Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Series Recap! Winners & Losers

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code TALKIN for 35% off polarized sunglasses.Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALLBook your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.comUse code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake talk Mets dominance over Phillies, Cubs being an issue in the NL, Astros starting to take off, Tigers series win and more!0:00 Intro3:00 NL BURN6:28 NL Standings13:00 Mets / Phillies17:00 Cardinals / Braves19:00 Rays / Diamondbacks22:23 Dodgers / Cubs24:00 Orioles / Nationals & Reds / Marlins25:00 AL Burn30:00 AL Standings32:00 Yankees / Guardians35:00 Blue Jays / Astros38:45 Padres / Tigers44:00 Mariners / Red Sox46:55 Rest of AL48:30 Rangers / Athletics51:05 Standout Performances1:00:15 En Fuego1:03:30 Players who are struggling1:05:10 IL update1:06:10 Returning from IL1:06:10 Awards  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. The Mets cannot stop winning. Same with the Giants. There's a new AL-West leader, and it's a big A.L. Central episode? Let's have a Friday. Let's have a Friday. You hitting her pitching.

Fernando Valenzuela. Junkhu Lee. I like that combination. Palo ball. Hello, and welcome to Talkin Baseball. Presenting you by Seeky Code, talking 2025. Jake Storelli, Trevor Plouf, Rob Chiraco here, and we are talking fall.

April 25th, kind of like the one month mark. Your team has had a good or a bad or a mediocre month. It's official. Trev, how's your month, pal? My month specifically to me has been great. I can't lie there. For my Twinkies, my twins, not so great for being honest. We'll get into that a little bit

as they've taken two or three from the White Sox But I'm excited to talk ball with you There has been some sweeps Don't don't Yeah, I'm gonna tell the people We're not gonna talk a ton of about them We're probably not gonna talk a lot about them So let me get it in the open, okay?

There's been some sweeps, There's been some great ball being played I think one team out Well, we'll get into that later But yeah, I'm excited to hear what you got to say Pop, how you doing? I'm good, man. You know, I'm a sports loser

So last night, Nick's Pistons a big game three. The NFL draft going on. Big for Giants putting some capital in there. Big for our talking Giants guy, Justin Penick. And yeah, and then catching up on the baseball throughout the night. The Guardians gave my Yankees the business, so I got to see that product.

I know you and me. We don't know what to do with the Guardians ever, but they just win baseball games. Kyle Manzardo out of his dome. He knew that was coming. Yeah, I know. Don't. If you trade, if they trade for a guy, you got to watch out.

And yeah, the ALE Central actually did good. So I'm excited to give them some love. And I'm excited for Shady Rays. Get ready for the season ahead with quality shades built to last. Our friends at Shady Rays have you covered with premium. Polarized shades that won't break the bank. Shady Rays is an independent sunglasses company offering a world-class product, five stars by over 300,000 people.

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Go get yours now. Here's now. You think a little NL? A little Friday National League. That's what we do here. Let's get it then. Oh, remix. Oh, Bobby teasing the people.

Know who's not teasing the people? The San Francisco Giants, or are they, coach? They take three out of four from the brew crew. Man, Wilmer Flores is driving in runs with all of the best players in baseball. Argyllie sack fly drops it. Ends up kind of losing the game, but they were going to get the sackfly anyways.

Giants are playing fantastic baseball. I think they're 14 and 1 against right-handed starting pitchers or something of that nature. That's good. The New York Mets cannot stop winning. Whether it's early or it's late, whether it's Lindor, whether it's Alonzo. and everybody pitches.

They are the new brewers, or what the brewers used to be. Our Jolly Olive was at the game for the walk-up. I gave him permission. He texted me. Can I go to the game, Jake? Yeah, Jolly. Knock yourself out. Make it work, bro.

Philly's, that bullpen, slipping a little bit. Speaking of slipping a little bit, the St. Louis Cardinals, right when we built them up, they started building themselves down. And the Braves. They win two out of three. They have a really nice home stand. Five-E-E-old. out of six, water finding its level, maybe a little bit.

How about the big Eli White Homer late? That's who they're banking on. More so Spencer Schwellenbach and some other guys. Braves getting back to their winning ways, Cardinals, and a bit of a dive. The Rays take two out of three from the dimebacks. Rays, I don't know if this is a U thing. I don't know if this is a snake-bitten thing. It feels like this has been happening to these teams a lot.

The Rays take two late. I don't want to say out of nowhere, but they get to the Diamondbacks bullpen. Diamondbacks have to feel like they were going to win three games. They end up losing the series. Two out of three. Cameron Meisner is playing out of his dome. Ray's going Ray.

They're winning some baseball games. The Cubs won two against the Dodgers, a little opening weekend revenge. One of the craziest games of the year Tuesday, we actually talked about a little bit on the midweek 11 to 10. The Cubs outfield, Everyone had three hits. Everyone on both teams had hits.

And then the Cubs come back. They do it the next day. Pete Crow Armstrong. Yo, that guy's a dude. Cubbies. There it go. Cubs go. Nats take two out of three from the Orioles.

The Orioles, they win the final game. They got a pitching performance. Cade Povich. 6.2, one earn run. But the Nats got that. Mitchell Parker, eight innings of one hit ball in that first game. game. James Wood is the second best hitter in first at bats this season. I got all sorts of stats, bro. Marlins beat the Reds. Two out of three. Max Meyer, we hyped him in the midweek,

six innings, 14Ks. Augustine Ramirez might be another good hitting catcher in the big leagues for the fish. Brady Singer and Austin wins. Speaking of hitting catchers, Reds lose to the Marlins. And that's what happened in the National League. Excellent job, Pop, I got the standings if you want them. Yeah. In the National League East, the Mets are proving me wrong. There's no doubt about that. Playing excellent baseball, we'll get into that 18 and 7 on top of that division.

Five games ahead of the Phillies who are 13 and 12. Miami, 11 and 13. Washington, 11 and 14 in the Braves. Nice homestand. Still with the bottom of the division, 10 and 14. And it's central. The Chicago Cubs, 16 and 10, three games. over the Milwaukee Brewers who are dead even at 13 and 13 the Cincinnati Reds at 12 and 13

St. Louis as you mentioned taking a little bit of dive I think they're two and six in their last eight games they're 10 and 15 and the pirates well see tonight are 10 and 16 out west the Padres are leading the division 17 and 8 they're a half game above the San Francisco giants were 17 and 9 the Dodgers are 16 and 9 and your snakes are 14 11 And the Rockies, because of course they are. Yeah. Are 420 rocks. And those are the standings in the National League.

Trevor, well done per usual. And yet this, I don't know if the people want to do anything with this. Treve, you delivered the standing so beautifully in question if you should every time. This is the first episode. This is the first episode I opened the standings on one of my tabs. Oh. I know. Okay.

People might be surprised by that. And it's that time for you. It's a half-lie. I guess I was excited today to open the standings and be like, 18 and 7 out of the New York Mets, that's, that's a great month. Like, it's done, it's over. Like a month like that during a six-month baseball season can carry you. We always joke about the undefeated raise of 23.

