Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - MLB's Second Half Begins | Weekly Recap | 865

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Use code TALKIN10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN10*Up to $25 offHead to https://Indeed.com/TALKIN to receive your $75 sponsored job credit!Book your summer travel today on https://Booking.com or in the Booking.com app!Shop the best in trading cards and support incredible causes. Bidding live now at https://Charitybuzz.com/TalkinCardsCorona is for the fans who never lose. Be sure to get yours at https://OrderCorona.com.+++++Timestamps: 0:00 JOLLY OLIVE4:35 American League Recap9:15 AL Standings11:25 Houston is in First Place Again17:40 Mariners Freefall25:00 Should the Rangers be Selling?31:35 Rays and Yankees34:35 AL Speedrun38:10 Tigers Have Gotten Hot43:00 National League Recao47:50 NL Standings49:40 Dodgers SWEEP Red Sox55:50 Cardinals are Fascinating, Beat the Braves59:55 Diamondbacks Playing Better, Should Mostly Stand Pat?1:04:10 Time to Bury the Reds1:06:20 Prates Winning Streak & They Should Be Buying1:09:10 Mets Lose to Marlins- What Wil They Do This Week?1:14:45 Yordan Alvarez Hit for the Cycle!1:14:30 Seth Lugo Complete Game!1:16:15 EN FUEGO1:22:05 Injury Updates1:23:40 Luis Ortiz is ANOTHER Good Young Pirates Pitcher1:27:00 Twins AWFUL Stats 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. It was a Hall of Fame weekend. Baseball's back a week till the trade deadline. Julie Olive is here. Let's talk ball. Trevor Palufus is missing. Get on base. Luis Ortiz.

Hello and welcome to talking baseball. July 22nd, not a joke. A week from tomorrow is the trade deadline. Is your team trading? Find out in these next two hours. It's not going to be that long. But it'll be as fun. There will be two hours of information packed into an hour and a half or so.

Trevor Plouffe was up at Joe Mowers, Cooperstown ceremony. I don't know if I missed. I don't know if that was a group text. I know that was a group email, but I think Joe left me off of that. Some good stuff from Cooperstown. Jim Leland bringing the feels if you're looking to get emotional on this Monday or Tuesday. whenever you're listening. Thank you.

Subscribe. We'll dive into some ball from the weekend, and we'll hit some of the bigger picture stuff because that's just the topic this time of year. My Reds is Frankie Montas just became available. IMO. Reunion. And we're here.

A's? We're here with Jolly Olive. Joliver, how are you? I'm good, Jake. Had a nice chill weekend after some eventful weeks. Missed you guys in Texas. whole lot. The All-Star Game event is one of my favorite things that we do as a company, so I was sad to miss it, but otherwise been great and watching a lot of ball.

Watched a lot of not my team this weekend because I just had free time, so I had MLB TV on, and I was just hopping around. It was nice. Nice. It's a good feeling. I was a little jealous, normally Sunday, office day talking Yanks, but they have a wraparound series, so I didn't need to do that. But I was also a little jelly. I was excited to throw on. on the six screens in the office and digest some ball. Still did that in my own way and got to watch a lot of yanks and Mets on Sunday, which... Ugly. Yikes.

So we won't. Maybe we won't talk about them a lot. But we'll talk about its treadline season. We'll see who leaked the right way or the wrong way. And something I wanted to mention on the opener opener, Houston Astros. First place, Houston Astros. You sound surprised. I know.

Well, there's a Mariners fun fact that'll come up in a second. Not going to get a lot of fans in the Pacific Northwest these coming days. Big week. I mean, Luke Combs, concert, met him before the show, whatever. Bought a PS5 because I'm a loser. You did do it. I did it. So to Beeps.

Bees. And Bees is on the bus. I finally got one of the time. I had an intrusive thought. And I was like, no. I need at least two of my friends to do it. And now they're in front of me. Look at that.

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93% of employers agree. Okay, that's high. Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites, according to a recent survey. So, listeners to this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your job more visibility. Bong. At Indeed.com slash talking.

Just go to Indeed.com slash talking right now. support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Click the link in the description. Indeed. It's a good word. Telling the audience to get a job. It's bold. Yeah.

I mean, that's a, I kind of backed into this opportunity by doing the opposite. Mm. But. You just like saying Indeed. I really do. I don't know. Something about the deed is kind of a word. I like being in.

I like talking to Yale baseball. Mm. And look at this. We'll start in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where the Houston Astros took first place solo, and then they kind of gave it back on the last day that they are neck and neck with the Seattle Mariners. Hunter Brown. What can Brown do for you? He's been back. I think his last 12 starts are incredible. They won that first game, 3-0. George Kirby shoved in that second game, but so did Jake Myers with his two-run Homer. They get it. done there. And then we've got Julio goes into the wall, scary moment. The Mariners did win that final game. Brian Wu, go follow him on Twitter X.

Mariners, they tied up, hey, their 10-game lead in the AL-O-West, they blew it in 24 games, the fastest in the modern era. Hi, Seattle, let's see you in the replies. The Baltimore Orioles, they took two out of three from the Texas Rangers. Everyone wants them to sell. Texas, that is. They got a step closer, although they salvaged it on the final game. Hind five clean innings from Andrew Heaney, who's in the last year of his contract.

Jonah Heim hit a big home run, which was nice to see. Otherwise, it's Birdgang, Birdgang, Birdgang, Birdgang. Santon there. Two homers in the first game and a homer in the last game. Jordan Westberg, casually one of the best infielers in baseball this year. And you know Adley, Jolly's Corbyn Burr. Grayrod, sure. Why not? Orioles, they take two out of three. Yankees' rays. The raise have taken two out of three. They'll play one more game today. A little inside info after

the Yankees won the first game, behind Garrett Cole with six innings, one earn run. Soto, four-hit day. Judge, the offense has shut down again. Judge and Soto cooked the books again on yesterday's game. Otherwise, they haven't hit. Tage Bradley's really good. Go check out what he's been doing. And Randy Rosarayna, the bad man might be back. He has a two-home-or-day. And just, you know what? I'm going to stop talking about it because I'm going to get hot. And you don't want to see that right now. Always. The Detroit Tigers, sneaky hot right now. They took two out of three from the Blue Jays. I think they've technically won like nine out of 11? Is it 10 out of 12?

Jack Flaherty on a lot of teams wish lists. Another solid start. Will he be going? Wensiel Perez, your boy, he has a two-home, or excuse me, two-run homer. Tigers, 9 out of 11, 10 out of 12 after they won the second game. Blue Jays, they salvaged the last one. George Springer. Go check out his last 21 games, 1.2 OPS, 2-Homer game.

Blue Jays, yee. Everyone has them selling. Cacucci. Get him somewhere. Trade deadline draft. Cleveland Guardians, they lose a set. The Padres take two out of three after shutting them out, 7-0. San Diego and Dylan C. shuts them out. Seven-nothing. Guardians at one point were three for 55 at the plate? I get that right? Yeah.

Because Dylan Cis and Mike King gave them. The Bidness. Padres win a nice road set. Brewers, they win both games against the twins, and that's obvious. Got a fun twin stat coming up, Trevor. Make sure you're tuned in. Brewers won that first game in the 12th, 8 to 4, big 5 run 12th. In the second game, Eric Duhasme, two homers, and Jackson Cherio might be arriving. So if you already had the Brewers as a team you like,

Their top prospect might have turned the corner, a couple big days hitting, and a really nice defensive play to get things going. And then the series everyone's talking about, the Royal Sweep the White Sox. You're actually going to hear more about this later because you need to hear more about Michael Waka and his seven-shut piece.

Brady Singer, his seven-shut piece. And those might have been the two worst starts because Seth Lugo, with a complete game, won earn run. Bobby Witt has been hitting a ton, three hits in each game. Roll those R's, our final series, Miguel Anduhar.

He's hitting again as the Oakland Athletics. Take two out of three from the Halos. Did anyone watch? No. Kevin Pilar will be somewhere. That's what happened in the American League. Jolly, I don't know. Again, big shoes to fill.

Do you think you give us the American League standings? First, just want to say, he makes it look easy, guys. He came in here two minutes before we started the show. Me and BBD are like, where is he? Isn't this his show? Stop. And he just ran through it. Hours of prep this morning.

Second of all, it takes a special human being to look at the standing sheet and read it out. But I think, I think, I can handle it. Hope you can't. It's Monday. So we're going to start in the American League Central. The Cleveland Guardians stay at top of the Central, 59 and 39. Five games behind them are both the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals who got a little bit of their medicine, like you guys like to say. 54 and 44, 55 and 45.

The Tigers sneaking up. They were once nine games under 500 this month. Now they're only two, 49 and 51, and then the White Sox. The AAL East, the Baltimore Orioles sit at top that at 60 and 39. Two games behind them, your New York Yankees at 59 and 42. The Red Sox, we'll talk about them in a little bit. 53 and 45 still in the hunt. Tampa Bay Reyes get some nice ones, 50 and 49, 10 games back.

And then the Toronto Blue Jays who continue to stumble, 45 and 54. Cannot believe those are the numbers that are coming out of my mouth there. A.L. West, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, nodded at the top. 52 and 47, 53 and 48. We'll see who emerges. The Texas Rangers, five games under, 47 and 52, five games back. And then the Angels, further back than that, 10 games back, 42 and 57.

