Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Toronto Hot Enough To Steal MLB Playoff Spot?

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

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Hello and welcome to talking baseball. What an episode today. Of course the AL Central steals the show. A couple big prospects making some noise. We're going to talk a lot of ball, Olive style. Yeah. Greg Maddox. Rod on Alvarez on 1A.

Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Presented by Fanatic Sports and Casino. If you're locking in your baseball bets, Fanatic sports and casino is the place to do it. Winning hits different here. I'm Jake Storrelli. That is Jolly Olive. Rob Chorakco producing Dalton Feeley in the sheet.

Sandwich between me and Jolly right now. So could get physical. Trevor Plouf, getting ready to call tonight's Yankees' Twins game, the Talking Baseball Bowl. If the twins win out, still nothing matters. Yank's still fighting for something. and they had a big series this weekend. Maybe we'll talk about that a little bit.

I forget who they played. Jolly Olive, September 14th. Here we are. Coming back from your preseason prediction of the Mets, winning the division. How are you? First off, I want to congratulate you on your World Series win this weekend. Thank you.

I know you guys been waiting for one for the company for a while. Yes. Tampa clinches, yes. Tampa Clinches. I'm good, Jake. I hung out with one of my idols for three minutes this weekend. That was awesome. Shout out Jose Iglesias. What was that about?

Just, I posted about him on my Instagram. Nice. Go follow. And then someone from his team reached out. They're like, do you want to come chat with him and see the show? And I was like, I would love nothing more. I was going to pay fruit with my own money. Yeah.

I will go instead. The perks. Kind of. That was like a nice little thing. And he was so popular. Oh my God. Oh my God. OMG science to the show.

Out of control, Jake. People are nuts. Great show, by me. That's good. Shout out. Jose Iglesias. One of the best hands, monos. Jake had a good comment on this one.

I've ever seen. Yeah, I gave you a little love. I can't chop you down all the time. It was a pleasant surprise. A Latin sexual sensation and Jose Iglesias. 68 likes. Can you use one more? Rob, get in there.

Rob, get in there. Use one more like on there. I noticed that you hadn't liked it, Rob. It's okay. Are you done? Go Giants. Crazy weekend. Yeah, I'll be honest.

New York's running hot. I mean, coming off 9-11 on Friday, 25 years. That was just an emotional day. And then segueing into baseball and then segueing into football. I mean, Rob's Jets, Jolly's Giants. Yeah. You tonight. Horses tonight.

We're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about what happened around the league. At least the games that matter. There's a lot of series that did not matter. If you're a fan of those teams, I am sorry, but I'm not at all. Because we're sneaking less than two weeks to the post season. A dozen games, right?

I mean, two weeks from tomorrow is the first wildcard game. So I'm praying Jolly has the standings, because that's... Is that my job? Kind of the only... Oh, God. You're just like the other guy. Let's do some American League. And what would American League baseball be without the St. Louis Cardinals?

Posting the Chicago White Sox, and there is a lot of A.L. Central talk today. Because, oh, my God, full circle. The White Sox, they win that middle game thanks to a Randall Gritchick. Two out, Homer, Homer. But outside of that, they drop two out of three to the Cardinals who have just been fighting all year. they can't stop Alec Burleson after a tough error to win that final game.

He's driven in a ton of runs this year. Leo Bernal got involved. Excuse me? Cardinals, they take two out of three that Chicago White Sox are leaking oil. Speaking of leaking oil, the Minnesota Twins, ever since the trade deadline

where they added, they lost two out of three to the Cleveland Guard Dogs who are going to see where they are in the standings. The Guardians, they take the Bread games as well. Anheel Martinez with the go-ahead Homer in that first game.

And then Joe Adele hit a baseball. How good he looks in the Guardians uniform? I know there's a lot of loose testosterone on this program. I can't remember a transformation better. He just looks amazing. So did Tanner Issa Bibi with a big outing to get the series. Toronto! This series was for the birds.

They played the Orioles. The Orioles won that first game. Chris Bassett with a nice outing. Max Scherzer had some, like, oozing, crazy, nice words about Chris Bassett. I don't know. I didn't know about all that. Doesn't matter. The Blue Jays won the next two games.

Alejandro Kirk and da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-baat-man. Also, Vladdy homered at home. It's September. It's been a while. Houston! Come on, Houston. Come on, Houston. Help out my Yanks.

no no the raise sweep the first one was kind of awesome gotta be honest with you camanero just being like no we're we're going to win and I'm going to walk off

this is for Tampa and then they went on to win the rest of the games too because they're sick puppies including the final game of course Richie Placios three run Homer Jonathan went around the bases a lot

Freddie Peralta where'd he start the year stop Red Sox take two out of three against the Roe Royals. They won that first game. There's my guy, Vinnie P. There's my guy, Mickey Gasper. That's two Instagram follows. Take that, Jose Ecclesias. But Boston was armed and rangerous, as he was fantastic in that second game. Whelier with the go-ahead two-run double.

And then a little story time and Peyton Tolly. He pitches, Boston wins. That could be interesting come October. Mariner's don't matter. And that's in season. sane, and part of the reason they don't matter is because they got walked off twice in Sacramento. Lawrence Butler did one, and I like him, and it was actually really sick, so that was cool. Donovan Walton did the other. I get sick, but not as sick. I don't know. I don't want to be rude to him.

I don't know. Randy put on a show, but it hasn't been enough. That's the story of the Mariners season. Your final American League series, of course it's the Colorado Rockies, and it's the Detroit Tigers, who that fan base should be furious because someone's going to win the ALE Central with 83 games and it could have been them. They swept this series,

Riley Green's 20th Homer. That's all you get because it doesn't matter. That's what happened in the American League. How you leave, though. Power in that bat. I have the Brett Bateman follow. Really? Yeah.

Why? I was there early. Deadline day. It's called believing in somebody. You could learn a thing or two. Do you want the standings? You followed Brett Bateman and he followed back? Yes.

Two homers in one series. When did you follow him? When he got traded for Kevin Galsman? Right after the trade? Did he make his debut? I don't think he had debut yet. Like trade announced and you're like, you know what I need to do? Follow Brett Bateman.

I was just scoping it out. I'm intrigued by it. If you could give me the American League standings, that would be fantastic. Thank you so much. In the East, it was a big weekend for the ALE East. It was. Tampa Bay Race clinched their spot. Not the division title yet, but 90 and 59.

They're on their way. The Yankees got a series win against unidentified team. They improved. They're four games back at 86 and 63. The Red Sox took care of business against the Royals to improve to 82 and 68. And look at the Blue Jays. Once again at 500. The mighty ALE East, huh?

A dozen games to go. You don't know what's going to happen. They're not going to win the division, but they could make some noise in the wild card series. The White Sox. Oh, my God. please stop it hurts you're making me sad in the AL Central

76 and 73 just a half game ahead of the team they are playing in Cleveland tonight the Guardian 76 and 64 everybody else does not really matter there are nine games under for both the twins and tigers and the royals exist in the West the Blue Jays would be winning the AAL West

so that's something that's a real stat the Astros are leading it at a 75 and 75 record only a game behind them as the Texas Rangers will talk about them later because they played someone in the NL. The Mariners kind of wasted another great Rainier-Rosor-Rana game, huh? 70 and 80, 10 games under, athletics and angels, I'm sorry. I won't say too much more.

Wildcard standings in the AL are interesting, though. Nothing has changed all that much, but the guardians who are in that third spot, just a half team out of the division, could shake things up a lot. The White Sox could go to a potential buy to being out of the dance. And we'll find out more in the midweek episode. The Blue Jays right outside, a game behind. The Rangers, two games behind, but I think they have their eyes set more in the division. The Orioles, do they get a mention?

I don't think they do. So it's really two teams on the outside that have 12 games to really shake everything up. But some things are locked, like Yankees Red Sox. That's exciting. Thank you, Jack. It's exciting. Thank you, Jolly. Well done.

I don't know how you and Trevor do it. Reading information. He struggles with it sometimes. He doesn't. It's mind-boggling. Big news from our partners at Fanatics. Fanatic Sports and Casino is officially live. One app that brings betting, prediction markets, and casino games together under one roof.