But like, this is... this carries you to the all-star break. In a game of peaks and valleys, when you have a month like this, yeah, it allows you to be able to go through a rough stretch of baseball, which is pretty much inevitable. And you can keep your division lead

or like say you're middling for two months and you go 500 ball over two months. Well, you have this month to carry you through the standing. So I agree with you. I mean, a lot of times through one month, what does it mean? But specifically for the mess.

I believe, I mean, we're going to look back at their apron. Like, this is, yeah, this is the month for them that made their season. Well, another team that's kind of making their season right now is the San Francisco Giants. They take three out of four from the Brewers. They are 17 and 9. Again, it's one of those, the NL West. It's all this Dodgers hype and Super Team. The Padres were the team of the first couple weeks of the season

and how good they were playing 12 and 1 at home. These Giants, Trev, I missed it on the way through. They're 15 and 2 against right-handed starting pitching. You know, this is in my open, I was talking about a team out did another team. I think their Giants outbrewered the Brewers in the series, playing really good defense, taking the extra base, timely hitting. You know, you can talk about the game yesterday. I don't fault Yelie for that catch.

I believe the guy was going to score anyway. we're going to talk about my guy Wilma Flores a little bit later in the show. But, you know, just to come back the way they did, it kind of shows that this team can like I always reference. The teams that are good can be in a variety of different ways. So they're

trailing in this game yesterday. Matt Chapman hits the two-run Homer. Yes, it's a sack fly. They get the, or excuse me, the fielder's choice right here. And then they have the sack fly at the end to go ahead. And then they have guys in the back in the bullpen, they can get the job done. So it's, they're a

complete team. They're having fun doing it. It just, this is one of the teams I missed on, man. Like we said, they could be good, but they have a chance to be really, really good the way they're playing right now. Their bullpen has been really strong, and it's not Ryan Walker, who was so good for them last year. It's kind of everybody else. And Camilo Doval, that guy's one of my favorite humans I've ever seen throw a baseball, and he ended up in the bad place last year, got sent down.

he closed out their last three games in this series. But yeah, I guess I'm interested to see if that stays or if Ryan walked. But Camilo Duval at his best, is better than anyone. It just went away. And it's a weird sport for that. It is. It's great to see him back. And, you know, this series caused so much turmoil that the Brewers had a team meeting after that last loss.

I mean, it's, you know, they just didn't make plays that they have to make. this is their team makeup, their team identity. We always talk about that. They're a defensive team. They're a run prevention team. And they have to take the extra base. They have to run the bases correctly. Even the field of choice right there,

we just showed that you has hit. Like, Terang has to make a pretty much a perfect throw with Fitzgerald running at third base right there. But like, that's an easy throw. You can make that throw. You're a big leaguer. And he didn't make it. And that's, you know, you lose games if you don't make those plays.

Oh, and that's the speed equated, like Tyler Fitzgerald can fly. so like speed changes speed changes games. I know it seems like it's going to be bang bang, but like you can make that throw. You make that throw a lot. I know,

but if that was, even like a league ever- You're giving credit to the Giants, which is right. If that's a league average speed guy, you know before that play, if you're the second baseman, you're saying,

okay, I don't have to be as quick as possible with this. With Fitzgerald on third, it's in all the infielder's heads. Like I, I have to make this play. Pressure. Pressure makes diamonds, Trev. And circle this for the Brewers. Like you said, Pat Murphy,

closed the door 30 minutes, said it was the brewer's worst defensive showing in 10 years. And he wanted to unpack what unfolded over the past four days to reinforce what kind of unit the scrappy, speedy, slick fielding, stingy pitching brewers are going to be.

Circle that day. for me. I want to see what happens next. I want to believe in that, but pro sports have kind of told me this stuff doesn't work anymore. But maybe it does, Treve. I think with a guy like Pat Murphy, it does. I like it. You know, you know, when we've been around to him quite a bit, like he demands attention. Like, when he speaks, you kind of listen. I like it. Trev, the New York metropolitan's have won seven in a row.

they beat the Phillies Phillies with some bullpen issues I mentioned that or maybe they had a Mets issue because Starling Marte with the walkoff in that final game Brett Beat Beatty started hitting doesn't matter they sent them down

because we got more guys Brett appreciate you man we kind of were putting the parts together here because we're like okay the Mets are pitching the Mets haven't really been hitting and now it feels like the team is starting to come around offensively,

which, and they've been one of, if not the best teams in baseball, and it feels like they're still going up. It does. And, you know, again, we've been shocked by the pitching, which is fine,

but they've put it together and they look great. I mean, watching Tyler and McGill throw, you're like, okay, I understand why you can be, you know, someone in this league. But, you know, it's that last game, the resilience,

they showed right there. Castiano puts him up in the 10th. After getting thrown out by Juan freaking Soto on a Max Kepler base now. I could talk about that. But like, you know, the bat by Pete Alonzo. He kind of sticks the bad out. It wasn't a bad

pitch by Ramano, but he goes to the opposite field there, ties the game. And yeah, Starry Marte just kind of does get a pitch over the hard of the plate, walks them off. Jollyall is going crazy. I mean, they are a little bit juggernaut, a little bit resilience. They're just playing the game

the right way right now and the this is fucking crazy for me to say this right now. The culture there seems incredible. Wow. Wow. That's culture. Go on so to go. Let's go. You used to tell me, he can throw a little bit. He can throw.

Yeah. He has a nice throw. It wasn't a great throw. Got rid of it, though. He got rid of it quick. No, he has... He has... He has good arms. He's a powerful guy.

Juan Soto defensive highlights. Hey, Mets, you don't want to hear it for me either way, but you guys are playing great. The pitching, the lineup's still coming. There's a little bit of a Philly situation going on here. Aaron Nola, O'N5, the fastball Velo's low. Sanchez, our 611 starting pitcher, he leaves with some forearm stuff. But some of the Phillies problems are getting real-ish. They're 13 and 12, and it's April.

No, they're real. They're not real-ish. They're real. And that's what's a little bit scary here. I mean, they're going to have to figure this out. You know, Nola's going to have to figure it. If Aaron Nola, you know, for some reason is his V-Lo's down and it continues to be that way and he's over the heart of the plate and he continues to get hit. And like you said, Sanchez being out, like, that's one of the calling cards of this team.

And, you know, they haven't hit the way they should hit either. So there's kind of problems all over that field. They're not a defensive first team. They got to throw the ball and they got to mash the ball. And they really haven't done that. No. No. Hey, it's a credit to the Mets right now because nobody's beating them 12 and 1 at home.

Mets culture. We might have to make, we might have to make a shirt. We might have to make a shirt on that. Is Jesse Winker the glue guy they needed? all along. Speaking of blue guys, I want to give a shout out to Pat Wagner and Corey, a couple

JM substack subscribers. We're giving shoutouts every episode. Go to johnboymedia.com for more exclusive Johnboy Media content. We have some behind the scene stuff we're posting every day. So thank you guys. Go check that out.

Also, I mentioned the home record of the Mets. The Braves are, on the opposite side, because they were two and 11 on the road. And that was a big part of their slow start, which, okay, let's go deal with that, our next road trip. They have a really nice homestand. They beat the Cardinals two games out of three.

