Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Power Surges & Pitcher Duels!

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

https://fanaticsmarkets.onelink.me/3MFw?af_xp=email&pid=jomboy&af_dp=fanmarkets%3A%2F%2Fhomepage&af_channel=partnerships&af_click_lookback=7d Use our code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https:...//seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2026. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Go to http://shadyrays.com  and use code TALKIN40 for 40% off 2+ pairs of polarized sunglasses. Go to https://www.tryjoymode.com/TALKIN Or enter TALKIN at checkout for 20% off.   Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake break down all the action from this week in MLB including, Matt Chapman yelling at his teammate to catch the ball, the Marlins surging in the NL East, the Dodgers continuing to win, the Padres/Red Sox looking lost and more!   0:00 intro 3:44 NL Burn 9:15 NL Standings 11:24 Guardians / Dodgers 14:13 Mets / Cardinals 17:50 Giants / Padres 22:40 Rays / Brewers 29:22 Pirates / Reds 30:44 Nationals / Phillies 32:10 Braves / A’s 35:00 Angels / Cubs 38:25 AL Burn 44:10 Twins / Royals 48:25 Yankees / Mariners 51:11 Tigers / Dbacks 53:30 Red Sox / Astros 57:40 Rangers / Orioles 1:00:30 Rockies / Blue Jays 1:02:40 Marlins / white sox 1:03:55 Standout Performances 1:11:40 EN FUEGO 1:15:50 IL List 1:17:31 Awards   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:01 Hello and welcome to talking baseball Friday recap. We got top prospects getting the call. Connor Griffin, top prospects not showing up to work. L5 for Boston? There's a lot of ball to talk. Sorry, Boston. Didn't know that was coming on the way through. Zach Gallen.
Starting point is 00:00:24 Oh, well, Jose Fernandez. Wow. Live BP. Wow. Three for four. Hello and welcome to talking baseball presented by Fanatics Markets, where fans trade on sports. Fanatics Markets available now on the App Store.
Starting point is 00:00:41 I'm Jake Storelli coming live from New York City. That is Trevor Plouf, East Coast Trev. Yeah. Florida Trev. Cast in Lines? No, you're just, you're basically babysitting. Aren't you with like 15 children? I think there's 13.
Starting point is 00:01:01 kids here. Yeah, it's a, it's a work trip essentially. This is not really a vacation, but we had a great time. The kids' smiling faces make up for all of it. For the most part. I don't know, sometimes. Okay. For the most part. We had some fun too. That's good. Love fun. Uh, Rob Seracco's here producing. Delt put the sheet together. Uh, and Yemen, we're, we're into a rhythm a little bit. We've seen a week or so worth of games from all of our respected teams. It's still funny business season. I think your lead leaguer. Lead leager?
Starting point is 00:01:41 Yeah. No, league leader. That'll do it. And RBI is right now Liam Hicks from those fish. Well, I'm about to see in the boogie down Bronx. Get ready. And there's going to be a little fish talk today. There's going to be some Astros.
Starting point is 00:01:58 There's going to still be a lot of teams, people, again, as we try to trim through this, you know your team better than us. We could spend 15 minutes on each series, but if we did that, it would be a really long show. I was going to 15 times 15. Everyone knows that math. 10 times 10 is 100. 750 minutes. That can't be right.
Starting point is 00:02:22 I don't know. It could be. Call them out. That's definitely not. But, so we'll talk about that. Maybe we'll talk Zeke Tovar, Venezuela. It keeps happening. We got young dudes.
Starting point is 00:02:36 We got the studs. Shohei Otani's back shutting people out. It's not 750. No, dude. That wasn't even close. 225 minutes. Okay. And that is a few hours.
Starting point is 00:02:50 So we're not doing that. We're just not doing any of that because we also want to do some awards, some standout performances, all that stuff. Is there an IL? God damn it. Dalton did update the IL. So there will be a low moment of the show. But we'll get to all of that with time.
Starting point is 00:03:08 Because it's Friday, that means we start with the National League. Something with you on the East Coast doesn't feel National League to me. Look at that. Is that the sun or the moon by? I'm not really sure. Isn't this the moon? That's the moon.
Starting point is 00:03:24 Okay. Yeah. That's the West. That's the West that way. Yeah, I think. The moon controls waves. Let's talk baseball. Let's talk baseball. And we start with the defending champion Dodgers, people.
Starting point is 00:03:42 Of course, unfortunately, Chris Rose's guardians take two out of three from them. They take the bread games. And if you're going to beat these Dodgers, you've got to throw the hell out of the ball. and they did. Parker Messick, the young lefty in game one, and then Piggle Gavin Williams. Oh, country strong, showing a little of emotion on the mound. They out duel the Dodgers. Andy Pahas did his best. It felt like he hit every baseball all over the yard.
Starting point is 00:04:15 And Shoah's return, like I mentioned, the game the Dodgers won. But outside of that, Daniel Schleeman, and Jose Ramirez kind of just gets it done. two-run Homer, sements the guards taking two out of three from the Dodgers in St. Louis. They lost Katie Wu. They got Danny Wexelman. So I don't know. People are still analyzing that trade.
Starting point is 00:04:41 But the Cardinals take two out of three from the New York Mets. The Mets won that first game. Clay Holmes. Bichette breaks out of his slump with the RBI single. But then from there, it's cards. Andre Poulon. How does he throw the ball like that? It didn't work last year.
Starting point is 00:05:02 It worked this week. Ivan Herrera's double. Sanga looked strong, but it's not enough. Weatherholt, you know he's involved. And then the extra inning, Mason win. Sure did. A little blooper gets down as they outlasts Freddie Peralta in the Mets to win the series. Los Hippido Hihanes.
Starting point is 00:05:21 The Giants win a series. Okay. buying Vitello's stock? Hey, first bleep of the year. Catch the fucking ball is what Matt Chapman told his first baseman, Casey Schmidt, and they're dealing with it. And it might have brought them together.
Starting point is 00:05:40 They win the first two games of that series. Padres, not getting out to the start they wanted. They salvaged the set behind Nick. When I say, I need you, you say, Pavetta, as he shoves in that final game and that Padre's offense does enough Luriano two-run Homer, Gavin Sheets driving in runs.
Starting point is 00:06:02 Logan Webb grinding through his start to get it done as the Giants win the series. If you like a good starting pitching performance, go check out Milwaukee v. Tampa. Whether it's Nick Martinez and Kyle Harrison, McClanahan Woodruff Rasmussen, Mizorowski. Everyone brought it for five plus innings with a lot of strikeouts in under two runs.
Starting point is 00:06:27 Midnight Johnny DeLuca went 438, okay. Didn't know he had that in the chamber as Nick Fortez and the boys get game one, but it's Brewers the rest of the way. Bryce Terang gets a two-run homer on the board. Yelly is hitting everything. Garrett Mitchell? Who is Garrett Mitchell? Because when he plays, he's pretty damn.
Starting point is 00:06:51 good. Brew crew keeps rolling. Reds hosted the pirates, not hoisted them, hosted them. And they won game one. Chase Burns like we are right now. He looked nasty as they shut him out in that first one. LOL pirates, no, no, no. Because the offense came to life. They score eight runs in the next two games. And if Paul Skeens is pitching against the Cincinnati Reds, that has been a bad time for the Cincinnati Reds, and that continued in this one. O'Neill Cruz, yeah, you saw the defensive low lights. Well, he's pooping on baseballs. 444 in that second game.
Starting point is 00:07:31 My goodness. You don't like that phrase? Phillies. Phillies take two out of three from the Nationals. Andrew Painter and Carl Crawford's son, Justin Crawford, making me look good for. from the midweek episode as he gets the walk off in that final game. And Painter looked amazing.
Starting point is 00:07:55 Nats win that first one as Joey Lieber got 10 for 10 to start the season. What is this sport? Baseball does not exist. Two more series. Oh, I got long. I thought I was high and tight. The Braves took two out of three from the A's. Shea Langalear is doing everything he can do to win every game for the A's
Starting point is 00:08:17 as he leads baseball on home runs. But on the other side behind the dish, Drake Baldwin looks incredible to start off this young season, and so does Chris Sale as the Braves take two out of three. And the final one, Cubbies, they take two out of three from the Halos. They win the bread games. Matt Boyd and Edward Cabrera looks fantastic in their starts. In that middle game, you can say the same thing about Jose Soriano, his stuff.
Starting point is 00:08:46 Throw the four-seamer kid. Cubbies are back. Cubies are back. Trout error in the 7th. I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about the standings with my quarterback, my Mike Trout, Trevor Pluth. That's what happened in the National League.
Starting point is 00:09:02 Pooping on baseballs? I mean, I get it. It's not great. It's not mature. It's not analysis. It's almost nothing. But it lets you know. You caught me off guard there a little bit.
Starting point is 00:09:13 I do have the standings, though. It's just like everyone predicted at the beginning of the season. Mm-hmm. Because out east, and we're going to get to these guys, and we're going to talk about them. The Miami freaking Marlins are doing it. Peter Bendix knows ball apparently five and one atop the east. The Atlanta Bra is five and two. And then it is the Phillies at three and three.
Starting point is 00:09:34 The nationals at three and three. And of course, the Mets, who I think I had in the NLCS at three and four. What's going on with Lendor and Soto? I think we have to talk about that. There's like rumors in the central. This one is like we thought was going to be the Brewers. They're 5 in 1, Jake. When are we just going to realize it?
Starting point is 00:09:53 Collectively is a baseball society. Trying to tell anyone that'll listen to me. Five and one atop the division. The Cardinals, 4 and 2. The Cubs, the Reds, and the Pirates, all at 3 and 3. And then out west, the Dodgers, 4 and 2, and everybody else is under 500. The snakes, 3 and 4. The Giants, 3 and 4.
Starting point is 00:10:13 The Rockies, 2, and 4. And, of course, the Padres, who I can't give up on. at the end of the division two and four. And those are the standings in the National League. Fantastic, Trev. If there was a bet, I probably would have placed that you wouldn't be ready for the standings again because standings aren't real yet.
