Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - The 2024 MLB Season Has Begun! | MLB Recap | 818

Episode Date: April 1, 2024

Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/TALKINBASEBALL and get on your way to being your best self.Get 20% your first order at https://tommyjohn.com/talkin++++++Timestamps:0:00 Opening Day is the BEST5:40 American League Recap10:40 Yankees SWEEP the Astros18:50 Orioles Beat Up the Angels19:40 Guardians Beat the A's ALRIGHT20:20 Twins Beat KC, but Lose Royce Lewis21:30 Boston & Seattle Split Their Series25:40 Tigers Took Care of Their Business vs. Chicago White Sox27:05 National League Recap33:55 Rhys Hoskins and Jeff McNeil Situation46:10 Genesis Cabrera Shoves Jose Caballero49:10 Giants and Padres Split a Fun Series54:15 Dodgers Take 3 of 4 from Cardinals56:30 Arizona Diamondbacks are Good57:45 Pirates Sweep Miami59:00 Braves Beat the Phillies1:01:10 Rangers Look Good vs. Cubs, Controversies in Game 11:03:30 Standout Performances1:04:50 Bobby Miller is Going to be an Ace1:06:55 Jared Jones Impressive First Start Get Paul Skenes Up There1:08:35 Gunnar Henderson is Weirdly Underrated1:12:25 En Fuego1:15:45 Injury Updates1:17:00 Uppers and Downers Award: Nick Martini1:26:50 Nameless Jeff Award: Matt Chapman, Jack Flaherty, & Ian Happ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. We're back, baby. Opening day, the opening weekend. Oh, my God. Trevor Plouffe. Let's get it. Let's get it. We're back.

Jose Caballero. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. Presented to you by Seek. My name is Jake Storelli. That is Trevor Plouf on the West Coast. BVD, behind the plate. And we're back. And opening day was back.

And baseball is back. And I love all of it, Trev. I mean, you know we're just high on life because of a new guy wearing pinstripes that we'll talk about him in a little bit. But around the league, man. Opening day cracks me up because in a sport that's 162 and, you know, it's a long season. And, hey, it's one game. You got to put in your rearview.

Opening day we don't treat that way And I love it Like I was just right Alex Cora was 0 and 5 on opening day And it's like okay Like that's crazy And he cares about it But they're 1 in 6 now

We'll get some socks stock in there Trevor my guy guy How are you doing? It is so nice to be back 2024 season This is episode 818 If you know anything about me It's that I'm a valid guy

818 for life Um, listen, opening day, you're so right. It's just different. It feels like each series is a playoff series because that's the way the juices in the stadium and the juices in the clubhouse. Guys are fired up. You know, each a bat means so much to them because because their numbers up on the Jumbotron don't mean anything to them yet. Like that's what I always talk about in the playoffs is guys get up there. Your season's a race.

It's all about just winning the game. and that's what happens the first couple series and then once your numbers start to settle in you're like oh shit like I'm hitting a buck 70 I better get going like things start to change as the season

wears on but you're right opening day opening series are always just so excited you see the amount of excitement on these guys' faces when they drive in a run or make a good play like that stuff will go away when we get to June and July

but for now it's just everyone's fire I mean, I got on Instagram live at like 630 today because I didn't know what to do it myself. Yeah. So I'm excited to start the show. Love everyone. Thank you for joining us. It's going to be a great year, man.

A little late final game, Dodgers comeback, because why not? Because they just don't care. Let's get into it. And hey, to start the year every year, if you guys are watching on YouTube, please subscribe or wherever you're listening, subscribe, comment, review, like all that stuff helps. So we don't do that every episode. We really should because when we do ask, it actually helps and drives numbers.

Do it. So if you're a regular, even if you're not, subscribe, all that stuff helps out so much. And a reminder that every year we're trying to get better, you know, that 1% better every day. So we're going to be messing with some format stuff as the season goes. We'd love some honest feedback along the way. It's opening day. We're going to try to get as much in as we can. and the final reminder, you know your team better than us.

So if there was something you saw this weekend, comment, because we read them. And it's like, oh, shoot, okay, I didn't know that. Oh, Javier's throwing a new change up. See, I knew that one. But there's a lot of stuff I don't know that let us know about your team and we'll do our best along the way. And speaking of doing their best, Tommy John underwear. I'm wearing them now. I'll flash him at the end of this ad read.

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So get 20% off your first order right now at Tommyjohn.com slash talking. 20% on second skin at Tommyjohn.com slash talking. I'm probably going to re-up if I'm being honest. I sleep in my underwear. That's it. I'm pajamas. I don't do that, all right? when I put these bad boys on and hop in the bed

Olivia looks a little different at me in a good way don't you dare ever not show your underwear again on this show I was making a selection this morning realize ooh big game tomorrow Boone app going to a show Yanks late night I need my Tommy John

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Let's do some American League baseball. And we are heading H-town, Funky Down City, where the top drop, Space City, City with the Purple Dreg, Kelsey Wingerst, Houston. A House of Horrors for the Yankees, and the broomsticks came out. It's probably not the way you thought the new New York Yankees. They come back in the first three. games. Juan Soto, Trev. There's been a lot of Soto baiting in this office. My goodness, because he's one of the best to ever do it. Aswaldo Cabrera looked like one of the best to ever do it. He tied

all three of the first three games. And then on that final day, if you haven't had a chance to see the Hader versus Soto at bat, special stuff, special stuff. The Yankees showed a lot of fight. Stroman with a good outing. Rodon survived. Houston, they're never worried. There was a lot of new faces coming out of the pen and stuff like that. So, hey, Yankee fans are higher than they've been in a long time. Houston fans, obviously not happy, but they know they've got 158 left. MathPod.

Yankees take four. The J's and the race, they split a four-gamer, and basically you got beat up if you lost that game. 8-282, Jays and Rays, and then 5-1 Rays, 9-2, Blue Jays. Kevin Gossman pitched in that last game. I know he was having some shoulder stuff and building up, but he's back. That's big news for them. Brandon Lowe had the big homer after the mistake in the field. Justin Turner went nuts.

All the Blue Jays went nuts that first game. Two really talented ALE's teams. They kind of just back and forth this whole series. Zach Lattel. How's your sixth shot? And that's what happened down in the Trop, which had been a house of horse for Toronto, so they might be a little happier.

The Bastin Red Sox, oh, my God. Bobby Dalback. They go in to face that Seattle Mariners staff, and they survive, man. They take the bread games. Brian Beyo. He gets it done against Castile on opening day. A couple righties with some nice change-ups.

Sox kid They lose the middle two games A 1-0-0 Pivotta Kirby Fire me up for that And they lose the extra inning game But they get it done Tyler O'Neill Haven't seen a lot of us in the same room, have you?

He has a couple nice games for them And like I mentioned Cora gets his first opening day win Julio Rodriguez got his first walkoff Fire me up Guard dogs in the A's I don't know man Before opening day I kind of got myself

hyped up for the A's. Here's Alex Wood. They've got some young talent. Yeah. They lost 8-0 on opening day. They lose the next two. But they get a win on the final day. J.J. Bladay. Estuary Ruiz. Never say that name right. I'm sorry.

And for the guard dog, Stephen Kwan off to a hot start. Shane Bieber with a nice one. And a lot of their, Andres Jimenez, a three-for-three day. Guard dogs get it done against Oakland. I think a lot of teams are going to do that this year. And I think the Baltimore Orioles are going to get it done against a lot of teams this year. They take two out of three

from the halos. Everyone was getting their halo jokes in on opening day. Mike Trout, the only guy be hitting. That's tough in the 11 to 3. Corbin Burns debut. He looks good. The birds come back. They put up a 13 spot the next day. Everyone hit in Henderson, Santander, Mount Castle with Greyrod with the nice start. But the halo is a little fight on the last. last game, Taylor Ward with the Homer. Two out of three for the Orioles. Your twins, Trev, they take two out of three from the Royals. Some really nice pitching performances from Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan and the bullpins,

man, one run in each of that game while Carlos Correa showed up on opening day. Royals, they get one on the last day. Bobby Witt, Jr., sure. Brady Singer 7 shot piece standout performance, we'll see. And you're Detroit Tigers. They sweep the White Sox. So, hey, white socks might be going through some of that this year, but Scoobel 6 shut out.

Riley Green, a big day. And how about Jack Flaherty, six-inning 7Ks? And that is what happened in the American League. Why not? Why not? Did you just crush it first day, Poppy? Why not us? Why not us, Trev?

Holy shnikes, man. Hey. Yeah, we're bad. Snaps free. I haven't heard one of those in a while. you got me fired up. Unbelievable. Trev, no standings updates. We don't need the standings?

