go through this pretty quick, be jealous.

I want to get to the second half of the show. Astros, take two or three from the Rangers. Rangers walk off that first game. Josh Smith, how you're feeling right now? I'm happy for that guy. He's really established himself, entrenched himself into being a legitimate big league starter. Congrats to him.

Second game, though, is kind of the talking point here. Frambervaldez. Those eight and two thirds, no hit. And then what happens? That close. I believe he, so I'm going to go through this again, and I did watch it. Yes, okay. So he walks Robbie Grossman to start off the inning.

gets the double play ball and then at that time two outs it's like you're gonna go you gotta let this guy finish it off walks Josh Smith and like okay this is probably his last batter pitch count was getting up there and then Corey

Seeger gets a cutter I believe first pitch and hits one no no gone shutout gone complete game gone because Hader has to come in close the door but Valdez over his last eight starts

starts Jolly. Six and O, 281, ERA. Houston's won all six of those games. I mean, this is, this is the team that I always say, do not ever, ever count them out whatsoever, because they have just been there and done that for so long. I don't know how long that's going to last, Jolly as Bregman might be out of their app for this year, and maybe that changes the whole dynamic. They're doing this, though, without Kyle Tucker. they're starting to get healthy. We're going to see some pitching come back for them as well.

We know what their offense can do. We know what their experience can do. Houston, again, I think, is one of those teams that nobody wants to play them in the playoffs. Yeah. Thing is, they have to make the playoffs. And the only way they're going to make the playoffs is to win the division.

I think both them in Seattle are too far back in like the wild card standings. So it's either going to be them or it's going to be Seattle that wins the A-L-West, and then that's it. One team's going to be going home. Yeah, I mean, we clown the Central for years. You guys call them A-L-Mid. This is the true A-L-Mid this year.

The A-L-West has been kind of lackluster. I mean, you have the World Series winner, and the two best teams from the A-L last year in this division, and the best team is four games over 500 right now. The Astros, like, I kind of have nothing, because I'm kind of just waiting for them to, like, really go, but we've kind of been waiting all-season for that. I do want to shout out.

you say Kukuchi who got he got he was the unfortunate brunt of like a lot of people saying that he wasn't worth the trade and all that he's been great since he came over 11 innings 19 strikeouts to six walks and two wins for the Astros so that trade looks good so far

something that they needed to they needed a starting pitcher and yeah man it's just going to be who can win the big series going forward I mean the Astros have Red Sox raise Red Sox again Orioles Phillies,

Royals, so it doesn't get easier for them at all. They got to start beating the good teams and it's a good start here by beating the Rangers.

Why didn't the Rangers sell, man? Why didn't they just sell? It's so many sell little pieces. I respect it because you win the World Series last year. Like, let's give your feet.

You're not so far out of it. Let's give your fans. You know, let's not just stop playing competitive baseball. I wanted Nathan Yvaldi for the twins. But I was talking to Derek Falvey, Twins, GM, and he's like, dude, they're not selling.

Like, they want to buy. So, okay. So I respect that. As far as the Astro, Seattle, Seattle, there's a three-game set, second to last series of the year. Seattle just needs to win one of those games

to have the tiebreaker. Interesting. Yes, I believe there. I don't know what the numbers are. Texas and Seattle play a little bit more, too. I was just looking at Texas schedule. You know what? did them in, they four games swept the White Sox to get back to 500. And I think that was what

compelled them to buy. And then ever since they have lost, they've lost nine of 11 games. So the White So So wait, did they lose? I think they won those games and I think they lost three before the break, didn't they? Yeah. They got four games swept the White Sox. Then they got three games swept by the Blue Jays and then lost two or three of the Cardinals, but they bought anyway. They bought any way. They bought anyway. Against Houston, right now, the Mariners have the season series 6 to 4 with 3 games left.

So all they have to do is win one of those next three games and they will have the tiebreaker. That would be awesome if it came down to that. Let's keep going. Let's keep these high and tight. Boston goes in, takes 2 or 3 on the team right in front of them in the AIL Wildcard.

Mention James Paxon doing his thing. This is another team, Jolly, in the Red Sox. It feels like they've been underappreciated all season long. And for a while, it was all about the starting pitching. And we talked about how much of a surprise that was and what Andrew Bailey brought to the organization. But then lately it's been about their offense,

which has been banging the ball around. They win the first two games. Like I said, before Bobby Witt unleashes and Vinny does his thing in that last game. But this is another team, Joe. I don't think anybody wants to face it. Like all these juggernaut teams that we talk about, the top of the standings, I think they're more vulnerable now than ever.