Starting point is 00:10:31 No. No, you're off to a fun start. You're off to a bad start. And there's a few teams around the league that can subscribe to either of those. Yeah, and just a reminder, I'm not going to start collecting receipts on this early, but the Brewers got off to like a kind of a bad start last year, 26 and 28,
Starting point is 00:10:51 and they still ended up dominating the baseball season. Enough of that. This episode is sponsored by Seat Geek. The MLB season is here, not to mention NBA and NHL heading towards playoffs, even the World Cup this summer. This is why we want to give a huge shout out to our sponsor and friends over at Seatgeek. 35 million downloads, 70,000 list. at events. It's the number one rated ticketing app and MLB's official ticket marketplace.
Starting point is 00:11:22 Each ticket is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 so you know you're getting a good deal. Green, good, red, bad. You now know how to use the app. And if you want to save 10%, I don't know why you wouldn't. Use code talking 2026. Code talking 2026. Download the app. Get the code in there, automatically added. So when you buy tickets, save 10% at Seekheek with code talking 2026. Trev, let's grind through because we do have some fun ones along the way. I mentioned Connor Griffin getting called up on the way through. We'd love to get some thoughts on that. And then Carter Jensen, I guess that'll be in the AL and some other storylines through the way. Hey, apologies to Dodger fans. Sometimes we do skip through it because it's like, oh, the Dodgers are amazing. The Dodgers are great.
Starting point is 00:12:11 the guard dogs get them and it's also a reminder on the other side of the pill that yes, we ignore how good they can be in a given moment and yeah, I guess going back to the opening Diamondback series where it was that relentless Dodgers feeling this might sound just dumb and blunt but if you want to beat these guys, you need kind of a special starting pitching outing
Starting point is 00:12:33 and that's what Cleveland got in two of these games. I mean, yeah, they completely throttled the Dodgers offense here and that's what the guards can do. I mean, they can pitch the ball. And this is like just a good reminder. Like you said, yeah, the Guardians are that team. They've been it since 2013. But in a short series in baseball, things can happen,
Starting point is 00:12:53 especially, you know, we're talking about a team like the guards who have that starting pitching. Gavin Williams is absolutely filthy. He's just been that way. He still has three years there. I feel like we've been talking about Gavin Williams for, you know, almost a decade. He's absolutely filthy.
Starting point is 00:13:08 I did think it was cool, Jake, that we have three. three straight Japanese starting pitchers for the Dodgers. Yeah. And Sasaki, Otani, Yamamoto. I'm curious to like follow Sasaki throughout the year. He had some interesting quotes before the, or after his start saying he didn't feel confident whatsoever going into the game. But ends up making it happen.
Starting point is 00:13:32 Is that good? I don't think so, dude. And then Otani shoves, you know, there's some stats out there about his score, this inning streak and also his on base streak. And that is just because he's Otani. But I guess, yeah, I mean, the the gist of this series is, you're right, you get some good starting pitching from the Guardians. You have Jose Ramirez come hit a bomb off Tanner Scott to close the last game out and you win the series. That's what the Guardians do. It's what the Guardians do. Gavin Williams, super impressive, seven innings, two hits, 10Ks, navigating around that lineup.
Starting point is 00:14:06 Good seeing Reese Hoskins play baseball. I know that's not a ton of analysis, but it just is wearing a low number. That always kind of matters. And yeah, Rokey's going to be a very interesting talking point of this season for the Dodgers fans, because what is he? Obviously, he's kind of saving the season out of the bullpen last year.
Starting point is 00:14:27 And yeah, you know, with some of the weird spring training stuff, I mean, he's getting crushed in spring training. Like, crushed to the point that you're wondering if we have to be worried and so was Roki, that, hey, this was actually probably a great first step for Roki. Yeah, I'd say so, yeah. I mean, they're going to have to, I mean, they need him throughout the season. They're going six men. They got to keep the distance for Otani.
Starting point is 00:14:49 Like, he's going to have to step up. He's going to have to be a guy. So, like, yeah, get some confidence, kid, you got it. Huge. Let's go to the Loo, where you mentioned, you know, Mets for Clicks. There's some big topics there if we want it. I think the bigger thing right now is Bichette, you know, trying to leave the station. We talked about some early boo birds, and he handled everything beautifully that we talked about that last time.
Starting point is 00:15:18 Bichette finally gets a big hit. He got one last night in a giant series that hasn't started yet, if people remember how our Friday episodes work. Sanga tops out on the gun. We like that. St. Louis wins the series in extras. because the Mets are only playing extra inning games to start. And a ball that probably could have been caught and maybe they play more extras
Starting point is 00:15:42 and we talk about the series differently. But that's not what happened. And Gordon Gricefo, Team Italy, gets it done. Oh, man, I watched this swing. It just looked like it was going to be a routine fly ball finds the freaking grass. That's so frustrating if you're a Mets fan right there. Pitcher does his job.
Starting point is 00:16:02 You still can't get it done. I mean, I don't know. You can either talk about the Mets, bats, being cold, or the Cardinals being able to throw the pill because we had some really good starts there by Liante. We had another start by Libertor. Like, this is a team that I don't know. Like, I know it's, we're six games into the season,
Starting point is 00:16:18 but we weren't expecting a ton of the Cardinals, and they've started out pretty well. They got guys, like, fighting for playing time, figuring it out. Like, I think there's a lot of, like, playing loose because there aren't a ton of expectations with the Cardinals right now, that could be a good thing. Yeah, Rosie gave them some love on the midweek.
Starting point is 00:16:38 Like, there's talent there. Yeah. Who knows what it looks like over 162, and I think the pitching is what concerns you a little more. But right now, they're playing a pretty decent brand of baseball. They're definitely not. I think it was just one of those off seasons where you get excited about every other team
Starting point is 00:16:58 because all they're doing was unloading contracts, basically, and then the Donovan trade. But yeah, there's still a lot of MLB talent out there. This is a play or two away from going the other way. The topic probably does go back to the Metszlindor with a couple mental ones out there. Forgot the outs, which is tough. And hey, maybe you get one of those a year. And then you get picked off in the same game,
Starting point is 00:17:22 which that's just a recipe for your drunk uncle that watches baseball to be really pissed off for the night. What was he thinking on the pickoff? by the thing. He didn't even make an attempt to get back. I don't know what he was looking at. Was there time out that he thought was called? Like I just, because that was that was right before Soto hit his Homer. I think one I want to, you know, let's give Liberatore just a little bit of love. And yeah, before the Soto Homer, if you want to add to the fan fiction that we might build up between those two or not build up between those two at all. I do like that pickoff move by lefties. Just a step back is. It's a great pickoff move. I think he, I think he, I think he, I think, he catches him a flat-footed and he's adjusting his his sliding glove that I think it was just
Starting point is 00:18:10 like it got him I think I mean that is that's just like not paying attention I'm sorry there's no other way around it and add it to our binder theme of the game when we take over the Rockies or the twins or whatever organization lets us in if you're a lefty pitcher you have a good pickoff move yes if you're good enough to throw a baseball to home home, why not be able to throw it to first? Again, Mets Giants didn't happen yet last night, although Vitello hive raise up. Let's jump over to them because they take two out of three from the Padres. And, you know, Tony Vitello, a better manager when his team homers,
Starting point is 00:18:52 which Harrison Bader had their first homer in the season in the first game, so that helped. He's a better manager when they score nine runs in that second game. He has to manage when your guy, Matt Chapman, is seen on the mound saying something interesting to new first baseman Casey Schmidt. I think this is Matt Chapman becoming the manager of the team. I think that's what happened right there. That's my take on it. First of all, Padres down bad. They've looked like a bad baseball team.
Starting point is 00:19:22 And you really, I mean, you knew the starting pitching wasn't their strong suit, especially back end of the rotation with Hermann-Marquez and Walker Bueller. I mean, they're going to have to figure that out or else it is going to turn into a long season for the podgers. And like, nobody wants that. I want the Padres to be good. Okay. Chapman-Smithing, I don't, there's not a problem there, I don't think.
Starting point is 00:19:44 I think we're making it out to be way more than it is just because it was such an easy clip for everyone to read on the mound. If it wasn't, if it was like in the dugout and there was like people kind of around and you didn't see him clearly say, catch the fucking ball, we wouldn't really be talking about it. Is that what he said? I mean, I actually, I like it. I think it shows like some fire. Casey Schmidt accepted it.
Starting point is 00:20:10 Matt Chapman apologized. They did everything right. And yeah, the series is not happening. Look what Schmidt did last night. A couple knocks. And Maddie Chapman has been playing really well. And, yeah, Tra, I know this, I was going to say this could be the popular opinion, which just a horrible way to phrase it.
Starting point is 00:20:31 Hey, man, I think this Giants team, they needed something else to look at and the fact that this was a topic. And like you're saying, this is kind of real baseball stuff. I know we like it. Apparently lip reading pretty popular. It's working out for us.
Starting point is 00:20:47 And the fact you could clearly see what young Matthew said on that mound. And that, yeah, Vitello is like, yeah, we talked about it after the game. And guess what? Know what the secret is? know what Matt Chapman, Tony Vitello and Casey Schmidt all want. Casey Schmidt to catch the fucking ball.
Starting point is 00:21:05 So they were actually aligned on that. And hey, man, I can't believe I'm saying. I watched another Tony Vitello interview last night. He was on MLB network. And guess what? He was kind of chopping it up. And he was like it was kind of a nice little, it was baseball accountability being talked about in the Giants locker room,
Starting point is 00:21:25 which is, I think that's what makes Tony's, Vitello H. I think that's what gets him aged up. I think that's what gets Matt Chapman aged up. And then they've won a couple baseball games. And you're starting to see the recipe starting to work. Vitello, dude, cracking jokes on MLB Network. Apparently him and Amsinger have a really good relationship from Amsinger, like covering the draft. So they're talking about having margaritas after the game. He said Matt Chapman and Casey Schmidt were joking on the mound about the Catalina wine mixer because they're a bunch of Bay Area boys.