You know where your team is at right now. And I say this very proudly. And some, you know, if you want to listen to an hour 37 of Yankee fans being delusional, go check out and talk in Yanks. Trevor, I will kick to you about the Yankees Astros series because I think it is the biggest thing to come out of the American League. from the opening weekend of games. The vibes are completely different.

We're losing our minds, dude, and I don't know if it's coming off of last year being a nightmare. I don't know if it's getting to watch one of the best baseball players to ever play this game, and that's not hyperbole, dude, it's Juan Soto. Trev, Yankee fans are feeling pretty good. I mean, look, I haven't ingested a lot of Yankee social media content

over the weekend. watch the games. It was a great series for the Yankees for a bunch of different reasons, but it definitely starts with Juan Soto. I mean, and I don't, I don't think this is like

far out to say. Yes, it is. It's so stupid. Say it. But just bear with me a little bit. Please. There are guys that get traded over to your team that change, you know, the outlook of your franchise, the direction of your franchise.

Some would say the history of your franchise. The Yankees have done that a few times. I'm not going to name the one that everyone's going to point to, because that's ridiculous. But bringing Juan Soto over and watching him perform the way he's performed this first series. It's just, what else could you expect from the guy? The bats that he put up against the people he did it against. You mentioned the Hader versus Soto at bat. 3-2. Take some good pitches.

Fowl some good pitches. We're talking about, I mean, is it far-fetched to say two Hall of Famers going at each other? Like, haters, he's got to do it for a little bit longer, but his numbers speak for themselves. Two of the best doing it right now. 100%.

This is like must-watch, playoff baseball, game-on-the-line type shit, and you got Juan Soto. And let me tell you this, Hater didn't make any mistakes at that either. It wasn't like he fed the dude pitches down the middle. He was on the corners. He was inside, outside.

But Juan Soto is so disciplined at the plate. And he just has such a good idea of what he wants to do. And he can use the whole field. He can pull homers. He can hit homers to the opposite field. When you can cover that many quadrants of the plate, it's fucking... I mean, that's why he is who he is.

Like, a normal hitter can't do that. A normal hitter has to, you know, basically say, I'm going to go and attack the outer half of the plate or the inner half. And sometimes, you know, pitchroll make a mistake and you get lucky and you can cover both. But against a guy like Josh Hater, you really got to pick a quadrant and a pitch almost. But not one so. And, you know, there's got to be stories about him growing up hitting fucking sunflower seeds or, rocks or something

because you don't develop that kind of plate discipline without doing something ridiculous like that growing up. So, I mean, that I think was that at bat exemplified a difference in the Yankees. So I think that's huge. And I'll also go back to, you mentioned there's some different faces coming out of the Ashos bullpen, but the familiar ones,

the guys that are supposed to be locked down, they got hit, they got touched up. I mean, Hader gives up that single. Presley gives up a homer. Abraio gives up two homers. It was a gutsy, kind of just a great performance by the Yankees. I agree with you that the Astros aren't sweating it at all because they're the Astros and they've been there done that. I'm not writing them off whatsoever, but I am writing in the Yankees because it does seem a little bit different. And when you do have a guy like Juan Soto anchoring your lineup and you know he's going to give you these type of bats, I mean, how many hits that Aaron Judge have in the series? Two?

I think too He wasn't He didn't have to carry the team Dude like how different is that From years past So I mean other guys stepped up too You mentioned Cabrera

I know you guys always talk about You know punt lineups And the Yankees not doing that And you mentioned Bertie not being in there Hey Bertie made a hell of a play Sure did In that last game

Like so it's It was just a great series for them And I'm not ready to fucking say The Yankees are going to run away With the division or that things are always going to be this good with the Yankees and Yankee fandom. But Juan Soto is going to make you guys probably have more good days than bad days.

So like I think the other thing that's going around the Internet is the Yankees got to sign this guy. Yeah. And the price is going up. Yeah. And you know this. Like Juan Soto is going. to free agency. Like, the Yankees could not offer something to Juan Soto that I think he signed.

So I've gotten a little, I'm not going to say frustrated because it's not at all with that. But, you know, that, you know, extends Soto, what are the Yankees doing? Like, Juan Soto is less than a season away from free agency. And I don't think he can almost do anything to make his price tag go down. That Wonsoto's going to hit free agency. And if you're, if you're Yankees nation or fans, I think you're big. thing is make this year as special as possible, make being a Yankee as special as possible for Juan Soto, because the Yankees can match what any other team can offer. They're the Yankees

that when Juan Soto gets to the end of his free agency, that should be the Yankees' ultimate trump card. So I know we're already getting ahead of ourselves a little bit there, but even the dumb stuff, Trev, like hitting is contagious. Every Yankee at bat just felt more competitive. and you wonder what it feeds off. You've talked about the clubhouse dynamics a lot. Like the Latin guy said, he's the new Latin leader on the team because he's Juan Soto.

And like you said, Judge and Glaver, they didn't really contribute this series and that was all the Yankees had offensively last year. So Stroman with a good start. It was a really fun weekend of Yankees baseball. They put the pressure on them. Houston made a couple mistakes

defensively late in games that opened up one or two. So the fact it was against Houston in Houston. In Houston. Who, by the way, Houston fans, and I know we do this and sometimes we tread lightly because of our histories together, but let us know how you guys are feeling.

And Houston, remember they didn't win a lot at home last year? Like that's the button I'm pressing. Like, what's going on? Like Minute Maid used to be hell on earth. The fun fact, like going around today is since September 1st of last year, Yanks have seven wins in Minute Made. the Astros have five, including the playoffs. I'll say this about Houston.

They were in every single game. Yankees had to come back. Juan Soto has to throw a guy out at the plate in the ninth inning to save the game for the Yankees. And then you have the comeback in the last game. So, like, there's, I don't think, it's obviously not the ideal start to a season for the Astros, but they're going to be okay. No doubt about it.

Yeah. Yeah. I will be interested to see their bullpen depth of the season goes on. A couple not familiar faces coming out for Houston that. Let's see. Especially the first two games. Like the Brayu being suspended the first two, I think had a big impact. Yeah, that hurt.

That hurt. Trev, in that AL slate, what team or series sticks out the most to you? It's interesting because a lot of teams put together, you know, great efforts. But if we look at, you know, the Orioles taking care of business against the Angels, we expect that. I mean, they're, that's, I feel like I still don't give enough credit to the Orioles and, like, the talent that they have on that roster. It's, it's so good. And I know a lot of these guys still aren't, like, household names, I guess, because they're so young, but maybe they are. I mean, I don't know people.

Like, you might hear, you might hear about one of them in standout. I'm just being real. Yeah, they took care of business. I do love the shot of Jesus on Easter. Yeah, that's nice. Getting the angels to win. That's baseball. That's just good old-fashioned fun right there.

So Orioles take care of business. The Guardians take care of business. Fuzzy is on Twitter saying, man, these guard dogs are taking different bats. They're taking monster hacks and then settling in. So I like, I like that analysis from Fuzzy, and it seemed like that was the way it was going. They were hitting some bombs there.

But it's the A's. I did talk to Dallas Braden. And I said, how's it going, bro? He's like, eh. So Dallas posted Junghu Lee's first career Homer on his Insta. And people were like, so this is just kind of what you're doing now. Yeah, yeah. Dallas is in an interesting spot.

He's having fun, but it's going to be a long season for him. You know, we can go to my twins. They had a good series, although a big loss for them in Royce Lewis and the quad. You know, I don't think they've given the MRI results, but I did talk to a few people. I don't think it's great. I think this guy's going to miss two months probably. Sheesh, which is nuts. And don't quote me on that, but that's just what I'm thinking.

And he's a difference maker, man. So the twins are going to have to find something there. They do a great job in the first two games. They get good pitching performances. Bailey over, the nightmare comes out. And people are saying he might have been tipping his pitches. I haven't watched the video yet, but his line was, you know, it's atrocious. It was bad.

absolute blow-up line to start, but the Royals are still fun to watch. M.J. Melendez had some good at bats there, some good defensive plays. Bobby Witt, obviously, is just taking care of business. But a nice series for my twins overall.

What else do we got to go? I think, you know, Tigers taking care of the white socks. Another one, like they're supposed to do that. And they get some good performances. Shout out Jack, shout out school. Like, these guys are doing their thing. I think the other kind of like big series in the AO was that Red Sox Mariners, a lot of fun out there, man. A lot of fun.

The Red Sox, I think when we talked about them, we said, where's the depth, like kind of in the lineup and also the rotation? You know, a lot of these guys, you know, haven't done it a ton before, you know. We always talk about full pension PIV and the kind of pitcher he can be. And can he put it together for a whole year? He was filthy. Yeah. and to be able to match up the way they did. Peter Crawford is also herky, jerky, disgusting.