And all these teams kind of creeping up behind feel like they're, they got, you know, the wind in their sales at the correct time of the year. Trev, here's what I'll say. When you're having a successful season, two things need to happen. One, you need to win games that you shouldn't win. Kind of, I feel like that Padres Pirates series, those were two games they could have lost and they won them anyway. That's when you know you're having a good season.

Yeah, Padres, by the way, I forget, failed to mention this just to go back. Look at their record in one-run games this year compared to last year. Yeah, that's the story of the season. I would add that on the list. But the other thing I was going to mention is getting unexpected production out of guys that were roster spots that you didn't expect to produce in the way they have. Rob Reff Snyder has a 139 OPS Plus. Romi Gonzalez has been producing for them. A name I didn't know until a month ago.

Dom Smith is playing first base every day And he's doing the damn thing That kind of warms my heart as a Mets fan So like yeah No one wants to face the Red Sox right now Because they kind of have nothing to lose, man They weren't supposed to compete this year They're making another one of these bullshit

Magic Red Sox seasons out of thin air And I don't know They're a game and a half out of the wild card right now But I would be surprised if they're not there by the end Because usually when they get this deep into a season And they're still winning They tend to go all the way If I was to tell you, hey,

you're going to have an outfield of Tyler O'Neill, Jaron, and Williour Abrae you at the beginning of the year. You'd be like, all right, like, okay. Is that good? Please, league average. I don't know. Tyler O'Neill with a 900 OPS, Jaron, 855, Willier Abrae, 851.

Special, dude. Incredible. Special. Incredible right there. So they're getting the job done. Now, Jolly, I got to plug in my computer because it's about to run out of battery. Go do that, babe. Let's get into Baltimore, Toronto.

If you want to start there, let me plug my computer, and then I'll come in. I will take over for you, Trev. And like I mentioned before, the Anguys and Orioles, their mutual agreement. Hey, when you guys lose, we will lose as well. We want to face each other to decide the division. So the Orioles upheld their side. They lose two out of three to the Blue Jays. A tough showing here for Orioles pitching especially.

I will say Trevor Rogers, his first start, went okay. five innings, two run runs. He did say after the game, he's never gotten this much feedback on his pitching strategy in his entire career before his first week in Baltimore. So maybe that bodes well.

Maybe Orioles saw the vision there. That's why they, you know, paid a lot to get him because they see potential there. So hopefully he can unlock something and become an ace. Albert Swar is still doing the damn thing. But the Blue Jays pitching,

which is kind of what we thought was going to carry them to success this season and hasn't showed up this series. They got a great crisp bass at Sart and they got a great Kevin Gossom to start and that's what won them the series. Grayson Rodriguez, I got scratched before his first pitch. That's going to be interesting to see what happens there for the Orioles. Obviously, never great when, you know, one of your top two starters goes out.

Second game, the game the Orioles won. It was the Jackson Holiday, Anthony Santander Bowl, Santander goes, hits two homers. and then Jackson's been going off since he's been called back up, which is nice to see. You want this guy to have success and you'll forget, I think he's also 20 years old.

Like what is going on right now? I'm doing baseball today with Jimmy after this. And one of the questions I'm going to ask him is like with all the young talent in the league, baby James, like who do you want him to emulate the most? I think it's, there's like no wrong answer.

You talk about Bobby, you talk about Jackson, the three Jackson's. You talk about Ellie. Like there's so much young. awesome talent in the game. Great to see him come up and do his thing. As far as the Blue Jays go, again, they're probably out of it. Pitching Camp Strong to the series. We're going to talk about Vladie and a little bit. The things he's been doing have been absolutely incredible, man.

And like, I'm actually really, really happy for him that he's doing what he's doing. He had a two-run homer on the bottom of the fifth. That was his 23rd. That was the 10th homer in his last 20 games. Yeah. He's got a 20 game hidden street going on right now. He's doing it like not just power. He's like he's a real deal, you know, one of the best hitters in the game right now. Same OPS plus as his almost MVP year right now. So he's matching that production. Oh, here's some stats. I'll just read these off for Vladie. The fifth player in first time since 1937 to record 35 plus hits, 10 plus doubles, 10 plus homers, 10 plus walk. over a 20-game span

in Major League Baseball's modern era. The reason I wanted to read the stat, the names that are along with him, Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Holy shit. I know butterknife to Little bit.