Starting point is 00:21:59 We're just laughing it up. Catalina's not in the Bay Area though. I know. It was, I got to watch the interview because I'm still formulating my opinion, as you know, on Tony Vitello. I'll tell you what, Trev, I know we gave him two weeks. He bought an extra half week for me.
Starting point is 00:22:16 He's got another, he has two full weeks for me because I want them to work. And you're right, Padres, it's not scary hours. It's April 3rd. It's scary hours. It's scary hours. The pitching, you know, our resident Padres fan, Ryan Cohen, I was like, you know, what's so going on? He's like, it's very ugly.
Starting point is 00:22:36 He's like, the pitching. I asked him if a playoff series started tomorrow game one. He was like, give me Randy Vasquez. And I was like, all right, let's, you know, what Povetta did last year and in this series. Maybe we shouldn't forget that immediately. But, yeah, they're asking questions about who's taking. the pill every day and that can be a very scary place as a baseball fan. I'm not worried about Povetta or anybody else or Vasquez.
Starting point is 00:23:04 It's more, yeah, that back end of the rotation, them having to figure out innings. Like throughout the year, they're going to have to make some adjustments there. You know, this Padres team is so frustrating. Ryan Cohen, I actually feel, I feel for you right now. I'm a twins fan. In a way, in a way that's fine because how much. that boy loves Padres baseball to get this product to start the season. Not what you want.
Starting point is 00:23:30 Not what you want. Treve, I think Ray's brew crew, we can be kind of high and tight because I don't know. I guess if you asked me before this series, what does it look like? I'd be like, I don't know. I'd expect some good pitching. I'd expect the Brewers to be the better team. Ray's bullpen and defense, which has kind of been the problem for this team, from the raise that we grew to respect and be like, hey, if you play the raise
Starting point is 00:23:54 in a series from 2017 to 2000, 2021, expect good defense and good bullpen, and that's kind of what brought them winning. They had some bad defense. They had some bad bullpen in this. And some of that is Brewer's ball. That'll do it to everyone. I do like McClanahan first regular season start in almost a thousand days. And he's going up against Woodruff, which is like those are two dark horse-sigh young guys
Starting point is 00:24:20 when they're healthy, along with some other really good pitching in this series. Yeah, McClain had some good quotes after his first came back. I think it was 972 days. He wasn't happy with the Yowdy. He wanted to go longer. I talked to Rosie a little bit about that. I mean, how frustrating it is to have to rehab for that long. So he's going to be fine.
Starting point is 00:24:42 Love watching him back out there. Him and Woodruff. A couple of stats that I like throughout this. Another quote, actually, was our guy Nick Fortez. Did you see that? We're talking about his dad. BP? I did not. All right. Well, apparently
Starting point is 00:24:58 he rakes on fastballs up in the zone because quote, all the BP, he his dad, would throw me was up in the zone. So I just had to learn how to hit it or else I wouldn't get any batting practice. Look at that. He's hit 279 with a 506 slug
Starting point is 00:25:14 in his career against pitches in the upper third of the strike zone compared to 233 with a 332 slug against stuff in the lower two thirds. So dad's locked them in for the high heater. I love that. I love that so much.
Starting point is 00:25:28 I feel like normally that's more noticeable in basketball that, whether on a low level you grow up with, I couldn't take baseline jumpers growing up because there was a tree that overhung on that part. So from the base, I mean garbage of basketball in general, but like nothing from the baseline. But I don't know.
Starting point is 00:25:48 I feel like sometimes every now and then maybe in baseball, you'll see a guy that like doesn't pull the ball because they couldn't pull the ball were in their backyard playing blitzball. Speaking of. I know, I know guys that, you know, their parents are lefty, so they threw lefty BPs.
Starting point is 00:26:04 All of a sudden, you know, that's their thing that they like to see. It's, it is funny. Also, from that series, Junior Camerreiro, three errors in the third game, Brewers, zero errors through six games.
Starting point is 00:26:13 That's kind of, that's kind of what's going on here. Yeah, Junior, don't let that become a storyline, because I, you know, Rafi Devers, was the AL East prodigy hitter and
Starting point is 00:26:27 Willie Stay at third. We saw how that's played out. I don't know. Don't make that more of a conversation as the season goes forward. Mizorowski, leading the league in strikeouts, pretty good. Pretty pretty good.
Starting point is 00:26:42 I mentioned growing up playing blitzball, a win for our blitzball community. Connor Griffin gets the call. First 19-year-old to get the call. A, since position player since Soto, first American since Bryce Harper, so not too bad. You know, Pirates fans, snaps excited. He's going to make his debut at PNC. It should be an awesome day.
Starting point is 00:27:07 Ticket prices literally doubled and stuff like that, which is like, oh, wow. I don't know, maybe there's a business side to baseball about having a good team. Excited for Pirates fans. Connor Griffin came out and he said, hey, like, he credits a lot of his handouts. of playing Blitzball. I was wondering where you were going with that. I didn't see that. I saw the look on your face that, you know,
Starting point is 00:27:29 Florida Trev doing what you do. It was a big thing yesterday. They had a whole Connor Griffin article and Blitzball was like the big shoutout that was like, okay. Kind of cool. I know we obviously played in our warehouse and I say it's a little bit of a modern wiffle ball.
Starting point is 00:27:47 And I think Wade Meckler got the call for the Giants a couple years ago. and he was a big blitzball, like played in a league growing up. But Connor Griffin, supposedly the next guy guy, gets the call. Come get the work in the warehouse, Connor. You don't want any of this. All right. Stand on some biddeness.
Starting point is 00:28:07 Also, again, cranking MLB network on my Yankees night off yesterday. Cool, Jake. A Connor Griffin player cop that I liked, Carlos Correa. Six-four athlete. You know, I think he's. not built on power. I think he's supposed to have a lot more speed than Correa's ever had. But it's just interesting when you think of, you know, Connor, every time we see a top prospect, we get as excited as possible. And like, we jump to Bobby Witt or Trout. And hey,
Starting point is 00:28:37 maybe he is that guy. There's also just another nice landing area sometimes that Carlos Correa, the borderline Hall of Famer who plays all-world defense. And, you know, I guess the offensive of numbers, never fully like wow Troutwit Jr. But hey, man, if he's any sort of baseball player like that, the pirates should be elated. And I guess there's part of me that's still itchy. He didn't break camp with the team, but whatever. We'll forget about that in a few weeks, years.
Starting point is 00:29:09 Yeah, I mean, that's always so interesting because he spent a week in AAA. Did their season even start? It did. So he played. Okay. And I did see someone try to spin it. They played five games and they were like, yeah, he got on base. I got a 538 clip and it's like, he's ready now.
Starting point is 00:29:24 He's ready now. That's nothing. I mean, the pirates, the way they've been playing, especially this series against the Reds, I mean, you're seeing the recipe. I mean, you got Chandler and Skeens having nice starts. You got guys like, or Hearns who come into the lineup. He's, you know, hitting the ball, you know, around the park. B. Lows, hitting the ball around the park.
Starting point is 00:29:46 What the, F. Nice. Be Lous. has been great. Pooing on balls. B Laos has been great. Hey, some offense with some starting pitching. There it is.
Starting point is 00:29:58 We nailed it, dude. Hell yes. Yeah, that Pirates offense right now, number one in home runs. Okay, that helps. 10th and runs. O'Neill Cruz's look good. Like, yeah, this is starting to, you know, let's go.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Yeah, you need a few things to click. O'Hern has been, O'Hern and Lough have currently. been great ads. O'Neill Cruz, looking more and more like the O'Neill Cruz that we expected offensively. And if Connor Griffin comes up and he's a guy, yeah, Bubba Chandler, I want to see more of the Bubba Chandler experience. He made a really athletic pitcher defensive play, which I don't know. I like when pitchers are athletes and not just mooses that throw.
Starting point is 00:30:42 I mean, look at that. That's some shortstop action there. that, yeah, hey, let's get it going, Pittsburgh. And you're right, in this series, the power gets shown off. Chase Burns shuts them down in the first game. Otherwise, and, man, some of the Skeen's numbers against Cincinnati. I mean, I know he's going to have a lot of numbers against a lot of teams. Five and O in six career starts against the Reds, a 0-53 ERA.
Starting point is 00:31:11 So when the bad man's on the mound, my goodness. Phil's Nats, Trev. All right, I guess here I am. I don't have a ton on that. We talked about it in the midweek with Chris Rose a little bit. It was after the Painter game and just, has a guy ever been made more in a pitcher lab than that dude? And yeah, if you ask me what happened before this series,
Starting point is 00:31:36 I'd probably say, I don't know, Phil's win and take two out of three. Painter was nasty. I loved watching him. I don't know if I was talking to Rose or somebody else about him. I'm like he's got thrower stuff, but he's a pitcher, which I love, especially from a young guy. Nice, stress. I mean, he was locating, he was spotting, mixing pitches. He looked like the real deal.
Starting point is 00:31:57 And now all of a sudden we're talking about a Phillies rotation that's going to be able to go toe-toe with anybody. And then that last game had a couple of the old dogs, get him back in the game, homers by Rio Muto and Harper. And then all of a sudden you get the young guy who's looked every bit apart of what they need and Justin Crawford with the walkoff. first pitch hacking, just ready to go. Like, that's a really nice victory for the Phillies and game three of that series to come back like that.
Starting point is 00:32:24 Yeah, they're down 5-1. And, you know, as they're game one of the series, Schwerber's answering questions about the roller coaster ride of the season, or like four games in. Yeah, to have a nice comeback like that when they had kind of the illegal Jake Burger drop comeback the week before. But yeah, that's one of those things. You want one of those early on in the season Just to know you have that in the chamber And obviously these Phillies know they have it
Starting point is 00:32:50 But seeing it helps Young Jacob Young, great catch. Love that. One of those five percenters. Who's measuring that? I don't know. Braves take two out of three from the A's. Braves continued a nice little start
Starting point is 00:33:07 To get it going this year. A little fortitude to be four and two on the year. Bryce Elder with a nice little. nice outing in game one, sale with the nice outing in game three. Drake Baldwin looks like he could be competing for potentially the top catcher in baseball crown, depending how this year goes. What do you got, coach? He's been, he's been awesome, watching him hit gap to gap guy.