Like, I would hate to face him. But they all, all the Red Sox starters had great starts. So you could take solace in that, going up against a really good rotation with the Mariners, and you hold your own. You split the series, probably could have won the series if it wasn't for, you know, that comeback in the ninth for the, or was it not the ninth, it was in the 10th for the Mariners there.

Yeah, a lot of standout pitching performances, and it's Boston who, you know, we've and everyone has been tough on their pitching staff. Cutter Crawford had a sneaky, really nice year last year, and he builds off of it. You know, Bayo, we're waiting for the next step, and it might be coming, because the guy's big bugaboo was versus lefties, and he has a fantastic change-up, which, as long as baseball goes back, that's the righties neutralizer, to good lefty. So you'd like to think something clicks there. Pivotta, I think stuff plus-wise this spring, which is one of Eno, our guy Eno-Seres's big stats, I think Povetta was top of the list,

if not near the top of the list, that, okay, if you're Boston, that lineup still has parts of it near the top half. The bottom half, there's a lot of young and a lot of can this click, and maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. They're going to score. They're the Boston Red Sox. If they can get pitching outings like this, and that's what's all over this whole series, because George Kirby, 6.2 shutout. Logan Gilbert, seven innings, one earn run. So there was a lot of really good pitching in this series. And Tyler O'Neill, man, that's a circle that one, obviously for the similarities between me and him. But if he can tap into, a fresh start and kind of where where's that Red Sox well and hitting a couple homers.

I don't know. That's what, you know, free agency and these different teams and how much you're extending yourself or not extending. Like, this is what it's supposed to be. Like the Red Sox, hey, Tyler O'Neill, come through, have an opportunity to play with us ball out and it can be a win-win for both sides. and early returns, pretty nice there. Just to harp on the pitcher is a little bit more for Boston.

22 innings pitch, four earned runs, 27Ks to five walks. That's egg on everybody's face. Like, foot and mouth, like, okay. We knew there was potential there, but, you know, I think it's, I also think it's okay for people to say before the season, hey, we got to see it. Yeah. For a series, we saw it. So now, hey, Reds,

fans. My expectations a little bit higher. Okay. So, you know, do with that what you wish. I do want to talk about the Caballero, Cabrera play, Racas, but we'll lump that

in with the Reese McNeil thing a little bit later. Okay, yeah. I like that. And, yeah, if you're, Boston, I know, I don't know, man, you're playing four against Seattle. Everyone's been talking about their rotational off season. Get out of there with a split. And now you head to three in Oakland

and you're about to bang out this West Coast trip to start your season? Like, that stuff matters. That stuff matters. Yeah, I think we've got a lot of awards and different combos that are going to come from the other series. I know Trev mentioned,

but a little golf clap for the Tigers. I know we don't have a lot of expectations for the White Sox and there's some sad baseball going on over there. And I know the Tigers became like a sexy, kind of a sexy little AL Central. Pick as the opposite. Everyone's all over the Tigers. Everyone loves the Tigers, which I get it. Like, I see the young talent and some of the pitching, even though I was riding the Maeda bus pretty hard, and he got beat up. But they had a lot of other good happen. So we'll cover

some more of that in a little bit for now. Let's flash forward to some National League and the one interleague series. And it's brought to you by Seekkeek, our friends over at The Geek, which they probably don't want to call that. It's seat geek. 28 million downloads. Trev's got his seat there. I've got a seat here. And there's 70,000 events every single day on Seat Geek,

including sports, concerts, and festivals. Maybe you could go to, I don't know, go to an L.A. game and see Trevor Plouffe there tonight. I don't know. I'll be there. I will be there. Rubbing elbows. Your fingerprints all over on both of those teams, Yamamoto, Chapman.

And Seekek has the hookup for you guys. Use Code Talking $20 off your first purchase at Seekek. That's $20 off your first purchase with promo code talking. We've got a link. Download the app. It's so easy to use. I know how to use it. Let's do a little National League ball.

Your San Francisco Giants faced off with the San Diego Padres. Those teams should be neck and neck all year. Padres went bread games. Opening day, they're honoring side. and they get it done. You Darvish looked gross for his five innings. And Jake Croninworth with the big double. But the Giants fight back.

Kyle Harrison, how's your future? He looked pretty nasty. And Maddie Chapman with the two homer day. They followed up the next day. Jordan Hicks looking good as a starter. And Jung Hu Lee, Guy Guy, guy with his first home run. I know he won you over Trev, but the Padre fans won. one over their fan base on the last day.

They went nutty. Hassan Kim, Camp Osano Machado, and the kid Jackson Merrill. They put up a 13 burger to split that four game set. The Cardinals and the Dodgers, Cardinals Sunday night baseball, are they about to sneak out a little series split? Oh no. Te Oscar, he is a bad man. And how about Max Muncie off the bench?

Pimps his home run. Dodgers come back. good. We also saw Yamamoto bounce back in this series. Glass now. God, he's wearing the Dodger Blues. Pretty good. And Mookie Betts is just he's unreal. He's

literally not really. Bobby Miller. Oh my God. Victor Scott, too. Where'd this kid come from? He looks fun for the Cardinals. Made it out of camp. We'll dive into that series a little bit. Might not deep dive into this one too much because the Diamondbacks just

abused the Rockies. I know the Rocky's. I know the Rocky's got that third game happy for you. But on opening night when you give up, I don't know, the biggest inning in baseball history, 14 run inning, 14 run inning, people. If you went to the bathroom, you missed it. Zach Gallen shoved. Pretty much everyone hit for Arizona. Moreno, Gurriel Walker.

Merrill Kelly gets it done the second night. Jack Peterson, who sat out opening day versus lefty. He gets four hits in his first game. The vibes are high with my snakes, including Brandon Fott in the last game. Kind of one of the semi-question marks. Five innings won Ernie. Hey, Brent and Doyle, Zeke Tovar. They got it done for the rocks in that third game.

Yikes. Pirates. Okay, Trev, you drinking the coolid? They sweep the Miami fish. They take all four games after having to go 12 innings in that first one. Key Brian and Brian Reynolds they get involved there. They're in key Brian's in every game this series. O'Neill Cruz shows up in that third game.

How about our guy Rowdy, Rowdy to Les, getting Rowdy in the dugout with his big home run in that final game. Pirates, they win two extra inning games in those final three games. 799 their run scored. That Pirates offense, they kind of, as I was going through their game, TPP you saw me getting convinced. Remember, Pittsburgh did have an exciting start to last season that ended kind of quickly. Jazz Chisholm with the Slammy.

Miami, though, tough little opening weekend for them. The big dogs in that division, the Braves and the Phillies, and the Braves came out, and that thang was thangin' trep. Spencer Strider, five innings to earn. He actually gets out pitched by Wheeler, but the Braves offense. late Michael Harris, Matt Olson, and Ronald Cune. Yeah. Those same guys the next day, they pick up Max Friedi.

He doesn't get out of the first tough opening day. The Phillie, that whole place is going nuts. It doesn't matter because they get to Aaron Nola. They get 12 hit 7 earn off a Nola. Sick, man. But the Phillies do get the final one. There is a controversial call. They overturn the third out of the inning, and Trey Turner takes advantage.

Schwarbs, lead off Homer, obviously. Philly's kind of survived the Braves, if we're being honest. Speaking of not surviving, the Brewer Sweep the Mets, man. We're going to dive into this one. There's going to be breakdowns. Hoskins and McNeil, new Brewer Hoskins, picking up where he left off, just terrorizing the poor New York Mets. Freddie P. with one hit.

And that's all the Mets had on opening day. Rice Terang contributing Willie Adomis all over this series. Brew crew off to the sweepy start. And the Cincinnati Reds looked like they might have dropped two out of three to the Nats, but it's why I love this team on the final day. They come back. Our guy Will Benson with the Homer and Carnaccio and Strand back to back. We'll take the win.

A fun opening day, Frankie Montas and Nick Martini. Hey, Nats, they took that second game. CJ Abrams. He's an alien. He's a freak. They're outfield. I hope we don't talk about it. Kind of weird what's going on there. Your guy Eddie Rosario playing center field.

Final series, Rangers, Cubbies, Rangers, they take the first two, including an exciting opening day. Jonah Heim watching the ball as they're watching runs come home. Ball don't lie, as Jeff Passen said. Rangers win that one. They put up big boy numbers the next day. Seeger, Young, Adoles, and Jared Walsh, former Angel getting in the mix. Cubbies, they get the win they need on that final game.

Jordan Wicks does enough. Ian Hap four hits. Sayah, Chris Morel, I love him. Three RBI. The tough news, Justin Steele banged up for the Cubbies. That's a tough one. And that's what happened in the national. Great job, poppy.