Oh, that is the most butter knife ever seen. Dude, I don't think of butternife. Oh, dude. Like, yeah, just enjoy it. Okay, here's another one. Since 1901, only eight Majorly Baseball players have hit at least 500 with at least 10 homers over a 20 game span.

That's not that butter night. That's not as much. But when your stat is like two sentences long, it's a butternack. You're right. 500 with at least 10 homers over a 20 game span. That just means you got freaking red hot. Rogers Hornsby, Jimmy Fox, Lou Gehrig, Frank Thomas, Larry Walker, Richard Hidalgo, not in my book.

Chipper Jones and Vladdy Guerrero Jr. That's nuts. You know what else is nuts? Real quick. Second in the American League for home runs right now. Anthony Santander. Oh, he's crushing. Contract here.

People got really mad that we left him off our AL All-JM team. But A.L. Outfield's tough, dude. It's stacked. So we went Judge and Soto. And then Duran. How do you not put in Duran? Yeah, that's what I would have done. It's no offense to Santander.

It's just these guys are playing it. And he's going to get a bag this offseason from the Washington Nationals. There you go. Who knows where he's going to go. Dan, if you want to hop on right now, you got a mic in front of you. Angels take two or three and what happened? Let's go. Well, I mean, first of all, the conditions, it was a sloth fest.

It was raining cats and dogs. No way. It was. It was. It was. But, uh, listen, I'm a big fan of keeping my peace as far as I'm concerned. August 8th did not happen because as you guys mentioned, the Orioles lost too. So it all cancels out.

That's true. And really just the rotation, uh, Nestor and Stroman had been, uh, you know, know taking a dump lately but we don't even need them worst case scenario our playoff rotation is cole heel rodon and then Clark smith coming back in a couple weeks so we're chilling yeah all right i knew you're gonna say we're chilling yo i knew that was coming out at some point um if i was to say to you jolly um double headers what percentage of double headers end in a split I always say very hard to sweep a double header

usually you're going to split do you know the percentage though? I would say off the hip probably like 80% and split more I believe since 2000 someone went back and tracked

double headers and it's about 50-50 like straight up really I don't believe that at all dude it's a Reddit thread because I looked it up because I always say man it's so hard to sweep a double header I'll try and find it. And so I like went and Google like percentage of double headers that get swept.

And it's there's a Reddit thread that I believe since 2000. Wow. I just found it. Since 2000 exactly 50% have double headers have resulted in a split. That was four months ago. So it probably hasn't changed that much. That's nuts. What?

So I feel like I feel like all of baseball has just been throwing out fake news about double headers. They're they're going to get split and they're going to get swept. That's nuts. 50-50. That's pretty nuts. You know who else is nuts? Zach Netto. He's nuts.

Don't say. What did I say? What did I say? Don't step on that. But yeah, go Angels, man. Like that for them. They're hot. Handshake agreement.

Yankees orioes. That's awesome. Excuse me. Let's move on. You know, Detroit. They take two or three from Seattle. Seattle, a little bit of the boys you're doing. Baby, you got to like, you can't be losing gains right now.

This is crunch time. Almost got swept. You got to take the series from Detroit, even though Detroit's been playing good and you had to face Scoobel. Like, I get it. I get it. Even Montero for them.

Yeah, for Detroit. He's got good stuff, man. He's got really good stuff. So I want to jump on the Tiber's bandwagon for like the next couple of years, but like they just don't have enough. They got a few good players offensively.

They got a few, I mean, some really good start. starting pitching obviously with Scoobel, but like they just don't have enough. Like I don't know where they're going, Jolly. Yankees Rangers postponed tonight, so another double header tomorrow. Could be a split, could be a sweep.

Who knows? We don't know. No one knows. What's going on up there in New York? My gosh. It's like a bunch of sunny down here. Just having a party together, I think. That's like what's going on?

I mean, I'm looking at the series right now. Seattle got good starting pitching, six innings pitched, three earned runs from Castillo in the first game. Isn't this just every Seattle series though? Like it's just good starting pitching and then they don't hit? Yeah, I mean, yes. They scored eight runs total in this series.

They like probably should have got swept too. I don't know if you saw the way they walked off the last game. Yeah, so Mitch Hanigur walked him off. It was not. Yes, yes. Most walkoffs in Seattle's history, Mitch Hanager. Good for him. I'm like Mitch Haniguer.

I always get him. So I think it's Mitch Hanigur. Mitch Hanigar, him and I were Instagram, IG guys. And he's a big, like, a rock climber that does, like, some crazy stuff in the off season where he's got to have, like, the strongest hands in all the baseball. Like real rock climbing or like indoor? I think indoor mostly to train. But he's got, you know, those little, like, rock things where you put your fingers in. He's, like, doing, like, pull-ups with his fingertips.