That was after they swept your twins. So again, I don't know where those two teams are going to fall in the standings this year. But for a Braves team that need to get going, five out of six, nice couple games for Atlanta. Yeah, the offense looks a little bit better. I mean, obviously, Sean Murphy has been really good as of late, but the other guys have got it going as well. Yeah, I mean, how much stock do you put into beating my twins at that time? Probably not much, but like, they, you know, they're playing good baseball.

You know, one, and a Braves fan commented on one of our posts. And he said, hey, guys, like, we still believe in this team. You got to see the way they're playing now. It was a bad start. And, you know, what, it's one guy saying that. but it kind of put it in my mind. It put it in my mind. We have counted this team out before.

They are dealing with major injuries. I think we put a little bit too much stock into the snick or a Coonio stuff. He's coming back. And when that happens, before the season, if we said, hey, man, the Braves can be a 500 club and then Acunae comes back. Dude, that sounds good. They can be a 500 club and Acunae can be back. And we can be talking about the Braves being in the race again very quickly.

So I'm happy for the Braves taking two out of three, five out of six in the homestand. Carl knows you're right. Just when we started going and give him credit, they got to 500. I believe they were eight and eight and they've been two and six since then. So they need to step it up. Sometimes it's dudes. Matt Olson, big homestand. He's gone going.

Michael Harris, too, big homestand. He's gotten going. Let's see if they can. Eli White did mash that ball. Eli White mashed that ball. he can run like the win too, but hey, put a good swing on it, kid. Ray's fans genuinely let me know if you're offended or not, but, well, hey, dime back's bullpen, four blown saves in the last six games.

Not great. You have to give credit to the other guys in that situation. The race, again, they were getting perfect game by Corbyn Burns for a little bit in the final game. Again, maybe this is a fantastic team identity. that these guys don't die. A couple of their recent wins have been late game comebacks. But yeah, I think if you're the snakes, you're punching pillows a little bit

because you thought you had a sweep and you lost the series. Yeah, exactly. That's kind of how it's crazy. You know, you win the series, but you could have got swept if you're the raise. That second game, Perdomo, with a chance to at least tie it, maybe go ahead there.

I wanted to get that play up. Maybe you can, Robbie, quickly. the ground ball double play by Predomo because Be Loud did such an amazing job on that play positioning his body to turn the double play and it was going to his left and instead of kind of getting it

and then turning it was a chopper so he was able to kind of see the hop and he just turned his shoulders already so he caught it like almost like a backhand going towards second base which allowed them to turn it on Perdomo and those are the things the rays are going to have to do throughout the season

and a simple thing like that wins you a baseball game. Yeah, a huge series for the race. I hope you can get that video because it is when I saw it. I was like, okay, that's something that, you know, an experienced second baseman does. And again, it ended up winning in the baseball game. And I don't know what it, let's see where Tampa season goes. I don't know.

I don't think the raise know at this point if they're being honest. But if Brandon Lowe stays healthy. And he does what he does offensively. That's a guy that a lot of teams are going to be interested in. Team option contract. Hey, Ray's have some nice numbers. The offense is top 10, more or less. The pitching is close to top 10.

So, hey, maybe. Here we go. Check this out, Jake. Watch and turn his body. Get around the ball. He's kind of back-hands it, so he doesn't have to turn the shoulders after he fields it. Awesome. That's a difficult play right there.

Yeah, that's a long throw for a second base. Corbyn, Carol, and Perdomo running, so that's not easy. That's what I'm saying. See where he threw that ball from, too. To get the strength for that throw, he's already positioned his body perfectly. I know I keep repeating myself, but it really is an impressive play. Snakes, third in runs, third in OPS. The pitching has to pick it up a little bit, and maybe it's, again, we get dramatic.

I see the blown saves in the last six games. So we could be talking, if they win those games, we're saying, How hot are the snakes right now? So let's get the pitching clicking a little more in the desert. What do they have coming up? Let's see. Schedule watch. Oh, the Braves.

That's a fun little weekend. That is fun. I like that. And then they go at Mets, at Philly. So the snakes, they're in it for a little bit. That's going to be fun. Trev, this was only a two-game set. It's two of the best teams in baseball.

so I don't know how far we want to go into it. But the Cubs with two impressive, one-run wins over the Dodgers. Again, a lot of what I would say is what we said during the midweek. It's just the Cubs are here, and they want to. It feels like they've played the Dodgers like three times. All of their series have been NOS. The outfield, I am going to talk about a little later, but I don't know.

The Cubs are great, and the Dodgers are great. the Cubbies we found out are great this first month of the season. No, they're kind of firing on all cylinders right now. Well, I guess not on all cylinders. Like they still need work with their bullpen. That's why we've been seeing a lot of these, what we're calling some of the best games of the year, because they've been blowing a lot of leads.

But, you know, they're able to, you know, sustain that. They're able to get out when they need it. They need to get big hits. We're going to talk a lot about this series a little bit later on. So get on the Cubs. Are they done? with the Dodgers?

They have to. I think they are. I think they're done with the Dodgers this year, which is crazy. They obviously have the series, the season series against them, so they end up in a tie. Oh.

Whoa. One seed. Hey, schedule watch already. Treve. Tiebreaker talk. I'm just saying. April 25th. Yeah, a little more on both those teams.

Miguel Amaya in the basket? Yeah. We talked about this. That was pretty cool. Trev, these last two aren't too sexy. I'm going to be honest. It's Orioles Nats. Orioles drop another set.

I mentioned Povich with the big start to get them a win, which maybe that can relax the clubhouse, and we can get some pitching on some days. And then Marlins, two out of three from the Reds. I shout out Max Myers' performance. But whatever you've got on those two series. I think you hit the AL, Pop. Whoa.

Sorry, fans. James Wood. You're a stud. Go check out Mitchell Parker. We're going to talk about him a little bit later. Let's go. James Wood! James Wood.

He's really good. I think, yeah, what was Bob had the set? I think it was a Lindor set. I think Lindor has the highest OPS and first at-bats of the game. Yes, Lindor is first with a 1.5. Or no, he's second. James Wood. First at bat of the game is 1.7ing.

He's been hitting some homers. How do you like that? Same with what a list. Dansby, Tommy Edmund, and Paven Smith. Wow. I'll endorse so good, too. Yeah, I'm debating, changing my second half to talk about him because he's been better than we thought he was,

which that doesn't even make sense. All right, let's do some American League. I told you it's an AL Central Week, baby, and the Cleveland Guard Dogs took two out of three from the New York Yankees. They knocked around Clark Schmidt in that first game up 6-0-0. Yanks showed a little fight.

But Kyle Manzardo, I mentioned him. Up there with the lead leaguers, lead leaguers, excuse me, in home runs. Yankees salvaged the set in the final game. Just a little FYI people. Aaron Judge, hitting in the 400s. The Houston Astros,

hello, old friend. They sweep the Toronto Blue Jays. Got Hunter Brown, which the whole league is. Nobody can touch him right now. Blanco and Gusto only give up one run each. Good pitching? Bad hitting? I don't know, but it's good for the Houston Astros.