Great job. No standings again. Take a sip of that coffee for us. you very much. Is that tea or coffee? That's coffee, bro. I'm about that life. You could be a tea guy. We got a couple tea guys in the office. It doesn't do anything for me. Doesn't, uh, what's his name? Ted Lassow hates tea. Yeah. Yeah. I, I have a little bit of that. Not sure why. Just dumb American. Ted Lassow. There you go. No standings. Where are we dropping, Poppy? Where do you want to start? Do you want to go straight to the,

Reese McNeil thing? You want to talk about the pirates. Yes. Let's do Reese McNeil because it's, you know, I think Jimmer's got a breakdown. We're talking about it on Weekly Dumb. It was one of the big ones. One of the big ones from this opening weekend. If you have no idea, Reeser, our guy, slides in a decently hard to second base.

And you see, you do see McNeil's leg give that little, that little quiver you don't like to see in any sport. And then McNeil comes up yelling. And, you know, if you know our guy Jimmy, he digs, he digs deep. And the more layers of the onion, young peel, it's starting to actually look tough for McNeil. So, Trev, I'll, I'll kick to you, man. You're the ball player. What do you got?

All right. I mean, there are so many layers to this. Let's just start off with the slide. The slide was a legal slide. He never lost contact with the base. He slid right into the bag. Was it like a tad bit late? I guess.

I guess people. But like, and you know, my stance on things on the field are I am all about player safety. I want all the best players to be on the field. With that being said, like there are times where you got to protect yourself as a player. And I don't know if, like, McNeil did that at all. He expected the base to be like a brick wall for him. Yeah. That's not the rule.

And it's not like the way that you approach second base. And, hey, much better second baseman than I was. But, like, I understand that there are times where guys are going to come in. You got to get the fuck out of the way. Especially if you're not really trying to turn it. He was already losing control of the ball that was going. Come across the base. lean towards first base,

so you just kind of collapse over the runner. Like, anytime you put your weight on that, like, back foot, like, that's when you expose your knees and your,

and your, and your leg to, you know, getting rolled on. So, like, there's a lot of things going on there. I don't think the slide was dirty.

I, like, absolutely don't. And McNeil has played long enough where there used to be much, much, much more dirty stuff in the second base. So it's, it's not like he's come up

and never experienced this at the big league level. Or like in baseball in general, like you understand how to combat those things as a second baseman. And it's what makes second base one of the tougher infield positions is dealing with that. So I don't really,

I think the whole thing was how he reacted. If he didn't react that way, like none of this fucking happens. Right. Like immediately he pointed down to Reese and started saying, you're dirty, what the fuck was that, Reese and it's like I don't know why he necessarily reacted people were

point out hey he kind of rolled into his legs like Reese was holding onto the base like that's what you're taught to do go in you're still able to break up a double play just you got to slide into the base if a guy is going to stand like that right behind the base or right on the base it is 100% completely legal and a good baseball play to go like break up a double play well and I so I don't don't get the frustration from McNeil there. I honestly just don't really understand why he was mad at all. Unless that's just like, and maybe it kind of seems,

I don't know, personally, kind of his personality. So I want to be careful because I don't want to step on Jim's toes too much because he's doing the breakdown and he dove into this hard and he had a really good tweet that was Hoskins sliding into McNeil to break up double plays. and I think he broke up four out of five or all five. But not in an egregious way. No, no, no, no.

We saw the video. It's. In a very, in a very legal way. Like, you know, if this one came up against the borderline, maybe a little more. Like you said, you could say maybe it's a little late. You know, I think McNeil's bobble kind of puts him, you know, actually in more danger. And maybe he's bobbling because he knows Reese's coming. and he knows Reese has broken up a bunch of his double plays,

which that's good baseball. Right? And that's, it's one of the first things you learn as, you know, I remember taking infield practice and, you know, you do the,

like you said, hey, we're turning double plays. You're either, come through the back, come all the way across it and make the throw. Do kind of the step on the bag and take a step back and make the throw.

Or, you know, kind of do that signature, that beautiful, do the little jump, get through the runner. You know, that's the tasty one. That's for the fans.

Brandon Phillips. Me talking about turning double plays. Welcome. Yeah, here we go. Welcome back to talking baseball people. Yeah, I think Jimmy has some more fun facts going. And I think it is a lot about how McNeil views that play. Because Jimmy's got numbers now on McNeil coming into second base.

Oh, my gosh. That are pretty eye-opening. Check the breakout for that because it is. yeah what it's crazy i i i can't believe like this isn't like almost like known around baseball and maybe it probably is basement you're just like this is awesome we won't get into that let jimmy have his his his his deal uh so that's just the one part you know it rees hits him with the wham which like right it's pretty like it's funny but it's also that's pretty and disrespectful like if someone wad me oh yeah i'd be fucking furious so like i get then why i'm

that McNeil's like talking because if you see Reese do that to you twice on the baseball field you're like dude come on so that all happens again perfectly legal slide by Reese he's doing exactly what he's supposed to do that's a good baseball play

McNeil gets fired up nothing else happens that day then we get the next day and you know there's some animosity there you're wondering is Reese going to get hit Severino's on the mound I believe there's a base open.

They don't go after him. They leave them. And Reese has a day. You know, I think he had a double or a two-run single, whatever which one it was. Then he has the Homer and he's just, he's really feeling it. And people are saying, well, you know, he, he, he waved at McNeil as he went by. No, he's given the, he's given like the, is this like, I love you or just. Yeah, to the bullpen.

The bullpen. He's been doing it for years, okay? That's what he was doing. and then we bring in what's his name? Ramirez. Ramirez, yeah. Johan.

Who, after the game, Carlos Mendoza, we can get into that in a little bit, said he has extreme control problems. Okay. Clearly you brought him in and told him to throw it at Reese. Okay. My thing is this. Do it the first at that.

And do it the right way. they're not going to throw Severino out of the game. If he hits Reese or just brushes him back, that's what Ron Darling was saying in the booth. I was watching the Mets version of it. He's like, you can brush him back without hitting him, and that sends the message. Or if you hit him and it's below the belt,

where you're supposed to do it, there's going to be warnings issued, and that's it. They are not going to throw Severin on. That was a lot of Mets fans like, how do you not know that they're not going to do it because they don't want to waste their pitcher. That's not, they're not going to throw them out, dude. Yeah.

They will give warnings if you do it the right way. Now, if you throw it his head, they might throw you out. Like, so do it the right way. Anyways, they wait, they bring in a guy that throws a bowling ball sinker. He throws it up by Reese's head behind him. And then people act like it didn't happen. Like he didn't do it on purpose. Clearly he did.

He gets thrown out, gets suspended. Mendoza after the game. I know you're not supposed to say, yeah, we came out and hit him because you don't want to get the guy even more days of suspension, more fines, the managers will get fine for that.

So like I get your, you just say, oh, that one got away from him a little bit. Like, you know, the way he went about his press conference and just kept doubling down and tripling down on how it wasn't on purpose, I'm like, dude, what are you doing?

Like, that makes you look even worse. It makes the team look even worse. Like, just say your piece and be done with it. Yeah. But to say that he has extreme control problems, why is he on the team then? Right. And that's the guy that you bring in to do it,

a guy that doesn't know where the ball's going so it could hit him in the head. Here's my thing on this. If you want to send a message to Reese, go ahead and do it. Like Reese evens after the game, there's a way to police the game on the field. And it's been going on for a long time.

You do it the right way. And then it is done. the way they did it, I don't think it's done or should be done, to be honest with you. Yeah. Now, they didn't retaliate the day after, but when you decide that you're going to defend McNeil and your team and you're not going to be pushed around,

then you're going to throw it guys. The only thing that you're doing is opening up Pete Alonzo, Francisco Lindoror to injuries. Because those are the guys they're going to throw at. They're not going to throw it, Jeff McNeil. They're going to... You throw it McNeil.

They might throw up McNeil, but they're more than likely going to throw out your big dogs. Yeah. Because that's just how it goes. So I was saying, if that happened, and the brew crew decided to throw

some of the next day, how's McNeil going to feel? Like a piece of shit. If you're the guy that causes your teammate to get hit, man, there's probably not a worse feeling on the baseball field.

so I think players need to remember that you can get fired up you can do all these things but your actions are going to have consequences and if you don't end it right there and you decide to throw it somebody you're just opening up your team to get hurt and I don't think that makes any sense ever in the game

so fuck man I don't know I thought the meds handled this so poorly I just it upset me a lot that's kind of what I think about it they handled the whole weekend so poorly and there's so many moving parts man you mentioned Severino

he gives up an infield single and a single you know he's he's already got one run on the board by the time Reese comes up and this is a guy that had a brutal year last year that he's basically got another contract year that in his first inning you know he's he's got a run on the board

he's looking at Reese hot I don't know it's there's so many moving parts there and I guess the part that sucks for me is kind of like you're saying this should almost be a non-story, like the slide itself kind of isn't. And I don't know, we just spent five minutes of talking baseball talking about this and clearing it up when, I don't know, Jackson Chereo makes his MLB debut and one of the youngest players to debut in a while. And he gave the people a smattering of everything, stolen base, highlight catches. He looks electric.