Like, it's nuts, dude. You would try to do that at a gym. I promise I'm not going to It was never going to happen Sorry Mitch What is what is Dan Rourke doing the gym He's always doing a caloric deficit That's what he does

To cut it up Can I tell you that Hang on before we're gone Dan Rourke had the opportunity To meet and chat with Aaron Boone the other day And didn't go because he had to go to the gym And part of me respected it Part of me was like what is you doing

So I just had to get that out there I'm actually happy Who knows but Dan would have said to Aaron Boone Who knows Yeah And also like I get out of whack quickly yo like one night of skipping the gym will turn into two and then next to you and know i'm

and then macdonalds and burger king that's how it works exactly i so respect dan roars dan and i we like we've been working together since day one that's right like brothers man that's what i'm i remember his 21st birthday i said hey man you need to relax a little bit take it easy bob i don't think you took it very easy no he did not i consider you one of my first mentors in life That is sweet. You give me a lot of advice of years, Dan. You know what I love? The White Sox won a game

and then fired their manager. Pedro Gryphal out. Brady Sysmore in. So we're going to go through this quick, but I'm going to ask Jimmy this question on baseball today. I'm very curious to see what his answer is. You're a Grady size, Morjali.

You guys look alike. No one's ever seen you two in the same room. First meeting you have as interim manager. What do you say to the truth? Troops, bro. Yeah, what do you? So I'm Grady. We just won a game.

And after that, we fired our manager. I guess I'm going to play, like, the players' role kind of, like, hey, I'm not, I'm not Pedro. I was in your shoes one day. I've been on bad teams. Maybe not this bad, but I don't mention that. And I say, go out there, play for your team, but also play for yourself. Like, get the experience, you know, this is still Major League Baseball.

We're still playing a game. soak up every ounce you can out of this because you're out of the spotlight now. You won a game. The streak is over. Let's go out there. Let's play baseball that we're proud of for the last two months. Because like what do you say, dude?

How do you win this clubhouse? How do you get them to play? And then you expect to cheer and then it's just crickets? No. I expect crickets and then everyone goes back to their locker. And they're like, did you fucking hear that guy? If I was Grady's size more, I would talk about who.

So he is famous. within the baseball world. And I'm going to miss, I'm going to mess this girl's name up. He was in like Kingston, Virginia, playing minor league ball in the Indian, at the time the Indians farm system. And an actress that was from that city was like their home,

you know, that's her, she's from there. So she's like at the local bar. Okay. And Grady Seismore ended up. with her that night. And it was like a legendary story. I think it was Jamie King. Where is this going?

Is that a person? Is that a person? Jamie King? This sounds like a dream you had, Doug. I heard about that story. So maybe that's what I would start. Okay. And I'm Grady Sidesmore. Here's my back, my baseball card. And you guys all know the story about me in the minor leagues. I don't know what you do. It's a true story. Well, now I want to find out who it was. Is that a person? Did I just name a real person? I think you made up a person, but the story might be real. I'm going to have to find out who it is.

I'll come back on talking baseball, that you guys know for sure. But it's a legendary story. But I do think what Grady brings to that team is kind of what you talked about. Hey, man, like, I've been here. Yeah. Like I, like to be able to relate to players like that. And he's still like, you know, a younger dude.

And I just think that that is something that he can use to his advantage when you're trying to fire the guys up and say, hey, look, we got what? Seven weeks of baseball left. And you either play like crap the rest of the season or you make a name for yourself and you establish yourself at the big league level because you can do that in seven weeks. If you go off the last seven weeks, guess what? when you come to spring training next year, that's what people are going to remember.

It's going to be a fresh season next year. We're not going to worry about losing 150 games. We're going to remember how you played these last seven weeks. That's just how it goes. I'm excited to see what he brings. I will say about Grady. Last year, his story is great because he wasn't in the game after, you know, retiring.

He was an intern with the Diamondbacks last year, getting paid $15 an hour. And now he's the manager of a major league team a year later. I don't know if it's Jamie King, although it is a real person, just so you know. I can't find it. I don't know. I think you might have made that up. I didn't make it up, and I'm pretty sure this is right. But a bad boy spread misinformation, right? This is not misinformation. Maybe it's folklore at freaking worse, Jolly, but this is like a story that every baseball player knows. If you guys know, leave a comment down below. I'd also like the video.