The A's gained some ground, 39 and 62. Angels are 10 games back? Never say die. Hey, that's what Houston just did to Seattle in 24 games. So you're saying there's a chance. I'm saying something. I'm current, Jolly. Great job.

Wow, that was actually like cleaner. A lot of pressure. Normally there's a lot of, well, okay. I listen to Treb doing it. I'm like, okay, what can I avoid doing that he does? All of it normally. Yeah. Great stuff, Jolly.

Let's start out, out West. Yeah. because the predictable happen. Like you said, who's surprised the Houston Astros are now tied for first place. I do think they have the percentage points on Seattle. They take two out of three in Seattle. Seattle still has a hitting problem for the past 20 years to 20 games, depending how you want to look at it.

Some good defensive plays in game two. of this series, Trey Cabbage, Rob's Julio, after Julio got him earlier this year, so that's a fun one. And yeah, I mean,

I don't know, I clicked on an article today that was the 15 injured players who will be as big as trade deadline acquisitions. Shout out, I think, MLB.com. I'll give someone credit.

That's what we're supposed, that's what we want to do. That's what we're, Thomas Harrigan. Looks kind of hot. from the picture I'm seeing. And the Astros had two players listed, Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander,

and they are in first place, and they're the Houston Astros. Where do you want to go, Jolly? Do you want to taste Houston for a little bit? I mean, yeah, obviously. I don't want to start with the Mariners because there's just nothing to say there. You know where I'll start, Jake?

I'll start with Justin Verlander Light, which is what was told to us for years and years, and we never really saw it. come together on May 17th this year. Nine starts into the season. Hunter Brown had a 7.71 ERA. Not good, bad. That'll get you demoted to AAA.

You might not ever see MLB again that year. Instead, he rips off 10 quality starts in 11 tries. He had one hiccup against your Minnesota twins a couple weeks ago, seven runs and six innings. Everything else has been at least six innings and three earned runs. or less. He has been consistent for them. He has racked up eight wins in that window. I know pitcher wins is kind of a stat of the past, but when you're talking about the Astros, climbing back into this race every fifth day, getting a

quality start from Hunter Brown goes a long way. And I think that's a nice summary of this Houston comeback because it's the guys you expect. It's Yordon hitting for the cycle yesterday. It's Jose Alteauvay putting together another fantastic season at age 35. But it's also the guys you're not really thinking of when you think of the Astros, like you mentioned Jake Myers, who's just put together a really nice year out in center field. Like it's the center field crop in Major League Baseball right now is not super impressive. He's among the best, in my opinion. He's casually been having a good year for them.

Bregman brought it all the way back from where he was, which is real bad. But it's the pitching staff, man. Ronell Blanco is quietly an A.L. Siong candidate. Hunter Brown resurrected his season from the dead. Frommber is Frommber. but they're getting quality efficient outings in the bullpen and the rotation. Just have guys you may have never heard of before this year. Like, do you have Taylor Scott in your book, Jake?

I do, Jolly, because I'm a ball knower and I know he's his fun. He's South African. That's very fun. Yeah. Do you have an ERA plus guess on Taylor Scott? I know he was going nuts at one point. 172. Try 2.95, Jake, almost 200% better than Major League average,

just sitting in their bullpen chill. and that's what the Astros do, and it took them a little bit to get them into gear this year. But five games over 500, I would not be shocked if the Astros finished this year with 90 wins. Yeah, and I think the next parts are where things get crazy. Like I mentioned Kyle Tucker and Verlander. At some point, they'll be back on this team.

And, I mean, even if you, if, let's say if you're an oldest and you're like, hey, Verlander, the injuries are starting to happen. You know, I don't know. I'm not going to buy any Verlander. Verlander stock this year. Kyle Tucker, you'd buy that stock. He's already done it this year. He does it every year.

And it wasn't like a baseball scary injury. It wasn't like wrist or shoulder or anything you worry about. So he will full-blown be back. Justin Verlander, no shots fired at my guy, Jake Bloss the boss, who's in that Houston rotation right now. I know Eric Getty's had his ups and downs, but, okay, let's say there's something from Verlander, and they're going to do something at the trade deadline. I know people were commenting on our trade-up, and thank you for commenting.

It's one of our more fun apps of the year is, you know, Jolly was on it last year. Okay. No, no, no, let's talk about it. Zero points. Yeah, and I should have won. Do you want to tell them why, Jake? Erod turned out. E-Rod didn't want to go to L.A.

That's not on me. It's kind of electric. That's not on me. No ball. They are going to add a pitcher of some sort, and whoever they add, you should be worried about. I did Kikuchi in our trade draft just because I was like, ooh, arm talent, Houston, coming off a 13 strikeout start. I think he had eight this week.

Verlander and another starting pitcher are probably going to be added to this mix. The lineup will see. That's really interesting to me because the lineup has banged all year. Their first in batting average. Yeah, how funny is that? Didn't know it. Low walks. They're interesting.

Interesting. But yeah, it's a top 10 offense. The bullpen numbers, you know, I know you're going for Taylor Scott for clicks, but Josh, like Josh Hader is Josh Hader. Ryan Presley is setting him up in Brian Abrae. He's great that, yeah, that's without if a Raphael Montero were to find it this season or Mattinas

or do they add back there. Houston is full-blown back. It's their division to lose. I mean, if I really want to send daggers at Mariners fans, like if I'm, if I'm Houston, I think I'm more worried about Texas than Seattle. Wow. No, I mean, you're right, though, because I mean, this has been a, what, a six-week free fall at this point? Yes.

I mean, they were so far in front. And, like, I think we all knew that Houston was coming. Like, it wasn't just going to be this easy. But they had such a nice start to the month of June that I really thought, let's make an early trade and let's just, let's just, let's just lock it in, you know? Like, I liked the Mariners off season. I liked the Jorge Polanco move.

I thought bringing in Luke Rayleigh was a crafty move, but just to see these paltry offensive numbers makes me so, so sad. And they had an opportunity, I think, to push the envelope and buy and get something done early like the Padres did with Luis Arise. And we're talking about we're a week after the trade deadline. We've had two trades. One of them happened the first week of May. That also could have been you.

Instead, we have this amazing pitching staff that can't seem to get a win because you have no hitters in your lineup that have 1-10 OPS plus. It's been that bad. And it's just, it's frustrating to watch for Seattle fans who I think could have seen a winner this year. And instead, like now you're, like you said, it's Houston's division to lose. And you're looking behind your shoulder rather than looking in front of you, I think. And Julio, Julio with a significant crash into the wall, X-rays came back negative, which is good news. but I don't know for a team that's also been banking on like second half Julio. Yeah.

The numbers are just bad and maybe it still happens and it is what it is. But for a guy that was everyone's like AL MVP Dark Horse this year, like Julio, well, I'm just going to say something that would have actually felt like, 687 OPS. Like I know he plays good center field, like great center field defense. is a, this is an average good center fielder right now. This is an average center fielder. I mean, I just talked about Jake Myers.

Jake Myers is having a better season than J. Rod. That's an easy, right? That's, put that into scope. Like, if you're doing the player team comparison thing, like you do with the top two teams in division, who wins what position? If you're the Mariners, you have to win center field. That's Julio Rodriguez.

That's your guy for the next eight, nine years that you have locked up. And you can't live like this. You can't live with first have Julio. every year. And it really showed this year because no one picked up the slack like you had last year. Like, I think they kind of miss Eugenio Swar as I'm not sure what kind of season he's having, but this is a team that relies on like vibes and clutch hitting a lot for a lot of their signature wins. And right now they don't have that in their lineup. They just waived tie France. He's been a part of this team for three years. This is a roster that is in complete disarray.

And meanwhile, they have the best rotation full stop in baseball. like one through five. Yeah. I... Going to waste. It's frustrating. We've ended up, ended up deep on this.

I, I know we're, we're daydreaming of a cool deadline somehow. What, like, you know, the rumors the past month were like, you're going to see some contender,

contender trades. I don't really believe in that because that leaves you for instant egg on your face. If you trade away player X for player X, two MLB guys, one has a big second half, which any player can have. One has a bad second half, which any player could have.

That's immediate the fan base is crucifying you. That, I don't know, man, as I now look at this, and this is more frustration than me actually running the Mariners and knowing what the next three years of Mariner baseball should look like, you have to think there's a team that would pay real capital for one of those starters. And does it really hurt you? No.

Does it really hurt you? But at the same time, like, this is the Jerry Depoto trading Mariners. It's all he does, you're not getting the max value out of a lot of these guys. Like, it would be, you know, it would be malpracticed to trade someone like Cal Rally right now who's having a nice year, the best hitter in their lineup, but good. Trade one of the big starting pitchers. Trade Logan Gilbert. Dude, if you take one of these guys out of their rotation, they still might be the best

rotation in baseball. I mean. So what are we doing? Luis Castillo has like one of the best contracts of a starting pitcher in baseball. Old. Older. And like, you know, that's a lot of years of control to trade away. But like that that is something you have to think about.

You're five games over. If you continue to slide like you have, you'll be 500. And maybe by next week you'll be 500. And it's the trade deadline. So if you're 500 at the trade deadline, that's the question we've been asking 15 MLB teams. Like where do you go? It doesn't matter that you were in first place for three months. You're in this situation now.