The Brewers in general, they got a lot of hitting. which has been some of their question mark, where the Mets kind of just put together a whole tough weekend at the office. And I don't know. It's one of those things. It's almost not surprising, which stinks. I said I was in a loop in, Edward Cabrera,

and Caballero. And Caballero into this. Okay. So my bad. Sorry. Ron Cabrero. So that happens. If you didn't see it,

Cabrera bunts, Cabrera throws it away. Cabrera gets thrown out at third base by 30 feet. He kind of just goes in there, just takes it, and goes past the base. Cabrera's backing up, kind of comes to the base a little bit, and they end up in each other's face. Yeah. So, like, that's, you know, heat of the moment. All of a sudden, you're in the opposing team's face. The guy just bundled on you and made you look like a fool because you threw it away.

Heated of the moment stuff. Cabrera ends up pushing him in the face. Now, I think that Caballero is a fucking pest, and I love it. And we said that on this show, it's going to cause drama all year long in the ALE East. That's kind of what he does. I thought he handled it so well.

He didn't do anything. But Wachette grabs him. Other teammates grab Cabrera. Like, umpire comes in, separates it. And that's it. After the game, Caboero says the right things. Cabrera definitely says the right things he said it's my fault

it was a heat of the moment thing and this is where it ends he doesn't want his teammates getting thrown at he understands that he messed up this is the way you handle a situation like that if Jeff McNeil

after the game said you know what I was just fired up Reese came in a little bit hard on me we've seen him do some things before but you know when I went back and looked at the video wasn't as bad as I thought end a story

none of this happens yeah yeah it's a great point so who handled it better it's a great point like come on guys I like reading Trevor blue stuff

he's got a lot of good takes thank you and Ron Darling when you have your own broadcast talking crap about you that's where they know you messed up these guys were all over them

yeah what did he say something like you can't hit a guy after he beat your you know beat the crap out of you all day just a bad

hours too late what happened. They got embarrassed. They got embarrassed. And Trev, I'm going to try to segue the segue there, because you mentioned Toronto and Tampa, which we went over quick, and it's because the games kind of were in one direction all four times split that the Jays took two, the Rays took two. You know, a lot of good outings on the field. Savali and Lattel had some really good pitching. Meanwhile, Justin Turner goes nuts in that final game. for Toronto. Boba Chet with some tough defense early on,

but, you know, he stays hitting. There's an NL series that I think has some parallels to Tampa, Toronto, because I don't know, I mean, you know, in a way you could dive in for an hour, in a way you could dive in for a minute like we just did. San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres. You know, all four of those teams are going to be competitive this year. division rivals with, you know, the teams that won their game outside of Padres kind of coming back on opening day.

They won it in some impressive fashion. So for San Francisco and the Giants, I guess is there anything that stood out to you in that series? A little bit of everything. I thought there were some great performances. We saw some fun Fernando Tatis outfield stuff. He Zuda ball, made some good catches. I'll start with the Giants though because they brought in so many

guys the guys they brought in performed Yeah I mean Chapman's doing his thing Making incredible plays at third base Hitting Homer So Lair's doing his thing Lee who like Sorry guys I bought a bunch of stock in him

Yeah you're in I saw him You know hits the Homer Like he just seems very comfortable At the plate He seems like he belongs Like he feels already like he belongs Which is not easy to do

When you come over to the big leagues for the first time I'm all in on this guy. They showed the beer shower after the game. I actually talked to my buddy J.P. Martinez, who's the pitching coach there. And he goes, I kind of wish that didn't make its way on social media.

I said, why not, dude? That was awesome. It shows team bonding. This is like, this is the stuff people want to see. I think they got a really good clubhouse there. I think they're going to be very, I think they're going to be way more competitive

than maybe a lot of people have given them credit for. And you can say the same thing about the Padres. Like, they just, they made their right moves in the offseat. and whether it was early or late, they did it. And now you mentioned all four of those teams. Those are all going to be wild card type teams.

And they're all going to be battling it out. And they're all going to be very good teams. Like I just, I think we don't give enough credit to the Padres and what they can do. We talk about the top of their lineup and that's all they have. But like they put up together some really good at bats up and down. I like the young kid in center field. He looks like he's pretty comfortable out there.

Just good baseball, man. It really was. Yeah, I think on the podcast. Or excuse me, on the giant side of thing, it is funny. Like we talked about, they got a lot of their bidding done late. Like it was one of those, the offseason felt like it had already moved on a little bit. It was like, okay, Robbie Ray trade, but when will we see him this year? Jung Hu Li, we were like, okay, this is, you know, this guy's going to have to hit a lot to live up to that contract.

But then it, then their offseason kept going, and it's So Lair and it's Chapman. And then Snell, who I think he's going to make his debut Wednesday, that it is, I had a little head tilt moment where, is it Farhan, who runs San Francisco? Farhan Zahidi. Brushed it. You know, that, that's a guy that were a couple years removed from him being like one of baseball's Wunderkin.

Like, oh, you know, Farhan, this guy's different. This guy's, you know, he's a guy that a couple years of middling Giants baseball and we kind of let that go, that they had a big old offseason and Chapman contributes. Jordan Hicks contributes. So, Lair, Lee, like all the guys that they ended up going on getting,

contribute, and on that opening weekend, that feels impactful. And I hope it is for them. On the Padre side, which, you know, we got a sampling of them over in Korea, so this is the follow-up. You know, they come back, they honor side.

that day. Trailing after the seventh inning, they only came back seven times last year so to get one of those out of the way. And then they just go nut job on the Sunday game. Camp Osano and Hassan Kim both with three-run homers for the 13 to four blowout. So yeah, I mean, that Padres lineup, when you look at their young guys, if you believe in some Jackson Merrill, Camp Osano that that Padres lineup gets long instead of kind of the Padres, we've been talking about without the balance throughout their lineup. Yeah, and I think going back to the giant side, you know, we kind of questioned their pitching staff as well.

I mean, there's a lot of interesting things they're trying to do there. I mean, you got Harrison, who's a young guy that they believe in. He had a great start. Six in these pitch, two earned runs. Logan Webb does his thing. Jordan Hicks, biggest wild card maybe in the big league as a starting pitcher. you know, they believe in this guy and he throws five innings pitch.

He walks one guy, no runs, or no earned runs. Like, if they have the, like, if they have Webb and Hicks and Harrison and Cobb and Ray and like. Snell. And Snells. It's like now all of a sudden this team's flush with pitching.

Look out for the Giants this year. It's going to be a fun year out there. I don't know how it ends. I think we half know where the Dodgers season is going to end. It'll be in October. It's just where. And again, Trev, this one's high and tight for me. I mean, that comeback in the final game was some Dodgers like, holy crap,

and these guys will not be out of a ball game all year. You know, the one game, St. Louis wins. It's in extras. Mookie goes insane. Freddie goes insane. I think you're highlighting someone from the series later. Tay Oscar, I think he gets snubbed in this series and in this lineup a little bit. But my God, man, that looked like a guy that took a one year, $25 million chance on himself,

so not too bad. But, like, that was one we just shrugged off in the Dodgers offseason, and that dude has constantly been a problem that they are special. if you have pay Oscar and Outman and Muncie having good at bats for you that lineup is it's just relentless it really is dude

watching Mookie O'Tani and Freeman hit back to back to back all year is going to be very very special but don't forget about those guys at the bottom of the lineup and Will Smith gets the extension he's a freaking animal I will say in that last game was pretty interesting you know, Vesia comes in,

gets some big strikeouts, he hits a guy, I think, 3-2, then strikes out Goldschmidt, but it's catcher's interference. Yeah. So he goes to first base, they get two runs there, then he comes back and strikes out the next guy.

And then, yeah, the Cardinals, because of the extra inning game, because of, you know, some up and downs in the bullpen, they didn't have the full slate of guys ready to go. I think Marmal did say, Helsley would have been in there if they had the lead in the ninth. But they stick with a lefty king against them righties, but ends up Muncie being the guy that gets the job done against them.

Just really, just really, really fun good at bats for the Dodgers on Sunday night baseball, you know, with a national audience. So it's going to be a fun here in L.A. And I am talking about one of their guys later on in the show. A little teaser. Snakes, you know, I love you guys, but like I kind of said, you just beat up on on the rock pile. That was as tough of a start to a season as you can have.

Rockies bounce back. Snakes are freaking, like, I don't care if it's into Rocky. The snakes are a good dang team. And I think I've been saying recency bias. They went on a run in the playoffs. What do we really know about this team? This is a team. That's what we know about this team.