Jeremy Pena, I think they moved him to the cleanup spot and he's been knocking it around. Christian Walker, which with some signs of life. Houston's back in it. The Detroit Tigers, they take two out of three from the San Diego Padres. Hello, the Tigers. playing a good brand of baseball. They couldn't survive a full pension Piv,

who again, another one of these guys that nobody's hitting right now. But Reese Olson with the big start, Glaber Torres, a couple big games in this set. New faces, new places, new places. Detroit takes two out of three. The Mariners do the same to the Boston Red Sox in the Commonwealth. Can't wait to hear where they are in the standings, because I already know, Treb, it's the top.

The Mariners survive that fun. Final game, a crazy final at Bat Munoz gets in one of the uglier swings and misses you'll see this year. Tristan Koss's three-run homer. Boston needs him to get going a pair of three-run homers. But the Seattle Mariners are winning ball games. That's all I like in my Pacific Northwest. The A's take two out of three from the Rangers. Rangers offense came that first game, eight runs, the guys you'd expect, and Wyatt Langford with a big night. But the A's, they take the next two, including one that the Rangers kind of booted away. It goes off Lioti Tavares' glove.

And our guy, Jacob Wilson, with the walk-off single. Ace, take two out of three in Sacto. Twins, take two out of three from the White Sox. Holy cow! Holy cow! Byron Bucks did in the gap, what a play. Hey, and if you gave the twins nine innings on that last game, I bet they would have come back, but they didn't. They got shut out by the White Sox. Game gets rained out and canceled.

Twins in the wind come. Luke Kishol? Kishol? Kishol. Sure. Royals. Sweep the Rockies. Yeah, and that's been happening a lot.

The 420 Colorado Rockies. You can't make it up, can you? Royals got some hitting. Drew Waters. Three hit day. Big Salvi had been really on the struggle bus this year. Hopefully this gets him going after two big games. And a nice Michael Lorenzen's,

start winning two games on a double header. That's a nice day at the office. Speaking of, the Pittsburgh Pirates take two out of three from your Angels, Trev. I'm sorry, pal. These things happen. Andrew Heen-Dock with the Redemption starts. Six innings of one hit ball. Nine strikeouts.

I-KF with a big day at the office. Angels. Zach Netto, O Hoppy, on that final game. And that's what happened. And the American League brought to you by Best World. Western, life's a trip. And Best Western is a place you should go on those trips. Every detour destination and unexpected turn along the way.

We literally just did this. Our road trip, we had the vlog on this channel. A lot of you checked it out. Thank you. We stayed at a Best Western outside of Wrigley. We stopped middle of the night at a Best Western because it was literally the only place available. And they led us in with welcome arms. really funny scene in that blog because we are borderline not filled with life.

But Best Western gave us some. So whatever wrong turn leads to the right story, whatever trip you've got going, take the scenic route, and hey, maybe go check out a Best Western wherever you're at. Lysa Trip, make the most of it at Best Western.com. Trevor, do you have the standings? That Best Western Jolly put out in Rigbyville is pretty nice. Dude. Yes.

You know what? Jolly was only there because I couldn't make it. My cousin was being married. So you know what, Jolly, you're welcome. Yeah. People would have been so much happy with me there. I got the standings. Yeah. In the east, your Yanks on top of the Divige, 15 and 10.

Two games over. Hey, the Boston Red Sox, 14 and 13. The Toronto Blue Jays 12 and 13. Tampa Bay, 11 and 14, and Baltimore, 10 and 14. in the central. Okay. Detroit, 15 and 10. A half game back are the Cleveland Guardians at 14 and 10. The Royals 12 and 14.

My twins, 9 and 16. And then the Chicago White Sox 6 and 19 out west. Yes, two teams tied above the division, 14 and 11 for both the Mariners and the Rangers. Houston right behind them at 1311. The angels right behind them at 12 and 12 and the A's right behind them. That 12 and 13. Earmuffs, it's a cluster fuck. And those are the standings in the American League.

Earmuffs. Break some glass. Good for the American League West. Yeah. I agree with me. There is some fun ball being played in the American League West. The Rangers are winning and they're still not hitting. They're not hitting at all.

The A's are, again, the 500 A's with all their kids. That's a fun point. product. Just quick before again, do you think playing at a minor league ballpark helps the young A's? No.

Because Lawrence Butler after the game was like, he was talking about Nick Kurtz making his debut. Right. And he's like, you know, I remember my debut,

you know, walking into a major league stadium how cool it was. He goes, well, Nick Kurtz doesn't really get to do that, but you know what I mean. Pretty good.

Love, love some L butt. Kurtz comma Nick. for us. Trev, let's give the guards love and guardians, I'll be honest, maybe you might not love this segment, and it's not just because I'm Yankees,

but me and Trev were laughing before this, literally before we started recording. Trev was like, I don't know how they do it, but they just, they win the majority of their series, which gives them 90 plus wins every year. I think the secret is pitching defense and Jose Ramirez and usually one other hitter, And that's what worked this week against the Yanks.

That is exactly the formula right there. They can throw the ball. They play defense. And there's Jose Ramirez and one other guy is going to step up each game, basically. You know, I think we might have talked about this on Wednesday, but Gavin Williams is absolutely filthy. And he just needs to really lock it in and figure it out. And he could be like a legitimate ace in the big leagues with the stuff that he has. So, yeah, I mean, got a couple of nice pitching performances out of him.

I'm at a 10er Bibi. And then we talked about Kyle Manzardo being a 30 homer guy before the season. That's probably going to happen. And your formula you just put out there is exactly what's going on. I mean, Stephen Kwan running around the bases, Jose Ramirez doing his thing, Arias having a nice start to the year. And they take it to who many consider the best team in the American League, your Yankees.

Nice hearing you say those words. Yeah, Gavin William, if the light bulb fully goes on, people are in the problem. It's just location. That's it. And he, I'm saying this in endearing way. I don't know if it comes on. He is a big country bumpkin.

My goodness. I mean, he is, Big boy. His legs have legs. He's coming downhill at you. And that's, I didn't not like that as a hitter. He showed,

he showed some emotion on a, I think it was a nice Guardian's double play. And I was like, ooh, if he's got, if he has that kind of, if he's got that in him, watch out. And yet,

I guess it, we're giving love to Manzardo. Stephen Kwan's, one of the best players in baseball this year. So it's weird because it's, I guess what it is, it's literally two or three guys in the lineup. So a lot of their innings, you're looking in, again, no offense to the Will Wilson's, Aries, Bow Nailer.

There's a lot of innings you're kind of looking and you're like, wait, who's coming up? At the same time, it doesn't matter because they throw the ball, they throw the ball incredibly well, and that's still important. um yanks figure it out or i'm not buying tickets kate smith getting some saves yeah yeah they uh story to watch story to watch i think you know class a needed a little bit of a breather got got a lot of work but yeah cade smith his fastball guys can't line it up he he left a couple middle middle and then you go look at the numbers and you're like well if nobody hits it

Put it over the plate and figure the rest out. Go Cleveland. Go Cavaliers. Go Browns, you know. Go the whole city. Okay. Why am I the one driving the Houston Astro Bus? You are.

How did this happen? It's going to be a full bus soon. I think so, Trev. And it's a little bit of, I guess what I was trying to tell the people, they throw the ball incredibly well Hunter Brown might be throwing the ball the best of anyone in baseball and again yeah it's half glass full half glass empty season their offense hasn't taken off yet christian walker had some struggles i'm gonna put that as glass half full because i think it's coming this is a reminder series uh for everybody that's in the league and and maybe directed at me too

uh it's a reminder that the a a show's have been inevitable for quite some time I haven't really felt that this year. This is, it's kind of making me feel a certain way about the assures. You're right. The way they're throwing the ball right now is something to behold. I mean, they've, they've done this. They've pitched. We know that.