And with that, Jolly, it brings us to to the second half of the show, where we start with standout performance. Standout performance. I'll let you leave this one off. Okay. So I'm just highlighting one dude, because I always have to make you.

This isn't my show. You have the guy highlighted already. I know, but I got a scroll of the sheet. I know who I'm highlighting. Me, you Grady Seismore go out. But I'm pivot. What happens? I'm pivoting right now.

What happens? Great, he fires us up, and then we have a great night. My standout performer, James Wood. He did it all for the Nationals. Yeah, I switched it up. I keep you on your toes, that's right. In the game, they won. Two for three, a triple, a homer, two RBIs, four runs scored,

two stolen bases, two walks. That is quite literally doing everything you possibly can on offense. I feel like we talk a lot about rookies on the show, guys who are having great first years. We talked about Chorio. We talked about Paul Skeens for a little bit. We talked about Jackson Merrill. This guy's also a rookie,

and I think he would firmly be in the race if he came up a little bit earlier, and the Nationals probably should have just called him up in May, because I think that would have helped them out a lot. But he's doing the damn thing now, man. 120 OPS Plus on the year. He's going to play the rest of the year and probably be a terror in the National League used

for the next five years. So that's just a nice little preview of what James Wood is capable of. And you just wanted to get off of William Contrera's maybe I'll talk about him later. You just felt like it. Okay. My guy, we already talked about this guy a little bit, but I just think he just deserves more flowers.

It's Vladimir Guerrera Jr. On Thursday, last night's a victory against the Orioles. He had a double, he tripled, he homered, he drove him four runs. So a single away from the cycle. We mentioned a 20-game hitting streak. We mentioned all the butter knife stats that he has right now,

comparing him to just the absolute legends of the game. by the way. All right, let's just go off a little bit here. My friend Glenn Perkins sent me a text. And we're talking about the difference in hitters and what they have to face now

as opposed to what they had to face back in the day. We're not even talking like stuff-wise. This is a tweet by Mike Petriello. In 1941, Ted Williams faced 74 pitchers. Total. Yeah. In 2023, Mookie Betts faced, guess?

250. 297 different hit shirts. I almost hit 300. I should have just said 300. Like that's nuts. This is what gets me, dude. Yeah. When people that are, you know, the old timers will start to say, these guys, they don't

have the approach anymore. All they're trying to do is hit homers. It's like, no, dude. Like the game has just gotten very, very difficult with special. specialization in the pitching world, with all the advancements in tech and Velo training, and the fact that you're, again, seeing 297 different pitchers, dude.

If you play all the games, it's only, that's 162 games, dude. Like, it's crazy. So I just wanted to point that out, because what Vladie is doing is really incredible on the year, 946 OPS, 166 OPS plus, 23 homers, he's hitting 321. So what can you say? This guy's not just slugging.

He's hitting for average as well. Four to war on the year. It's been just a really awesome thing to see because even I questioned him at the beginning of the year. And I said, hey, then this guy is, he had a great season in 2021. Other than that, he's been a good hitter. He hasn't been a great hitter. He's been a good big league hitter. And that's okay.

Like not everyone goes on to be a superstar all the time. Vladdy said, you're an idiot. I am a superstar. I still am. And he's putting up a year like this. I mean, he's almost, he's almost three, four, five in it. And that's my big, my big numbers thing. 321 average, 394. So he gets the OBP up a little bit more.

And he's slugging 551. So he's been incredible on the year, man. So shout out Vladie. You're my standout performer. There's a lot of ways we could have went, Jolly. Willie Domas drove in two, or she was driven four with two homers. Yoshita went four for five. Ellie did a cruise, two doubles, two homers, probably 50 stolen bases in the game.

Kyle Schwarber didn't even get mentioned. That's great. Three homers, seven runs driven in against the Dodgers. Bobby Whip is doing crazy things. On the pitching side, Framber, we already talked about him, though. Shoda against my twin, 70s pitch, tour and run. you could have done a lot of things. But maybe we'll talk about some of those guys in the best part of the show.

Dan. Does you remember the button? Wago? Yeah. Are we there? We got half of it. Nice. Oh.

That means I'm on fire, baby. Like wake go. Dan, you nailed it. Seamless transition. All the names you'd expect. on Inflago this week. Ellie De La Cruz is the first one I'm going to read. He went 11 for 19.

Four doubles, five RBIs, seven runs scored. Only two stolen bases? Fraud? A 1.724 OPS in the four game series against Miami. He mentioned Willie Adamas has been doing the damn thing. Six for 13. Three home runs in the series at Truest against the Braves. His 20th home run of the season, which is pretty nuts for him.