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Winning hits different here. Event contract trading is offered by Morton Street Trading Investments LLC, doing business as Fanatics Markets, a CFTC registered futures commission merchant and NFA member. Event contracts carry risk of the total loss and changing prices. Not good for all investors. See App for important disclosures. Yes, the Yankees, again, they play the raise in a four-game set, so there's still a Hail Mary to try to sneak the division out,

but the Rays have the tie-brainer. Or no, the Rays do not have the tiebreaker if they win one of the four games. So if the Yankees were to get there in four-game suite, but the way the Raes keep winning this weekend over Houston, who, yeah, Jolly, the Yankees and Red Sox are probably set. Tampa's probably set. Yeah. The Central and the West in the final wild card spot,

everything Texas is a game back of the division they could still win the West Cleveland could win the Central all four teams could have a buy in the first round or someone can miss the postseason I think it's fun I that's a really good sentiment because like it is fun but like how did we get here

I'm not doing this in a rude way okay Boy Scout honor I made it to the Tough I made it to the weeblos What does that mean That's like the second

It's like Cub Scout That's Cubbs yeah Wee blows Oh wow It's like And then Boy Scout Mix of the Cub Scouts You guys are speaking

A different language Of boys scouts Okay Probably like eighth grade Sixth grade maybe I did the Pinewood Derby Where you like Yeah

Oh yeah That was the only thing that I did I finished second place I did not get a medal Very proud I got not going to middle I think my brother got first. You won?

Yeah, my dad and I loaded up the front weights. Yeah. Oh, cheater. Yeah. No, no, no. It has to be under a certain weight. You can't have your dad help. It's ridiculous.

It's on you. Be a man. Oh, no, you had to. It was very clear who got help and who didn't. I didn't get help. Anyways, where was I even going with that? I don't know. The ails.

The a mess. We'll see. I'm scared. for White Sox guards. I have some J's and a lot of Ray's thoughts. Oh, this was what I was going to ask you. Okay. The Mets on last year, right,

when they just missed the playoffs. Was that, I mean, you were a Mets fan, so that obviously wasn't exciting. But I guess I'm trying to get in my, well, I don't know, you were in a Marlins jersey. Joe's McFly asked about that. I'm trying to think how that felt last year because it was what, 83, 84 wins got in the dance.

It's weird because, like, The White Sox, they're not having that same sort of slide. Like they got into first place on July 4th, I want to say. So they hit their stride in the summer. And my team last year, it was like a slow, painful death for like three months where our best star was definitely in the spring. So that's why I think as a baseball fan is more upsetting because they really had a lot of control in their destiny and still do with this upcoming series.

But it does feel like the impending sense of dread because Cleveland did this last year, two of the tigers. I know it's easy to forget because the tigers beat them in the wild. card series, but they're sort of building a reputation as like the big bad in that division, which is funny because of their brand of baseball. But at the same time, in progressive field, they push back their starter so they can line up Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, and Foster Griffin, or not Parker Messick, he pitched this weekend.

But the point remains, they're putting their best foot forward to beat the White Sox and take the division from them. And I feel like that is the kind of series where if you go in there and you get embarrassed, it could just like demoralize the entire team and end your season. Dahl showing me, oh, it is Parker Mets like I nailed it. Yeah.

Yeah, scary times. You said his name wrong? No, I thought he pitched this week. Oh, okay. I had a stat on him. Yeah, okay, I gotcha. I went to last year's standings on September 24th. The season ended on the 28th.

So this is about 10 days out or so, where we'll be in a week and a half. The Mets were in the final wild card spot, up a game on Cincinnati and Dalt's snakes. Oh, yeah, with the ever- imploding bullpen. That was a tough year. On the last day of the season, the snakes finished by losing their final five games.

Yes. I thought it was going to be you guys, and then it wasn't. Cincinnati limped in, the Mets limped out. The Reds, I think they won their first series in Milwaukee in years or something like that to, like, get in. So they did earn it that way. in the American League.

Again, these are last year's standings. We don't do a ton of this. Houston was a game on the 24th. Houston was a game out of the playoffs with an L5. They were behind the Detroit Tigers who were on an L8 to not only get caught by the Guardians, but almost missed the dance. You know what my main takeaway from that is, Jake?

We need more playoff teams. Yeah. We need more. We'll have some offseason to talk about that. Let's get into the series a little bit. And again, yeah, the Central, well, the Central and the ALE East is doing us proud, the West, my God. In the Central, my Cardinals, Ali Mar Mall,

a storyline of the season. They continue to be fun and fight, and they've got a couple new names. Joshua Baez has come up, obviously after his debut, tough to show out. and Leo Pernall, how's your three hits from the catcher position? The White Sox are an out away from getting swept this series, which what would we be saying if the standings had them behind Cleveland?

It would be a half game behind. Oh, God. I just clicked on last year's September 28th standing, so I just need to delete this page because that is not helping me. I guess, Jolly, the White Sox are, They're losing a lot. The starting pitching was kind of the yellow flag all of last month, but they kind of persevered through it.

And now who has been the big bad wolf in that division is breathing down their neck. They have three games against them. It's kind of the beautiful thing about baseball, even though the White Sox have lost 10 of their last 14 games. If they show out for three days, everything goes away. They're almost the two seed in the ale. Dude, if they get the business from Cleveland, you start wondering if they could miss the whole party,

which would be just a disgusting way for this delightful season to end. Yeah, it's the thing you worry about with a young team. I mean, they have veterans like Reynolds Gritchick, obviously, but the best players on the White Sox are young and have never been in this thick of a playoff race this deep. And, like, you do feel that pressure. Like, you feel yourself pressing in the box. You can see it as a fan, obviously.

You're seeing it with Marikami, who since August 19, has been a ghost in the middle of their lineup, 103 plate appearances, two home runs, and he's striking out 42% of the time with a 103 average. That is a huge indicator of where their offensive powerhouse as a unit has gone.

They're missing the slug in the middle of their lineup. You mentioned the pitching. I mean, they're getting killed by Luis Castillo every fifth day. That was someone who was supposed to stabilize the rotation, give them some veteran presence and some innings. He's only gone beyond five one time as a white sock. And last time they used him in bulk. the Cardinals. That didn't work either.

So they don't really have answers right now. I think they're navigating as best they can. That Raynold Gritchick home run, I called it on Twitter. It might be a season-saving home run because this division might come down to one win, and that is a win that you stole from the Jaws to defeat. It barely got out against Riley O'Brien, who might go down as a very funny all-star in a few years. I'm just saying. The point is the White Sox, I'm very worried for them because they're playing some really good pitching

in this Guardian series. They're playing the three best. Gavin Williams is going to get Syung votes. Parker Messick is going to get Syong votes. And I don't know. That feels like the kind of series

where the Guardians can win three one-run games and sneak it out. And every win kind of feels like they earned it. And I don't know. It's like what I said before. It could be a very demoralizing week

for the White Sox. I know their fans are probably feeling pretty on edge about the whole thing. But all they need, I believe, is one win for the tiebreaker. One win gives them the tiebreaker. And that's another game

in the standings. That's huge. And that's the, again, it's where the sport can be beautiful. If they're three weeks, two weeks of bad baseball can go away with a snap and we feel great about them and that Gritchick Homer can matter a lot more. Two outs, two strikes. Kind of opposite field accident. Righty, righty. Happy accident.

Riley, go easy on Riley O'Brien. White Sox are 27 and 15 against Yale Central. That's good. Yeah, I don't know. When I saw the Gritchie Comer, for me, that was kind of like, my God, they needed that. Like, you needed a baseball miracle to help get out of the spiral, but then you lose the following game. Nope. No hitter going on.

Error. Give up the lead. And it's like, oh, and now we're back in hell. And it's just bad brand of baseball, too. I guess kind of credit for the Cardinals for what they've done this whole season and they've got some new young guys. It could be an exciting Cardinals 2027 if we play baseball next year. Don't worry about that. Orbid.

And yeah, it's lining up. And I guess we could start kind of segueing this into the Guardians a little bit, who took two out of three from the twins, who I don't know, I can read some stats about them that aren't very good. Where is it? They're like one one game since the All-Star Break? No. No, that was rude.

Trevor's not here. That's kind of your Riley O'Brien a little bit. Yeah, that was. Except it's 26 guys since then one. If that was a Trev's not here, let me take a jab. I feel bad about that. The Guardians are doing it again. They have a feeling of, we've done this before.

They lined up their rotation for this series. Well, the White Sox are just looking for, like, pitchers to get through the day. And now, Gavin Williams, who's chasing the most strikeouts in baseball this year in a year where Mizorowski happened. like that feels like Jolly Olive Bar trivia in 15 years and everyone's like, no, it was Mizorowski. Like, no, man, it was actually Gavin Williams. Foster Griffin had a tough outing earlier,

but Parker Messick is having one of the most underrated seasons around baseball. Yeah, everything is pointing to Cleveland. But this is where the fun happens. I know. I mean, for me, it's really been Bazana coming back alive for them. I think you can correlate their, you know, tougher July and August stretches with his struggles because I think Rosie said it when he did baseball today when Bezana first came up of like, the Guardians are placing massive expectations on this guy for him to come up and immediately be a contributor.

