Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - What’s Going on with Rafael Devers? | 980

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

Chris Rose and Talkin’ Jake talk about the drama with Rafael Devers and recap the week!Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALLBook your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.comDIRECTV delivers the most MLB games, satellite-free. Learn more on https://directv.com/jomboyCorona. La Playa Awaits. Be sure to get yours at https://OrderCorona.com.++++++0:00 Intro2:50 NL Burn7:44 NL Series Recaps34:24 AL Burn39:10 Rafael Devers Talk52:55 Saying Nice Things About Seattle55:40 Standout Performances1:05:00 En Fuego1:08:10 Batters Who Are Struggling1:10:00 IL Update1:11:35 AwardsGAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, [phone] or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT) or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. $5+ first-time bet req. Max. $200 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets that expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 5/18/25 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK.Watch Blitzball Battle 6 NOW: https://www.youtube.com/@WarehouseGamesFollow all of our content on https://jomboymedia.comDownload and subscribe to the pod!Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TalkinBaseballAppleGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TalkinBaseballGoogleSpotify: http://bit.ly/TalkinBaseballSpotifyStitcher: http://bit.ly/TalkinBaseballStitcherBuy merch: https://shop.jomboymedia.com/Subscribe to the JM Newsletter: https://jomboymedia.com/signupLeave current breakdown suggestions here: http://bit.ly/BreakdownSuggestionsLeave past baseball breakdown suggestions here: http://bit.ly/pastbreakdownsuggestions1Subscribe to our other YouTube channels!Jomboy Media: https://www.youtube.com/user/phshockey1Talkin’ Yanks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzcaZfAmCJlCSoBOiNWx20QLaughs from the Past: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAFEYBtgbNxHAVMGNsyqMiQJomboy & Jake Radio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCifMPWjBEu7rYx3CVdkjiWAWake n Jake: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9k8rMR-8N6BVY_0DLrloKAFollow us on social media!FB: https://www.facebook.com/JomboyMediaTW: http://www.twitter.com/talkinbaseball_IG: http://www.instagram.com/JomboyMedia#mlb #talkinbaseball 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 today. All-StarUp. Chris Rose is here. People are refusing to play positions. Managers fired. Let's talk some ball, too. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball presented to you by Seeky Code Talk in 2025. I am Jake Storelli.

That is Chris Rose. And we got Zach on the one-toes and three. It's an all-star episode. Shout out, Trevor. ploof the power's out and calabasasas thoughts and Chris rose how are you I'm fine yeah you know what is they had to take some of the power to actually man one of his 19 security gates yes that they have to get into that facility I still haven't been allowed in you know at least once a week I drive past there and they still don't let me in so screw them and screw their power and so I don't

care if you woke me up out of a dead sleep it doesn't matter we are ready to go we are talking baseball i'm excited to be here i always love chopping it up with you yeah i don't want to say anything but we might have two of the more interesting baseball brains in the office yes i i think i think we cover the scope i uh you know changing positions there's a lot of a lot of jokes i feel like i can make about that and i think you will too and i you know we'll we'll get to raffy we've got some big topics today and i know you're passionate um about what's going on in pittsburgh and i am too many because what are we doing?

Along with the normal week of baseball that brought, I don't know, some big boy performances as always. So I'm excited to get into it with you, Rosie. It's been on May 9th. I feel like you and me haven't even talked ball yet this year. No, we've talked on the phone, but we haven't talked ball at all. And by the way, this is not Chris Rose. This is Derek Shelton with this hat and this gray beard.

And now looking for work. could be Derek Shelton. And people are saying I'm kind of looking like Max Fried with this tasteful, this tasteful goate mustache combination. Well, he's a really good looking guy. So, yeah. Sure, let's roll with it. Why not?

Okay. Let's go with it. Okay. Okay. Let's do some National League baseball then. You got the, you got the music over there, Zee, man? Look at that. And in the National League, your Atlanta parade.

I kind of want to hear about you and them, Rosie, because they took three out of four from the Cincinnati Reds. Man, good pitching performances. Smith Schaver, Sayle, Spencer Schwelladbach. Reds, they took the third game in the series. T.J. Friedel with the two homers off Grant Holmes. Only two homers he's given up to a lefty. Otherwise, the Braves.