Starting point is 00:33:33 He actually had one taken away by Denzel Clark as well. He could have had a bigger series. I like that take. Him and, him and Langealiers are. Yeah, right? They're kind of coming for that. top spot right now. And then Will Smith, like, what about me? Will Smith's like, I do the same thing every year.
Starting point is 00:33:49 Every year. I have Seattle, stop listening. I have better career numbers than Cal Raleigh. Yeah. And I think right now the, the Braves putting it together with a little bit of a makeshift rotation. Yeah. Sale Lopez Holmes, Elder. We got a whole rotation on the IL that if they can change the vibes there, which they're feeling a little bit. And if you could start getting one or two guys back, that would help. And the A's, they've got a bad
Starting point is 00:34:19 case of, we need our good players to hit, and it's a weekend, and they're not. They have not hit it at all. No. That's like the thing we were talking about with the A's, too. This lineup could be really special. It's a weekend, guys. It's a weekend. They're striking out a ton, so that's just something to watch. But yeah, them and the Mariners, a little preview for
Starting point is 00:34:39 the Mariners. You know, Julio Cal and Naylor not hitting. Well, okay. The A's, Kurtz, everyone outside of Langaliers, not hitting. That's going to struggle to get you out of the station. Isn't Maricio DuBon like your favorite player? I just think what Maricio Dubon does on a baseball field is horribly undervalued. The fact he can play every position and slap it around a little bit in a pinch,
Starting point is 00:35:06 I just think those guys can be valued more. And then someone that watches this show enough can say, well, Jake, isn't that IKF? Well, I like ICF in a role. In a role. It's that role. Yeah, I think those guys, what those guys can do to get you through a season is massively important.
Starting point is 00:35:26 Like, think about it. From one day, it was like, oh, the Braves got Dubon. What a great bench piece. And it's like, oh, it's starting shortstop. Like, that's, that matters. That's how benches just used to be built, have the utility guy that can play everywhere, have one big dude that can hit if you need it.
Starting point is 00:35:43 Anyways, like baseball's coming back to that too. Having a bench you can use. All right. I'm getting old and salty. Last series, Trev, Halo's Cubs. I feel like I gave the speech a couple times now. I think the story is Matthew Boyd's bounce back start,
Starting point is 00:36:03 again, who he was last year. And Edward Cabrera makes his cubbies. debut and it's um that that guy has different stuff to him he does have different stuff i'm going to talk a lot about the marlins and kind of all that that's going on down there but yeah edward cabrera with a real nice start for the cubs and they're going to they're going to continue to need that throughout the year man that was a series i'll be honest yeah i didn't pay a ton of attention to how about that's fine uh pay attention to jose soriano going forward he's had one of the bigger stuff kind of leaps this year uh going to the foreseemer also made a great
Starting point is 00:36:38 play against PCA. Pitchers being athletes. I wouldn't have had Soriano in my book. You're like this, Treff. This is a real play. Oh, yeah, the shovel pass. That's a real. That's a real pitcher play against PCA. We respect that in this house.
Starting point is 00:36:56 Happer's homering, obviously. The Wrigley win. Someone called me out because I gave a whole speech how Wrigley doesn't get thrown in with like Fenway, Yankee Stadium. Houston down the line sometimes. The Wrigley wind is obviously very well known. But there's, I guess I've just been shocked by a couple balls this year
Starting point is 00:37:17 that you're just like, wait, that doesn't go? Yeah, just depends on which way the wind's blowing, right? And sometimes it's the opposite feeling. And that's obvious. Oh, and my final highlight from this game, Trev, game three was tied for the fifth coldest game in Angels history. history. The coldest game since April 15th, 2013 in Minnesota. So I said, 2013 in Minnesota. What did my Cali boy do on that day? Well, everyone's wearing the four two, Jackie Robinson Day, a little 70, 30
Starting point is 00:37:58 stance, and get it out of the second deck. Is that Joe Blanton? Who is that Joe Blanton? I got to double-check that. Look at that gate right there. That's a young, confident man. Dude, actually, Rob, keep this rolling. Not that you were gonna. Treve, I almost don't like how little you celebrate this. I know your show, but you just go into the dugout like you hit a home run every at bat.
Starting point is 00:38:25 You weren't allowed to celebrate. What do you mean? You weren't allowed to. You just put your head down. Act like you've been there before. You can't be excited about anything back of the day. That's a good swing. It's a nice swing.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Second deck. Fifth coldest game in Halo's history. And you're just going yakker. Doesn't matter. Cold doesn't affect you. I think I clapped for myself right there. And they were like, hey. Whoa.
Starting point is 00:38:49 Dude, I see, I mean, every person now walks across the plate. Nobody runs across the plate anymore. If you hit a homer, you're walking. Yeah. That's a little much for me. You kind of got to give the big man a salute or you got to have a DAP going or. Everyone's doing this. Yeah, the bullpen.
Starting point is 00:39:05 That needs love now, of course, back in my day. Today's episode is sponsored by Joy Mode. Endurance athletes don't talk about this, but heavy training can quietly impact sexual performance. Long cardio, high cortisol, and poor sleep all hit the same systems that control blood flow and hormones. When circulation drops, performance drops. Joy mode was created because Big Pharma was pushing too many men to prescriptions.
Starting point is 00:39:31 They didn't need, and most guys didn't know there was a natural solution. Joy mode supports nitric oxide production, which can naturally help improve circulation. No forcing, no overrides. 83% of men taking Joy Mode daily notice a boost in sexual performance and 73% using the product. Notice a positive effect with no prior ED symptoms. Tear open a sachet. Mix it in 6 to 8 ounces of water like an electrolyte packet and you're good to go. If you want to support sexual performance the same way you support training and recovery,
Starting point is 00:40:04 naturally and intelligently. Joy mode has a deal for our listeners. Go to tryjoymoad.com slash talking or enter talking at checkout for 20% off. Joy mode, the pre-workout for your blood flow. Let's talk some American League baseball. The Seattle Mariners got some love or not love on the way through because they ran into the pitching factory that is the New York Yankees after winning 2 to 1 as Cal Rally walks it off.
Starting point is 00:40:38 an off day, sure didn't. Gets the walk off hit in the ninth. That's a nice day to be a catcher. Max Fried continues to show that he is one of the best pitchers in baseball, 13.1 scoreless to start the year. But his stuff almost looks not impressive compared to Cam Schlittler, who just looks like he's a modern, tall Lance Lynn throwing three nasty heaters at you.
Starting point is 00:41:04 Bullpen got scary at the end. Mariners Rally, but it's not enough. Thanks to take two out of three. The Arizona Diamondbacks, the rallyback sweep, the Detroit kitties. Tori Lavello's talking about them being stray hungry dogs. Put it into my veins. I'm all about it. Jose Fernandez.
Starting point is 00:41:26 We got a new Jose Fernandez, and he had an amazing debut for the dimebacks. Dimebacks bullpen, some highlights and some low lights, but enough to get it done. and you're going to hear more about Corby and Carroll later, people, because he took Tarek Scubel up top as the only run in a 1-0 game. Speaking of sweeps, the Houston Astros, sweep the Boston Red Sox, a W-5 for Houston and L-5 for Boston. So they are panicking in the Commonwealth.
Starting point is 00:42:00 Lance McCullors exquisite me? They're seven innings strong. Altuve and Correa are getting it done. What year is it? It's 2026 because Hunter Brown's out there. So is Perretta's. Crochet is hitting Yordon. Big boys are getting hot.
Starting point is 00:42:19 You know I like that. Yordaun has the best numbers against the Boston Red Sox of anyone ever. Just a reminder who he is. Houston sweeps. Texas Rangers take two out of three from Baltimore. Oh, Jake, why do you like Jack Lighter so much? of what he did in this game, I don't know. Like, people were so mad about that.
Starting point is 00:42:39 His Jack Lighter, he's pretty damn good. Sorry, that one was for me. DeGrom, sad news for Zach Eflin. He will be mentioned in the aisle later in the episode. Orioles end up salvaging the set on that final game. Behind
Starting point is 00:42:55 Rogers, who again, we need to start respecting him a little more. Daddy Jetson. Big home run in that second game to open it up. Rocky? take two out of three from Toronto. That's right. Where were you when the Rocky season got started? They roll them in the first game. Cody Ponce, dude. That, that stunk. Rockies put up some crooked numbers in that game. Shurzer shuts them down. Obviously, again,
Starting point is 00:43:24 what year is it? But the Rockies in extras, a two to one win as Trevor gets attacked by a bird. The Miami Marlins take two out of three from the White Sox. What does it mean? It means Liam Hicks is driving in runs. It means Sandy is big back. As the Marlins take two out of three from the White Sox, in the series everyone's talking about. The Royals take two out of three from the Minnesota Twins. They win the first two games of the series.
Starting point is 00:43:56 Joe Ryan having a rough day. A lot of fog on the field? I don't know if we want to talk about that. And rain. Carter Jensen. Set those alarms, pal, because we don't want to make our 36-year-old statue catcher. Catch another game.
Starting point is 00:44:12 Leadership from Vinny. Twins, they salvage a series. Tosch Bradley just looks filthy. Reading scouting reports now. That's what happened in the American League. Your Jack Leiter is my Kodai Senga. People are so mad that I said, yeah, he might be good.
Starting point is 00:44:30 It's okay. He was hurt. last year. A little 99 from Senga this week. Yeah, I don't know. I think they're okay. They're okay.
Starting point is 00:44:38 I have the standings, Jake. In the American League, your Yanks leading the AL East, five and one on the early season. The Blue Jays, even though they fell to the Rockies, still four and two, Baltimore, three, and three.
Starting point is 00:44:52 Tampa Bay, two and four. And as you mentioned, Boston, on the slide, at one and five in the central. Yep. Yep. The Guardians, four and three at the top after taking the series from the Dodgers. Then it's the Royals three and three.