They find guys, you know, I remember when Framber was a new thing. We're like, who's this guy? And now we understand he's one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Hunter Brown is about to be that guy, I mean, if he isn't already. So it's a very A nice series win Or a sweep, excuse me For the Ashoes again

A reminder that they're not to be messed with Yes, I feel like I'm I feel like I'm taking crazy pills Gordon hasn't really gone Dude no Like no one on their offense is going nuts Paredes every homer's in the Crawford box Which again is really good comedy

That was the plan all along But yeah, no, Altova hasn't started going. Your Don, Paredes, no one's going for them, which I have as good news, because I know half of those guys are going to get going. Can I do a little fan fiction, a little erotica for Houston, Ashford fans? I'll never say no. I do a Twins podcast, and one of the guys on there, you know, they're not too high on the Twins right now, as you can expect. And they said, you know, it's not too early to look at some trade candidates.

I said, yeah, that bullpen looks right for the picking. We talked about that a little bit. He goes, is there any way you think that Carlos Correa could make his way back to the Astros? And I said, well, that would mean the twins would have to ask him to wave his no trade clause. But could you see it? He fits.

Move Pena over? No. Stop. As Astros fans leave to go to the bathroom. They need lefties. Lefty hitter Brandon Lau actually That's a guy

That's a guy that would fit there really well Toronto Yeah They're getting out homered That's a bad formula Lost five straight Five straight Yeah

Tontondare O for his last 17 They're not hitting for power Yeah Which they should So let's see what that is But a couple of free agents I really like this year

Santander and my guy, Jack Peterson, who he will probably mention for a little bit in 0 for 41, my goodness. I think if you're Toronto and you're sitting here and you're sitting right around a 500 month and you haven't hit, you haven't slugged basically at all, I think you're feeling pretty good. Okay, okay, I like that.

Toronto fans would have signed up for 500 at the start of the month. I think so. I think so. Tigers take two out of three from San Diego. San Diego's first little sputter this season slash not playing at home. And the Detroit Tigers, man. I know you've got more on Reese Olson in a little bit.

They've had a great first month. They've answered all the questions that I've had for them. Preseason, I kind of question the rotation still. I thought there was some question marks there. They've thrown lights out, man. They've been excellent. and their numbers are even scarred from a scoble bad outing. But they've been incredible.

They were again this series. You know, they really haven't hit the ball that well. Outside of like a Torkelson and a McHickery, like I don't know if that's going to be their calling card. But, you know, that has to be such a great site for Tigers fans to see Torkelsons continue to have good at bats. You know, look,

I'm hoping this is a year-long thing for him. I think that's something you have to monitor. like hey he's feeling good right now is that going to continue i think it looks like he's made the necessary adjustments but it might not matter jake because the rotation has been that good flarity really seems to have found a home i just did this with rosy 23 starts now with the tigers like to a two eight like he's he's found the place that works for him and to have him and olson and my's like along with school bowl just really really sets the tone and then obviously the bullpen too so that's that is their team identity. They are rocking

it and probably one of my bigger misses on the season. For some reason I just, you know, it's because I'm I guess I'm a twins guy. That's why. Right. Okay, I'm trying to give the twins the benefit of the doubt. I should have seen this one coming. 15 and 10, six of their first eight series. They've

won the first time since 2015, which again was a different world in Tigers baseball. And yeah, man, they're 11th in runs, which the way this team pitches, that can take them a real long way. So yeah, let's see how the meat of their lineup develops.

Again, Glaver can really hit, and he had a big homer this series, three hit day. If their offense can be around top 10, even middle of the pack, like they can win a lot of ball games with how their team is built. Reese Olson, of their five main starters,

I didn't even throw Jackson Job in there when I was talking about, but he has the highest ERA of the bunch at 3-29. That's good. That's good. I say that's good. guys. And this is really nothing,

but it just showed on their transactions. They just sent down Bailey Horn, and his name just makes me laugh. Something about the simplicity of it, Bailey Horn. Yeah, come back back. When you watched,

okay, you watched Tommy Candy pitch a lot. Yes. I don't think I ever faced him. In fact, I'm almost positive I never faced him. I don't get it, bro.

Like, everyone knows the change-up is coming, and they still can't hit it. I don't get it. It's Trev, I could see you and me doing an hour and a half on it because it's kind of mind-numbing, right? But are we so... I was just about to call myself a hitter.

Are hitters so tuned in with being ready for a fastball that the change-up, even if you know it's coming, still feels off? Or is he throwing the fastball just enough? But it's wild. This is my approach against him. If he throws me three fastballs and I take them all, I'll fucking tip my cap. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. You just have to sit, sit change up. People do. It's not like they're not doing that, Jake. Right, right. You know, like they're doing. Whatever. I just.

The pitch moves a lot. For those, for those that don't know, like I knew this number. Oh, I did face it. Whoa. Gosh, give me, give me a knock. Come on. Oh, no.

That's not even a change. High slider? Freaking backup slider. Trev. That's got to be second deck. I must have been hurt. Come on. I must have been hurt.

Tommy Canley throwing his change up 84% of the time. Like that's, okay, whatever. We don't even talk about Tommy Canley anymore, but, oh gosh, there's more. This does not look like I'm comfortable at the plate, by the way. Please. I told you. I did not look at my stance.

What's going on here? I'm nursing something, guys. Up and in change up. For those, I know we push our YouTube. Some of you guys just enjoy us as a podcast, and that's fine. I. Yeah, you're ready to go check that one out. Trevor gets Tommy Canely.

It's a 13 to 11. Is that the 12th inning of a Twins White Sox game? It's no wonder I don't remember facing him because those two of bats are horrendous. You block those things. That's what good hitters do. Oh, my God. Trev, hey, I think if there's one team, I really want to give love to the rest of this way

before heading towards the second half of the show. It is the Seattle Mariners. Everything we said about Detroit, you kind of echo it for Seattle, right? But it's happened. Like, they're tied for the division lead. The Seattle Mariners are off to a good start that we've made our jokes at their expense

and we get skeptical. Also, Seattle, I mean, how refreshing is like a Ben Williamson getting called up in hitting a little bit? Yeah. Their main guys, I mean, Cal, we've talked about him a lot this year and what he's done. But they're getting contributions from the bottom of their lineup, too, that Seattle feels a little different right now. This is who this team can be, Jake. We know that they're going to throw the ball and we said all you got to do is score a little bit. How are you going to do that?

Who's going to be called up? You know, whatever it is, Ben Williamson, do your job. They can be the guardians of the AOS. Like, let's get, let's, let's have Cal and then Julio later on the season, anchor that offense. And then let's just play some good fundamental baseball around that. Let's move some runners. Hey, J.P.