Are they playing better? Kind of, an 0.17 start. We'll talk about that a little bit. The Mets continue to win series and the D-backs continue to kind of lose series in frustrating fashion. We had a fun one that opening night. Lindor and Alonzo Homer. Snakes try to fight back late, but it's not enough. They win the second game, but the Mets, Juan Soto, don't know if you've heard the internet rumors about him, Rosie.

Maybe we won't talk about that. But the Mets win another series. Dodgers, they take care of business against the Marlins. wins that second game. Extra innings. Hey, Zuz Sanchez. Augustine's still hitting. Nobody really cares. High Song Kim is up in flying around the bases. That is neat. Freddie and Shohey do what they do in a baseball series. Chris Rose's Guardians, after getting a wild one in that first game,

10 to 9 final, they come back, they roll him in the second game. Daniel Schneeman from the top row. Insert Guardians player generator. He's been killing it lately, and then they win on getaway day. Eight to six final. Okay, okay, when the guards score, Giants in the Cubbies. The Cubs have been rolling, but so have the Giants. They take two out of three from the Chicago Cubbies, including 14 to 5 in 11.

Giants go nuts in the extra set. Cubs won that first game. Robbie Ray might hear more about him later. hurling the pill for those San Francisco Giants as they take another. The Brewers, they take two out of three from the Astros. Another team I kind of want to hear from you from Rosie, because if you take away the opening weekend, it feels a little different, but I don't know how different it felt.

Brewers, they take the first two. Framber Valdez, seven innings, shup, or one earn run. Excuse me. Jake Bowers all over this series. Love it when a Jake is playing well. They take two out of three. Pirates get swept by the Cardinals, and there's more to talk about there. They fire their manager.

Hey, let's give the Cardinals love in this moment, because it's going to be a lot of pirates, unfortunately. Matthew, a liberatory, my Italian Paisant, seven innings, one-er-and-run. I don't know if he's Italian. Sunny Gray seven-in-nings shut. He's done that a couple times this year. Lars Neutbar with the big game, Mason win, and a series, you know. might not hear a ton about the Tigers. They sweep the Rockies. Unfortunately, that's a case of the best team in the American League, beating up on the worst team in the National League. Double

header day got ugly. Tigers scored 21. Rocky scored three in the two games. Bad formula in Colorado, and it's been that way. Shout out to Cater Montero and Casey Mize for pitching up there. Hey, that is what happened in your National League. Hey, great job. First and foremost, yes, according to the interweb, Matthew Liberatore,

does have an Italian background. He has stated that his family has an Italian heritage, and he even mentioned visiting his grandmas for Sunday dinner when she often makes pasta. Wow. So confirmed, even though he grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix.

Okay, well, let's get him on that WBC Italy team, baby. Ooh, have Vinnie call him? Vinnie. Spentino? Me, Nikki Cass, maybe. We'll see. We'll see who they extend the invite to. It's a powerhouse. And also a powerhouse is the Draft King sports book. The baseball marathon is underway. I can't believe it's already May. And right now at Draft King's, all new customers who bet $5 will get $200 in bonus bets instantly when you use code J.M. Baseball. From every game until the trophy

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Chris Rose, there's a lot of good National League baseball to be discussed with all the powerhouses. How much better is the NL than the AL? And all these teams are so great. Who do you like? this might be the last talk in baseball that we lead with some pirates because they've fired their manager, your doppelganger, Derek Shelton.

They have the second worst record in baseball, if my math is right. And what was supposed to be going into last year's trade deadline, one of the most exciting franchises to enjoy in the sport because of a once-in-a-lifetime pitching prospect, it's now turned into a punching bag again and really sad for a awesome baseball city. So with that, where do you want to start there, Rosie? Well, I put out a little video yesterday because the firing actually happened after we recorded baseball today. And I want to start with this, that even though I'm a native Clevelander and we're supposed to hate the sports fans of Pittsburgh, we don't in baseball.

Okay, we're very similar, actually. We hang out in the lower rungs of, you know, salary area, bottom five to bottom seven. In fact, I don't think that the pirates have been outside of the top five since 2017. Bottom five, I should say, since 2017 in terms of spending. This is a total organizational failure. You could take whatever may, handpick your favorite manager right now. I don't know if that's Terry Francona or Bruce Bochi or, or anybody else that you want to put out there.