He's one of only two shortstop. with 20 plus home run seasons in five straight full seasons. Him and Francisco Lindor, how about that? Zach Netto, seven for 13 in his series against the New York Yankees, two homers, nine RBIs. You might hear a little bit more about him in a bit. This past week, Michael Conforto had some trade rumors and said he's still a San Francisco giant and he's still raking.

11 for 26. Two homers, nine RBI, six runs scored, and four walks for him. How about this? Maybe not impressive as the other guys. Andrew Benintendi makes the list. That's nice to see because everyone was clad in that contract. He's been good for the White Sox the past week. Seven for 22.

Three homers, four runs scored a walk in an OPS above 1100. The past two weeks, Jake Berger's been doing it for the Marlins, 15 hits. Seven home runs the past two weeks for Jake Berger? Holy moly, why is he still in Miami? And then Sean Maniah, my guy, 14 innings pitched over his last two starts. 2 and 0 in that span, 8 hits, no run runs allowed, one walk, 21 strikeouts for the kid. But none of those guys are the Corona and Fuego player of this Eptrev. You know who is?

It's your guy. Who is a jolly? It's your guy, Matt Chapman. That's my pick. Yeah. 17 for 47. Five doubles. Five homers, 11 RBI's 11 runs scored over the past two weeks.

He has the second highest war in the National League since the start of the second half. And the Giants are above 500. A big reason for that is Matt Chapman, who has an opt-out at the end of the year and could finally get the big boy contract that he deserves at this point. So shout out to Matt Chapman. You've been terrific playing Platt Glove defense at third base. As always, he is our Corona in Fuego player. Phenomenal stuff, Jolly.

And I will say this, I saw Shamanai a throw in person. I face Shamanai. I've been Shamanai as teammate. Right now is the best he's ever looked in the big leagues. You know what it was? S&Y talked about it a little bit. Apparently, when the Braves came to City Field and Chris Failed dominated the Mets, Mania just like was watching him the entire time and said, I said that.

You did? On our broadcast, I said this guy is looking like Chris Sip. There you go. You were dead on. That's what he's trying to mimic. Holy. The way he was flipping up the slider first pitch, backdooring it, and then working the inside part after that, he's been.

It looks like a different guy. Another opt-out guy, too. He could get a big boy deal. He could end up being the guy that will dominate a playoff game. And we'll be like, holy shit. You were to hear first on talking baseball. Two Mets fans, you and I. How about that?

Adre's fans really don't like that. We, great job on Fuego. So we leave this beautiful segment to go to the worst segments of the show. And that is the IL and the IL unfortunately is brought to you by Mando. Because you'd have a little bit of uplift before we get into the IL. Summer's here, Jall, like we're in a dead heat of it. It's hot out. I'm down in Cabo.

It's sticky down here. But you don't want to be all nasty and smelly, right? You want to smell good for your peeps, whoever you're a red. down, whether it's in the office. I know there's been some hygiene stuff at our office in the past, but as soon as Mando came on, that's all been fixed. They have a whole body deodorant. It'll be your best friend this summer. It's clinically proven to control odor for 72 hours. That's insane. How many days is that? Three? Yes, it is. And it's safe for the whole body. If you want to put on your pits, go for it. Your package, go for it. Your feet and everywhere in between

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Yeah, go ahead. Guys that were placed on the I-O, Ronaldo Lopez. On Monday, 8-5, he has been out for a while. They officially placed him on. That's another sad, brave story right there. Blake Trinning of the Dodgers goes on. Gabriel Moreno could be big See how that goes in Arizona

I mentioned Brewster Gratterol on Wednesday with the hamstring string, and goes out. Tyler O'Neill went out for the Red Sox. Grayson Rodriguez. Oh my goodness. Dick Love Lady

Last night, relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays gets put on the aisle and then obviously my guy, Joe Ryan, we're praying for the best. They say it's not serious, but we're going to find out what's going.

on there. But some better news, guys that came off the IOL, well, Bruce Stark came off the IL, then went back on it. Dominic Leone, Anthony Rendon is back. Tyler Malley's back. E.Raw, we mentioned him for the Diamondbacks. He's back. Michael Grove, Dodgers need some more relief pitchers. They need some help back there.

He's back. Chris Martin for the Red Sox is back. Mason Miller returned. How about that? Miguel Rojas came back off and had a great play that got his manager rejected and then Dominic Canzon Seattle all came back

from the IL. So with that and the aisle done Jolly let's bring the people to the weekend with what? With awards. Awards! I just said so I'll play the sound. Awards!