That's what I like. This is a baseball team, a well-constructed roster that can beat you in so many different ways. They played great. If you haven't seen Eohenio Suarez's hair, oh my God. Oh, my God. We're a big sex appeal show. He looks like Gaston from freaking... We're baseball's number one sexy show.

I think there's no argument there. And what Suarez is putting out on the field is like... It's almost like cover the kid's eyes. I don't know if you're ready for this. It's like Fabio mixed with Gaston. They have the new helmets. He's got it behind his ears with the earrings, like. Leans back on a homer.

It's too sex. Lord is banging. Trev, again, a little high and tight before we kind of get to the second half of the show. Like, are your feelings change on Pittsburgh at all? It's four games to start the year. They win them all. I don't know. Does the scope of the pirates change?

Yeah. I wrote them off for contention in the NL Central. And maybe I don't know if they can win the NL Central, but they're going to be more competitive than I'm giving them credit to. That bullpen, talk about having a hell of a series. I don't know what the final numbers are, Beavs, you've got those final numbers. I know they're on the sheet somewhere. Chime in when you get them.

They dominated. And then we got just good old-fashioned comebacks and good at bats up and down the lineup. Rowdy Tellez tying the game, doing his thing, he was fired up. The mentality there seemed a little bit different to the mentality in the Marlins. Budhouse. Pittsburgh will add two runs over 20 and a third

innings at the third bullpen. Sure. I mean, that's how you win games, Matt. Jared Jones, a kid, first pirate pitcher. Hey, thought about him in a little bit, too. Okay. Braves, Phillies, I mean, it's kind of one of those weird ones. Everyone listening knows those guys and all those guys did their thing.

I'm kind of clean there. Sean Murphy banged up, but I don't like that. Wasn't this just like the perfect Graves, Phillies regular season series? This is Braves Phillies. Like everyone kind of went nuts. Like Max Fried gets knocked out and you're like, yeah. And then it's like, wait, the Braille. Okay, so the Braves won the game.

Max Freed got knocked out of the first inning 12 to 4. And then, yeah, that final game where the play gets overturned, I was kind of surprised it got overturned, and then Philly rolls from there. Jesse Chavez got... Obviously on the Braves again. Three innings in this game. I didn't even know he was like built up.

The Braves just were like, all right. He's always built up, bro. He's always built up. That's a great point. It's a great point. Jesse Chavez. He's never not been built up. He was built for the 1992 season.

Oh, you need three innings right now? Boom. Me, Jesse Chavez, Niger Morgan, backyard patio and Scottsdale. Maybe some devil's lettuce involved. I'm not going to say there was or there wasn't. Okay.

That's a crew right there, by the way. Holy snikies just thought about that. Dream. We're really glossing over that series. Albies, holy shit. Homered from both sides of the plate. Doesn't matter where he's hit. Matt Olson, I believe it was a 47-degree launch-angled Homer.

That's a moonball people. I would have loved to have been in the stadium for that. Just to see the height on that bad boy? Oh my gosh. Sayle with a good outing. I think Braves fans will take that every single time. He looks good. Yeah, I mean, really just it went the way that you'd think of regular season.

Phillies, Braves series would go. Some good performances, some bad ones. These teams are going to be neck and neck all year long. And then I think to close out the series, Cubs Rangers, you're defending champ, Texas Rangers. You know, we see some of the kids banging it around out there. It's my God, Wyatt Langford looks like a man, his forearms. Love him.

The forearms are unbelievable. Are just silly. I told Chris Rose that he's just a ball player. right? He just looks like his forearms look like he's worked construction for 25 years and he's 20 years old. Like it just, it doesn't really make sense to me. Um, I, the play that came out of this game was the Jonah Heim. It feels like, again, baseball moves quick. Uh, the foul foul tip, but it wasn't called. Jonah Heim's arguing and the run comes home to score. Ends up not being the deciding run in the game, but any thoughts on that, Treb?

I mean, look, you got to make the play. I know you want to argue it, but if the umpire is not saying anything, you got to go find the ball. There was another instance. I believe Sal Perez was doing the same thing in the Royals game where he was kind of asking the Empire something, but he retrieved the ball. Jonah Heim knew that.

He said that after the game. Jankelski does his thing. Gives Heim the opportunity to do his thing. They get the job done. Texas gets their rings. The banner goes down. It's a great series for them. Obviously, the walk-off,

and the second game, just exploded. Everybody hit a homer. Adelis, Josh Jung, Jared Walsh, who looks good in that uniform.

Yeah. Dig that. Not bad. He didn't know he was on the Rangers. Yeah. He looked really good. And then Seeger,

like, this guy just is a fucking baller, man. Unbelievable. On the Cubs side, yeah, Steele gets hurt on that PFP play,

but I think it's kind of like just a minor hamstring. He'll be out a couple starts, which sucks, but. I saw a month list. which that was one of my fears. I thought it was a grade one, easy hamstring pool.

Maybe they're just going to give them that time to make sure it's good, which is probably the smart thing to do. Yeah, then Shadow Happer, that last day, four for five, two ribbies. Oops. Hey, there's a lot of teams we're going to talk about a little more in the second half of the show.

That's how the show was built to be done. You know, I'm looking at a guy. I'm about to highlight in a second. Cincinnati Reds, we're always getting to you this year. You guys are my team. Let's get into stand-out performances. Stand-out performances are brought to you by Better Help. This show is sponsored by Better Help.

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get 10% off your first month. That's better help. HELP.com slash talking baseball. There's a link in the description. Trevor Goof. Who is your first standout performer of the year? I'm giving one and then a side note.

And people know I love starting pitchers. People know that about me. I'm going to go with Bobby Miller, man. Sixth and he's pitched 11Ks, one walk. He is fired up. he looks every bit of an ace. Yeah. Like this guy's going to grow into like the next,

he's like the next Walker Bueller. Like they, I mean, aren't they pretty similar? Like I know there's different types of pitches, all these different things, but the way, the moxie,

I guess is what I'm kind of talking about. He was filthy. I get a text late night from Justin Moreno. Okay. Flex. Flex, yeah. He's like, how does Bobby Miller ever give up a run?

I'm like, dude, I don't know. Like his stuff is, incredible, the swings and misses. I don't know, man. I don't know what else there is to say. I saw this guy in the spring training exhibition game against the Angels, and I saw him throw like three or four pitches, and I was all in on him.

Then I'm all in on him. Now I'll be all in on him for a long time. He has the right mentality, kind of like a different mentality than a lot of like the Dodgers players have. I feel like Dodgers players are pretty chill. What are rich dudes who are like really, really good. And like they're calm, they're calm, cool, and collected, right? You're talking about Otani, Betts.

Like, he'll show some emotion every once in a while. Freddie. Freddy's cool. Will Smith was like that. Max Muncie's like that. Bay of Miller is a freaking animal. And I think he brings that to the team, which is very important. So shout out.

I mean, what a freaking outing, dude. unbelievable. And then my little side note is Jared Jones and the Pirates. Yeah. We talk about hot boys? He's the hot boys.

He's the hair, the swing and miss stuff. Five and two-thirds innings pitch, 10Ks in his NLB debut. He follows me. We follow each other.

Oh, okay. It's like that. That's kind of why I went there. I bought all the stock. Sorry, people. It's sold out. The pirates are going obviously in the right,

direction. Paul Skeens is at AAA. Why is Paul Skeens at AAA? Hey. Give me one fucking reason why Paul Skeins is in AAA. Stick around pirates. That's all I ask. What are we doing? Get him up to the show. Treve. He's not ready. What's he doing down there, Pop? I mean, come on. You just swept the Marlins. You just swept the Marlins. You just swept the Marlins. You start off 4 and 0. Get him up there. Keep the momentum rolling. What did he do? I think It was like five innings pitched like 15Ks or so shit. Yeah. It was something close to that.

He's working on his pitches. So I don't know, man. Shout to both the starting pitchers. You know I love starting pitchers, Jake. Him and that Livy Dunn. They're an item, right? She's right. Jared Jones, 5.20K's most strikeouts since Tim Wakefield, I think.

So a little shout out in RIP, which sucks because Wakefield, awesome MLB icon in his own way. Jared Jones, top 100 prospect shoved. And yet Bobby Miller, man, it's one of those weird things. Like if Bobby Miller was a Mariners pitcher, I feel like we would have talked about him more this offseason. But he's on the Dodgers and it's just, oh, class now, Yamamoto, his Kershaw coming back.

And it's like, this guy had an awesome rookie year and he's nasty. Bieber's, I did have Bobby Miller over like 130 strikeouts on the year. He's already got 11. It's over. It's an awfully nice start. It's an awfully nice start for me. Just cash that. Great standouts, Trev.