What do you do? So, yeah, I'm sure. that's on the mind of the Mariners front office. I wish they just, why not make a move at the beginning of June? What's the harm? You have to pay a little bit more, so what? You haven't won your division in two decades. Well, it's at a 95% likelihood that we won't blow the division.

No teams ever blown the division that fast. Sorry, Mariners fans. Didn't think it was going to get this ugly. But here we are. And I don't think they're happy. No, of course. I would assume they're happy to hear us talk about how upsetting this. is.

You can't, you know, ease this in any way. It's bad. It's really bad. The other thing that gets me is like that, I mentioned that, you know, 15 injury guys that could come back and be stars in the second half. It's a healthy team. Mariners don't, like, I'm looking at the Braves with Michael Harris-Duce. Like, yep, that guy could go insane.

Kyle Tucker, we just talked about him. Mookie Betts. I mean, it's a different thing going on. peace for the Padres. Josh Young. Like, Josh Young could come back and be the best hitter full stop. That's a phrase the kids say, right?

Yeah. For Seattle, if he was on that team. Like, Royce Lewis for the twins. Like, as much as I want to be rude to the twins, and I will be later. Tune in. Like, Royce Lewis won me over. Like, I've seen enough that as long as he on the field,

even my Yankees, Giancarlo. No one is coming to save the Mariners. Like, I like Dominic Canzon. He's not coming to save the Mariners. That's about the only position player you can point to. Oh! I'm just saying. So, like, what do you do?

Dominic Canzone trap now. Like, what? You just came back from Italy. Pop. I highlighted him before the season. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Chess was out.

Well, got 10. Mariners strikeout check because, again, they traded Aeuhannio, who on the whole has had, Anti-Oskar. Anti-Oskar. And by the way, Aehanioneo has had in general a disappointing season. one dotting in July.

It's coming. Snakes. They have struck out as a team 138 times. That is 71 more than the second place Oakland Athletics. They have 967. That gap between 1 and 2

is the same as a gap between number 2 and number 7. You want to know something fun as well? You just mentioned Houston Astros banging first and average. Guess who's the last in average? Seattle. Seattle Mariners.

No good. Good. No likey. No good. Let's wrap up some West Coast. Orioles took two out of three from Texas. That result at this point in season, not too shocking. I do want to say, me and Jolly don't like each other.

I don't want it to come. The last thing we'd want you to think is that we hang out off air. I think one of the closest things, I think if there was a middle of the Jolly Jake Venn diagram. Yeah. I think it might be Anthony Santander. I love Anthony. Love Anthony Santander.

And go check out where he's. What's not to like? I think he's at Homer Twelf. 27 this year. Yeah. All-Star break just ended. He's a free agent. Yeah.

I, uh, know what? This is, I'm such a baseball loser, but it's why you people fucking love it. I was like, I was wondering this morning, I was like, Anthony Santander player comp. Hmm. And I was digging through my brain who would come up because I was like, it's got to be a fun name. Like this switch hitting outfield, falling out the past like four years. Yeah. The name I jumped to that I was nervous to click his baseball reference to see if it was on

Carlos Quentin. Oh. I was like, Carlos Quentin bawled out a couple years. Dude, Anthony Santander kind of ahead of what Carlos. Carlos Quinn had one massive year. Yeah, one massive year. But Santander, the last four, like 120 OPS plus.

I would have never guessed that name. That's the one you were going to come out with. I mean, to guess the one name in baseball history, my odd brain jumps to. No, he's having like a quiet, like really nice special year. Incredible. Two homers in that. first game, any homers in that last game too?

I guess the fodder here, Jolly, that was a topic last week. A, you know, Orioles, how much of their riches do they want to cash in? Do they need to cash in as they call up another one of their AI-generated ball players? Do you think, I guess I would love to know your two-minute elevator pitch on what the Texas Rangers should do this deadline, because they're one of the hottest topics. Yeah, I mean, you know, you guys picked them apart. pretty good. Yeah, surprisingly.

That was one of those. I did my Shurzer for clicks and then everyone else kind of went ham. Not switching, but my prime comp for Santander's, Jay Bruce when he was really good. Okay. That's what we reminds me of. Anyways, my elevator pitch for the Rangers, I'm going to go the other way. Stand Pat, honestly. Like, I think a lot of teams will end up doing that.

I think Chris Young is going to shop certain guys, definitely. Like, if you have a Kirby Yates or David Robertson. Those are the guys I think you can trade. But I'm in no opinion that the Rangers should tear down anything remotely from their lineup, from their pitching staff. Because, you know, obvious. This team won the World Series last year. Even more obvious, we just saw the Astros make up 10 games in the standings in three weeks.

We're talking about five games in the standings in three months. Like the Rangers can certainly do that. They had a nice little run before the end of the first half. And you got beat by the best team in the American League. That's what people expected to happen in that series. would have been a nice victory? Of course. The Rangers have had a lot of things go right for them this season. Michael Lorenzen has had a really nice year.

Andrew Heaney has held up and stayed healthy. You have concerns, I get it. Max Scherzer had to exit his start. We don't know if we're seeing DeGrom this year. Semyon's not really had the year you'd imagine him to have. But two months of the season left, I would not bet against this team. I'd bet against the Mariners more. Sorry, Mariners fans at this point.

If I'm the Rangers, I'm not doing anything drastic. If it's one bullpen reliever you want to sell to get a prospect back, sure. But I still like where their farm system's at, and I really don't think they need to go full stop and deconstruct this whole thing. Yeah, first I do want to throw myself under the bus quickly. I was talking to some of my buddies yesterday. And they were like, it was like an innocent friendly. It was like, how much baseball do you know?

They're like, do you know like every player on every team? And I was like, no. Like bullpens get ugly. say you know 80% of players. It's an interesting game. Um, bullpins are just disgusting because there's only up and downs. You said Tyler Phillips to me today. Yeah. Sorry Phil's. Sorry Phil's. He threw from yesterday. Uh, there's a guy in the Rangers bullpen, Gerson Garibito, that did not have in my book that I'm now a fan and now you guys know him. It's been great. Um, I know him forever now. I've seen, I've, I've seen both sides of it.

Like, Scherzer at this point, I don't think there is a trade market. Like, he, this game with arm fatigue. I did, we did have a nice laugh on the trade episode that the Mets are funding. Yeah. I'm still happy about that trade. I am too, but it actually,

it probably makes trade them easier, right? Yeah, kind of like Max Scherzer. That makes it all the more likely. He's a free Max Scherzerzer. We've got a week to find out. They play the White So,

the White Sox are we're going to look up and say the Texas Rangers went four and two. They went five and one. their three and a half games out of the AOS, the defending champs are staying. If they flunk the dunk this week, which not a lot of white socks love on this program, Fetty Crochet, my guy Jonathan Cannon's had a couple.

Starts like, I don't know, like go out and win games and end the conversation on your own. It's nuts how less than mid their offense has been. Although Seeger has... kind of gone. He has like an on-base streak, but a lot of these guys are having, besides Josh Smith,

having years below what their season should have been. But yeah, I always try to jump into if I was in a team's runoff. If I just won the World Series and I was five games out, I would be so like, roll it out there. I'm at with the Diamondbacks too. I liked what you said about the bullpen too

because, I mean, the Rangers bullpen the year they won was scary. Yeah. Scary bad. I mean, Chapman was thrown high leverage innings for them. And like he got the job done. Hall of Famer,

Aldous Chapman. Do you see that video with him and his... Here's what I'll say, Jake. Right after the deadline, the Rangers play the Astros for the final time this season. Three game set. Right now the head-to-head is five to five. Mm.

Go buy, win that series. You have the tiebreaker and have a good second enough. I don't know. Have two months. You won the rules in a series last year. Can't quit. Oh, Oriel's, you're amazing and we love you. Go make the big trade.

What video were you talking about? Goes McFly. I'm wearing a Yankees hat. Yanks, Rays, I'll be honest. I don't think we really need to. I would just say if you're a box score person, the Rays got Tage Bradley's, which maybe they shouldn't be offended about. Tage Bradley's been really good.

He's thrown a hunch with a nasty little wipeout, split-type change pitch. He's really good. Top prospect. Ray's coming together. Start buying your Ray's stock for next year. They lost another starter. Yeah, but they don't care.

That's true. They don't care about anything. Rays are coming back like hell for next year. We'll see what happens with the Yanni Diaz thing. He's on the restricted list and they're not saying anything, which is just scary as baseball fans that have seen too much. Maybe we'll find out and it's something sad but okay in a little bit. but I don't know.

Right now, Yandi Diaz is out. But I'll tell you. To elaborate on that slightly, like, Ray's just said personal reasons, but that's not really what the restricted list is for. He's losing service time and pay for however long he's on that. So just there's something up. Something's up.