I love Danwork. Shout up Kelsey. We're talking Blitzball. We have a little group chat. Me here in Chris Rose. We're talking Blitzball, which is coming. We're traveling out in September. Can't wait for that.

I need, I need... Big tournament for you. I need something, bro. Big tournament. I need something. You or me. Dealer's choice. I'll go first.

You've been yapping for a little bit. I want to give you a little breather. Mine's pretty simple. I teased it a little bit before. Mine is the no- hard feelings award. Trev, I'm a player's guy. I don't like to

bad mouth performance because I'm not a major leaguer. I never even came close. It's been a tough year for Sean Murphy of the Braves, amidst all the other things that have been tough for them. He has an 83 OPS plus.

He's got six home runs and 157 plate appearances. He's been hurt. Last year, he was really great, tailed off at the end, and ever since it kind of just hasn't been going awesome for him. everyone thought at the time when he came to Atlanta,

that Atlanta had somehow taken a strength and made it even stronger by getting him in this deal. And everyone was like, The Braves did it again. Unbelievable. The one guy they had to part ways with that hurt them was William Contreras. He had a great year for them as kind of a catcher and left field a little bit, DH mostly, like he was mixing in time, 20 home runs for them in 97 games in 2022. since he's gone till Milwaukee he's been the same guy and this past week he came back to

Atlanta and he said hey guys no hard feelings I know the Braves did what they had to do but I'm still me and I'm still one of the best hitters in baseball maybe the best catcher in baseball so with that I'm just going to casually you know go seven for 15 in the Brave series hit a home run seven RBIs, a 1,000 slug, an OPS above 1,500 against his former team, and my new first place team is also going to sweep your team. So that's the No Hard Feelings Award. I'm sure William Contraeus was sad when he got moved, but you got to believe that him being on the Brewers and being,

their most important player right now with Yelich out, has him feeling a lot better about where he's at. Yeah, I mean, to move teams, it's interesting. You know, when you get traded, you definitely, you know, When you play against your old team, there's a little bit added juice. I bet at the beginning he probably thought, hey, man, I'm like leaving an organization. It's pretty dang good. Like, where am I going?

And then quickly he gets to Milwaukee and understand kind of what they're all about. And right now they look great. And yes, to be able to do that against your former team. My first time ever doing that, Jolly. I think I've told this story before, but I played against the twins. I was in Oakland. The following year after they took me off the roster, I signed a free agent deal with Oakland,

came back to Target Field, they played a video montage for me on the board. You know, not a standing ovation. A couple people clapped in the stands. Whatever, it's fine. They liked me more now. And I had a chance at the end of,

I don't know if it was the first game or the second game, but I was facing Brandon Kinsler, like basis loader that we were down like two runs or something like that. I'm about they to fucking go ahead, double here or something. and end up grounding into a dough play to end the game. I was so sad.

I just found it. Bases loaded nobody out and you guys only scored one. It's tough. It was so sad, Jolly, because they were celebrating. I had to take the long walk back from first baseball. They were like going through the handshake line and all my teammates.

They were kind of like happy to see me, but also they understand how sad I am. It was a very strange moment for me. You picked it up after that series. Me and Brandon Kinsler didn't really get along that well. So it was like that also added. Add it's all tough, dude. Just tough.

Great award Jolly. Thanks. Great award. I will go and my award is the hey, what about me award? And this happens throughout life, Jolly. If you really want to break it down, there can only be, you know, one or two guys that are at the top of things, you know?

If you're not one of those two guys, you're kind of constantly, you know, looking up and you're trying to prove yourself day in and day out and you're seeing these guys get all the awards and all the accolades. And I remember, you know, when I was like a high school baseball player, my first couple years, I thought it was pretty good, but there was guys in front of me. And, you know, I wanted to be one of those guys, but people were getting talked about it. It wasn't me. And it just kind of really makes you strive for greatness. I think if you're a younger brother, you really understand that as well. like the older sibling kind of like they get the spotlight and they always beat you and everything

and it really it turns you into something that's what it did for me had an older brother was really good of baseball and he was like massive for his age so he was like dominating and I was a small kid I was like always a small kid until I got into high school so I was constantly trying to keep up and like it was just all about him we'd play wiffle ball he'd beat me all like every game like never let me win. Love my brother more than anything. And I'm happy he didn't. But I never won until I did. You know what I mean? Yeah. I never won until I did. And then it was over. We have this group of short stops in the game right now, young, fun, incredibly electric short stops in the game right now. Let's just name, I don't know, the top five off your head. Bobby Witt Jr.