And he's already kind of gone through what you'll see younger players go through in their first two years of like figuring out the league, then getting figured out, then having to re-figure out the league. And I feel like he's already endured all of that in what's been almost a full season. He came up at the end of April here. But his last, what do we have here? It's his last eight games, 32 played appearances, two doubles, three homers, the big one, 12 RBI. Like the Guardians need run producers in the middle of lineup.

They have guys that can get on base. They have guys that can play small ball. You mentioned Adele before. He's been a run producer for them. But Bazana joining that and, you know, making a solid five at the top of their lineup, it changes their entire outlook, not only for hopefully competing for this division,

but also what they can do in the playoffs, because that's been the storyline for them every year. They run into great pitching, and they're unable to manufacture the same offense. So Bezana, hopefully riding the stretch into the end of September and maybe October, if they get there, I think is a huge storyline for the Guardians. Yes. And DeLauder can put himself in the Parker Messick, like kind of seasons that it got off to such a hot start

and the Guardians went missing for a little bit. And, yeah, Rob, if you got the Joe Adele Homer, because if you haven't seen it, listed 451. And, again, I know there's Joe Ryan, sorry, pal. Watch where this ball got like it's in like, Bam, like the camera's unsure. Yeah, and I, again, I, Joe Adele always a good looking cat. I do see what you're saying.

He looks like Jorge Soler. Like he looks like, yeah, that I just didn't picture him that way. He's mashing lefties that, yeah, we've seen the Guardians have some platoon guys, but Joe Adele feels comfortable. And yeah, we've done this a couple times with coach. Trev, but there is something like, I feel like if I do this Guardians team versus previous Guardians team, I kind of like this one more. I definitely like this one more than last year.

And yeah, when Bezano got called up, there was a Chris Rose conversation that was like, you know, what could it be? And when you think one-one pick, a lot of times your brain starts wandering and you're like, do we have the next A-Rod? And it's like, well, he's sneakily the best player ever, but everyone forgets that because of the steroids and the weirdness. What was that? What was that a little agenda you had there?

Bazana, it was kind of like, can he be Jason Kipnis? Which I think there was a little shell shock at first. Like, I don't, Kipnis, very nice career, but is that what we want from a one-one pick?

He's a version of that. Yeah. And the fact it's already happening now, and can you believe J-Ram hasn't had the year? That, like, like they're doing it without. And I know my twins stat, 14 and 24 since August 1st.

So again, they were in the mix in this. As much as I like to joke about it. They held a playoff position at one point, I think. They swept the Braves and they were in a wildcars spot. Trev told me they were about to beat the Yankees in the playoffs. Did he say that, though? Yes. Then it's on him.

It's on him. Very clearly on him. It's a big one in the AAL Central this week. maybe get the second TV, the iPad, no one on. Oh, two Jake becoming an old frustrated man stories. Okay. I had the opportunity to, on Sunday, I was like, you know what? I, you know, talking Yanks day.

I was like, ooh, I have a little window to sneak in a workout here. Okay. I'm going to go for the workout, a little pre-workout, starts hitting, the sweat starts going, the brain starts spinning a little bit. And it was going to overlap with the one o'clock games, but I was like, this will be perfect. I'll put red zone on my phone. I'll get that early red zone hit 20 minutes or so getting a good pumping so boomer couldn't figure out how to get it on my phone last year the way the app worked last year

doesn't work this year it's it's like a new thing I bought like two different programs that weren't red zone trying to get red zone it was bad it was bad it was very unc boomer horrible what happened to you I fell off and then following up I told you guys I was going to open with this and I forgot. Once a month, I think it's down to, I'll go to Chick-fil-A and I'll get their A White Breakfast sandwich. Once a month, by the way. Once a month.

Once a month. Once a month. Maybe twice. Okay. Reasonable. I mean, dude, it's a Monday. Like, to start off your week going, right. I think the people at Chick-fil-A would even be like, yeah, that's aggressive. But I was, I caved and I did it.

I was like, all right, I'll order ahead. I'll go in there. I walk in there. I stand not so confident. confidently. Like, oh, what's your name? I'm like, Jake. They're like, no, we don't have an order.

Can I look at it? And I'm here, oh, I know what I ordered it. Because you ordered to a different location. Wrong location. Come on, man. Just clean that up. I let out inaudible. Fuck.

Let's go to the American Leagueist. Had nothing to do the show. The Toronto Blue Jays are back, question mark. They are game out of the postseason, which I feel like there's been just a rotating. Can someone do one of those charts? You know what I'm saying? One of those team charts and do all of that.

That would be fun. Rob, you're good with AI. Could you become a chart guy? He's big thumbs up. Big thumbs up. Toronto, I have some more on them later. Okay. So I'll tread lightly for a little bit.

But I think the highlights are, obviously winning those final two games to get the series. They're back to 500. They're a game out. And what stood out to me, George Springer, 359 batting average in his last 22 games. That matters. Him being an MVP candidate last year mattered. Vladie homers at home.

Insane. I know we, you know, you start going Tim Kirkson mode in this game and something happens. And how can you, how does it? The fact that he hasn't homered in a regular season home game in Toronto since August 17th of 20, It's nuts. And with all of that being said, here they sit with an opportunity. If they win a little over half of their remaining baseball games, they're probably in the playoffs. It's nuts, man.

I mean, they are, it's so strange because it's such a large portion of the cast from last year. But I mean, we have, I mean, this, this stat seems so made up. The Rogers Center home run stat. I don't know what, Blue Jays fans let me know, because I've tried to. to look into it and I don't really know what went wrong with Vladdy this year. I know he was injured recently, but he was healthy for most of the first half. But I mean, it's not just him. It's, you know, earning Clement's kind of been, it's been a much different story for him this year. Same with Nathan Lucas. He mentioned Springer coming alive as of late. The one steady presence for

them, Okamoto. Yeah. Okamoto like happened this year. He had a really, really good year and he's like sticking the landing. He set their rookie RBI record in franchise history passing. Yeah. Eric Hinsky. Yeah. You're a rookie of the year winner in 2002. Tide Say Suzuki with the most overruns by a right-handed hitting Japanese-born player. And we just talk about how great Sayu Suzuki is as well on our last show. So Toronto, this is a big series win for them. I am curious what a three-game set would look like because game one would almost certainly go to them because they have Say-Young two on their roster.

Dylan Cises had an amazing year. What is game two and what is games? I mean, as Scherzer getting the ball in one of those games, Jose Soriano? Like, what does that look like? It's get there. It's cease, Soriano, and then if you're being honest, the way things work now, probably Scherzer starts with it, but it's a bullpen day.

And the last time we said that, he shoved in the World Series. I was going to say, he might just shove. But no, man, their bullpen formulas coming back to life. Like, you can Louis Varland, Roger, Spencer Miles breakout, Flew Hardy? Like, it's kind of, it's potentially coming together. And yeah, the Okamoto stuff. is crazy and we've been joking about it, but the scouting report was probably good contact guy,

no MLB pop. Wrong. Here's 32 of them. Put him on the board. Yes. Red Bateman, almost two war and 30 games. Yeah, he's been awesome. That's obviously been different.

And yeah, I guess a little RIP to the Orioles who they were part of this AL disaster mess for a little bit and I think this kind of scented home. Although, did you see Pete Alonzo's having a good year? he's one home run away from 300 and do you know where he's playing this week? Where's that? He's playing at City Field. Oh.

He's going to get a big applause, right? Yeah. Because Matt's... None of it is his fault. Love him and kind of hate the team. Yeah, none of it is his fault. Okay. That's excited.

Yeah. Dalt at the buzzer. Blue Jays bullpen ERA 3rd since August 1st. So... That feels like it matters. Going from... Yeah.

I think you're right. The, other ALE's team that deserves their flowers, and then we can kind of head away from the American League. It is the Tampa Bay Rays who have deserved their flowers throughout the season because they're probably going to be the one seed. The first ALE team to 90 wins. And yeah, if you're a fan of sport, if you're a fan of young players coming into their own baseball-wise and personality-wise, junior Camerro, a raised team that has been, you know, the trop has been a joke for years.

And how many stadium renderings have we seen that haven't happened? They're actually getting a stadium. And they actually have a guy who's going to go back to back 45 Homer seasons as a 23-year-old. And yeah, in this game, they almost hit the walk-off Homer. It's off the top of the wall. And then Aranda comes up the – or excuse me, Camerro comes up the next batter and it's like, let me hit it to the moon. And then he gives the speech.

This is for Tampa. And it's just, it's a feeling, obviously raised teams with Longoria and Crawford. They, you know, Price, no. They had good energies. This feels different, man. And I, you know, I know they gave that one guy a contract extension and that didn't work out. But I hope one of the stories of this offseason is Caminero's there for 20 years because he's awesome. Yeah, I guess that's my speech on that.