And we're on the case. Randy Rosarana has been back his last 30 games or so, which could be interesting for your trade deadline or could just be interesting for the raise. and yet the Yankees The Yankees still have a hitting problem DJ LeMayhew is hitless in his last 17 at bats two-time batting champion

Alex Verdugo great contact tool, right? He's hitless in his last 19 Glaber Torres also made his MLB leading 12th error most, excuse me, second baseman. The Yankees have problems. Don't, it's, I understand why Trev was mad for a little bit

and like, oh, Yankee fans, you guys have lost a couple games. The product has been bad now for a while, that they need bodies. Hopefully Stanton is one of those bodies. And they're going to need to trade for someone, while also hoping performance turns around. And it can. Like, that's how baseball works.

We just talked about Randy Rosarana is now hot after he had a couple awful months. A few players throughout this episode that have turned it on. But I don't know, man. Yeah, I don't know how you fix the Yankees right now. It's been, what has it been? Five weeks of kind of this, right? And with the All-Star break, we're talking like a while that we've been in and a little bit of free fall.

I know this is the last thing you want to hear. It's eerily reminiscent of the 2022 season. But if I recall correctly, they had a pretty big deadline that year. So that's kind of where the Yankees live. Like I don't think you can really judge them yet because we're all expecting them to make moves. So you just have to kind of wait and see what your front office does. Maybe it's Ryan McMahon, finally. I mean, it just makes the most sense, but Rockies, whatever.

We don't talk about that, unfortunately. All right, let me do the good news, bad news segments for a couple teams. Twins Brewers, I think you guys are getting a little love later, and it was a two-game set. Fink. Brewers win against the twins, have some stats on that. White Sox, I kind of already gave you your maybe future flowers, depending on you play.

You got swept by the Royals, who, Royals deserve some more love, and you're getting more love later in the episode, especially that whole pitching staff and Bobby Witt. How's your three-game set right there? A's in athletics, I'm, uh, I just don't have the heart sometimes. So that's time they played this season. I know.

And Andrew Hars hot. Where's he going to be traded back to Pittsburgh? The two other series that deserve to be touched upon slash, uh, I'd love to get just, you know, some of your thoughts. You mentioned the Padres, uh, really big series for them coming out of the break to win two out of three because looking at the standings at the All-Saur break and seeing them a game over 500,

like for everything we give them compliments on, they went out, they did the arise trade, like their offseason ended up looking great with the cease trade right before the season and a couple of the, well, for trading Juan Soto about a good of an offseason as you thought they could have, where their positioned ain't great. So Mariners fans, like, sorry for a little bit of that shrapnel. But to get a good win against the Guardians, and it's the same podcast. I'm not even going to give it, but you look at that high-end talent, and Fernando comes back at some point, that the Guardians, I don't know,

were in rare air for how good their first half was, that this is, hey, a lot of starting pitching this episode, six innings, seven innings, seven innings, and Cease and King were disgusting. Another team that you just almost expect to make a move. I'm not sure what I'm guessing it's a starting pitcher. There's a lot of that available. The Padres, I think, are in a good spot. They have a ton of head-to-heads as well against the other and a wild card teams.

And this was a big series for them because you do need to get out on the right foot. And also, if you're going to be in the dance, you've got to beat teams that are going to be in the dance. And we think the Guardians will be by the end of the season. And they won how they've been winning close games all year with really good starting pitching. Mike King is having, I feel like a weird season. Like I'll tune in once every two weeks and he'll be having the best start of any pitcher that day. and then he has a couple blowups. I'm not really sure what to think of him,

but he looked great in that final rubber match there. Yeah, Padres are weird, man. You know, you talk about the high-end talent, and they're kind of just in the mix and have been for a while ever since they took the third spot and then fell back down. You got five teams, six teams, really, in the National League that are all within, well, the realm of possibility of being an NL wild card team at the end of the season.

So, yeah, it does come down to what are you going to do in the next week to kind of separate yourself from the pack? Winning two out of three against Cleveland, though. Good start. I'm a big treadline guy. Okay. I think I'm with you. I don't love treadline.

Oh, it's awful. It's an awful name. Proposition. Okay. The runway. You're on the runway towards the trade. I'm open to it. The landing strip.

The landing strip is not bad either. I just, treadline is, that's like the... Also some male grooming. Treadline's an awful name. It just doesn't make me think of... It doesn't get me excited.

It doesn't get me excited at all. But, yeah, I'm, like, if Cleveland limps the next week and a half or so, and, like, the twins and royals are equidistant from them, I don't know, because the final team that, man, I really don't know if there's a conversation, so I'll, if you want something, but the tigers are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. I think we should talk about the tigers. I really do think we should. There was a lot of talk about, like, oh, this team.

team's definitely selling. The offense still isn't there. Dude, Riley Green is having like an MVP caliber season. No, it's true. It's like definitely true. He's playing great defense in the outfit. He's got a 140 OPS plus. That is MVP caliber play.

And you're carrying like a pretty tough offense right now. Because another guy is supposed to be doing it with you. You know I'm not a semantics guy. But between Judge Soto, Bobby Witt, and Gunner. He's going to win the MVP, but he's going to get votes. Just a little. As a 23-year-old. Having a top five MVP potential season.

Yes. And that's something to be proud of, damn it. Because there was no light at the end of the tunnel for Tigers fans, like last year. And like a lot of signings quit their way. I don't know that you can't, you know, not sell because you do have one of the best pieces on the market in Jack Flaherty. I don't think you should trade Tarras Scouble. I haven't gotten that at all. I haven't gotten that at all.

I don't think they're thinking that either. That would be a very ludicrous move in my opinion because you've just seen the development. of a top three pitcher. I mean, unless you get the godfather offer, but you could say that about like any player, right? Like, it gives me bad vibes because like the tigers, I know this is a long time ago, but they once got like a godfather offer for like David Price

and none of those guys worked out. You've played this game before where you hemorrhage the future, you know, to, you know, get, bring in these top quality guys. We've seen a lot of Orias guys pan out. But like, I don't think the tigers are that far off from being a competitive. competitive team. I know we have this conversation every year about this team. It's because they really just always strike out when they sign free agents to be in their lineup. But the thing is, the team is two good hitters away from, I think, competing for the Central. And they're not

that far away right now. Like, everything's still kind of in play. So if you do sell, sell Jack Flaherty, try and keep this bullpen intact that's under control and been really good, and move on from there. Because I think a full strip down on this team would just make me so goddamn I'm sad, dude. Like, again? And jolly. I mean, I know you can do, you can do trades on both sides. There's the Archer, Tampa, glass.

You know, there's, you know, you can, it can go both ways. This one was just on our mind because we saw Lewis Brinson in person and he was the Yelich trade. Diesel. Isan Diaz, Monté Harrison, Jordan Yamamoto, Louis Brinson for Christian Yelich. That was four top 50 prospects. One of them in the top 12. You just don't know.

And Terrick Scouble looks like his next three years are going to be pretty electric. I'm pretty sure the lefty that throws 102 is going to be good for a while. So keep them. You just talking to me out of it. In general, like I know the Tigers have had a disappointing season, but they're still in the grand scheme of things trending up. Well, it has to start with Jackson Holiday. I'll say that.

And if you're, okay. If you're the, and if you're a Blue Jays fan tuning into this, right now baseball reference has the Detroit Tigers with a 7% chance. to make the playoffs. It has the Blue Jays with zero. So something to think about when you're booking your summer travel this year to go see beautiful Camerica Field in Detroit.

Maybe some new pieces out there. Maybe not. Maybe Hinch has the boys right where he wants them. Maybe you should go right where you want to go with booking.com. Booking. Yeah. Man, any U.S. city, if you do it right for a weekend, you're going to have a good time.

I had this theory before we were booking, because with like the brewery generation and with like new coffee shops and especially sports. Shout out to Dalt. And booking.com, whether you're looking for a hotel, bed and breakfast, vacation, or at a resort, however you're looking to travel, booking.com has that for you. We just went down to beautiful Arlington, Texas. Texas had a blast. We're going up to Boston this weekend. Snuck up on me a little bit. Got to be honest.

But we're going to have a good time there, as long as my baseball team takes care of their business. So whether you're looking for the family-friendly resorts Trev stays at or those other spots, BBD, likes to stay at, booking.com is the spot. The official accommodations partner of Major League Baseball on the site or in the booking.com app, click the link. What's that?

I have to say, Jake. Okay. I went abroad for the first time this year. That's why I missed the Arlington trip. I booked all my hotels at booking.com. I was a scared puppy planning out that trip, and they made it very easy, so I highly recommend their service.

They're very good. More of Jolly's Italy stories coming in the fourth hour of this program. Until then, let's talk a little National League. Finally. Finally. Oh, and here's this. This is we're going to spend most our time on this, because the Dodgers swept the Red Sox.

No, sorry to my Red Sox. faithful. The middle game in this one, Will Smith ends up getting the walk-off's angle after Kike, with the pinch hit in the seven, ends up going two for three in this game in the second half. They had us in the second half, not going to lie. Jaron Duran continues his his ascent. If you're talking MVP, if you're going to put Riley Green. Got to put Sharon Duran there.

Okay. Absolutely. Freddie Freeman's Grand Slam, pretty significant in that first. game to put all four of those runs on the board. That's how Grand Slam works. And then Sunday night baseball, everyone watching, Shohei almost hits one out of the stadium. A little disappointing, Shohei. Six homers from the Dodgers. A little bit of a head tilt moment from me that it's like, wait, they're sitting where we thought and there has never been like a Dodgers Dodgers hot segment of the year. Mookie's going to come back at some point. Cutter Crawford

kind of gets got, which doesn't happen a lot. Look at that guy's stat page. Red Sox fall behind the Royals. You might have heard that in the ALE standings. Maybe you didn't. We'll get to the NL in a little bit. And you're going to hear about the St. Louis Cardinals, because this has become the standard in St. Louis recently.