A lot of good options this week. A lot of good options. Like there were at anyone who was, my Yankees or snakes had a ton of options that I wanted to highlight. Again, I think it's a team that's one of the best teams in baseball. And it was what you were leaking into before, Trev, and I, unplanned. I'm going Gunner Henderson. Gunner put together a three for four with a triple, a Homer, three RBI,

two runs. He made a couple nice, really nice plays at shortstop. And I had this weird moment, I think it was last week doing Waking Jake, that it was, you know, Adley Rushman came up and we got all of it. We got his kickoff highlights at Oregon State and this guy's the man and he comes up and he's taking it all in. Tackle Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, like we've got everything on Adley. He's a silly guy. I think you should leave. Like he's, you know, we got Adley covered. Jackson Holiday, dude. I everything about this guy. I know he's engaged and he's sleeping in a batting cage. I know who his daddy is. Like that kid's him. Gunner Henderson, one rookie of the year, put up crazy numbers, is kind of the reason they get to keep Jackson Holiday in the minors. Why is he in the minor leagues?

Him and Paul Skeen's texting each other every day. Dude, I don't know anything about Gunner's personality. I just know he's a baller. And he's the starting shortstop on a team that could have the best record in the American League. They took care of their work with the Halos this weekend. And man, they, even in the final game that the Angels won, like, it's why I love this team. They're relentless up and down the lineup. Like, they lined into a double play in the eighth inning.

That was the only, like, that's what was going to stop them from coming back. Like, hey, we're going to do everything right, but sometimes the baseball gods just don't kick in. And he is like, he's their current, Adley's the star, the social media star, he's the catcher and all that. Like currently Gunner Henderson is the best player on the best team, and I just like don't know who he is really.

It's the Corey Seeger thing. Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Like Corey Seeger on the Dodgers, like Dodger fans, like we can't let this guy go. We can't let this guy go. He's so freaking good. But he was, you know,

he wasn't the most outgoing, you know, like personality on a team. So you kind of just, I guess you don't see a lot of them or hear a lot of them. I feel like it's like they're very similar type personalities and players, to be honest with me. Which is a pretty good comparison for a gunner.

By the way, you don't follow me back on Instagram, Gunner. You follow John Boy Media, but not me. Stop. I'm going to be, that's every standard performance. Does this guy follow me? new segment alert no it's not big part of whether or not you stood out stop i yeah no kidding right only guys have fallen um best way to stay out yeah exactly catch my attention so many it's actually so funny because it's probably true um so many guys could have went you know we didn't even really

talk about like the rads like will benson tying the game and karnassi strand winning the game Jonathan India, 3-2, count two out, seeing a double to keep the inning going. The Reds had a bunch of standout performances. I did call, I don't know if it was on this show or baseball today, 30-30 season for Benson. I think it's a no-doubter. If he just plays.

They play him every day, 30-30 season, I would be willing to bet a lot of money on that. He was out there, Manning Center Field. He almost robbed a Homer and went off his glove. That guy, he is a dude. There's still more Red Sox-comin, people. Like if just there is still more reds thought coming you I mean you mentioned as waldo Cabrera and what he did like is that going to be a thing the pearls are going to be back

where the fuck are your pearls that you'd have them on well trev why don't we get to the next part of the show I hope you're ready for it because it's it's kind of what makes talking baseball different dark nasties on fuego that means I'm on fire baby like wakeo my favorite segment of the show baby and again what a song for this show. All right. We got a lot to get through right now. How about in Arizona? Our guy, Lorda Scurriel, Jr. goes eight for 17. What? Two doubles, three homers, 10 ribbies. Let's get it going. Oswaldo Cabrera. Just mentioned you big dog. Kind of, kind of sexy. Like good looking dude. Yeah. Swag. Like girls aren't throwing that guy to bed. Confidence. Seven for 16. Two

double, two homers six RBI. Mookie bets. Have you heard of him? My God, all he does is mash homers. Five for 13. Three of those five hits were home runs. They were all solo shots. Got to figure that out. Five walks. He's got a 1.7 during the week.

To Oscar Hernandez, my goodness, what a signing for them. Five for 16. He had three homers and six RBIs. Ozzy Albi's five for 13. Two homers, six, Ribby's, four runs, a walk in a stolen base. Juan Soto. Hit 528 in the series. Nine for 17, the double, the homer.

Four ribbies, three walks. He's just an absolute beast. And how about some pitcher love right now? Yeah. Kansas City. You know what? They look pretty good. I watched them play against the twins. They looked pretty good.

I get why people are kind of on them. I get it. Brady Singer, seven innings pitch. Ten Ks against my twins. Come on, guys. Only three hits, nowhere and runs. George Kirby,

we could have mentioned a lot of pitching performances in that series. George Kirby gets mentioned here, six and two-thirds, two hits, no-er-run runs, eight Ks. I might mess this name up. Better not. Ryan Burruki. Oaky Bar-Rookie.

Bar-Rookie? I don't know. I think Baroquee, but. We got the pronunciation sheet. Need to look that one up. For the Pirates, we talked about their bullpen and what they were able to do. This guy was a big part of it. Three games. He pitches an inning in each room. Three innings pitch, two holds.

5Ks, no runs, no walks. That's how you get the job done, my people. And that wasn't Fuego. I felt like we could have had a million more. How did you not mention? Yeah, I mean, it's opening weekend. I mentioned this on talking Yanks yesterday. The announcers were having way too much fun with like,

this guy's got a 1.5 OPS. You think that's going to keep going? It's like, it's literally the third, like, make that joke. Maybe don't even make it. that joke. Find your one spot for it. It's crazy. Make it count. Barucky. Burucky. Crushed Hussed hits. Bruck. Hicks. Hitsburgh Bullpen. And Brady Singer, man, if he pitches, I don't know. I don't know, Kansas City. I'll be watching. Um,

Slump Watch, you kind of been out and it's too early, so we're not doing that. Uh, I do think my least favorite segment of the show that, you know, we balance out in Fuego with is the injury report, but I think it's important, especially this time of year. And you know, you mentioned Royce Lewis. That's one of the big ones for me that this, you know, people are debating. Is he the best player in the AL Central? And he's the new cornerstone piece for Minnesota. You're telling me maybe two months?

I think it's not a good strain. I know he, his quotes after the game. We're just like, glad it's not my knee. Yeah. He had great quotes. Great quotes. I might just be too electric for myself. Right.

For my own well-being. I get, put that in a gray picture of my face. People who don't know Royce Lewis. Gosh, I wish it did. This guy is the best. We need him on the field. Justin Steele, that was the big one in Cubsland. We talked about that.

Might be a month. We'll see. Sean Murphy for the Braves. I mean, you know, all right. Hey, darn oh, we're just going to need you to do what you do. A couple other, Nick, Zell, Siano Perez for Baltimore. Royce Lewis, Justin Steele, and Sean Murphy definitely highlight the list of injuries this week.

But with all of that, all, I mean, just do it. It's a special feeling. Something you can't replicate. Gosh. It's just something you can't replicate. Trevor. The goat. Absolute goat, Kels.

Your first? I'm first. Award of the year. Yeah. All right. First of all, I just saw the name for your award. I can't wait for that one. My award is called the Uppers and Downers Award.

And this one's a little bit more of a mature award. I think every person kind of goes through a timeline of having an adult beverage that kind of lifts you up a little bit. I don't think they sell four locos anymore, but I believe that was kind of, I never had one. Thank goodness. I was too old for that. But you know, you drink one. There's some caffeine, a little bit upper.

You get the alcohol, a little bit of downer. Those are just not good for you. And then you graduate probably. The next one will be a Red Bull vodka, which I think it gets a really bad name. But if you have one, it's like not that bad, to be honest. So you kind of taste pretty good. But also, I think pretty not good for you. Like you have the Red Bull that gets you up and the downer for the vodka, not good.

There is one. And I think those first two are socially unacceptable. Like if I see you drinking a Red Bull vodka, I'm like, what are you doing? If I see you drinking a four-locke, I'm like, what are you doing? I don't think you should be doing those all the time and definitely probably not in public. But if you need to slam one real quick, whatever. There is one upper downer drink that is acceptable in public, but only as you get a little bit older do you start to enjoy them. Right. And that one, my friends, is the espresso martini. Espresso martini is essentially

just a Red Bull vodka. It's vodka with espresso. What's the difference my people? Am I right about that? It's just it's a societal, societal acceptance. Why is that one acceptable? It's delicious but why is that one okay? It's the adult's version of a Red Bull vodka. Yeah. And I do enjoy that.

Maybe I need to get off. Now I just convince myself probably not to have those. But like I said, you've got to be a little bit older to enjoy and that's when you start to get into them. I don't know, say around 28 to 30.