Starting point is 00:45:07 The Tigers and the twins both two and four. Yikes and the White Sox, one and five. And then out West Jake, our Houston Astros leading at five and two. Texas Rangers, four and two. The Angels and the Mariners, both three and four. And then the A's, as we mentioned, an offensive no-show to start the season. They are one in five. And those are the standings.
Starting point is 00:45:31 the American League. Thank you, Trevor. Let's dive into that Twins Royal Series. Hey. What are they doing playing in that rain and the fog? Joe Ryan looked like he was having a bad time, kind of looking around like, we're really doing this.
Starting point is 00:45:47 If you look at some of the leaders around the league, Kyle Isbell popping up early. That's not where his offensive profile has been, but love that for him. India Grand Slam, Caglione. Trev, the story is, and I don't know if you want to share the anecdote you had, but Carter Jensen, the big prospect that we talked about, a guy that's going to take some of the load off Salvey catching-wise this year,
Starting point is 00:46:10 and who knows what else he can provide. No show at the ballpark for a little bit. And, hey, man, we live in a weird society where we're just with phones on us at all times right now. Dude, we start kind of spinning. As adults, if you don't hear from someone when you don't, sometimes you start going through the scary stuff that the Royals kind of openly talked about that. He just slept through his alarm.
Starting point is 00:46:37 And I don't know what else we know outside of that, but it became the big topic yesterday, partially because there was only three games. But, yeah, I don't know. Where do you want to go with that? It's an honest mistake. Yeah. I mean, that's basically it.
Starting point is 00:46:53 He owned up to it. I think there was a really good teaching. moment by Vinnie P. He handled the situation great in the clubhouse, kind of like getting on him enough. Yeah, that cannot happen. You can't make Sal Perez go from preparing to
Starting point is 00:47:07 to DH to having to get behind the plate. And you just need more time when you're that age. So again, I don't think it's that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but definitely a teaching moment. I guarantee this.
Starting point is 00:47:24 It ain't going to happen again to Carter Jensen. the guy's going to double, triple check his alarm, make sure his phone is on, all that good stuff. Because, I mean, if you don't have your alarm on, you probably have your phone on silent like most people do. Like, yeah, you're just kind of out there. If you're asleep, you're asleep. That phone's not going to ring to wake you up.
Starting point is 00:47:42 So, yeah, it's just a mistake, man. I thought he handled it perfectly. If you're asleep, you're asleep. I'll put that on a quote. But do you have your phone on ring? No, dude. That's kind of what I'm saying. My phone's on complete silence.
Starting point is 00:47:55 I, Trev, you've seen this. Like, you'll FaceTime me or call me. And two days later, I'll be like, dude, you FaceTime me? Because I don't have my call notifications don't come up. It's actually pretty bad and I need to change because I don't know. Friends and family, I care about. Do you want to share your anecdote? Because I don't want to say I overstepped, but I texted Vinnie and you, me and Vinnie.
Starting point is 00:48:20 And I was like, hey, Vinny, we're going to talk about this tomorrow. Anything I don't know, you do or don't want us to say. And credit to Vinny. Vinny was like, hey, say whatever you, say whatever you feel. Like it's what happened. And then you told something that I liked. Oh, you're talking about what I did with Mauer? Yeah. Oh, well, that's different.
Starting point is 00:48:42 Same, same, same, but different. I was scheduled to play first base. Maurer was D.Hing. And about 30 minutes before the game, I couldn't go. My rib was broken. Oh, okay. But I didn't know it was broken at the time. I missed that.
Starting point is 00:48:55 I just couldn't. I was, I played for three days before with it broken. It would just like hurt, but then it would, I'd just get through it. And this particular day on a, I think it was like a 12 o'clock game,
Starting point is 00:49:08 I said, dude, I can't go. I can't do it. And so Maurer had to suit up quickly. I felt terrible about it. Because again, like at that age and like these guys have routines that they need to get ready
Starting point is 00:49:19 and have their, you know, certain amount of time and just didn't happen for him. So again, I think by the I think this actually be good for Carter Jensen. How about that? How's that spin zone? I like a spin in everything.
Starting point is 00:49:31 And that's, you know what, talking baseball, twins, royals, second season. I can't believe you tricked me into that. Although I will say two things that are important to winning baseball. Tage Bradley throwing a hunch and he made Jimmy glitch out last year because he was the guy that came out and said it was his first time reading a scouting report. and it's like, okay, dude, I mean, you don't have to love every analytics, but maybe check it out that he looked filthy yesterday. And Royal starting pitching, what was the sad I saw on them?
Starting point is 00:50:08 Their last five games, 29.1 innings, a 061 ERA. I'll do. Cole Reagan's first start of the year is about the only hiccup they've had. So starting pitcher of them is like good. Yeah, that's enough. Ragons. Yankees Mariners, I'll let you comment because we talked about it on talking yanks for a little bit.
Starting point is 00:50:29 The Yankees pitching has been one of the storylines around baseball, literally a historic start, that they've only needed enough offense, and they've gotten enough offense to take two out of three from Seattle. Snaps to Luis Castillo, who's just a dog that's been doing it for a long time. Fastball. 1500th K, that's a lot. lot of strikeouts, man. He gets it on Judge.
Starting point is 00:50:55 That's fun. Nice. I don't know. Right? Yeah. Sure him. Do you care about your 1500 strikeout? Probably not. One of those really cool. You know, all the pitchers get in the lab in the offseason and you're feeling good or whatever it is. His fat, or it's just one of those days you hear pitchers talk about it. You know, three days a year you just have your nasty stuff.
Starting point is 00:51:16 His fastball was borderline unhittable. It's pretty cool to watch. Yeah, he's nasty, man. And you're right. first of all, another shout out to an old Paul Goldschmidt. That was a majestic homer there. But it has really been about the Yankees starting pitcher pitching. And I told Dan Rourke this because obviously he's a, you know, diehard Yankee guy. I said, Cam Schlittler looks the way he looks. Like the Yankees are a real freaking problem because we still have a couple guys coming back from injury.
Starting point is 00:51:45 And I expect Cole to be every bit of who he is. This guy's a problem, dude. he's kind of like Is he gonna make my hot boy list? I'm like in on Cam Schlittler? Well, A, he like he uses the internet Like he tweets out at the haters and stuff That like if you're if you're looking for that
Starting point is 00:52:04 He's got that Is he a bad boy? That's my read. No dude I think it's the opposite. He's like he's the modern good boy Like he has a cat He just he'll just let you know Like after he dominated Boston
Starting point is 00:52:20 And he let them know last year on Twitter. Like, fuck them. And yeah, I said modern Lance Lynn. He's six foot six. He's throwing three fastballs, a four seamer, a two seam, and a cutter. Throwing those 90% of the time. And two of them are at 99. The cutter's at 95.
Starting point is 00:52:41 He's a weapon. And yeah, you start doing, you wonder where the conversation is at the end of the year. because if he continues like this, if you start thinking of playoff stuff with the Yanks, it could get really fun. Chris Rose thinks he should get the second start in the playoff series. I'm going to save that conversation. Let's do a little D-Backs Tigers,
Starting point is 00:53:08 because D-Bex sweep the T-Grace. W3 for Arizona, L-4 for Detroit. I have an award coming from the series. it's actually not Jose Fernandez who makes his debut young third baseman two homers in his debut including the go-aheader off a Kenley Jansen
Starting point is 00:53:28 have a day, young man. Yeah, that was a cool story because afterwards McCann came out and said that he went up in Taunton, him and Carlos Santana said, this is what you have to expect against the Kenley Jansen cutter. If you've never seen it, it's just kind of like a different type of pitch.
Starting point is 00:53:46 And so you've got to get on of it and you're going to try to pull it, which is what I always say about Kelly Jansons cutter. And boom, you did it. Beautiful debut for him. Your guy, Mike Soroka, was filthy in this. And I'm happy for Dalton because you get swept to start the season. That's no good. But then you take it out on the tigers who really haven't found their offense yet. And is that something that we're going to be searching for throughout this season?
Starting point is 00:54:12 Possibly. They failed to make that big kind of move in the offseason. They said we're going to have our guys get better. I think that was the quote from their GM there. And McGonigal has been great. So that's an addition, I guess. But this might be a theme we talk about regularly with the Tigers. Like, okay, like, we're still waiting on that offense to show up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out my guy, Mike Soroka, who I keep saying, you know, become a two-winning bullpen weapon and collect your 12-mill a year. well, one of the best D-back starter performances ever in their first appearance, 10 strikeouts over five innings.
Starting point is 00:54:54 Casey Mize also looked fantastic. He's throwing some filth up there. So if Detroit, you got some stuff to build up. And yeah, what are we saying if they don't win that final game, one nothing because of one Corbyn Carroll swing? Yeah, let's see where Detroit's at in a little bit. Spoiler, spoiler, there's some Corbyn Carroll coming up in just a little bit. bit. The other sweep, the Houston Astros in the Boston Red Sox. Sox are one in five, kid, Houston's
Starting point is 00:55:24 five and two. A lot of talent all over this field. Like every name I read. Literally just, okay, I'm going to read every name in order as I see them on the sheet right now in Dalt's notes. Willioreau, Ranger Suarez, Hunter Brown, Yordan Alvarez, Correa, Christian Walker, Beyo, Raphaelio, Wilson Contreras, Paredes, story crochet. Like a lot of talent on both of these teams. Houston gets it done. They kind of dominate. Yordon is a big part of that.
Starting point is 00:55:58 Him looking like Yordon Alvarez, which we talked so off-season. Every time Houston came up this off-season, we're like, what if Yordan just plays and they won 92 games last year? Yeah, I mean, he's that kind of hitter. He is so damn good. to me this was this was the
Starting point is 00:56:15 Lance McCullough Jr.'s series. Absolutely filthy. 9Ks through 7 I think he's I mean I got to go back and look at a savant page but the change up he was throwing against the Red Sox was
Starting point is 00:56:31 absolutely unhittable and like everything just looks super sharp some of the swings and misses that he was invoking are or just like you don't see it too often he looked like mid-season just absolutely dominant Lance McCuller's Jr. And I just did not have that happening.