They dropped the first game. Three, two, and the 10th. People are questioning the decision to go to the bullpen. Eddie Rosario's homering for the Braves. What year is it? That's disgusting. They win that game three to two in the 10th. But the Cardinals win the next two.

Alec Burleson, man, go check out what he's been doing. The swings getting sweeter every day. Sonny Gray gets the win, even though he gives up career high four home runs. Austin Riley, they thought he homered in the first, got challenge. It was foul. That's a tough feeling. And then Paul Goldschmidt gets slid down to the seventh. spot in the lineup. Hasn't happened since

2012, so he homers. When stuff like that happens, it's kind of good baseball, juju. Cardinals won the season series against the Braves for the first time since 2017. Jolly was in middle school. Diamondbacks. It's the season of the snakes, baby.

Everyone at that Noah Khan concert, they win the first two games. Zach Gallin shuts him down. Gabby Moreno in that first game with a three-hit day. Corbyn Carol and Alec Thomas, similar swings. They both go yard in the second game. They've got a chance to win that last one. Tori Lavello, America's manager sends Justin Martinez out there for the third straight day trying to win a series. Backfires a little bit

and Tori got in front of it and said, yeah, sorry, man, like trying to win a series with our guys. Snakes, I think they are 5-0-1 in their last six series. Cubs, a lot of their numbers go the opposite way. Shoda drops another one out there. He's awesome. Like him a lot. Taking calls on Jameson, is the rumor. We'll get there. Pirates, they take two out of three from the Phillies. Okay, NL Mid. It's getting excited. The only thing Pittsburgh couldn't get passed was Jolly's Tyler Phillips in that last game with six shutpiece. And you know Castellanos homered on the day that Joe dipped out of the election. But before that, it's all pirates. You might hear a lot about O'Neill Cruz.

A couple good days. Luis Ortiz. My God, saw Livy Dunn at the concert I went to this weekend. Got surrounded by bros instantly. I felt bad because we kind of have the baseball connect, but was not going to crush. Anyways, Pirates, they've got the good juice, man. Walk off in the ninth inning. Nick Gonzalez coming to fruition. Out of the park baseball people like that.

I'll tell you what I don't like. Maybe my least favorite result from the weekend. The Cincinnati Reds got swept by the Nats. They had to get hot. It was like now in treadline runway season? I don't know. The season sounds better. Montas gets knocked around.

Did you see the Homer James Wood hit to the opposite field? Up and in fastball. It's only happened like twice via lefty. Josh Bell was the other guy. Young Jacob Young Juan Yeppez is balling out. Jolly's going to tell you about Mets and Marlins. B.B.D. he'll tell you about Rock's Giants.

That's what happened in the NL. It was bad and it was bad. Damn. Hayden Bird song. That's an OTP legend right there. Oh, Calquantrol. Rockies took two out of three. Giants, what is we doing?

Charlie, do you have the standings? Oh my God, I do, Jake. I'm nervous. In your National League East, because it is Monday. The Philadelphia, Philly, still in first place. No one's shocked. 63 and 36. The Braves 8.

eight and a half games behind. And they just lost a couple big pieces. We'll get to that. 54 and 44. My Mets, 50 and 48, still in playoff position. Let's go, babe.

The Nats, stay hot. They're back from the dead, 47 and 53. And then you are Marlins, who just took two of three for my Mets, 35 and 64. In the West, the Dodgers.

Pick up one of their biggest series victories of the year. Pretty significant. 59 and 41. Eight games ahead of both. The Diamondbacks and the Padres, 51 and 49, 52 and 50. Those teams are clawing it out for a wildcard spot. The Giants, four games under now. 48 and 52, they lost a big series there still.

Only three games out of the wild card. Your rocks getting hot. 36 and 64 in the last place, but don't count them out yet. The National League Central. The Milwaukee Brewers in late July are 15 games over 500. What a story. Just had to say it outright. Crazy story.

They're in first place, 57 and 42. The Cardinals, 52 and 47, five games back of them, but up a game and a half in the wild card standings. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a winning team at the trade deadline, 50 and 49, 7 games out of the division, half game out of the wild card. Chicago Cups lose another big series, 48 and 53, 5 games under an even bigger series to lose. The Cincinnati Reds get swept. There are now six games under 47 and 53, four games back of the wild card.

Jolly, thank you. Impressive. Thanks. Let's do a little socks, Dodgers quick, because the Red Sox had been, what was the clip? The Red Sox had been the best American league team for like a month and a half. Something like that. We're seeing that stat out there. The Dodgers, like we said, have been just at top of the NOS doing Dodger things.

They need pitching. Is it an actual issue? Yes and no. I think we'll see some bodies end up over there during the deadline. but it was funny seeing in that article I've now referenced three times. They were like, yeah, Mooky Betts and Clayton Kershaw might come back for them. And you're like, oh, yeah. Okay.

Those guys could help. I've seen them contribute. Hey, I do believe in momentum in storylines. And I'm not saying Red Sox fans, I'm wearing a Yankees hat. I get it. Red Sox came into this on a six-game win streak going into the All-Star break. Jaron, All-Star MVP. Kenley gets got in the blown save,

and then you go from, hey, seven-game win-streeks, staying hot out of the break, to getting swept. It's the Dodgers. You can wash that pretty easily. But as we are in runway season, I don't know. I don't know.

I'm interested to see this is a team that still didn't know their deadline fate, despite being amazing for the last month and a half, that they just need to be. Careful. On Wake and Jake, I did some jolly BS, and I looked up strength of schedule the rest of the way. I believe they have the toughest. They had the toughest. So, you know, the Dodgers were probably a significant part of that and we're moving on. And maybe they'll get the medicine they need as they head to Colorado. But then Yankees Mariners, well, the Yankees haven't been a problem for them at all.

So that's actually, it might be nice for them. I don't know. I've been pointing at the Red Sox team stats all year that it felt like they're numbers were going to get to a better place. I didn't see what what happened. But yeah, I mean, this is a front office that I don't think they're sure what they want to do at this deadline that don't keep limping because that forces the front office to do what Boston fans are horrified. That if they let go of this momentum from this season, that was supposed to be a lost season, that's disgraceful to a proud baseball town. I agree with a lot of what you said.

They're another team that has, like, reinforcements, like Casas is due back at some point. Chris Martin, who's been great, is due back at some point. But they've kind of known this. Like, they don't have time to lose games that they should be winning. Not saying that they should be beating the Dodgers, but you'd like to get a game there. They did their stumbling in April and May. Like that has gone out the window, similar to, you know, not to bring them up out of nowhere, but the Mets. They did their losing in May.

They have to win all their games now. It's the same story for the Red Sox. You mentioned, I mean, that's the same. that Rocky series kind of scares me a little bit. They just beat the Giants, right? You go to Cores and there's always some Cores bullshit. I don't know. Like that's another series where you could begin a skit.

A game one, Cores BS game is daunting. You walk in there, you get slapped in the face and it's like, oh, no. We're doing this. It's the Rock. No, but the point being, the Red Sox have a very important week coming up. I'm still not super convinced that they're going to buy at the deadline because the easiest thing to buy is bullpen. And I don't really think it's something that they super-duper need necessarily. They've been able to get really good performances out of guys.

Their rotation's been great. Bayo's been pitching better lately. He was kind of the weak link for a while. He's had back-to-back quality starts. Then the lineup's been banging for the most part while they wait for guys like Casas to come back. So at this point, it's about keeping your head above water and not selling because you are, you know, you are one bad week away from 500, third in the ALE East right next to the

raise. And we've always been talking about the raise as potential sellers. That's the kind of thing you have to put in scope. But I don't think the socks are quite there yet. They did just, you know, come out of the gate and fall flat in their face. And that's going to happen sometimes, especially when Shohei is hitting balls out of the stadium. Like that's just how it goes. And Gavin Lux's two homeruns.

Yeah. How about that? He needed that. Yeah, for socks, I mean, there's only, like, the pieces they would sell, it doesn't even. It doesn't seem more. Like, it's, yeah, you're popping the Tyler O'Neill, like, bubble or Kenley. And that's, then you're, like, selling. Then you're like, we're done, which you can't do that.

And they have reinforcements coming. That's where I think it's the easiest opportunity to do a soft sell. I did Justin Turner on our trade draft episode, a little reunion. They could use one more righty bat. That I think if you do something like that that's just like, hey, we're in it. I'll call it the Kendall Graveman effect. Like, you can't do that to this team. And that wasn't even worth it, man.

I still think about that move. I was so dumb. That was disgusting. That was dirty. While they were playing them at their stadium. That was dirty money. That was horrible. Jerry DePoto, what are you doing?

Yeah, Dodgers, again, overreaction city. But with Sunday night baseball, first series out of the break, Mookie coming back, Clayton coming back, they're probably going to add some big pieces of the deadline. For me, that was the first, like, I don't know. I think we're going to look in and be like, well, Dodgers had the best record in the second half. and they're fully clicking.