You know what else? Took a little bit of time for people to get into. My guy, Nick Martini of the Cincinnati Res. This guy is the story is awesome. And he had a hell of a weekend. So I wanted to make sure

we highlighted that he was drafted in 2011. He didn't make his Major League debut until his eighth season in Pro Bowl. I played six before I made my debut. I don't think I would have made it the extra two without quitting. It's a lot of time in the minor leagues bounces around a few different teams, never been on an opening day roster before Thursday,

never played in a big league game earlier than May. He had a stint in Korea in 2022, so this guy has just been grinding it and grinding it. Last year he signs a minor league deal with the Reds. Doesn't even go to Big League camp, Jake. Ends up on the Reds roster at the end of the year where he pinch hits, and he's kind of found something. Like since he's been a Cincinnati Red,

and this is, you know, it's 88 plate appearances, so, you know, bear with me a little bit here. but 288 batting average 352 on base 6663 slugging a 1.015. He's one dot in his Cincinnati Reds career. He likes hitting there. You could have him be a platoon guy, a pinch hitter, which he did last year. I believe he, I don't know. I thought I had the stats up.

Really good pinch hitting last year. Okay. To start the year this year, he gets a homer in the first game, gives the Reds a 3-0 lead. and his second Homer just turned into a route. It was gone, okay? He has quotes, it almost felt like nothing, even the first at bat. I had so much adrenaline because this place was packed out.

You talked about the Texas Rangers opening day. I think the Cincinnati Reds hold that title for best opening day. The place was packed. It was awesome. He's a stud. Now he has that opening day. Okay, you can do it once. He does it again.

I know the nationals end up winning this game, but he cams in to pinch hit and he gave the Reds a 6-4 lead with a two-run double in the eighth inning. Since he was called up in August of last year, August 23rd, his slugging percentage, minimum of 75 plate appearances is 675 is the fifth best

in all of baseball. Now, those are all great stats and it's a couple games, so why am I giving this guy such a shout-out? It's because of some quotes and some stories I heard about his time in Louisville last year, playing for the AAA team.

You know, he's seeing, all these guys get called up. He's seeing L.A. the Cruz get called up. He's seeing Spencer Steer and, and, you know, all the young guys that we talked about last year get called up and he's sitting in AAA. And he's not getting his flowers and he's 28 or whatever he is sitting there. Everyone talks about how good he was with these guys, helping them establish routines,

helping them understand what it's like to be a professional. Even when he wasn't hitting well, like, you know, he was really struggling at the beginning of the season, he was still doing what he was supposed to be doing, which is helping young kids out, like being a good teammate. They talk about in spring training. He was sitting, it was like him and T.J. Friedel and, you know, Emilio Pagan, other guys that are a little bit older on that Reds team were just kind of holding court in the middle of the Reds clubhouse, just talking ball, talking about life and how to be a big leagueer, what to do. Like, this guy is just a consummate professional, and now he's getting a little bit of a run,

and he's performing. I just, I love strong. I love strong. stories like that, Jake, where you grind it and you grind it and you grind it. And man, when you're in the minor leagues, you don't have anything to show for. You don't make enough money for it to be like life-changing or even, honestly, most years you don't make enough money to even really live off of. It's not fun. It's difficult. But Martini has stuck through it. I think he's found a real role on this team too. If not in the starting lineup, spelling guys from time the time, like as a pinch hitter against right-handers, like this guy can really do it. He's shown the ability to do that.

So the uppers and downers, Espresso Martini Award goes to Nick Martini. I just, I love it, man. I wanted to give a shout out. I think it's probably one of if not the best stories of opening day weekend. So shout out my guy. I love it, Treve. I told the people there was more Reds talk coming. Before I get to the Reds, I want to talk uppers and downers for a little.

little bit. One of my friends who will be named, well, remain nameless, and this isn't nameless. One of my friends, he always says, he's like, hey man, he's like, if you end up doing drugs, you know, uppers and downers, he's like, you know, each of them on their own. If you're going to do uppers, do uppers, if you're going to do downers, do downers, don't combine them. You've got to be careful with that. That's unnatural. The espresso martini, hey, have one or two. coffee dude has such a pass in our country that I don't know if it's right or wrong. Like I saw Jack Doyle from We Got Ice.

He was drinking this new like Dunkin Energy drink that's not coffee. And I was busting his balls. And he was like, should I just drink coffee? Because I don't want my balls to be busted. But what's the difference? That's a whole, that's talking coffee, which is coming on after this program. The Nick Martini story is awesome. Trev, if you want to drive yourself kind of nutty, look at his baseball.

football reference page. The guy has played 144 games and he has an 800 OPS. Like Nick Martini's been hitting. He just hasn't always gotten the right opportunity and this is a guy that did some KBO time. So for him to hit two homers on opening day only gets the opportunity because they've had some injuries. I mean, you know, Jake Fraley is filling in for T.J. Friedel and like that,

that put things in motion. Noelvi-Marté gets suspended. If he doesn't get suspended And Friedel doesn't get hurt And Matt McLean We might not be talking about him in all Instead we're talking about an all-time opening day performance And Nick Martini, he also like,

I might bump Jolly and tell him to make a video Nick Martini batted leadoff in the 2018 A's Yankees one game playoff game And it was just like, wait, who's this guy? And it's because he played for a little bit And it was getting on base So Nick Martini, everyone's got their own baseball story. And I like where you landed the bus, Trev,

because you were questioning, like, where's the Red's leadership going to come from? And it can come from different places. And maybe for now, for a little bit, a little Nick Martini. I also, I love these Reds so much. They're currently leading the National League in slugging in OPS. Jake Fraley went nuts this weekend. Will Benson went nuts this weekend.

Steer went nuts this weekend. They are so fun. And a shout out to Frankie Montas. Half missed that on the way through. They give him the one-year taster deal. He comes out six-inning shut. No walks, no earned runs. That if he's good,

let me know what that does for your Reds expectation. The NL Central. It's going to be a fun one to track again this year. Trev, you said you were excited for my award, and as I left another buddy nameless, I do want to talk about your buddy, our buddy, Nameless Jeff award, because it's where I'm going with my first award for the season. Nameless, Jeff, those that know, no, no, you know, Trev's infamous prediction video that came out.

I think one of our World Series recaps after Nameless was floating around. It was one of those, you know, at the time it felt natural. And then looking back, it was like, whoa, what are we about? The Nameless Jeff Award, and it's funny how much you've been alluding to it with your different Instagram friends in baseball now and stuff like that, that I'm giving out the Nameless Jeff Award, because Trev, I saw your fingerprints all over this weekend. And when I was looking to give out my award,

for the first one of the year, there's too many guys. I couldn't cut it down. But how about Matt Chapman giving a two-home or day? Welcome back. I'm here, San Francisco. and if I have a big season, I'm going to get a big old bag, and I just might. And what are the Giants going to do this year?

Jack Flaherty, a guy that I think we had a moment when Jack, things were starting to get kind of tough in St. Louis, and we were definitely highlighting his good outings a little more than his bad outings. I think we were having a little bit of journalistic integrity call-outs. Well, Jack Flaherty went out and dropped it for six innings this weekend, with his new tigers wearing number nine single digit pitcher yeah okay yeah you know you that's like switch that's jack that's jack a little bit um and uh he dropped it this weekend and then the last one that jumped out in a funny way to me because i still think you owe him a bottle of

wine in haps four hit day come on treff i home by like several bottles now i think interest it's it's racking up dude um that hey if i'm being honest It was a little bit of a cop out just because this opening weekend, so many guys ball out. Like, it feels weird not doing 10 minutes on Corbyn Burns. Like he goes out in Baltimore, does his thing. Jack Peterson, I was going to highlight him. He sits out opening day while the boys are just doing laps around the bases.

He shows up the next day. It goes four for four. His Diamondbacks debut. I think he was the first snake to ever do that. So there was so much. just fun, awesome stuff around the baseball field with every team that there's probably some of you listening to this that are like,

I can't believe you didn't mention blank. Well, today I'm going to tell you, mention them in the comments because there was so much, so much that to get to all of it was impossible. Was impossible. I can't believe we didn't talk about Corbyn Burns. We did on baseball today

because we did an episode after that first game. It gives up a home of a trout. Oh, man, what's going to go on in this outing? And then he strikes out 11 people, walks, none. He's an absolute menace. Baltimore Orioles fans. I'm sorry we didn't mention him because that deserved to be mentioned. Hey, it's there.

It's in there. Trev, I think it's baseball today time for you. I see Dan Rourke setting up in the lab next door right now. Oh, yeah, we're ready, baby. If you guys need more Trevor Goof, go check out baseball today. We'll be back Wednesday John Bino will be here We're in the thick of it, dude

Baseball's back Jake's cool No, just kidding, April Fool Suck me Oh, you guys didn't have Jeff Pass him To get me this year? Oh April Fool's man

Still kind of want to fight Jeff Passer I know, I can sense that It Paul Blackburn's seven shot Nice Me and Jeff Passage friendly wrestling match. Just friendly. It's on roll around.

I'd watch.