Crawford's going to smoke one every once in a while like he did in this series. I think that's the formula for success for them. Also, my guy, and I think one of the nicknames I maybe pushed the most on this show, Senor Smoke, Andres Munoz, at the end of the bullpen, he, you could say he's been the best reliever in baseball this year. 13 innings, a zero ERA, 17 strikeouts. I just, obviously we know they're starting pitching. When Munoz is doing this, that the rest of the bullpen can fall in line. And you know who's another guy?

I just really like Dylan Moore. I was going to, when you said my guy, I thought you were going Dylan Moore, you went Munoz, this is fine, but I knew you were going to bring it back to him. He's been incredible, man. And he could be, he could be, you know, like, this is what they need.

They don't need, they don't need him to be an 882 OPS guy. It would be nice. It'd be great. But he, he matches lefties. He's done that his whole career, and he can actually play everywhere. Like, I think we fell into this weird,

versatile baseball world where there were some guys that couldn't play any defense, that it's like, oh, well, I, no shots fired to my guy Miguel And O'Har. He got moved around a lot because he wasn't strong defensively. Guys that can really play a position well, I know Willie Castro last year was a great example. That's such a valuable asset, whether it's injury or just matching up against a pitcher.

They take down... You're showing your twins' bias by not mentioning Jorge Polanco. That's fine. I mean, I said Willie Castro last year. That's all you're getting. I guess, Trev, whatever you want to clean up, Twins White Sox really doesn't deserve to be talked about. Royals, happy for you, sweeping the Rockies,

but unfortunately everyone is. I hope this sparks your bat. Pirates Angel, yikes. Texas and the A's probably deserve to be talked about a little. That was fun. That was a lot of fun. I watched the second game, Kumar Rocker, they just were relentless against him like first pitch swinging they just that's what they

kind of do it was I think I believe they batted around in the first inning they that was incredible then yeah last night jacob wilson with the walk off knock there they're they're a fun team to watch i've been saying that um they just have yeah three ball cut in this series jacke wilson got his first walk and it was hilarious that is this it yeah here it is they're cheering the dugout his first walk of the season, dude. He's hitting 3.30 or whatever he's hitting. This whole series was really cool too because they were showing, you know, Nick, Nick Kurtz, the guy that got called up.

His dad was in the stands and right behind him is Jack Wilson, who's cheering for his son. Like, it was kind of tugging on my heartstrings. But they are. If you want a team to watch and it's late night on the East Coast, you're like, hey, man, I'm still up. You know, you're like Jake's Doreale. Just getting high at night. Whoa.

Check up the game. Rumor mill. Oh, that's me. Sorry. Mason Miller, kind of a sick walkout. Song, if you haven't seen that. Jock, 0 for 41, I mentioned it before. Yeah, knock. Off Mason Miller.

Pinch hit, and hopefully that's what sparks him and maybe the whole Rangers' offense. Again, I'm glass half full with them, that their offense hasn't really done anything, and they're still tied atop that AOS. Agreed. Pitching's been great. We've been sucked into the NL.

because they have four teams going nuts. We mentioned our East Coast bias sometimes. I think the AOLS is coming back. I like where Houston's heading. I like what Seattle's done early on this year, and I think Texas hasn't clicked yet. You laughed at my changing of the guard in the AOS. There's something to that.

Look at the standings right now. There's something to them. April 25th. I don't want to... I talked about the cycle of the A's, and we're seeing this beautiful young core come up, And we've seen it so many times with them. And they win a little bit and then they don't stick around.

I hope this is such a fun team. Like, keep these guys. We're entering, they're entering their little AZ window, which it's just where does, where does the roof? Where's the roof? All right, let's get into the second half of the show. And it's brought to you by Draft King's.

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New customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. Which brings us to Standout performances. This guy stood out for Trev. I kind of want to do two now that I'm looking at the sheet.

I went with Reese Olson. We kind of mentioned him on the way through the series. He goes seven and third innings pitch, two hits, no run, seven Ks. You know, he was, his first three starts, he was like the guy in that rotation that wasn't performing. And then over his last two starts, totaled now 12 and a third innings pitch with no earned runs. Jake, 12Ks, only three walks. So he's figuring it out.

He's giving them a true five-man rotation. So I wanted to give him a little bit of shout out. And then I forgot to mention this. We didn't really talk about the series. I was going to mention it during that. Andrew Heaney, he goes into Angel Stadium. He goes six-in-s pitch, one hits, nine Ks. He was just absolutely dealing, doing it while wearing.

number 45, which, if you know, I got it right behind me. It was my buddy Tyler Skag's number. He's wearing in honor of him going into Angel Stadium, shoving a nice little homage to our guy guy tie. Yeah, I thought you might land there. Heaney, man, he's been awesome this year. He's another guy, the fastball radar gun wise doesn't jump off, but when he's on, guys just can't hit it.

And yeah, I don't, we've talked a little bit where we think Pittsburgh season is that he could be one of the more exciting. You need some innings. Trev, I had kind of an eyes wide open moment. I wonder if him and the Yankees would like another shot at each other. The Yankees really need starting pitching. I don't know the guy,

but I'm assuming he's a pretty competitive cat that he cannot love how New York went down. Yankees really need starting pitching. Every team needs starting pitching. Everyone knows the second time always the best time, Jake. What are you talking about? Who's your standout?

Man, I'm regretting not giving it to a Met or Houston. I picked our guy Bryce Terrang just because he is doing it again. Bryce Terran got off to an amazing start last year and he was like leading the war leaderboard and it's happening again.

He's got a one point. B-War right now. It's hitting 3.46. Getting on base at a 386 clip, 838 OPS, for the way this guy can run. He had 50 stolen bases last year. So, Bryce Terang, he just fell off so hard last year. Where his end-of-season offensive stats landed,

didn't really do the justice that, you know, we were, it's still a 4.7 war season. Like, guys don't do that. And he was on pace for a lot more. He's leading the National League in hits. He's leading the National League in runs. He's leading the National League in games played. You got to be out there.

Great defensive player. He won the Gold Glove last year. This guy is all around. And if his stick stays the whole season, you're talking like one of those like six, seven war, which is rare air. Yeah. He's like a peak Armstrong for me where, you know,

his defense and his speed are going to give him a high floor. And then if you put together a great season offensively, look out, you know, coming into the season, he decided he wanted to try to slug a little bit more. And he was kind of worried about contact rate on base percentage, all these things hasn't changed a bit. And the slug has gone up. So he's trying to do more damage.

It's worked. He's very, very fun to watch. Me and so Rob, Bryce Trang came to the office last year. And Rob has a story. I have a story that I left out. As Bryce Terang and Sal Freelick, they came to the office. And I think, I don't know if their PR guy said some, but, you know, they weren't Jones and to do a lot of JM silly content.

They just kind of wanted to come through, say what's up. And we did a couple things with them, awesome dudes. I didn't have a ton for Bryce. I think I was like recording, talking baseball the majority of the time they were here. So I got to see them for a second. And the last thing I saw from Bryce Terang, he hit a moonshot in Toronto. And I was like, dude, you pissed on that ball in Toronto.

And he was just kind of like, yeah. And that was kind of it. And I was like, I wish I had more. I'm just. He hates you. I'm shooting blanks right now. And then Rob, I don't know if you'd like to share this or not. I think you should.