They're the Sunday night game again next week. Look at that. Against the Yankees. Huh. Again? Stolen bases. Met's Dodgers this week. Yankees.

Trade for help. Trade for help. God. Yeah. Hey, and this is just, again, try to Boston's new front office. We don't fully know their line of thinking. Boston after this weekend,

FanGrafts has them as 39% to make the playoffs. Lower than the Royals and the twins. Interesting. So, yeah, again, there's a lot of numbers that go into that, that I don't fully believe in. Right, right. But baseball can just happen quick. It's true.

Speaking of happening quick, you have any... St. Louis Cardinals are my... They're currently just have me in the blender. We've got an awful run differential. we're winning a ton of series. They have upside potential because the guys that you'd think would go for them have not gone for them.

And although, you know, you see that swing from Goldschman, and you're like, God, that's right. He gets on top of a high pitch that you're like, not a lot of people can do that. I don't know. I'm like, I'm in for the Cardinals roller coaster. Dude, like I, my whole thing was, I still don't understand how they got,

hot when they lost their best player. They lost Wilson Contreras. They didn't lose Mason win. Wow. I like Mason win too. They lost them for about four weeks, five weeks, and that's when they emerged from the shadows and became a wildcrac.

I don't understand that part of it. But they've got some weird juju going, and it is working, the old man Cardinals. And they're a team that is an obvious buy, in my opinion. You've been in wildcar position for a while now. Like, you've been in control of a spot. You've been in that realm. and you're seeing the Reds get swept by the Nationals.

You're seeing the Cubs falter again in the series they should win. Okay. Cardinals Jam Jolly, what would you add? I don't add bullpen because I really like where the Cardinals bullpen is at right now. And it's weird to think because you can't really buy corner infield because those guys have been not playing well, but they're your guys. They're an auto-engulgement. So you can't really do that either. So for me, I'm looking at a centerfielder because Michael Ciani's been great

defensively. that's kind of what he was brought in to do, but that's a pretty big, you know, weight and anchor in your lineup that you want to be able to replace with something. Well, Tommy Edmund's coming back, Jolly. If you read that trade deadline injury article, four references.

Point being, I think the Cardinals could use a bat and maybe a starter because, like, I don't know. No one's standing out, even Sunny Grace, he's having a nice year, but like no one's really standing out in their rotation. They're just a weird team. Yeah, that's, I, it's why I ask the, question. I don't, in a way they could add anything.

Yeah. In a way, it's like, oh, what do? It's frustrating because they're an obvious buy, but I actually don't know that they will, whereas other teams are like, should you buy? And I think they're going to. They've, uh, hey, if you're looking for some fun NL Centrale baseball, Cardinals Pirates. Ooh, that's a big series. Lance Lynn versus Paul Skeen's Tuesday night, if you're trying to get your libido going.

But what's a little schedule watch? Like coming up, they have a lot of games against the Cubs and Reds, and we're talking about them as like they might be selling. Right. I don't know. So like, yeah, Cardinals fans, you're in a very good spot. Nice series win against a good Braves team. Yeah, Atalanta.

Yeah. Interesting couple weeks coming up. They just lost Albies for eight weeks. Yeah. Freed. We don't know what's going on there. Their injury bug is very real When it popped up on the screen

Like we've already forgotten Strider and Acuna Your former MVP and your favorite for Cy Young this year MH2 A team would feel that Any team would feel that Rinaldo Lopez still is near Ableau too Yeah I mean they still have devil magic Chris Sale has been great

Eddie Rosari had two months I'm sure it's about to just catch fire for two months They'll be there They're not even close to like It's going to be very interesting to see what their energy is going into the dance. And yeah, Cardinals, I'm ready to ride the roller coaster with you. Jake, spell Schwellenbach.

Oh, God. S. Good. C-H. Good. W. Nice. Ellenbach.

Okay. E-L-L-E-N-B-A-C-H. Come on. Shout out Spencer. Come on. Got the loss, actually. I love him. Another thing I love.

Oh, I clicked on the wrong thing for a second. I was like, I don't love them. The Arizona Diamondbacks. My D-backs sneaky playing a much-improved brand of baseball, and not a lot of the names have changed, but we talked about Aeohenio turning it around. They've gotten guys back, whether going back to Perdomo, Alec Thomas. Corby Carroll had as bad of a start to the season as you could have.

And, like, they've got more help on the way that they're playing a good brand of baseball. Toro Lavello is America's manager. With your guy, E. Rod, and Merrill Kelly, supposed to come back at some point. It's always, it's going to be tough for me, because how nice the snakes have been to me. But, like, they are 5-0-1 in their last six series. Some of the names have changed. They have more names coming. For me, this is a clear stand pat deadline.

Yeah. But they are, Cardinals are positioned really well. With the snakes. Snakes. You could buy bullpen. You could say that for a lot of teams. They are, let's see,

they had a walk-off loss against the Dodgers the first game this month. They had the walk-off loss against the Padres. They blew the game in Atlanta. Your guy Paul Seawall. And they just gave up one yesterday. Yeah. That's about four.

Four wins you can spin the other way and then suddenly this is a team that's 55 and 45. Like that sounds pretty great. And like you were basically one arm away. You mentioned Lavelle. He had to use Justin Martinez a third day in a row. That is something this team could add. At the same time, didn't have this in my book that Diamondbacks are fifth in baseball and on base,

fourth and runs. They hit. They've been banging without their best player banging. So like I don't think you can add much there because that's not really a formula that hasn't been working. They're getting contributions out of Randall Gritchick. He's got a 120 OPS plus. Those are the kind of things that happen

when you're having a nice winning season. So debacks, they're in an okay spot. I don't think they buy too hard because they bought pretty hard last year. You know, just let it ride. See what happens. I'm too close to the situation. What are you going to say?

Okay, do you have your studs? You're building a team. You need a couple studs. Cuttel Marte. Stud. Christian Walker. Stud. Corbin?

I mean, he's there now. You signed him, so yeah, stud. Okay, we need guys that are contributing for whatever their skill set is. Jock Peterson. It's been pretty good. Balling. Randall Gertrick. Yeah.

Lordus Gariel Jr. Aeuhaneo has come on. You know, what do you even say about Gabby Moreno? Like, that's a, I need to dig up his win-loss record staff. Oh, because he missed some time, and I think they play. played bad. Yeah. So,

um, Alex Thomas knows he has his role. Pardomo has his, so if I told you snakes or Padres rest of the way. Oh. Which, which train you jumping on. Deepak's actually losing team with Gabby Moreno starting this year.

Oh, damn it. Sorry. Um, I don't research things. I'm going snakes. Um, Padres, I think will add,

but until they do it, I can't confidently say that they're the better team. I do think they have more holes. Like, they're a less consistent team. The snakes, I kind of felt like they would always come around and they got hampered by injuries. Like,

Merrill Kelly was the reason they got to the World Series last year. Pitching, shortstop, center field. Like major positions they've lost. And like, you know, their stars have underperformed, whereas the Padreys Stars have performed in my opinion. So I would say snakes. And snakes can be a really scary team if they even make a couple moves, which they're certainly capable of.

I don't, I don't even think they have to do the moves. I think it's happening in live time. You love the Padres. Let's see Erod on a mound. Let's see Merrill on the mound. Padres, you know there's a move. Oh, my God. Yeah.

Love that contract. Right. Brandon Fott shoved in this series. Like, snakes alive. Snakes alive is what I would say. Wrapping up around the NL, do we bury the Reds? Is that a burial? A sweep to the Nats coming out of the All-Star break?

That can't happen. Like, I know you're on the road and, like, it's tough to win any season. is on the road, that can't happen. Like, I think it's... At Atlanta, at Tampa. God, I like this team, man. It sucks. Some years, it's just not the year,

and I... Hopefully this becomes the Reds montage clip that we see in October. Oh, and you could tear apart that entire bullpen, too, so easily. All those guys you could sell. Yeah. I mean, Sam Mull's having a nice year. Buck Farmer.

Look at these names. Love Sam Mall. It's a tough look for Reds fans. I mean, I feel like they've been toyed with emotionally every year, right? Like in 2021, they had that winkered team and they were, they had a lot of swagger going. They were a winning team at the deadline. It feels like the same old song and dance. Like they're getting good performances.

They're getting a special Ellie year too, which like you talk about the Pirates, all their success. It hasn't really been because of O'Neill Cruz. I feel you can attribute a lot of the Red success to Ellie Daylor Cruz. You can also backpocket a lot. Like CS has been hurt this year. and not good. Matt McLean has missed the whole year. And T.J. Friedel, like, know how good those two were?

Yeah. They were the team last year. So I don't know. I know I was driving the Reds train for a little bit. Trev started drinking the Kool-Aid because if you just looked at the standings flat and you're like, okay, Sinci, you know, they got the plus minus and they've had some names coming back. This is a crusher and I don't like at Atlanta. I don't like at Tampa. And someone has to sell.