Gunner Elida Cruz Gunner Francisco Lindor this year having an incredible year you're going to

continue to name incredible short stops and one shortstop you're probably not going to mention is Dan saying Volpe

is that what he's saying I believe you said Volpe that's actually a great argument for my award wow what about me award

you talk about Anthony Volpe okay you know that lead off for the Yanks great the one guy

you're probably not going to mention when you talk about elite short stops is Zach Netto and maybe you should start talking about Zach Netto since the beginning of June this guy's got 10 homers 42 runs driven in an 867

OPS Jolly on the year 793 OPS you know when you get into the 8s that's when you start to be considered like I don't know if I want to go elite hitter but a very good hitter in baseball. And if you're doing that from the shortstop position, it means so much war.

Right now, Zach Netto has a 4-1B war. Defensive runs really likes this guy. I believe he's got nine defensive runs saved. The outs above average is not bullish on him. He's negative three outs above average. So you decide what stat you want to use, as Foolish Bailey always says, whatever one fits your narrative.

That's right. Right now I'm going to go with a defensive run. unsaved because that fits my narrative. I've watched this guy play. I've seen him picket at shortstop. He might have the you know a bad air every once in a while or make a bad decision every once in a while but this guy can get

to the ball. He's got the hands to do it. He's only 23 years old. Todd, do you know how many games this guy spent in the minor leagues? What's the Angels? So I'm going to say 20. 48 games he played and it makes me sick when I hear it. You know what long I spent in the major

or the minor league six years? Damn. I think I ended up having more bats in the minor leagues than I did have in the major leagues and I had a lot of abats in the major leagues. It makes me sick to think about that. But 48 games, they brought him up because he could be an impact player and he's doing that. Jolly, this guy's going to have a 20-20 season. He's got 16 homers on the year. He's already got 20 swipes.

So he's running the bases. I think he plays just fine defense. If you want to say, hey, his range isn't there, whatever it is, go ahead. He's going to get better as he slows the game. down, but I wasn't familiar with the offensive game. He's got the massive leg kick. I don't, the first time I saw him come up, I said, I don't know that's going to work, dude. That's a massive leg kick, but his minor league numbers are off the charts, like a 940 OPS in those 48 games. In college he hit. Now he's starting to hit in the big leagues. He modeled it after

Justin Turner. There's a big article about that that came out on MLB.com. So maybe it will work. Maybe he's just got that bat to ball skill, the hand-eye coordination that you have to have to be able to do it. But if this guy ends up with 20 homers, like maybe 80 runs driven in, you know, 20 stolen bases, playing defense the way as a shortstop, we're going to have to start talking about him in the top five or six short stops in all the baseball. And I don't think anybody's doing that right now. Trev, I love the pick. I love everything you said. Think about like the great players in the American League West right now. You think about Seeger.

You think about Semyon. Al Tuvei is there. Okay, so Seeger's number. Seager is also in the top five. So we're going to go six right now for him. Point blank here, though. Zach Nitto has a higher war than any player in the American League West. Right now.

More than Altuve, more than Seeger, more than Semyon, more than Yordon. He's doing it on all sides of the ball. Again, use the war that fulfills your narrative, whatever. 2020 might not mean as much as it used to with the new stolen base rule, but the guy's 23 years old. And like when you go 2020, that leads to the path of 3030 and 4040 and all that stuff. So Zach Nito is having a really special season.

And like, you know, pressures off on the Angels. They're not really competing. But when you think of the Angels and they're good players, I feel like Oh Hopi comes to mind first. Tyler Anderson comes to mind first. People need to give Zach Nitto more love. Shout out, Zach Netto. I do like him a lot.

It's really fun to watch him play. go check them out. And now I've given an award to Ben Joyce and Zach Netto in the last two weeks. So I'm just an angel's damn. You see the potential that Artie Moreno sees. Me and Artie Morano are just two peas in the paw. That's what you're saying. Well, Jolly, thank you so much.

Dan, hit the outro music. The bad boys of John Boy added again. I'm on vacation, but I'm still getting work done. Jake is on vacation not getting work done. And that's why. Jake sucks. Jake sucks. At golf?

He's not even good at golf. He's horrible. It's raining. What do we doing? I think he's in Nashville. I don't know. Get that out of here. Whatever, man.

You're the best. Dirty martini, my guy. Dan Work, my guy. Go Angels. Go twins. Go twins.