Yeah, it's, you can tell these guys. play for each other, which is really cool. It's a young team as well. And like, you know, they feel in a lot of ways similar to the Guardians for me of like they do rely on three or four guys in their offense to provide a lot. But they're getting, you know, this is a good example. What Rob's shown right now, you know, Palacio's coming up with the big hit. Like, good teams get those hits. You know what I mean? But for them, it's, it's a story of how great they're starting pitching has been. Drew Rassimson finally had a healthy full season. Ian Seymour, learn his name. Ten strikeouts every outing practically. I mean, it's just nuts.

what they've been able to accomplish. They got a really nice season on a Nick Martinez, too. It's just they did a lot of raised things, but I think when you have a star at the forefront that fully embraces, like, the leadership of the team and wants the spotlight and wants to give those quotes and clearly is going to be a menace in playoff baseball because how could he not be?

It gets you more excited about the team as a whole. So the raise, they've kind of been in control of their destiny for a long time, and, like, they stuck the landing. And it's been really impressive to watch doing it against an Astros team that I think came into the series with a decent bit of momentum. It makes it impressive as well. I guess we should probably talk a little AL-West

before we wrap up. Yeah, and we'll get a little Texas Rangers in the NL, obviously. Yeah, the Astros have a one-game lead. There's 12 games left. And yeah, I guess what's scary about this, Wesneski had been, you know, he's been a guy that they've needed to step up, has stepped up, he gets rocked.

And if you're Houston and your train, trying to daydream of October plans, you know, the fear is the pitching, and they ran into a good offense, and they didn't have enough. And Yordawn's not in this. So that's the other, you know, as you look back at these games, it was 1-1 in the first game. The second game finishes 3-2 that, I don't know, Yordawn's going to win the MVP, question mark,

like unless the ankle's bad and Caminero goes nut job or something, which that would be interesting. But yeah, I honestly don't know what to do with Houston because it feels by default, yet they somewhat deserve credit from a past era, but they don't. And they missed the playoffs last year. But as I just looked at the standings, if they didn't lose five games in a row, they make the playoffs. And I don't know. Is Crapping second bait?

I don't know, man. It's like, it's a mess minus hater. And you're not. Yes. Which, not a bad to have. It pain you too. He's been cold as of late since August 30's hitting 170. But I mean, like, I wanted to bring them up because for the first time, I think, ever,

we could get a division winner in a full season that's below 500. The Astros would need to go seven and five in their last 12. They play the Royals who have been a great second half team, Braves, and then six on the road against the Meriters and A's. I don't know if I can lock in seven to five into that. but I also don't know if I have the Rangers catching them. Almost no teams in the AAL you can lock in a 7 and 5 because if you could, they'd be in the playoffs.

It's so frustrating. Ray's fans, yes, there's more Victor Mesa Jr. coming. Okay, get ready for that. Today's episode is sponsored by HIMS. It's easy to write off bedroom performance issues as part of getting older. Most guys do, but ED is more treatable than you think, and Hymns makes it simple to find out what's really going on. Hymns connects you with.

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Again, where they're at, you know, it's player tracking. Trevor Story with a two-run single in that final game. Okay. Kimberle taking the loss for Kansas City. I kind of can't process that right now. I guess the number that jumped out for me was, well, A, Ranger Suarez with a great start. Kind of a fun exercise was if you got to pick any pitcher to pitch in a postseason game, who would you pick?

I think Yamamoto is the winner after what he did last postseason and what he does on a day-in-day-out basis. Obviously, there's a Mizorowski convo. I think Ranger Suarez has a genuine argument because of his post-season history. I guess comment below. Totally, I think they're 11 and 1 in his last 12 starts. Wow. and he has one of the two immaculate innings, which I know this is a Jakey cold take,

but I'm not a big immaculate inning guy. It just doesn't hit my cool. I will say this. Peyton Tolly's Immaculate inning did hit the chord for me because he starts laughing because he's like, I might have an immaculate inning. He's awesome. Like normally the pitcher is ignore it,

no outside thoughts. This dude is just a different breed. And if he probably wasn't a red sock, he'd probably be my favorite pitcher in baseball. Well, that's the thing I love about him is that he doesn't, He's not like a clip farmer, but every start there's a clip. He is, yes. He's not farming it, though.

That's just who he is. He's just funny. Like, he's a funny guy to watch. And he's also nasty. And he, like, uses emotion. Yeah. It's cool. Like, that wasn't an adrenaline dump.

He's just happy. He's having a blast. It's sick. First inning. Him and Adley have a argument for just most fun pairing. I think you were saying before the show, Dream Blunt rotation. I didn't say that. I don't say that.

I don't say that. A tea break. Hey, what's your order of starters? for the Red Sox. Who gets game one? Who gets game two? He gets game three. As long as... Because I think it's these three guys who all shoved in this Royal Series. So the Yankees have a lot of platoon guys, and I currently like their lefty hitters a lot more.

Like, totally might be your game one starter. But Sunny Gray has been such a staple for them. It becomes interesting. I don't know. Rays, lose all your games, and we don't have to think about it. That's not going to happen. Mariners A's you don't matter. Rockies, Detroit, you matter even less.

Let's do some National League baseball. Oh, jolly. The National League East. The Atlanta Braves and the Phillies played three games in the Braves. In dramatic fashion, they win in the 11th in the first game. They win the second game. They put a 12 spot on the board. A chance to sweep, but then a six-run eighth inning by the Phillies,

I guess makes that not happen. Uh, that might have decided how the NL East was won. Jolly can't wait to talk about those two teams. I'm doing you a favor today, helping you out with the show. Oh, it's crazy. The Texas Rangers and the Diamondbacks, uh, 23 World Series much. D-backs, they win that first game. The fifth inning decided every baseball game. And in the first one, that was the snakes.

Uh, as they scored four in the fifth and five in the six, Justin Martinez, a Mackey. inning. Fantastic. Corbyn Carroll, very good, but it's Rangers, the rest of the way, you know, Elias Diaz was involved, All-Star MVP. And then in the rubber match, Corey Seeger goes Big Fly, Big Fly, and look what Cal Quantrell's done this year. Good for him, I guess. Texas wins the series. The Cubs take two out of three from the Pirates. This time of year, that might be a little obvious, although the Cubs are so streaky. They snap a four-game losing streak in that first game. They win the series in the second game.

Clay Holmes, where did he? It's a bit much. Alex Bregman is playing very good baseball. The Pirates, Nick Gonzalez, like him. Like him. Nice little swing opposite field for them to salvage the set. Cincinnati Reds went to Milwaukee, so what happened? They lost by 20 in the first game.

They bounced back by only allowing the Brewers to score 13 in the second game. At least they scored nine. So it was an offensive slugfest. Why did no one get Gino? Because Aeohenio Suarez could get hot in a hurry. He had a couple big swings in this series. Kyle Harrison. Uh-oh.

He's getting knocked around the park. Reds, they win that final game. Salvage is set. Doesn't matter. Yankees take two out of three from the... Subway series. It was all right. The 9-11 game was actually awesome.

Yanks had amazing ceremony. beforehand and they win the game. Cody Bellinger goes Big Fly. His dad was on the 2001 was it the 2001 Yankees? I'd have to double check that. He was a Yankee. I don't know. They hit McLean around a little bit. The Mets

bounced back in that second game. They put up a 12 spot-lind door goes Grand Slam. It's exciting. Garrett Cole. Uh-oh. That's interesting. Yanks and Sy Schlitler win the series on that final game. The Dodgers took on the fish and

That was their first mistake. Outside of the first game, Kyle Tucker Grand Slam, he's had a couple games lately. Also, Blake Snell, back to being unhittable. Just mark that down for October. But they face the Marlins. And if you're facing the Marlins, that means Javier Sinoja is on the field, and that means you're screwed. He comes through with the big hit in that final game. Miami wins the final two games of the series.

Josue de Paula hit a ball 600 feet. Is him and Kyle Tucker fighting for time? That could be a lot of fun. The Angels, and Nat's played. Great. Nat swept. Cade Cavali, a nice season. Good for him.

Jorvi Beavis. Moises by Esteros thicker than a cold bowl of oatmeal. He hits a home run. Your Best Western Road Warriors. Brought to you by Best Western. San Diego. Fernando. They sweep the San Francisco.

Giants, a five-run third inning. Zander Bogart showed up in this series a lot. He had four hits in the second game, and then Jackson Merrill owns Logan Webb, and he did it again on that final day. Big first and second innings for San Diego to sweep the series on a seven-game win streak in changing up the NL standings that you're about to hear. That's what happened in the national. National League. And if you want to get double points on every qualified stay at more than over 4,000 hotels worldwide, it's with Best Western. Life's a trip. Make the most of it. Book direct and save at bestwestern.com.