Well, we were doing a lot of jam entertainment content at the time. And I figured a cool short would be to try to name a name that's not a name. I didn't understand that either, by the way, when you said that. It's the whole thing. Right. It's a little play on words, tricky question, like June, you know, or it's a month or something. And he just goes, uh, a name. And then that was it.

And I was like, okay. That works for me. So maybe we're just trying to win Bryce to ring back. He, God, what did you guys do to him? He must think we are the worst company around. They had fun. They had a good time. Do you tell him when I beat you in the sausage race?

Okay. That, I'm not doing that right now, Trev. I'm not doing that. that right now. You didn't know the rules. False start. Anyways, Trev, there was a ton of like I, Tyler McGill, Max Meyer, there's a lot of pitching

performances. Why don't you get Enfuego for me? And Fuego is brought to you by Corona, the official Cerva of talking baseball. Hit him with it, Trev. Corona sounds deliorego. delicious right now at 822 in the morning. I'm going to start with our guy, Francisco Lindor. He went 7 for 12 in the series.

Two homers, five runs driven in. He hit his 20th multi-homer game as a short stuff. The only players, Jake, with more, are Alex Rodriguez and Ernie Banks. How about Jordan Beck of the Rockies? He went four for eight. That's nice. Three of those hits were solo home runs. Wilmer Flores.

I'm going to talk about him a little bit later. Wyatt Langford, we talked about the Texas offense, not really getting going. This is nice for them. Seven for 12 in the series. Two homers, two runs driven in and a stolen base. Victor Scott the second. He goes 500 on the series, six for 12, three doubles and three runs driven in.

And then for the week, we got Matt Olson, seven for 20, two homers, six runs driven in, four walks. Okay. PCA, you're going to talk about a little bit later. He went nine for 21. He'll big hits there. So I'll let you do that pop. And then my guy Trevor Larnick, saving this twin season along with Byron Buxton.

Six for 23 homers, five runs driven in, two walks, doing the dang thing, Trev. A couple nice homers, too. I like that. And let's get to some pitchers. You know, I like to give them some love as well. Max Meyer has that 14K game. The strikeouts and the whiffs on his slider are unbelievable. Go check that pitch out if you haven't seen it.

I mentioned Mitchell Parker. He goes eight innings pitched, one hit, zero earned runs. He has a strike rate of 71% when ahead in the count this season. That's highest among pitchers in the big leagues. I just shouted out my guy, Andrew Heaney. Awesome, man. He's thrown his change up 24% of the time on the first pitch of a batts this season. That's the highest among NL starters.

Maybe hitters will start looking for that. He goes six innings pitch with no earn runs. Only one hit. He looked really, really good. And how about Kade Povich? The Baltimore Orioles. Orioles, we need you. We need you.

Cade Nidja, six and two-thirds innings pitch, four hits, one earned run. He has a strike rate of 76% with runners in scoring position this season. There are a lot of strikes there. That's the highest amongst starting pitchers that are qualified in the major leagues. And that's who's in the play, go, Jake.

Oh, Max, Free Dopplaganger, or not Dopplerganger, but kind of throwing motion. Lighter pockets. The other one, Max Meyer, is there a little sunny gray in there? or am I just kind of being a short, short elitist a little bit?

I could see like the short arm action too. Yeah. I can see that. And I'm glad Jordan Beck got shot out. Three homers in one day, the double header day. That's gotta be a pretty nice night. I just hit three home runs.

He's going back and looking at those highlights all night. Probably ordering a nice room service and just watching himself hit homers. Oh, that's what I did? Reveal. Trev, you get who's hot. I tend to get who's not. Art imitates life a little bit there.

The guys who are struggling. Ryan McMahon, 2 for 41. That's 049. And he's missed on 53% of his swings on breaking pitches. That's the highest in the National League. He's run a little hot and cold through his career. let's get the hot going. Brandon Lowe, I was just saying I was penciling him to the Astros October run.

Well, he's got to turn around five for his last 42. Second highest whiff rate was here. Kyron Paris, Trev, this is tough. This was your guy driving kind of the Halo's research. Is it okay? It will be. He just has to remember to be like, he's not taking like confident swings right now. The recognition phase that was so good early on isn't necessarily there.

He seems a little quick on the trigger. But yeah, he's got to get that back. 67% of swings on elevated fastballs this year with that's the highest of MLB hitters. Carlos Santana's in a 7 for 48, hitless in his last 22. Man, Michael Massey. God, we like that swing. It's just not working right now. Two strikes.

He's having a bad time, which I think gonna come up in a little bit guys with two strikes who are having a good time. So let's get all those guys off the struggle bus. Guys that are on even more of a struggle bus, the IL update.

Nobody likes to be hurt, Trev. Louisa Rise, after that collision, he went on the concussion IL. So let's hope it's that short seven-day trip. My guy, Rob Brantley. Damn, love me some Rob Brantley. Chase my droth I don't think I'm saying that right

Prospect for the White Sox He's right thumb See what goes on there Spencer Strider the hamstring I think we mentioned that in the midweek Lane Thomas was having a really Really rough start to this season Four to six weeks with a bruised wrist

Corey Seeger for the Texas Rangers hamstring strain Yikes that's not going to help Willie Castro oblique Trev go talk to your guy I know you know about obliques. Jake Mangum, who was doing a lot for Tampa Bay, left Brian's brain. And Kumar Rocker, right, shoulder impingement. So, let's, for his young arm, let's be careful.

This is where the show starts to turn. A crescendo of sorts. Returning from the IL, not yet, Trev. Keep it ready. Brian Beyo, back for those socks, some power changeups. Mason win for St. Louis. We love that. C.J. Abrams for the next.

nationals and we missed it with Milwaukee on the way through Tobias Myers, who was one of the breakout pitchers of last year. He came back for them. Now we can get it started, Trev. The weekend is here, please. Shout out, Kells. Yeah. I'm just going to get straight to the point with mine. I'm giving Wilmer Floor as my award. Wow. I am. I think I've kind of mentioned it during the show a couple times, so no surprise there. When you have a team like the giant, who are performing the way they are. Typically, you have guys kind of overperforming, if you will. And I think that guy for the Giants is probably Wilmer Flores.

And I'm not saying like he's going to crash down to Earth, but the rate that he's driving in runs is incredible. He's tied for the league lead in runs driven in 27. And it's the way that he's doing it, man. It's not all, it's not slug. It's just he's putting the ball in play. He's taking what the pitches are giving to him. A lot of singles like that.

The abat yesterday where he did not drive in a run, but he got yes first to third, I believe it was. He got a backdoor slider first pitch from Tyler Alexander, took it, and just worked at it bat down to where he, I believe it was 2-2, got the same pitch and just shot it in the three-hole. And it was just a masterful piece of hitting. So this is a guy who's, you know, I think a lot of people remember him from the trade that didn't happen. Look at this piece of hidden. Love that. That gets my juices going right there. A lot of people remember him from crying on the baseball field,

kind of with the Mets, essentially. But he's found a home here in San Francisco, and he's, you know, he's deaching. But when he is in there, it's just quality of bat after quality of bat to the tune now

where he's got an 820 OPS, a 135 OPS plus. And like I said, you know, up there, if not leading the league and runs driven in. He is, he has been,

I mean, I think there's a lot of guys that have done really well for the San Francisco Giants. Is he like the team MVP right now? I bet a lot of guys in that clubhouse would say yes. I wanted to give him a shout out. I don't think he gets, I think, you know, Willie Domas comes over. Matt Chapman's there. You know, they can talk about the pitching staff.