Starting point is 00:56:50 And if he is that guy throughout this year, then yes, you and I already have our Astros stock, but that team takes on a whole different kind of look if, you know, this rotation, you know, kind of gets fortified by a guy like McCullors. You have Brown. You have Burroughs going for you as well. But this was, this is about as good as we've seen him. Yeah, I was going to say,
Starting point is 00:57:12 when you say prime lance of colors, I don't know what year you're talking about. This is his best start since 2022. Rob, this is, if you could throw, the first pitch in this montage is just a warm-up pitch that he doesn't care about. It just made me laugh because we're talking about players getting prepared. That's just nothing. That's just nothing. Everything else was so good.
Starting point is 00:57:35 Yeah, he's throwing a little bit of a UFO change-up split. I'm going to look into that more because I got a little more Astros coming up later in the show. And yeah, if you're looking, I know I said pooped on a ball for the third time this episode. If you want to see someone piss on a ball, that's what Yordaunt did. And up there's so dumb. So I was looking at McCuller's arm angle because that also looked a little different to me. 25 degrees in 2022 and last year. this year up to 35 degrees.
Starting point is 00:58:12 So maybe that's where we're getting some of that action from. And man, it gets hot in Boston quick, and it's the beauty of this sport, and it's the beauty of that city. We got Carlos Norvias gets removed from the starting lineup, and Cora says we're going to keep it between us. And, yeah, when you're losing ball games, no one's having a good time.
Starting point is 00:58:31 But Cora is answering questions in front of the dugout, or in front of the dugout. You lose on a crochet day when you have a losing streak, and it's early in the season. And yeah, things are oddly loud as I think we got Boston and the Padres this weekend, two kind of two teams scuffling a little bit. That's going to be scenes and a little John Boy media advertisement. Ryan Cohen and Zoe from We Got Ice going to a game together. So that's a weird mix.
Starting point is 00:59:05 That's a very strange mix I didn't even know they were friendly like that And they're going to like that Did you see? Yeah I mean they're yes I'm being a little facetious But like yeah that's gonna be a real treat for them I guess
Starting point is 00:59:20 You mentioned Correa and his homer on like the way through on the burn I mean the thing was torched off a crochet too And it just for him And I think it was after the Yordon hit by pitch So that's all like a little backyard baseball Like defending my guy we know Correa thinks that way. I've got, I have more Houston coming up.
Starting point is 00:59:43 Rangers, Baltimore, Coach Trev, again, you look at the pitching matchups, you can get yourself pretty jazzed up. I already got my Jack Leiter. Phil in there. The DeGrom, Pete's stuff is just good, silly baseball of what shows off this beautiful. And how much I, Pete Alonzo fills my cup with joy. It's just so silly. at DeGrom, like, you threw over it, me?
Starting point is 01:00:08 And it's like, yeah, man, we're playing baseball. It's a homer off of them. Yeah, I like that my Rangers are off to a hot start of the season, that Danny Jansen Homer, that kind of broke it open in that second game was the big moment. And then Trevor Rogers, yeah, as we continue to build your best starting pitchers in this game list, what that guy continues to do is special. I had a little bit of a thought with Pete Alonzo
Starting point is 01:00:38 after he hit the Homer against DeGram he's in the dugout kind of laughing and I started envision like old like older guy Pete Alonzo what he's going to look like because we do that for some players and we're like oh this guy's just going to be a big freaking a masher
Starting point is 01:00:54 like think about Peter Alonzo when he's older like what is he going to be like is he just going to be massively round I don't think so No he's just big body Pete You know Just kind of how he is now Yeah I think it's a very natural big body
Starting point is 01:01:10 I'll give you a player comp It's what about Sean Casey I was thinking more Sal Perez Oh okay Yeah and again we're If you're listening right now This isn't about baseball at all It's just how Pete Alonzo is going to look like
Starting point is 01:01:24 In a couple years And yeah I was saying Sean Casey It is about baseball by the way When you see Sean Casey in person, you're like, wow, that's a big body. The hair is a vibe. He posted an old Halloween pick where he dressed as like a biker, or maybe he was in a TV show as an actual...
Starting point is 01:01:44 Rob, if you could check out Sean Casey's Instagram where I spend most of my days. Okay. I think he was in like a TV show as an extra or something as a biker dude. And it made me change the way I look at Sean Casey. It's very much instead of like the mayor, the Cincinnati Reds, first basement. It was like, oh, you don't, you don't look at that guy for too long because he's like, that's a guy. I guess, dude, what? I don't know. I don't know. I maybe, maybe I need to get checked out. Yeah, we're going through Sean Casey's Instagram right now. What's happening?
Starting point is 01:02:22 Sean Casey box opening. Okay. I'm sorry I led you here, Rob. It's still worth the search. which anyways. Rangers, good start to the season. They kind of needed it. The vibes feel a little different. Corey Seeger, a couple homers, nice to see. He's still that guy, pal. Rocks Jays, man.
Starting point is 01:02:48 I don't know, I don't know if we're going to get a lot of these the rest of the year on either side of the equation. The Cody Ponce, as people saw me get emotional about Sean Casey as a I almost genuinely can't talk about it. A guy that goes over works on his craft to become the MVP and Cy Young winner overseas gets his first start and then he gets carted off the field. That's just disgusting to me. Do we have an update on like what's, I know he had imaging done. Like what's the timeline? What was the injury? Right. ACL sprain. Adult has it listed as expected to miss months.
Starting point is 01:03:31 So I think we're probably still looking for a little more feedback on that. I guess in a way could have been worse, knock on wood. But, I mean, just like, it disgusts me. Yeah, it's a tough look. I hate it for him too. Nice guy, like you said, which worked as much as possible to get back to the big leagues. And then this happens on your first start. That's tough, man.
Starting point is 01:03:54 Kevin Gossman, six innings, shut piece, 10-Ks. He has been arguably the best starting pitcher or one of the best starting pitchers to start this young season. But from here on out, it's say nice things about the Colorado Rockies and Zeke Tovar with a three hit day. Your guy, T.J. Rumfield. Our guy, Hunter Goodman with a double. I mean, they came and put the whipping on them in game one. There's no doubt about that. And then, you know, kind of pieced it together there in game three to get that victory. But, you know, a nice start for our rocks. And as always, shout out Kelsey Winger Because she's just the best in the biz
Starting point is 01:04:31 Social media star Kelsey Winger And then Treve, I mean the final series on here It's Marlins White Sox I think you have a little bit of a Marlins speech Coming up because Sandy Showed up first complete game of the year And that was obvious I mentioned my guy Liam Hicks
Starting point is 01:04:48 And I want to keep mentioning him Because he's raking right now The Canadians on this team I don't know The Marlins are five and one. You could look at the competition. You could look at the record. They're getting some shout out in a little bit. Then let's do it. And let's keep it moving to the second half of the show. Miami, Miguel Vargas is a Miami guy. Okay. Add him to my new scouting report. I like them.
Starting point is 01:05:15 Second half of the show starts off with standout performances. It's time for standout. Stand out performances. Stand out performances. This guy stood out for Treff. It gets us. It gets us. Every single time. I'm going to go with a guy.
Starting point is 01:05:42 We talked about this already. But I hate to do this because it shouldn't be this way. I'm going to go with Gavin Williams and what he was able to do to the Dodgers. Sevenings pitch, two hits. he walked three guys but he also struck out 10. And I talked to you, I said, hey man, this guy still has a bunch of years of control. Are eligible next year, not a free agent until 2030.
Starting point is 01:06:09 What's this guy worth? What is this guy worth? You see him on the mound. He's 6.6.250 in every bit of it coming down the hill. He's a guy who, like I said, he has throw stuff. But every once in a while, he just like turns it up and has a really beautiful outing like he did here. But I started to think about that.
Starting point is 01:06:30 And I talked to Chris a little bit about it. Like what is, what's he worth on the open market? Is that going to be a factor? Or is this going to be, you know, Cleveland's calling card into the playoffs, a guy like Gavin Williams. I just started to wonder who's going to be going after this guy.
Starting point is 01:06:46 And if Cleveland does deal him at some point, I hate even talking about it. But he's special when he's on the mountain. He's going. Yeah. that, you know, we've been rolling our eyes at Cleveland early on this year because they look, they look like the Cleveland Guardians that win a lot of baseball games every year. And yeah, man, last year, 31 starts a 306 ERA.
Starting point is 01:07:10 And if that control can come in a little bit, although he led the AL in walks last year, didn't it super bother him currently leading baseball in walks this year. But, I mean, if that light bulb ticks on a little bit with him getting a little more experience. And yeah, I liked his, he was showing a little emotional. on the mound. I need to check myself. Sometimes my northeast shows with these southern guys that, you know, if I told you his nickname was big country, I don't think anyone would fight me on it. But man, he's got some, he's got some grind out there. And this is everything you just said about why guys like this get paid. This guy, this guy can win you a playoff series when he's right.
Starting point is 01:07:51 31 starts last year 167 and 2 3rds innings you know the you're right the walks get him in trouble they don't allow him to go deep into games because the pitch count gets up there so that's obviously something that he's going to have to battle through but
Starting point is 01:08:06 you know when he's on there's just there's not a lot of guys who get more dominant than him in the big leagues so I want to shout him out um great standout Trev. My standout performer, I told you, snakes, people. I mean, he's the guy on the Is he the guy on the snakes? Because he can tell Marte, I don't know. I guess comment below. But Corbyn Carroll, Corbyn Carroll, we're eerily familiar with him now because we've seen him
Starting point is 01:08:38 since 2022, came up as a 21-year-old, got a full season the next year. Excuse me, he came up at 22 and 8 days. So he just missed that. You know, has that cool composed Pacific Northwest personality. 510, 165, but the ball flies off of his bat as it did against Tarek Scouble in the 1-0 game. His bigger game this series was earlier against Justin Verlander. I think one of two guys to ever Homer and hit a triple off a JV in a game.