Nicely done, Jake. This ain't no hobby. A lot of jabs in that one, though. I didn't appreciate it. There was, but I don't know. The Clayholm felt forced. I just, I forgot. It's crazy. Because he started the season on a different team. Let's start in the East. The Braves might have just sewn up the NL East Division. with the series went over the Phillies. They had a lot of games that they played against the Phillies. They did the job. Good for the Braves.

Looks like they're going to secure that. Phillies are five games behind now, but still firmly in the wild card standings at 83 and 67. Marlins kind of never quit. They've been up and down a lot this year, but I think they might get to a 500 record. The Nats and Mets round out the bottom. The battle for the seller.

Let's go Mets. Come on. Central. Brewers have that sewn up. That's been sewn up for a little bit now, so 93 and 57, a 10 game league. over the Cubs there who also look to be in Wild Cardinals. Pirates also had 500.

Cardinals would be one game out of the A.L. West. How about that? Pirates would be winning the A.O. West. It's crazy. And O. West, the Dodgers, 959, it looks like they're going to clinch probably sometime soon. But the Padreys, seven-game heater helped make up some ground there at 81 and 68. And the snakes lurking, six and four in their last 10, but they did just lose the series. They're 79 and 71.

No one else matters from there. let's go to the wild card standings, which might shake up more than I thought it would. It felt kind of locked for a little bit, and then the seven-game heater from the Padres, a little Phillies slide here. Things could get interesting. We could be looking at maybe a Cubs Padres rematch

if the Padres continue to close that game and a half gap there. But as right now, it's still the Cubs hosting the Phillies and the Padres would be going to Atlanta, which is interesting. They have good all-time stats against the Braves. Does that matter? Not really. the Diamondbacks now in the outside.

The furthest outside, they've been in a little bit, two and a half games there. And the Pirates, we'll give them a mention, six and a half out. But 12 games, I don't know, just win all 12 and see what the hell happens. Those are your end all standings. Well done. Like you. Better than Treff.

I don't know. Easily. I don't know. Football season is finally here in JM. Football has you covered with tons of content coming out this fall. Football trivia breaking down the biggest football moments in new series like Dr. Shelfield. are releasing all football season long on the JM football YouTube channel.

Check it out. Let's do some Braves, Phillies, in a tidy fashion. Because this was, I mean, if you flashback a couple weeks ago, it was like, I think the Phillies are going to catch the Atlanta Braves. They're hotter. If you want to go back to early in the season, the slow start, Donnie baseball takes over. And then even more recently, the Braves kind of got cold again.

It's now back to a five-game lead, plus a tiebreaker, which means it's a six-game lead, which you mentioned basically 12 games left, the division's over. And I think the bigger thing for me was them fighting for the one or two seed that Milwaukee's going to get it. It was just the Dodgers. And, hey, Dodgers lose two games. It's still, you know, I wouldn't bet against the Dodgers for who takes the pill for

them every day. It's insane. That I guess that can still be interesting. But this was big for the Braves either way. Win the division. Don't end up in a wild card game on the road and being like how did we end up here when we were like the dominant team of the first half of the season.

Yeah, them playing playoff games at Truist, I think it's going to be big for them. They're still in Wild Card weekend as of now, but a lot can shake up in those last dozen games. Good for them. They took care of business in both of these series. I honestly have more Phillies notes than I do Braves in all honesty. It was the Phillies bullpen that kind of let them down the series,

which does have me worried. for their impending playoff picture because that is what kind of undid them last year in the year before. They had a nice story going with Alex McFarland, but he got beat with the Ronald O'Cunia home run in this one. Brooks Raleigh, kind of feeling like a sleeper agent from the Mets. He's been pretty rough with the Phillies as of late. He gives up runs in three straight appearances. The big one for me, though, Jonathan Ballant, who's been really good for them all year. They needed him to come up big and get a save.

He wasn't able to do it after Duran pitch back-to-back days. He's a lot of an earn run in four straight appearances. So it feels like the bullpen, a little bit running on a few. for the Phillies here towards the end. I'm not worried about the offense because why would you ever be worried about the Phillies offense? And they're starting pitching.

Do we get an update on the Luzardo injury or anything like that? So, shoulder. Shoulder. He said if it was World Series game seven, he's willing to throw. But, yeah, well, it's something to track because I've been yelling at the past couple episodes,

but like how good he has been, has been insane, because obviously Sanchez has kind of done a pull to pull, and Wheeler came back, that Lazzardo got off to a slow start, that if you missed it, he's just being incredible. So that is obviously a big thing to watch for the Phillies. I mean, yeah, they've won four of their last 11 games. They're limping pretty hard now.

And I'll say all of that with the comma of, like, as we talk about looking at last year's season that we basically fully forget, and you're seeing L8s and L5s, Braves have a tough little roadie right now. Six-game road trip coming up, two playoff teams, Cubs and Astros. Okay.

So what does that week look like, you know? That I guess for the division, we'll see how that matters, but for some potential seating, that could be something. And I'm going to jump on the sheet because the story is the San Diego Padres and what they've done with their seven-game win streak, because for weeks it's been, okay, Philly's Cubs, who's going to get home field advantage there? Does home field advantage matter?

And it's Riggily, and it's the bang. and Red October, although some of their recent home playoff games haven't been, yeah, I took that one because you don't want that Mets blood on your hands. Now, all of the sudden, a playoff that felt somewhat set, the Padres are a game and a half back of the Cubs and Phillies that if they stay hot, could they jump one of them? And that changes, that changes the whole bracket in the NL, which if A, you're looking for a team to knock off the Dodgers, which I, you know, Dodger fans won't be shocked to hear that I'm interested in that. The Padres entered the equation. And, okay, if you look at the numbers, they did sweep the San Francisco Giants who have been awful this year.

Playing better as a blade. Great. Bryce Eldridge is tall. But the fact that they did it and you do seven in a row and now it's rolling and as October gets closer, what can you turn that into? I texted Ryan Cohen, resident. Oh. resident Padres fan

and I said, what do I say about San Diego? He said, went from worried about making the playoffs to considering home games for the wild card series. That is a different feeling. He then followed that up,

unprovoked with, unless you're asking about the city in which I would say it's perfect weather, amazing Mexican food, and Immaculate Beach. Obviously not asking about the city. I said, no, man. I'm looking for Padres takes.

And he said, if Maryland Tatis are hitting and the bullpen does what they've done all year, this team wins the World Series, which I don't think that's right, but I'm excited for him. Yeah, I mean, well, one, second half Merrill is officially a thing.

So his last six games, 27 plate appearances, 12 hits, three doubles, a triple three homers, and 12 RBI. But beyond that, for his career now, because this has kind of been a thing now, first half Merrill in 252 games in his career, 700 OPS,

second half, 898. So he's just, he likes the summer, he likes the warm weather. And I think it was, something Ryan actually said to me like a couple months ago. Like he wasn't worried about Merrill at all because like the summer was starting to get going and that's when he gets going. And he was very clearly right. And that's been huge for their offense.

Xander had a big game in the middle of this, which is always big for them when they can get anything out of him. And like Ryan said, when the bullpen goes, the Padres go. But I will say I'm, you know, a little skeptical on the World Series aspiration because they're starting pitching has still been tremendously inconsistent. They got another bad Robbie Ray outing in this series. One that I feel like could have been. been good for him because he was pitching in a ballpark that he's very familiar with against a team that doesn't really boast a great offense and he still wasn't really able to get off the Schneide. So that's one I kind of have circled of like, you know, he's figuring into a

playoff plan for them probably. Like, I mean, I know they got Pivotta back and they have Michael King who's been consistent ever since he's been back from his injury. But I don't know. Like the playoff pitching formula for them gets really interesting, really quick because they need to get, you know, some innings from their rotation. Yeah, I think for them, if you're looking for a roadmap, it would be the 24 Dodgers that were just piecemealing the whole thing together outside of Yamamoto, basically. That's what they would be looking at because with their bullpen, I mean, real guys. Yeah.

Real guys that could get you seven innings that, you know, that turns into what is Pavetta. Can Pivotta, Miser, Bueller, or Ray give you three to four inning outings? Yeah. And I'd like to think they can. And then you probably need Mike King to be a guy, which I've also seen him do that in the postseason. So they have very real reason to believe.

Man, Luis Camposano cleaning up, huh? And Ethan Salas got his first hit. Ethan Salas did get his first hit. It was a... Hmm. Ethan Salas got his first hit. It's up against the wall there. I don't know if it's catchable with a better effort.

I mean, it's a home run a lot of other parts. Okay. You know, you can spin it both ways. I'm excited. Excited he got a hit. The home field advantage thing is big for the Padres. I feel like the four teams that are like in this conversation of like Cubs, Phillies, Padres, Braves, in terms of like MLB home field advantages, those four teams I would put very high up like each of them.