He gets lost in the shuffle quite a bit. But because at the rate he's driven in runs this year, he's getting a little bit more shine. I wanted to continue to do that. In 15 games, he has a run or more driven in. in the giant season so far. A guy that now has over 11 years service time, just kind of like scratch and Claude to get it, made $36 million.

Like, I just, I just like stories like this. A guy that just kept grinding. I have him and like, Miggie Rowe kind of like in the same category where like, they're not like the elite baseball players, man,

but they're great for the clubhouse. And they know what they do well. And they just, they're, they're solid ball players, which you have to have on your team, sprinkled in between the guys that can do all the crazy shit on the field that have all, you know, the physical abilities.

Like, Wilma Flores isn't necessarily that guy, but he's, like I said, he's going to have 12 years service time at the end of this year, man, like an incredible career. I don't know. I just wanted to shout him out. That at bat yesterday. I know that backdoor slider. The pitch that used to get me all the time. And for him to be able to make an at bat adjustment on it, just shows.

you kind of where he is at the plate right now. I thought it was really special. So I wanted to shout him out. Yeah, it's really some analytics for me. It's, it's really hard to be good at baseball. And then we get, we get caught up and we get caught up in the freaks, dude. We get caught up in Bryce Harper and Ellie Day La Cruz and Judge. It's just like, those guys are, those guys are a lot closer to superheroes than like the average human. Wilmer, again, probably might be close to superhero too, but he has just been, since 2016, he's got a 110 OPS plus. Like, he's just been a B, a solid B baseball player for coming up on a decade. And that's really hard to do.

And yeah, I felt bad because I feel like I was hyping him up before last season. Because in 2023, a 509 slugging, like, it was kind of this cool story of like, look, look where Wilmer Flores is at in his early 30s. Last year, injuries, some poor play. To see him bounce back has to feel really good for the Giants. And when it comes to the Giants, we always say we need a little more hitting, right? And he's providing that and driving in runs with the superheroes. Yeah, I mean, right now he is leading the league with runs driven in.

It's a fun story, man. It's a great award and a great, I love me some Wilmer. Everyone does. Maybe that's the secret. Like that very high Q score. Trev, I'm going to, I don't know what I want to call this award. Maybe the inverse Goldilocks. No, it's all bad.

Maybe it's the young bull and the old calf and even something in between. I can't get over this and it's gotten stuck in my head. And if it's honesty hour, one of the guys I was unsure about and he's probably well I was going to say he's playing the best this award goes to the Cubs outfield and

where Treve I originally was going to give my standout to all three of them because all of them had three plus hits on Tuesday night against the Dodgers but it was you know we did the trip to Wrigley and I was talking to a lot of Cubs fans and I just had this light bulb moment and I've talked about it a little bit

but I was like this outside Outfield is a dream, and we've talked about it defensively. But there's just some beautiful baseball to it. And I like that you went with Wilmer and I landed here because I can read you Kyle Tucker's stats and tell you how good he is. And he's one dotting right now OPS-wise. He's one of the better defenders in right field. Great.

There's kind of this one year. Are we only going to get this for one year? Are we going to get this for a decade that there's some tension in the air? I kind of like that. You and me like a little sexual tension. Ian Hap, like sign that little extension. Little extension. We owe him some wine.

But he's also, there's something to Ian Hap and a guy that plays great defense every day and switch hits and he's a part of the fabric and the quaffed hair looks beautiful. He's got the turtleneck on in April. There's something beautiful about Ian Hap and what that's supposed to be for every team. team should have any in half.

Like, he's, he might know, he's not going to win the MVP, but he might be an all star. He's probably going to win the gold glove. He's going to be switch hit at the top of the lineup. Like, a lot of moms have crush on Ian Hap. Oh, yeah. That's, that's the best thing you've said this entire award. That is so true.

Trev, the young bull is here. Geek Crow Armstrong. I've raved about him and maybe, maybe people are getting sick of it because they're like, okay, Jake, like you're half friends with another baseball, player's sick. Treve, there's part of me that didn't want to, like, believe Pete Crow Armstrong is this. Because there's not a lot of these in Major League Baseball.

He's third in war right now. It's Judge Corbyn Carroll, who might be a similar player comp for him, which Corbyn Carol's a guy that we're like, in his best year, he could win MVP. Like, we've, if Shohei doesn't pitch, like, Corbyn Carroll is in the running. And this guy might be it. He's 23, and I don't even care about social media or him being a nice guy, which he is. He plays some of the best center field defense you're going to see. He runs like the absolute wind.

And he's got power in there that I was skeptical of. Like, for a lot of these guys that are so good at defense, this is my speed defense episode. I highlighted Terang earlier. You don't see a lot of guys that can do everything on the baseball field. It's what we just said about Wilmer. He can do everything, bro. And this is, this Cubs Outfield. And by the way, Sayah could play Outfield

and he's hitting almost with a 900 OPS. I left him out of this exercise because there's just something Ian Hap's been there and he's, the hair's beautiful. And Ian Hap, Chicago, yes. Kyle Tucker, I don't, we want to love him forever, can we? And Pete Crow Armstrong, I think the city's falling in love

and they're going to at least love them for the next six years and maybe longer, but the Cubs got to up that offer. You said there's not a lot of guys that can do it all on the field. The three of them can do it all on the field. So they have three of those guys. I wonder when they traded for Tucker, they thought like, wow, like we had the best outfield in baseball. They probably did.

Here's your award. I'm going to turn it into an exercise for our fans. Okay. You're a parent. Just put yourself in mom's shoes or, or, or dad's shoes. Fine. And your daughter is being coveted by these three gentlemen.

Who you pick him? Because like you said, you got Ian gentlemen or, Ian gentlemen. Ian Hap's like a gentleman. You know Ian Hap is going to treat your daughter. Right. And then,

but she's like, dad, I really like this young guy. He's a lot of fun. He's electric. Dad looking at Pete Kramshon. He's like, well,

I like the dynamic player he is, but also, honey, he's kind of a wild card out there. Yeah. But also sweetheart. Yes. And then Kyle Tucker doesn't care about your daughter at all. Or maybe he does.

You're not really sure if he cares about his daughter. Who you pick him? I think as a dad, I'm going to even half. But that's just me. On paper, Kyle Tucker, you know, he went, maybe he went to the best college. It's like got the most stable job in a way. Yeah, that was interesting in a weird place to land. But it was a weird place.

That's what we do on this show. May all of your teams have winning weekends. Trick question. Say a Suzuki wins. Yeah. I wouldn't mind that. Kind of the alpha. Thank you guys so much. Comment below. What are you mad at? What did we miss?

What did you like? What do you want more of? We will be back on Monday. Play ball. I was watching the Dodger game, Dodgers Cubs game, and Workman zood that ground ball. The Oscar had a great series. I don't know.

Jake sucks. I can't hear the music. But my buddy was like, Dodgers, Dodgers. And I said, just hold on. Hold on now. Sure is enough the Cubs came back. Go Cubs. Go Cubs.

Is it?