Starting point is 01:09:16 and I think the other guy is your boy, Dynard Span? Hello. Hello. I don't know. We talked about this. I forget if this was a Wake and Jake episode with me and Jolly or if you and I talked about this,
Starting point is 01:09:30 that I was like, you know, Corby and Carol's awesome and probably, as we're talking about top tier guys, guys that can stumble into five, six war seasons. Like, that's just so elite. That I was wondering, in my head, I was like, I don't know. I think I know what the best version of Corbyn Carroll is.
Starting point is 01:09:48 Like, I just, it's that high eights OPS. It's the 30 plus steals. Again, an amazing baseball player. Dude, if there's more in the chamber with this guy, which there easily could be because he's 25 years old, you're talking about an alien. You're talking about outfield Bobby Witt. That I don't think we necessarily, statistically.
Starting point is 01:10:13 I mean, like, it's not a. insane to think about that I don't know. I guess I've gone on a big Bobby Witt has kind of locked himself in as the third best player in baseball and then you're you know you start getting into Juan Soto which is crazy he's not higher kind of Corby and Carroll if he has more in him he can start kind of challenging a crazy throne in this sport and maybe it changes your outlook on who the snakes could be as he's got an MVP 5 and MVP 6 in his bag. If he's got more, it's rare air and he kind of won a couple ball games for the snakes this weekend. Yeah, I mean, he's just the guy that does it all. Like he runs the bases, which, you know,
Starting point is 01:10:57 I feel like a lot of people don't put that into like all around ballplayer, but that changes games almost more than anything. Taking the extra 90 feet, always leading the league and triples because of that. He's just aggressive and plays in a good part for it as well. But I, yeah, I mean, he is at his best, yeah, he's a top 10 player in the league and he's got that big old back that gives him that power that you're talking about. I mean, he's still 54 bags in 2023. That, like, that, that to me is what elevate, will elevate him even further. I think, you know, the offensive component is there. Maybe you, maybe you'd see a few more homers. Maybe he gets to 35 homers, but, you know, a 60 stolen base season. It was some good defense out there. I mean, that's,
Starting point is 01:11:41 that's running into the elite of the elites. Yeah, I'm wondering, you know, sometimes we get hung up on the corny baseball stuff, but I wonder, you know, in his best year, if he throws up a 40-40, does that, do we treat him with just like a little more respect? And what was it, 143 games last year, he went 30-30. So if we tick that up, play 160, it's not crazy at all. And there's very few guys in the sport that have ever done that. and there's very few guys with the potential to do that.
Starting point is 01:12:16 Yeah, let's go Corbyn Carroll. Today's episode is sponsored by Shady Ray. Shady rays are built for real sports fans. No more squinting through the sun to look at the scoreboard. Track a fly ball. Did the ump make the call? I don't know. If you have your shady rays on,
Starting point is 01:12:32 you don't have to worry about the sun getting in your way of it. And so weather, you're at the ballpark. You're at the golf course. You're hanging out outside. Summer's coming, people. You need your Shady Ray's, and here's the best part. They have their loss or broken protection. If you lose or break them, even right after you get them,
Starting point is 01:12:51 Shady Ray's replaces them. No drama, no stress, no replacement guilt. Just a new pair. Headed your way. So from the first pitch to the final out, don't let the sun mess with your game. And they've got a deal. Head to Shadirayrase.com.
Starting point is 01:13:05 Talking 40. 40% off, two or more polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself. Get yourself two pairs or, I don't know, hit up a friend and be like, this is a great deal. Talking 40, Shadyrays.com. Trev could have been a lot of guys for standout performer. Dylan Beaver's, yep.
Starting point is 01:13:26 Show hey, kind of always. A ton of pitchers. I'm hoping we get to see them on the next part of the show. Dirt Nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby. Like Waco. Hmm. Turns out no starting pitchers are going to be on the inflago list.
Starting point is 01:13:45 We don't need them. Not yet. Fine. Let's start with a guy that we talked about with the Pirates, that offense kind of going a little bit. O'Neill Cruz in the series, five for 13, three Jimmy Jacks. He's gone yard nine times in 19 career games at Great American Ballpark.
Starting point is 01:14:04 He doesn't have more than three homers in any other park. So he likes hitting there, showed it off. Yordaun, we mentioned him, one of the best hitters, the game. I think he has a case for the best hitter in the game. That was a big conversation me and Rose had about like who do you want up. There's four guys. It's Soto, it's Judge, it's Otani, and it's Yorda. Those are the four best hitters in the league. I feel like there are times where like need one at bat. I think it's Yordawn. So how about that? Six, four, eleven in the series, two doubles, two homers, four runs driven in. He's a stud. You just talked about Corby and Carroll. He went five
Starting point is 01:14:39 for 10 with two homers seven runs driven in in the series. Ben Rice, we hear a lot about Ben Rice. How much the Yankees value him? Like, that is a middle of the order bat for them for the foreseeable future. He's proven him. It's proven on right. Five for nine, two doubles a homer, three runs driven in in the series. Your guy, Liam Hicks, leading in everything.
Starting point is 01:15:03 Six for 11, nine runs driven in such a new franchise record. with 12 ribbies for the first five games of the season. Drake Baldwin, yes, you're a stud, four for 11, a double, a homer, five runs driven in. Bryce Terang, he's just going to be on this list every single week.
Starting point is 01:15:23 If I had to guess, three for eight, a double homer, four runs driven in. Did you see the Yelly go ahead hit? Just finding holes. Like, off the bat, he wasn't happy with that. Then all of a sudden he sees it going on the outfield. Great feeling. Andy Pot has.
Starting point is 01:15:38 Yeah. Seven for 11. in the series, a double two runs driven in, but he's continuing. He had a nice season last year. I know it's slowed down at the end, but he looks to be, he's going to be one of those forgotten players in the Dodgers, who's just really good, but they just have so many good players that we don't talk about them that much. Jake, that's who's in Fuego. Yeah, Pa has, I mean, again, when someone's locked in, it's just fun to watch, but he was spraying it all over the field. It was cool to see. And yeah, again, we, when you dream of the Dodgers,
Starting point is 01:16:09 you don't even do like a, what if Andy Paz gets better? Like, okay, well, then he's just, he's a dude. And yeah, the Drake Baldwin, the young catchers have definitely turned my heads early, my heads, okay. I've turned my head early this season. And Ben Rice, yeah, you, he looks, he looks the part. Ben Rice has such a mean face he takes when he swings that it almost feels like I don't know if it's your hate for pitchers
Starting point is 01:16:47 or if in that moment he just says he hates baseballs but God he has this absolute demon face that comes on when he's swinging and hitting a baseball that it's just like it's literally he's got some Spider-Man to him like it looks a little innocent but my God, He will ruin your day at the ballpark. I like the swing. I do.
Starting point is 01:17:10 It plays. Controls the zone really well. Really, really well. We're not, no batterers who are struggling yet. I fought it for one more episode. Like, we're a weekend. We're a weekend. So if you are one of the batters who's struggling,
Starting point is 01:17:26 you got a weekend to clear it up. Otherwise, you're going to be on the first batters who are struggling of the season on Monday. Unfortunately, we do have an IL. Paving Smith for those snakes, left elbow inflammation, looking like a couple of weeks. We talked about Cody Ponce for Toronto, that right ACL sprain.
Starting point is 01:17:49 Let's see what months looks like. Carlos Estevez, who was having concerns about his Velo, bruise left foot. And they're going to tie that into the Velo. So that's obviously a big part of Kansas City's bullpen in their season. Zach Eflin, man, the injuries have been racking up for him, right elbow discomfort. Scary, let's see the next update. Jose Budo in that Giants bullpen, right arm fatigue.
Starting point is 01:18:19 Jose Quintana wins, right hamstring, three weeks minimum for him. But we have some returns from the IL. Tyler Freeman got involved in that Rockies series win over the Blue Jays. and J.P. Crawford, Trev's former teammate, fending off Colt Emerson for this season. He's like, I'm coming back now. Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. No, Seattle said Emerson's not even in their plans this year. So that's fine.
Starting point is 01:18:52 Baseball's better with some J.P. Crawford. That's who's back from the I.L. And that means we can start everyone's weekend the best way possible. Awards. From Kelsey Wingnut, Trev, bring us home. I am going to go with, I guess I don't really have a good name for it. I'm going to talk about the Marlins right now. Okay.
Starting point is 01:19:19 And are they legit? Because we mention it through, they're five and one, and who have they played so far? Well, they played the Rockies and the White Sox. Two teams that we know are going to be towards the bottom barrel of the big leagues. but not so fast Jake not so fast we cannot dismiss the fish and they that's my award okay don't dismiss the fish copyright nobody else used that yeah how about this jake because we do this from time and time with cleveland oh since 2013 they're this or that and yeah you have to respect that i'm gonna go back a hundred games though okay i'm gonna go back a hundred games right now and who has the six best record in
Starting point is 01:20:02 all of baseball but the Miami Marlins. Okay. Yes, they missed the playoffs last year. I believe they were 79 and 83, but they were in it until the last couple of weeks where they kind of fell apart and didn't make it in. But again,
Starting point is 01:20:19 through the last 100 games, they've been doing it. It hasn't, it's been the brand of baseball, Jake, that we like. It's been, okay, they're putting the ball and play. Okay,
Starting point is 01:20:30 we talked to the Blue Jays. They do that with the best of them. They can play defense. They also are fifth and stolen bases in those 100 games. They don't strike out a ton. So they're putting the ball in play. They're putting pressure on the defense with their base running. They're making the plays.
Starting point is 01:20:45 Now they got Sandy back. He's gone, what, 16 and 2 thirds without allowing a run. They still got Yuri Perez. They got a couple guys coming up in the minor leagues. They can kind of fortify the rotation. This could be legit. And now there is an article out talking about Peter Ben, and being able to add during the season.