So these last 12 games matter a lot. I tell you what's kind of fun. Sure. It's high France paternity leave. Congrats. It's nice. What a year. The Padres next.

four games. Colorado Rockies. So the team on a seven-game win streak. You could see an all-time crash-out. Heads to Coors. Which that also bodes very well for DALTS D-back, or badly for adults D-backs. Ryan Cohn and Adam Bannon

in a room together for all four of those games. Good news for you. We will all be together at the end of this week. That's true. Can't fucking wait. Get ready. buckle up. That's awesome.

In the rest of the National League, I don't know how much of the series themselves are that juicy. I guess we can be kind of tidy with them. Snakes Rangers, the other side of that Padres equation is the snakes dropping two out of three of the Texas Rangers or chasing the AOL West Division and potentially a buy if they were to actually get hot for the first time this season. Yeah, in a comical way.

the fifth inning decided every every game in this. If you have anything you'd like to add, I'm kind of okay. Pavin Smith's back. Pavin Smith is back, Daltz guy. Brennan fought got a score agamie. I looked into that because I saw his line and I was like, what the, six and two-thirds, ten hits, no-walk

seven strikeouts, six earned runs. You mentioned Calquantrol in the recap. He's had a really nice year, but he came out with injury. You feel for the D-X because you look at their record and they would be like a top team in the American League and they were playing a team. a game out and, you know, they lost the series, but still just this whole, it's still going to be a lot of interesting things with realignment and all that and the playoff picture moving forward.

But the two errors was a big one for them. They got errors from Aronado that kind of lost in that last game there with the erod on the bump. Oh, that's a tough look. And where is Guerrillo Jr.? DFA? I saw that one to call up Haven, I think it was, which is very shocking. So, yeah, I think that's really all I got in the series. It's kind of disappointing for the snakes, but they're not out of it. Calquantral six straight quality starts.

Corey Seeger is back and hitting baseball is a long way. Dalt's got a stat he wants to show. Oh, I forgot to read it, my bed. For the first time since July 25th, more than two games separate the Padres and the D-back. So that's pretty crazy. July 25th was a long time ago. Yeah, and I don't know.

Corey Seeger's back playing good baseball. Josh Young is back, so that's your left side of the infield and your two and three hitters in the lineup. So make anything matter. make Zeke Durant's season matter. 80 and 82. Here's your division crime. And here's a buy in the playoffs.

Let's see what else. The Cubs, I don't know. They take two out of three from the Pirates. Again, I guess the Cubs and their wins and losses will matter more, as we just talked about with the Wild Card standings. I think people need to know that Alex Bregman is getting Enfuego. You might even see him down there. I don't know if he is there.

Donn shakes his head and no, I'm sorry. And yeah, this Pirates. seem again like they deserve a little bit of love, but sadly they're in the wrong league. Yeah. Ryan O'Hern came back, hit a three-round Homer. That's nice. They were definitely missing him. Don't have too much on this series.

Alex Regman is awesome. Cubs just keep on rolling. They're probably going to host a playoff series. Maybe. I don't know. That's what we're going to find out. Regman since July 11th. Well, this was after game one of the series, but it was 310, 3.83, a 638.

slug, which was, wow, the best weighted runs Created Plus since the All-Star break. There's probably some bad takes about Bregman out there. Regman Devers, PCA. I feel like he's kind of been a streaky guy throughout his career. Hall of Famer, if he has a good contract? Okay, Chris Rose. We don't need that.

As is tradition, it snaps for the... Not for the Cincinnati Reds. It snaps for the Milwaukee Brewers who beat the Cincinnati Reds. They clinch a postseason spot. so Pat Murphy can stop saying his, well, we haven't clinched yet. They do it in dramatic fashion. They get their first grand slam. Garrett Mitchell's first two games in this series.

My God, where his season stats are. He kind of happened in this year. He got injured again at some point. He's kind of always happened. That's the problem. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic. I'll take 268, 358 to 789 OPS from a center fielder, three and a half war.

And he looks like Chris Rose's son. One of my favorite clips of this year. He does look like Chris Rose. Dude, have you seen the clip? What clip? Chris Rose interviews Garrett Mitchell. Yeah. And does Brady like walk out?

I'm getting worried. Well, so also Chris Rose's son was interring for Milwaukee. Oh, I don't know that. And he was like, he's teased up the story. He's like, oh, yeah, he's like, twice a day people come up to me and they ask if I'm Garrett Mitchell's brother. And doppelgangers are always tricky because if you get it wrong, people are like, hey, man, I don't like that.

He looks exactly like him And then obviously Chris Rose starts getting emotional You're my wife's favorite player now They hug It's always something Here it is Oh But it's like

I'm trying to like picture what Brady looks like You're not my wife It's such a crazy thing to say to open I know you're my wife's favorite I was very worried when Chris Rose starts saying that But no He landed it. There's the hot.

Oh, God. Chris Rose's emotional face. Follow Chris Rose. He's hot. I got a very nice phone call from Rosie. Really? Yeah, once I landed back in New Jersey. It was nice.

Very fatherly from Chris Rose. He's an emotional guy. Brewer's fans are like, say more about William Contreras's tie-breaking three-run Homer. It's all a build-up for the post. Joey Ortiz is rocking some insane facial hair. I think they don't want to me to talk. baseball, but, which, by the way, he has some, some fantastic numbers.

But yeah, that moustache is leaking. It's just, it's leaking. Looks like he plays from Milwaukee. It doesn't stop. Robert Gasser, sure. Today's episode is sponsored by booking.com. Booking.com, yeah, an official travel partner of MLB. Booking.com makes it easy for every baseball fan to travel and catch a game wherever the team's

schedule takes them. a playoff game, a weekend series, even a random Tuesday in a city you never been. It all counts. The thing about following baseball is that every ballpark has a whole city worth exploring, the neighborhood that turns into a tailgate, the food spots locals actually go to in the streets that buzz a little differently on game day. Every stadium has its own version of that, and booking.com makes it easy to find a great hotel or vacation home right in the middle of it wherever that happens to be.

Once somewhere gets in your head, go on. Book that trip. It's easy. The easiest way from where you are to where you want to be. Booking.com, booking. Yeah. An official travel partner of MLB, Major League Baseball Trademarks,

use with permission. What do you want to say about the Subway Series? Good series win for the Yanks. They needed to take care of business. Shout out Zach Thornton. Might talk about him in a little bit. Yeah, who the hell knows. Garrett Cole, worry meter, one to ten for you.

Six. baseball is a tricky sport. The Yankees have a lot of pitching that there was already a fun wildcard conversation of how do you do the Yankees because Schler's going to win the Cy Young. Max Reed has been the best starting pitcher since 2020. Garrette's Garrett Cole.

Rodon sneakily has been fantastic. Let's see, because it can also, Garrett Cole's next two starts, he could be seven-in-ing shutout, and it's like, oh, yeah, he gave up go-for balls. So it is what it is. Judge is back. He still hasn't gotten the home run yet.

Luis Garcia Jr. is becoming one of my favorite players to watch in a long time. That guy just matches baseballs. And, yeah, I don't know. I was hoping that the race would start leaking oil a little bit so I could sit here and be like, hey, it's a two-game lead. It's four. And that team doesn't seem to leak oil. I've said leak oil a lot on this episode.

And that's not like a phrase I use, but if anyone picked up my order from Chick-fil-A this morning, I hope you enjoyed it. Oh, that was this morning? That was this morning, yes. Oh, yeah. But it was one of those things. It was kind of like a win. It was one of those like, maybe you didn't need it to start the day. Now someone gets a nice free meal.

Maybe go get a salad, pal. Dodgers, the series, I don't know if it's a story. I guess any DePaula thoughts or Kyle Tucker thoughts or I guess anything you're looking for for the Dodgers. The DePaul call-up was crazy. I didn't think we were going to get that this year. He hit a moonshot in his first at bat. He is probably going to be the real deal.

How old is he's 21 years old? Let's see. He's 21. The thing that I remember about him is that we did Dodgers spring training this year. And I saw him and I saw Zahir Hope next to each other. And I was like, who the hell are those guys? Yeah. Because they were just like massive.

looking human beings, one of them's on the Tigers now. But, you know, that was my introduction to him and then watching him hit that ball. I was like, I'm not super shocked, man. Look at that swing. Yeah. That's not even a bad pitch. It's Yuri Perez, like, it goes a long way. He tells his teammates that I'm here.

Damn. Miguel Rojas is like, if I had an ounce of that and I didn't have to work my ass on the day. No, I don't think Miguel Rojas thinks like that. He wouldn't be playoffs. eligible, right? He is. Oh, he is? Okay.