As we talk about landing strip season. Like someone has to be the team that's, like you can't, it can't just be the Rockies, Marlins, A's and White Sox. Right. Like it can't just be. Other teams are going to join the party. You have to. You have to be a GM and recognize the situation and think,

how can I make this opportune for my organization? The Reds have a ton of exciting young guys coming up in their system. But after that, like, they're kind of in a reset mode of their farm. This would be a great time to replenish it. A place that's been replenished. five and six in a row wins from the Pittsburgh Pirates. And, you know, no, no skeins this series. He's coming up against Lance Lynn, which I promoted, I mean, dream.

Like, wake up, wake up. You're going to highlight someone in this series. Yeah, I don't know what else to add, I guess, from this series. that changes anything. Pittsburgh's selling out, man. They're the front office that said they're going to buy. I, uh, man, I like sending the GIF. There's a frog riding a unicycle, and he's like teetering.

Like, am I going to fall? I know vibes are high right now. Boy, you better make sure your Pittsburgh's front office, bring something into town. Yeah, I mean, vibes are really good right now. PNC Park is a really cool stadium to see packed. like that. Their walk-off win, but come from behind against Alvarado was really cool. Yeah. You talked about Nick Gonzalez a little bit, having a nice year.

This can't be it, though. Like this, it can't be. Like, we talked about the snakes, how their offense has been efficient and they got guys coming back on the pitching staff. The Cardinals are in a good spot. Like, their pitching staff as well, their offense. Pirates lineup is a liability right now. It still is.

And, like, they're playing solid defense and they're getting clutch hits and clutch performances, but it can't be this. Like they need you do something and I still have that like sneaking voice in the back of my head that they're not going to do anything because they just don't have the money to do anything that's been the issue this entire time. But when's the last time they've had an opportunity?

They haven't been above 500 at the break since 2015. Jake. That's almost 10 years. Yikes. Of just constant losing baseball. And not only do you have a winning team this year, you have like a magic about you right now. And like that's really hard to possess and harness.

And like guys have come back. 2015? 2015. I made this joke earlier. When were you in middle school? In 2015, I was a junior in high school. Okay. Like,

ages ago, Jay. That's how long Pirates fans have been waiting. Now you travel Italy on the weekends. It's 10 days. Put some time. Oh! Oh, hey. Cha prego.

Come on. Get a bat. It doesn't have to be the Lou Bob dream that I drew up a month ago, but it's got to be something. And there are pieces out there, you know? Ryan McMahon. Get Ryan McMahon. Castiano.

That's funny. That is funny. Man, we're not doing Giants Rocks because I think it's kind of sad. If you have anything you'd like to say about the Mets, Now or hold your piece I have nothing I'd like to say I mean that's just such a nothing series You want them to add

Yeah I think they're gonna add bullpen And we'll see how it goes If the lineup stays cranking But if they hard sell Will you be sad No I think fans will be confused Okay

But I wouldn't be sad They're in a great spot Like people are talking about like Diments are weird Like they're in a tough spot now They're in a great spot Because you either Seize the seller's market

and sell and get a King's Hall for your 2026 plan, or you're winning. And like, that's the goal at the end of the day, right? Like, it's to win, you know? You can still have the same offseason you did last year and do it again this year and win now. So I like where the team's at. Losing the Marlin stinks, though.

Jose Iglesias. It's in like 400, 200, Chang. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Who could they, it would be Sevi, Manaya. Kintana. Hadovino. I don't know if you can.

No offense, sorry. Wow. J.D. Martinez. Pete Alonzo. Pete Alonzo. Which, I don't know. You're open to. I'm open to it.

That's the GM. The fan is saying it wouldn't now. Seattle. Stop. All right. We're going to talk about more about baseball in the second half of the show. And it's brought to you by Charity Buzz. He's called me Buzz.

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cards. There's a link in the description. Standout performances. Wow. Standout performances, Jolly. You have the honor. I do. To highlight one player. This guy's your favorite player. I thought about Eric Koss. Because, like, who's talking about Eric Haas, you know? I don't know. We didn't do any brewers, by the way. Shout the Brewers for.

I shouted them out before. It's a two-game set. Took care of business. The twins. I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to give it to Yordon. Yeah. I think, you know, big man, you don't expect to hit for a cycle, but he's kind of just a freak athlete.

Sunday he went 4-4, double, triple, Homer, single. That's the cycle. Two RBIs, two runs scored. They did lose that game, but it was kind of just still like a, we're the story of this game, we're the story of this series. Astros take care of business, and I'm excited for the second half that he's about to have

because it's going to be monstrous. Yeah, I mean, Yordon, It feels like there's always just one injury that throws you off and you're like, I don't. He's also been around longer than I always think in my mind. Right. Like 2018? 2019, right? 2019.

94 games this year. That's pretty good. That's what we're playing. I mean, if he plays the rest of the way, is that it? I think that's a career high. 301, 385, a 931 OPS, a 163 OPS plus, in line with his career OPS plus. of 164. That's crazy.

Yeah. Has a World Series winning home run. Has an argument for one of the best hitters in baseball. Is 27 and is under contract through 2028. 21 career war already. It's a TH. They're here. It's crazy.

I'm a cycle guy. Some people are like, well, four homers is butter. And you're like, yeah, okay. Cycles are pretty cool. Triples are neat. Triples are cool. Triples are best. That, yeah, I mean, Jolly taking him in a loss, dude.

All right. You hate the Mariners. It's an individual award. It is an individual standout. He stands out a lot, and he's one of those guys that it's so good that we probably don't talk about him enough because we want to highlight Eric Haas. Also really good. What he does.

You do it? Or you just all talk. No, I'm not. She's yapping. Brewers are awesome. Jolly, you know this could have gone to Max Schumann. Could have gone to Randy, could have gone to George Springer, could have gone to Luis L. Ortiz, who I thought you were going with.

Maybe you'll hear more about it. I don't know. I'm going with Seth Lugo. That Royals White Sox series, that one got skipped a little bit, and rightfully so. Although not rightfully so if you're a Royals fan, who you got back into the playoff picture, as the Red Sox had a tough weekend. The Royals who like,

if you're just looking at the name brands of teams and you're like which team is going to fade, unfortunately the Royals don't. That logo doesn't currently leak big second half outside of Bobby Witt, who you might hear about in a minute, people. With their W3 and the Red Sox L3, the Royals are in the playoffs.

The Boston Red Sox are out. Seth Lugo is someone who we have talked about this year, but rightfully so, because it's the year of Seth Lugo. 21 starts now at 2-3-8 ERA. With the complete game, you mentioned it, Jolly. People care about it less and less. 12 wins that leads the American League. That's pretty good.

Know what people still care about is ERA, 238, that leads the American League. Innings pitched. People still care about that. I care. That leads the American League. Seth Lugo has a pretty good argument. If the ballot's closed today, he's your AL-Sai Young winner,

which is pure insanity. So I'm giving it to Seth Lugo. Great choice. Former Mett. Former Mett was great out of the pen. Happy to see Seth. Yeah? Balling out.

Well, you know. What if he started for the Mets? Yeah, that would be cool, Jake. So what you want? Maybe they bring him back. What can you know? Kansas City sign him to? Two years, 40, something?

So 15 mil this year, 15 mil next year. It's nothing. Player option for 15 mil. He's not taking on 2026. He's in the market. It'll be interesting. He's, uh, because the Mets buried him in the bullpen. He's wrestling father time.

It's not like the Padres had him too, right, Jake. Yeah, no. He started there. They let him go. They could use them right now. They could use them. Ah, they, yeah. That's deflection.

How about this? every team could use Seth Lou. That's deflection. So, um... Put it on somebody else. Let's wash all that with, I mean, I'm interested to see, but normally what is the best segment of our program. Dirt nasty's on fuego.

That means I'm on fire, baby. Like Waco. Jolly? This is in fuego, right? The Corona Extra in fuego segment. I mean, I'm, I'm gonna let you cook. You were dunking on Trev earlier about the standings. This is where he brought.

bread's his butter. A lot of fun names on our Enfuego list, Jake. Yeah. Jake. Just start at the top. Jaron Duran had a really nice week, didn't they? Six for 12. Three doubles, two homers, not counting the one that he smacked in the All-Star game to help the American League win for the 20th year in a row.

He's been great. You mentioned Randy before. Yeah. He's maybe his future ballpark. I don't know, guys. Six for 13. hander two doubles three homers four rb i's a one dot seven six nine ops he's still got another game in a series of ballpark tonight his first multi homer game since april of twenty twenty three

anthony santander five for thirteen three homers eight rbis are you kidding a stolen base in there too because why not i can do it all it's my contract here come pay me i'm a i'm a transformative player and then mcgill on do har We've all been waiting for it. Eight for 13. J.J. Bladay, who? 6.15 average. Brent Rooker, who?

Double home run, three runs scored, an OPS of 1.5. Do you want me to do the two weeks? I'll do the two weeks. I mean the two weeks. Guys that I've been doing it for a while? The list you want to be on, Charlie. Let's talk about a pitcher.

Dylan Cease. Another Padre's trade. Maybe there's another one coming later this week. Two games started. 13 innings pitch, no earn runs, six base runners allowed and 21 strikeouts. Ace caliber stuff. Only Mike Clevenger, Max Scherz, or Randy Johnson.

Those are the only three guys this century to put up that stat line in a two-week stretch. He's got a streak of 13 scoreless innings. Tyler Holden out of the Tigers bullpen. The bullpen I don't want you to break up. Six games, eight and two-thirds innings, scoreless six strikeouts. He hasn't allowed to run in his last 10 games. Zach Netto. Jake?