Starting point is 01:21:04 The Marlins might add during the season. I think, I think I know it's six games in. I know that it is the Rockies and it is the White Sox, but I think we're going to be talking about this Marlins team throughout this season. It made a big trade, bringing Owen Casey in to kind of get in the middle of in that lineup. You mentioned our guy Hicks. He's had a great start to the season.
Starting point is 01:21:29 I'm just saying they're a fun team to work. and I think they're only going to get better. I'm in on the fish. I'm in on the fish. And I want to say that before we get too far into the season. So don't dismiss the fish. Yeah, I do want to see a little more competition. They got your yanks come out.
Starting point is 01:21:52 I forgot to add this line in there too. The bullpen, 17 and two-thirds innings pitch, one run allowed. That's the recipe. that's the a the offense first and batting average first and OPS in this young season all right we don't normally start there with Miami I like what you brought up with the bullpen the defense is grading out well early that normally it's like the starting pitcher and I even
Starting point is 01:22:18 pitching and I was going to give us to be like you know what Edward Cabrera just showed it was kind of you know it'd be nice to still have him but also they got Owen Casey so maybe that was the move that I want to see a little more. I do think if a lot of these guys, they're so young, Trev, that if you had one or two of these guys on your favorite team and you were like, oh, dude, you got to see Jacob Marcy play.
Starting point is 01:22:47 This guy's got some dog in it. Or you got to see Casey or you got to see Liam Hicks or you got to see Koneye or whoever it is. They're all young. They're all young. but sometimes that's the recipe too. And they went 79 and 83 last year. Like, you know, if you flip that record,
Starting point is 01:23:07 that would have got you in the dance last year in the NL. And man, does Sandy look good? He looks really good. There was a really, again, shout out MLB Network. They did his, showed some of his stuff last year to this year. Like they compared his breaking ball and it's like, oh, my God, those are two different pitches. how the late movement on his fastball and just like the sharpness to everything.
Starting point is 01:23:33 Yeah, his second year coming off of TJ and who this guy was in the pantheon of pitchers. If he's back and dude, if Yuri happens, like baseball is so weird that, like remember when Yuri Perez got called up and it's like, here we go. And he's been good. He's 23. Yeah, it's 23. So what if Sandy and Yuri? I mean, those, I think when we did their team profile and projection, I told you, like, those guys are weekend ruiners, man.
Starting point is 01:24:03 This is such a hilarious team, too, because if you just go, I'm on their fan grass page right now, their entire lineup just got here. Yes. Trade in 24, trade in 22, trade in 24, Rule 5 and 24, waivers in 24, trade in 26, a trade in 24, trade in 24, like this whole team is. is just like, hey, we got you. Nobody else wanted you. Come together, play ball here for us. And I'm looking and alike in the season. Yeah, Trev, the only not recent guys,
Starting point is 01:24:39 obviously Griffin Conine, because if the Marlins are playing baseball, a conine has to be on the team. And the heart of Miami, the heart of Venezuela, Javier Sanoa. He's the only guy in their position player grouping at the Bigley level right now that was originally acquired by the Marlins. I might need a, I might need a Sinoa jersey.
Starting point is 01:25:04 I like that for you. That might. Is he all Story Ellie? He might be. I like it, Trevor. It's definitely, I'm very interested to see what they look like this weekend against the Yankees pitching that has been so gross. And the Marlins have been swinging the sticks.
Starting point is 01:25:23 So that's, that'll be fun. Yuri Meyer Paddock, so no Sandy for the Yanks. Oh, no. Trev, my award, it's going to start off partially root. I'm giving out the Old Timers Day Award. You know, a Yankees tradition growing up that was always so fun watching the old dudes get on the field, swinging around for like three fake innings leading into a game.
Starting point is 01:25:52 Treve, let me take you back. Okay. 2015. What were you doing? Playing ball. Playing ball. Yeah. Third base for the twins? I mean, that was your, you were there coming off that 2014.
Starting point is 01:26:07 And I bet you even ran into a 2015 Houston Astros team that had a young 20-year-old shortstop, Carlos Correa, had a nice 25-year-old second baseman, Jose Al-tuve, breaking out. They even had a young pitcher. 21-year-old Lance McCullors gave them 21 starts to the tune of a 3-2-2-E-R-A. Some fun things to add to this exercise. Scott Feldman and Roberto Hernandez in that rotation. Pat Neeshik in the pen.
Starting point is 01:26:47 Let's see, any olds in the lineup? No, Jed Lowry, your guy, guy. Trev, it is 2026. And if you look at the highlights from the astro sweep of a really good Boston Red Sox team, Lance McCullors Jr., game one, seven innings, nasty work. We already rolled the tape on it. Throwing a couple frisbee pitches, throwing a little slide cup piece that nobody was getting. Okay, Lance.
Starting point is 01:27:22 Like, let's, when we were factoring in Houston season this year, we weren't factoring in a ton from Lance McCullors, Jr. Okay, that is what it is. Al Tuve. Hey, we looked at last year's stats and we were like, all right, hey, Jose Altuva is still contributing. Well, he could have been a standout performer this week, because did he have, was it four hits?
Starting point is 01:27:46 It sure was. Four hits and two homers on Monday, night. He can still contribute to the ball club playing second base and that's fine. And that's okay, especially when you get four hits and two of them are homers. We'll deal with whatever else is happening over there. I know they have Pena, who's delightful, and he was working his way back that he's kind of been doing an every other day thing and he's going to start playing more and it's going to be interesting to see how they juggle Paredes and Walker because we got all those righty guys who are all contributing, by the way, so that's a good problem.
Starting point is 01:28:26 Carlos Correa also swinging the twig early on this year. He was an Enfuego candidate. I think he had a 4-for-11 series. Rob, if you have the video of the play he made at Shortstop, because if you think about where shortstop's play, well, there's one of them. That's almost like, is that Correa's signature play? maybe, and Rob feels bad because I told him Dalton put a play in the sheet that was really nice from Correa. He makes a play that is a where we now are with infield shifts.
Starting point is 01:29:04 He's on the shortstop side of the bag and where he ends up getting the ball. The Carlos Correa in his 30s now, doctors aren't clearing his ankles to play baseball for other franchises. to see the range and ability that this guy still has, this is the one. When he throws it, he's in short right field. But I don't know. Carlos Correa's defensive prowess shouldn't shock anyone, and he does it with Fur McCullors who screams at him. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:29:38 Old Timers Day, obviously a joke at this point with the old dog still doing it. But the fact they are, and at a high level, it was a big week for Houston. We talked about this team coming into the year, like just about that, like the band is back together. You didn't even mention, what were the Astros doing in 2022?
Starting point is 01:30:00 Hoisting? Hoasting a trophy. You know who's back from that team as well? Who's back? Christian Vasquez. Wow. They are turning back the clock. Whoa.
Starting point is 01:30:15 But I'm in. We said it from the get-go. There's just something about certain organizations. that know how to win. And this group of guys together is like that. And maybe it is just Yordon being back as well, because that was obviously what was missing last year. But seeing Correa do it in that uniform,
Starting point is 01:30:33 watching Altuva have a great start to the season again. I don't know. These guys just don't want to play baseball and win together, dude. I will agree with you. Lance McCullors is just, I don't know what to think about that right now. I mean, it looked great. Is that where we're going to see this year from him?
Starting point is 01:30:51 Is he just like fully bad guy guy again? There's just no way, right? There's no way. Who knows? Who knows? I do think when you're putting together a top starting pitcher list this year, Hunter Brown has to be on that. That's obviously a new part of the equation.
Starting point is 01:31:07 Hey, Josh Hayter's on the IL to start the year. He's looking at mid-May right now. So that can be a boost at some point. And it feels like we do do this a lot of, years with Houston because we are so familiar with the faces. But, you know, Camp Smith put together some nice baseball. Is Joey Lopifito going to happen? You and I ended up doing a head tilt a lot when we talked about Houston, mostly because of Yordaun, because it was a really weird, choppy year for him. Yeah, their first and run scored right now, and they're playing the athletics and the
Starting point is 01:31:45 Colorado Rocky. So I'll, you know, I'll place the bet right now that in another week, I would say Houston's still top three in offense to start this young season. And yet, the pitching is going to be interesting to track because we kind of thought of Mai was going to be the guy. Tough first start. Let's see what happens. We didn't know where McCullors one was going to be, and it was an amazing start. So Houston, kind of the big winner from this week. Yeah. And if Christian Walker, he's got stats in the back of his baseball card if he takes a step forward from what he was last year. I mean, this is a team that is going to be in the mix. We knew it. We knew it the whole time, Jake.
Starting point is 01:32:24 A little more 2015 Astros. Oh, no. Preston Tucker? Preston Tucker, the most left field starts for that team. Luis Val Buena. Oh, yeah. The most third base played for that team. Chris Carter at first, obviously. Kiko had to be there, right? Keikle was there This is Pete Keikle, right?
Starting point is 01:32:48 I think that's a Cy Young year, yes. Number two starter, Colin McHugh. Somebody I met was like, I know Colin McHugh, and he said something about you. I was like, did he mention that his wife talked about Jimmy in a negative way? He wants some, that she once said something rude about my friend. She did.
Starting point is 01:33:11 Oh, Trev, this team has your finger. Hank Conger? No way. Evan Gattis. This is your team. George Springer's out there. Scott Cat. Chad Qualls?
Starting point is 01:33:23 I had him in a different generation of baseball. All right. When the Chad Qualls starts rolling, that's when it's time for us, people. Enjoy your baseball team. I hope every team. I hope your favorite team wins this weekend, unless you're a Marlins fan.
Starting point is 01:33:42 We'll be back on Monday. Monday recap people. Jake sucks. You didn't mention Mike Fires on this team. That's a whole different story right there. Pat Nyshack? I didn't have Pat Nyshick on the 2015 Astros. Lil Harris, Tony Sip with a 1-990.
Starting point is 01:34:01 There's the picture. Look at that guy. Sean Casey will play a badass biker in the film Forever Wild Ones coming out soon. I won't watch that. I won't.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.