So, I believe, and if Dalty wants to go nuts on this, he can be an injury replacement, which you can use that on even, like, guys that get 60-day I-L and stuff. So I believe if they want him to play postseason baseball, that would be fun. It'll be interesting because he was D-Hing, and Shohei will be back, and he D-Hs. Or like off the bench?

Um, Dahl said I basically nailed it. So, um, I didn't know that. Good job. Thank you. Uh, yeah, I, I get it. I know what, you were involved. Go back and get the chick-fil-a sandwich. I'm involved.

You earned it. You earned it. I'm so hungry. I mean, think about that. I ordered, yeah, I ordered chick-fil-a-s sandwich about two and a half hours ago that I was like, you know what? I'm going to fucking do it. And then you mentally prepared to eat it and then you never got it.

Now it's just coffee. We're just brewing a storm. Oh, Chris Rose. Marlins won the series. I love Javier Sanoha. That dude. Dodgers go to Cincinnati. Hey, Sinci.

Here's scoble, Yamamoto, Snell, and Glass now. It's mean. Brutal. Just trying to get through some games. It's very mean. Just trying to get to the... To line these two teams up. Try to get to the final part of the season.

Kyle Tucker? interested, not convinced yet, but interested. Okay. So fun. That dude has a fine October and he will be beloved. That dude has a not fine October and, oh my God. That's full circle people. Angels Nats?

No. Excited for the Angels next year. Yes. Let's go on to the second half of the show. It's time. Your drummer. Stand out for. Standout performances.

Stand out performances. This guy stood out for Trev. Say what? Rob Sorako. I saw there's another like mega death concert or something coming up. Are you looking into that? ACDC, MetLife Stadium, September 25th, I think. Possibly going.

Hey, next concert, can you put the phone down and stop sending me videos and just live in the moment? Wow. I was. I don't know. I was. You should have seen the guy. I was there how much he documented it. He should have seen the guy in front of me.

He was recording for 10 minutes, like the songs. And I was like, this is crazy. I tapped him on a shoulder a couple of times, completely ignored me. And he's never going to watch those videos. Never. That's what I asked him. I was like, hey, when are you going to watch these? Oh, you chirped him?

Oh, it's being spirited. Well, I mean, when it's six minutes into the song, it's like, I kind of want him to watch it and then hear me. You're like, what are you doing? You seen the video of Rob doing the worm at my wedding? Sure. Have I seen that? I'm just saying we should pull it out of your mind. Who's your standout performer?

So glad you asked. I'm going to be a homer because you've been mean to me all episode and I'm giving it to Zach Thornton. I'm giving it to Zach Thornton. The Mets easily could have got swept this series because the two guys that have been great for them all year, McLean and Scott got hit. Zach Thornton. Part of a really, really good draft class for the Mets from a couple years ago where they got Ewing, McLean, and then Thornton in the fifth round.

He's not a big strikeout guy. He didn't have like tremendous numbers in the minor leagues this year, but he went to Yankee Stadium against a really good lineup, seven innings, two run runs, one walk, four strikeouts. At one point, ran into trouble in the seventh. His manager came out, said, do you want it? He said yes, got the double play to finish the outing. I believe it's only the second time he's gone seven innings.

And just really impressive young outing for the guy. I mean, if you're a Mets fan right now, you're watching for development. This is development. This is what it looks like. So really cool to see. He's messed down our performance. Great. No, I was at this game.

He was very good. And, yeah, it's interesting, you know, not the biggest strikeout guy, but, you know, in today's baseball, if you can get the right contact. And, yeah, he was pretty amped up after this double play, if I remember correctly, because he got a chance, and he took advantage of it. So good for him. Thank you. How hard was that?

AJ Ewing? Good player. A little mini PCA? Don't speak too soon, but, I mean, look at the... those age 21 season numbers. I don't know. Step right up and greet the Mets. Hey, this is a big ALE East episode for me.

Because, yeah. I'm doing a double. I've been doing a lot of these lately. I think my pick if it had to be a single would be Victor Mesa Jr. Victor Mesa Jr., it's a three-hit day at the office, three runs. Do we track runs closely enough?

hitting fourth for the raise, Victor Mesa. Well, jolly. There's a reason for that because he's been playing really good baseball. Where am I, Victor Mesa June? Nine game hitting streak slashing 377, 427, 739. In 21 games since August 5th.

21 games. It's about a month. And yeah, he's got some raised platoon stuff, but whatever, he's, he's a guy. I had, I had a raised fan chirping me. They were like, oh, you guys look like Spencer Jones. Look at Victor Mesa Jr. And I was like, this is low.

Like, we don't have to do this. But I'm glad they are, because screw it. And then Jonathan Aranda, he had a two-homer game. He's one of my, he's just a great pure hitter. He's not a big power guy, although his two homers gave him 21 on the season. And, yeah, he also has some platoon numbers. he's worse left on left.

It's still playable, but verse right, he's 291, 375, and 853 OPS. So that's just a tough dude to get out. Obviously, Cominero deserves his flowers, and I think he's going to get that on the all-JM team because Miguel Vargas is having a tough month, and Camerro continues to go. Yeah, they are... I think Victor Mesa Jr. is the guy that not enough people would know

if you're not tracking the race or baseball around the league super-cle. closely. Irondi, you probably do because he's kind of been the guy paired with Caminero and Yondi and Chandler Simpson in a way who's been going nuts. It's part of the reason the Tampa Reyes are the best team in the AAL. I love what you said. I like that you give some raise respect. Very respectful ALEs competitor.

Victor Mesa Jr. traded by the Marlins for a 19-year-old hitting 118 at low A. Good move for the race. Good move for the race. Let the kid develop. you don't you just don't see it um richie pelasios

rex specs when he catches one he sure does um and always i don't know those old time he announcer a little bit i always does when he runs into way he catches one you know palacios isn't the biggest guy in the field but when he gets one you don't hear it Brian baker's back in saving games and yelling

that's big man they uh If this raised team was named the Phillies or the Braves, would we respect them more, or do we respect them enough because this is a very much raised team? I think we respect them enough. I do. I believe that.

15 sweeps is what Dolm is the first place for 118 days. Maybe 119. I forget what Dalton had, but God, he had it. Jolly. It could have gone to Lawrence Butler. Riley Green. Kyle Tucker had a three-for-three-five RBI day. Take that, Joe Sway.

Do you know Michael Arroyo had a three-for-four. Howie Lee. Francisco Linder. Nice. Two homers. He played the Yankees. Young, Col Young, Jared Young. Real Mudo.

Dustin May. Andrew Alvarez slings it for those gnats. I'm hoping... Oh, are you ready for Enfuego? Because you're supposed to do it. I'm ready. Let's do it. Dirt nasties on Fuego.

That means I'm on fire, baby, like Waco. Am I ready? Let's see it. Let's see Big Doe. Well, I find it on the sheet. Just kidding. Garrett Mitchell. Yes.

In this series, he happened this year. Three war year for him, seven for 11 in the series. Two homers, eight RBIs at five runs scored. Good for him. You just mentioned Elbutt. Lawrence Butler having a nice end to the year, which is good. We'd like to see that from him. Five for 12 in the series, a 417 clip.

A six RBI series for him. Three home runs. It's fun to play in Sacramento. Max Clark. He's kind of come up and been steady for the Tigers. Five for nine this past series for him, a double home run, two RBIs, and four runs scored, including three walks,

like to see the rookies getting their walks. That's big. Eugenio Suarez, you said it before. Why didn't no one pick him up? Feels like a team could have used four for 10 with two home runs and five RBI. But the big one, our guy. Brett Bateman.

Yeah. Four for 12. A couple home runs. The stats here are nuts. He never homered in college over 128 games. In the minor leagues, he homer just six times in four minor league seasons. Two homers in three games basically did the same spot. Who are you, Brett Bateman?

You are a dog. That's who you are. For the week, it's Bryce Turing. Wow. It's always Bryce Turing. 10 for 19, two home runs, seven RBIs. The best player on the Brewers? Maybe.

Comment down below. Nolan Aranato went eight for 19. Two doubles three home runs. That is an experiment that worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks. good for them. Goody Bellinger kind of always plays big against the Mets. I wonder what those stats look like. Eight for 23, three doubles, three homers on the week for him. He's having a nice end to the year. And then Christian Koss. How about it? What a final name. Eight for 17, a homer two RBIs and five are unscored. Jake, that's who's in Fuego.

Yes. Yes. Yeah, I looked at the Bateman Homer. Because sometimes when you hear like a guy's not a homer guy and they get one, you're like, oh, is it down the line? Is it? He's like, no, that's a home run. Yeah. That gentleman can hit home runs. He has been a revelation. Wow. For the Toronto Blue Jays.