I love Zach Netto. OTP legend. Start a franchise with the Angels. He's your best player. 14 for 35. Two homers, five RBIs, two stolen bases,

three walks, filling out the stat sheet, and then Jake Berger. He's been mashing as of late. He's finally come alive. Maybe he gets traded too. Four home runs in the last two weeks, 12 for 35 in that stretch.

10 RBIs and an OPS above 1100. But they're not the coroner. extra standout player, Jake. Who is the Corona extra standout player, Jolly? It's the guy with more hits than the entire Cleveland Guardian's offense in the last three games. I'm talking about Bobby Witt, Jr. He wants the AL Central Crown, so he went nine for 11

his past series, an 818 batting average, a homer three RBIs. I don't know, PS above 2000 just for fun. He probably could have been on the two-week list too, but instead we'll give him this nice fancy award. I hope you're drinking a Corona tonight after an another Royals W, Jake. Jolly, great stuff.

Great stuff. Yeah, Bobby Whitman. Go look at the stat page. I know Gunner's. Like, what Bobby Wood and Gunner are doing this year. Riley Green might have to move down to like 10th. We need to shortstop, topless pick inbound soon. Whitt.

Who would be in it? It would be Whit, Gunner. Goldbe, right? I'd like to get Ellie on there. Ellie, absolutely. O'Neill? Ellie? I'd like to see my other candidates before I'd do O'Neill, but I'm open to it.

Francisco. Two old. We need young studs. Frankies washed. Hey. That was, I didn't mean that. I'll throw Raphael in there. I know it's kind of...

Wow. Talk about pandering. Pandering. Big time pander. Who else do we need? Hassan Kim. That's just for me. Jeremy Payne.

You're too old. It's too old. Might be too old great for the pick. That's why I thought of them. Great for the pick. I feel like we have to be missing. Zach Netto. Maybe Zach Netto.

He earned it? I actually love Zach Netto in the pick. There you go. I love Zach Netto in the pick. And I love Corona Extra. Make sure you guys get yourself some. I'll be honest. I've been sipping on some Corona extras lately between All-Star Game and even this weekend.

A big concert. It's Corona. You guys already know. And the extras, this is a true story. I'd only drinking the, the corona light. And I was just like, oh, yeah, Corona, you know. Corona extra.

Different. A little pop to it. A little pop to it. Go and get yours at order Corona.com. 21 plus, relax responsibly. Corona extra beer imported by Crown Import, Chicago, Illinois. Click the link in the description. Jolly, you did fantastic.

Thanks, man. With the best segment of the show, which leads us to the worst segment of the show. And it is the IL news. Uh, placed on the aisle. Man, Mike Soroka. Jolly Olive video. Already was one, kind of. Boba Shett.

God, he's had a banged up year, man. That's, uh, that's been tough. Carlos Correa. God, twins injuries. Go check out his stat page. It's better than you think. He's been nuts. Oh, and we would have got the Correa versus Met series.

Would have been cool. Old team. Damn. Chris Paddock joins him on the aisle. Ozzy Albies and Mac. We talked about that a little bit. Reese Olson, Jacob Wilson. That's brutal.

A's top prospect gets the call. Oh, he got hurt. Rounding the basis gets hurt. Yeah, that stinks. Returning from the aisle. Mets and Yankees legend, J.D. Davis. Stewart Fairchild, curing Cincinnati's needs in the outfield. Joe Kelly, man, did you see him?

A Sunday night baseball last night, he threw some of the grossest pitches a pitcher can throw, and it's just like, that's right. That's why Joe Kelly ends up in every playoff game. Otto Lopez, BBD's guys, Heston Kerstadt. It's good to see. J.T. Real Mudo for the Phillies. How about that?

Jason Hayward turning on one. Jared Koenig just nails in that Brewer's bullpen, obviously. So, hey, a lot of guys back on the field, a couple guys off the field. and now Jolly, we're allowed to start everyone's first week coming out of the All-Star break into the Treadline. And you get the honors again. Wow.

Yeah, good host. Just deferring to May, Jake? Unlike Trev. I'm not going to give you a super creative name. I think it's basic. It hits the nail on the head, and I want to give this guy some love because he just had a wonderful game.

It's the next man up award, Jake. Okay. Talked a lot about the Pittsburgh Pirates, this ep. Game over 500 winning at the deadline for the first time in almost 10 years. They're getting it done. And when you have a magic season, you need magic performances out of guys that you wouldn't have expected to get them from. Guy you expect to get a magic performance out of, Paul Skeens,

having a great year. Started the All-Sair game. I think it's exceeded expectations, but still you expected him to be a difference maker. In the lineup, Brian Reynolds, having a special year, 137 Opieus Plus. That's the guy you paid to be special. How about the guy that has been the third best pitcher in baseball by ERA in the past month?

That's Luis L. Ortiz, a guy that was not super in my book up until this recent stretch that he's had. Because when you think of the Pirates rotation, you think of Skeens. You think of Jared Jones, who's on the shelf, unfortunately. You think of Keller. Three of them having great years. When I came on the show last, it was like a bonus piece to talk about Bailey Fulter, all 11, a really nice year. their number four.

How about a fifth great starter, too? Because Luis Ortiz has been exactly that. He was in the bullpen for the majority of the season doing a fine job there, got an opportunity against the raise on June 21st to start, and he got hammered. Four innings pitch, six earn runs, 10 hits in four innings. But I love the way that he responded because he's had five outings since Jake, and he's been absolutely wonderful. In those five outings, 26 and two-thirds innings pitch, a 1.01 ERA.

It's third best in baseball, only behind. Brain and Fought and Tosh Bradley. One spot ahead of Paul Skeens, by the way, if we want to throw that out there as well. He's been the best pitcher in the Pirates rotation. Coming up on a month now, pretty cool. And his last start against the Phillies, the best offense in the National League, maybe,

seven innings pitched, three hits, two walks, two strikeouts for a four-to-one victory, a victory that they needed to win the series over the best team in the NL. So shout out Luis Ortiz. You were the next man up that they needed when Jared Jones and Bailey Falter went down. and you get my award.

Hey, I, interested to see what their deadline looks like. I could be an interesting guy. They don't need pitching. I don't know, 25, heavy sinker. Yeah, he, he's been really good. Like better than Skeens? And since July 26th? The discussion.

That's it? It's just nice to have two guys that are like skeins. Man. Pirates. Let's go. Glad you highlighted him, Johnny. I love seven innings. No one runs two strikeouts.

That's awesome. Me too. Put in play. I like the punchies too. More on the back end. My award is the the Check Your Nest Award. Not talking birds,

but maybe I'll spin it there by the end. Um, pseudo-add, those nest home systems that you got to watch out. Um, you know, people are like, oh, my package is on my porch. I haven't had a porch in over a decade. Jolly was in middle school. Um, I've just been in apartments. So I haven't really needed one. Uh, but, you know, when you're, when you're gone from home, you got to keep, keep tabs on things.

Um, because you might not know what hits you. Uh, Trevor Plouf on the road this week. Uh, Cooperstown, Joe Mower. Heard of them. Well, his Minnesota accent feel like it clicked up a little bit, or maybe I just haven't been listening to Joe Mauer. But good stuff. Again, Leland was kind of the winner.

Go check that out if you're trying to get emotional at your desk today. Trev's gone, and I'm attacking his house. Because I've basically been on the Twins train. Like, I've loved their lineup. They've had injury guys coming back. I saw a Twins stat that horrified me today. Straight up. The Minnesota Twins.

have a combined record of two and 19 against teams ahead of them in the standings. If you're ahead of the twins in the standings and you look down, you're going to go 19 and 2 against them. But wait, there's more. If it's an American league team, the league they happen to be in until realignment, bro. New Ray's Stadium? Hour 30.

The Minnesota Twins are 0 in 14 Against teams in the American League That are ahead of them in the standing Is it really 0 in 14? Oh in 14 It's baseball. It's a sport that's not supposed to happen So yeah, I don't know I've been drinking Twins Kool-Aid

You know whenever me and Trev see each other in person Usually about a day where we're about to fight each other Did that on the putting green at our All-Star house And now that he's gone, I guess I'm just sending darts at his home while he's away. Because that's horrific. Almost impossible. So your word is just shitting on the Twilts. A little bit.

A little bit. Trev's gone. Poppy's here. I got one more. Okay. If you want it. Give me. They've played 17 games against the A's and White Sox.

They're 15 and 2. Take those games out for fun. There's a 39 and 42 record. Something endearing about it. There's something bad about it. the bad teams. That's just, you know. Beat the bad teams. Be really nice to beat a couple good teams. Be really nice to beat a couple good teams too. Jolly, you beat up on one of the good teams today. What? Thank you for tuning into talking baseball. Make sure you, thank you, Jolly. That's

probably what I should have said instead. Thank you for listening. Go check out Jolly Olive's YouTube page. Got anything good coming out? I got a banger coming out this week. Ooh! Chick sucks. This is the story. 2008 trade deadline oh everyone's been talking about it carlos santana goes to cleveland c c to milwaukee michael brantley to cleveland manny wood jason bay to the red sox tune