Some of the numbers are just silly. Let's do the bad part of the show that I do. Hey man, you've been struggling lately. It's time to pick it off. This great game comes for everyone. And in the last week, Tommy Edmund, who will probably win NLCS MVP. again is in an 0 for 18.

Mickey Moniac in a 1 for 14. Is he, did he sign a contract extension? And since he signed that, everything's been really easy with that shit. All just started hammering the laptop. Dailin Lyle. Two for 21.

I like him. Turner Hill. And a 1 for 20 for... I'm not looking at the sheet, so I don't... know. San Francisco. Sure. They're playing a lot. They are doing an old school.

The season is over. Here's all the young guys we think could possibly play. The Sacramento River Cats. Oh. For the two weeks, Walker Jenkins, two for 32. Hey, top prospect. Game comes for everyone. And I'll tell you why.

Next on the list is Jose Ramirez. 5 for 45, that's a 1111 batting average. Jung Hu Lee in a 6 for 47 saying, get me away from all these young guy. Devers is done, let me out. Where's hate? Jeremy Pena. 8 for 51.

Yipes. There's only one list that's worse than that. It is the IL. And Trent Thornton, no real. I believe to Ear Thornton. Don't think so. Out for the regular season,

left ankle sprain. S. Maryland Valded. I mean, we're running out of time. Left hamstring. Out for regular season. Kyle just being braddish. Lower abdomen. Okay.

Out. Owen Casey. Weird year for him. Out for regular season. Raphael Devers Devers. And the hottest hitter in baseball. Finishes a very good season.

I wonder if there's going to be any smoke or... fire trade talk with him yet again. It would be interesting. Anthony Siegler for Boston, one of those guys that seemingly has four hits every day, and then you look at his stats and he's hitting 230. Right wrist inflammation, TBD.

So we'll see. Returning from the I.L. Ryan O'Hern. Mashing balls. Edward Cabrera, as the Cubs are looking for innings. Nate Dogg of Valdi for Texas. Will he pitch in an October game? Josh Young, thick-neck.

playing the Lears with a game-tying hit. He's back. Remember how good he was? Tanner Banks for Phillies. Okay. Wilson Contreras for Boston. Did you see his minor league little... That was awesome.

That guy, man. Sometimes a magnet is the word I would use. And Xavier Edwards for Miami. That's who's back. Let's start everyone's week the right way. See Kelsey this week? Yeah. Right?

That's exciting. This week. It's nice. exciting awards brought to you by seat geek code talking 2026 10% off jolly what's your award Jake I'm so glad you asked we're gonna bookend the show with the AL central how about that how about that I'm giving out the I am inevitable award and it goes to someone who I got to meet in spring training this year who I think flex is the nicest and funniest baseball player I've ever talked to probably the most personable guy I've ever met that played major league baseball

Interesting. But on June 21st, he was staring down the barrel of a horrible season ahead of an important arbitration case, big time money. On June 21st, Stephen Kwan had the lowest OPS of any qualified hitter in Major League Baseball. He had a 567 clip. He was a big reason why the Guardians were scuffling and the White Sox were kind of running away with things. And when you look up right now, Jake, guess who's going to end the season with five war? Yeah. Stephen Kwan.

In 140 games played, the slash line kind of looks the way it usually does, but I think we just undervalue how good his defense is. But then look and zoom in from that point on June 21st. His last 60 games, he only has 14 RBI, which feels impossible. But in that span, he's hitting 355 with a 440 on base. Both of those marks are the best marks in baseball. He's back to doing Stephen Kwan thinks. He's missed on just 4% of swings on pitches in the strike zone.

That's the best in MLB, contact maniac sitting two 42 with two strikes second best in the a l he has 35 strikeouts and 407 plate appearances against right-handed pitching second best in the a al he's finishing the year incredibly strong and i feel stupid because at one point in june i was like oh shit should i doubt stephen kwan are the guardian's just going to like not offer him a contract of course not of course he's becoming probably at years on the most valuable player on the team he is inevitable he is Stephen Kwan, he gets my award this week. Stephen Kwan is awesome.

I'm excited. It turned around because I think there was conversations about, like, you know, can you even be a contact hitter in baseball anymore? Like we're sitting here, like, two strike approaches and do that. And then everyone's like, well, that's impossible because everyone throws 98. So you try to swing hard. So if you do hit it, the ball goes. And it's not like Stephen Kwan's not swinging hard.

He's still swinging a piece of lumber. But yeah, it's, I would be scared to dig up some talking baseball episodes where the Guardians were losing games and Stephen Quad was being bad. And it's, you know, he's starting to get paid, which in Guardians world, that's when that's when you have to find a new team, but it's hard to find a new team if you have an OPS in the low sixes. He's been awesome and something we always love on this program, Jolly. What's up?

75 walks, 59 strikeouts. Yeah. Get that guy on my favorite team. Feels near impossible. And yeah, they'll probably get a buy. Quirky personality a little bit. A little bit of like a jitterbug. Kind of knew a lot about video games, which endeared me.

Because we did like a backyard baseball thing, and then he just started talking about games that he liked. And I was like, I play those games. That's awesome. Stephen Kwan. Best left fielder in baseball. Jimmy Norp has been quiet about Stephen Kwan. Oh.

Quiet. Oh. There was a lot of chatter from Jimmy Norp earlier, less now. Just saying. Great job. Thank you. Jack. I was looking for a more clever name.

Maybe I will do. Not the champ is. I'm going to do the Inside Boxing Live award. Uh, our guy, Dan Kenobio, uh, former friend of the family, still friend of the family. So I guess that works out. He just had his 500th episode of Inside Boxing Life. So good for him. We used to be a boxing company.

Um, you know, I, one of the favorite, Muhammad Ali, you heard of him? Mm-mm. The champ is here. Not my book. Or, you know, I, I originally labeled this to get off the Mada War. A lot of fighting stuff. Leaking oil. I said it's a, I said it's a, I said it's a,

Big AL East episode. Gave the raise their flowers. My Yanks battling and grinding. Sox took it. There's one other ALEs series. Baltimore Birds, their season kind of ended. Baseball's a funny sport sometimes, man. Toronto won the A.L.

Last year. The champ isn't dead until they're dead. Yeah. If I had you place a bet, jolly. Vladimir Guerrera Jr. after hitting his first homer at home in over a year in the regular season. If you had to bet for the final two weeks, do you think he's going to play well or badly?

If you know this beautiful game, the safe bet is he's going to go nuts. I like to believe that a big game player is a thing. I think he is one. George Springer, 22 games, 359 batting average. Brett Bateman, who we've talked about, a ton. Dylan Cease. Syung 2 is fine.

Jose Soriano has come through. The bullpen has a formula. Okamoto's going to sneeze and hit 35. This Blue Jays, the whole AL, I mean, this is going to be as corny as it gets. When the playoffs come, you've got to throw out the records. In the AL, you've never seen a postseason more excited to throw out the records. Half the teams are going to be very excited to throw out the records. If Toronto gets in this thing, and they're the last wildcard team,

and they're facing the AL West winner. Right. And it's Houston or Texas? I don't know. I know who I pick. If that Toronto team gets to a five-gamer, I don't know. I don't necessarily believe in it. They're 29th in runs on the season.

But guess what? When the season's done, if you're in the dance and Springer and Vlad are hot, that's a pretty damn good formula. And nobody can get Brett Bateman back. You know who missed time this year? Alejandro Kirk. He's back. Nathan Lucas used to be their leadoff hitter.

I don't know what's up there. If Ernie Clement starts hitting every baseball again, I don't know. I don't know. But I know they're somehow here. they have a bullpen formula they have two starters which is more than San Diego who we're talking ourselves into

and if they can score runs they can be a problem that I'm a sports believer and if the defending champs they didn't win the World Series ICF get off third he should have man he really should have

in the American League if they're there nobody else my yanks have some serious flaws, the race. I'm not buying, but God, if they get to October, the champ's still there. So shout out Dan Kenobio, shout out the Blue Jays. 12 games left, Tigers, Rangers, Orioles again, and Reds.

Little Blue Jays Rangers pseudo-playoff? Are you kidding me? God. It's nasty. What a great world. And part of that is because of Seekek. Use code talk in 2026, 10% off your neck, set of tickets at C-Geek. Everyone, comment

below and tell Jolly Olive how fantastic he was today. Tweet Adam, Insta-Adam. Don't do that. I like it now. I do like it. It's a good signature. It's a good signature. Coach Trev. Gone.

Let's go Yanks. Come back, Trev. We miss you. Twits might win out. He'll be here. They have to. World. They have to. Someone's got to win.

Is that true? Not really. Josh Smith. You like him? I do. Wow. Nice guy. You like Stephen Kwan more than him, huh?

Yeah, I think I do. Damn. Damn.