If you like Dave Roberts or if you don't, whomever, you want to put Bob Melvin out there? I don't care. This is probably the same record you would have. Would it maybe be a couple wins more? Would they have 15 wins? Maybe. Maybe I'll give you a couple. That's fine.

And I understand that a lot of people are hot about Derek Shelton and his decision-making. And I had a lot of Pirates fans pushback saying that, yes, he cost us a playoff spot last year. That's bullshit. He did not cost you a playoff spot. Y'all didn't hold a playoff spot last year heading into the trade deadline. In fact, there were two teams ahead of you that didn't make the playoffs either. And those managers, I believe, still have jobs. So let's just slow that a little bit. I understand that people don't always love their managerial decisions when it comes to bullpens and sometimes where they play their players and they screwed up. And I had people say he's totally messed up Jack Zewinsky's career. Okay, I'll, Listen to all that stuff. We are talking about a mole on the ass of a cow. This is a real, there's a much larger problem than just that. Because only four times since Barry Bond's left two following, left town following the 1992 season, has this team won at least 80 games?

I will repeat that in case I screwed it up. Only four times since the end of the 92 season have they won at least 80 games in a season. One, two, three, four. That is horrific. That is horrific. So there's a lot of this on Bob nutting and his ownership. Absolutely. It's also on Ben Sherrington and being unable to develop everyday ballplayers with this team.

And it's frustrating to watch. It's frustrating to listen to. And it's not, unfortunately, I wish I could have some magic words for you. It ain't getting any better. Yeah, it's, I mean, if Pirates fans are blaming Shelton, I don't know how many truly are. Hey, I can't believe you brought up cow's ass before I did this episode. So people wouldn't not have that on their bingo card.

You're welcome. Twitter's a very interesting place these days. X, I'm actually, I'm getting more into it. I think if you can eliminate a lot of the noise, it can still be the fun exchanging platform where there can be jokes and information and good baseball and all that stuff. Buster only, you know, one of the baseball men simply tweeted this. Over the last seven seasons, the pirates have spent about 200 million less in payroll than the Milwaukee Brewers. I busted out the calculator app. That's about 28 and a half mil per year.

Maybe that's one really good player. Maybe that's two really solid players. Maybe that's three guys to try to fix holes and try to find something in a sense. season where someone can, something can click or you can find something and they, they can change and the whole feeling of the team can happen. That hasn't happened, man. And I, man, when ownership in the front office,

they came out last year and said that we were going to do something at the trade deadline and they didn't really. They brought in ICF, which I'm not going to do any Yankees, IKF stuff now. He's a contributing ball player and any baseball team would like to have him, the role you have him in, I think. is an interesting part of it. But we laughed when we did our team profile

and projections coming into this season. There was no reason to like Pittsburgh. Like even if you wanted to dream on your biggest dreams, and there's a little bit of an NL factor here, but screw that, who cares? It was like, okay, what's the best case? And it's, this pitching is insane. The pitching goes nuts.

It's Skeens. It's Jared Jones, who, you know, injuries also happen. know a pitching staff, but they call up Bubba Chandler and like, it happens. And maybe Pittsburgh becomes one of these new pitching hives. Even if they did, there wasn't going to be enough offensively in any world that they were going to keep up at even a 500 level that I don't know, man. I guess maybe I'm not too close enough to the day and day outs of Pittsburgh to be mad at Sheltie at all.

But it becomes the weird managerial conversation where, okay, if they, traded Sheltie for Dave Roberts before the season. Do I think the Dodgers would be bad and Pittsburgh would be good? No, that's a little unfair to the managerial position. But I don't know. I just jumped to San Diego and how much money's been put into that baseball team and how much it's changed the franchise that if you're Pittsburgh, that's where I'd start pointing the finger. Well, Bob Nutting released a statement and he had Ben Charrington fall on the sword, which Ben is partially responsible for Derek, in my opinion, for Derek Shelton losing his job. And I don't like talking about this because I think people's livelihoods are, you're talking about

families. But when you do sign on the dotted line for to be a GM or to be a manager, this is unfortunately, usually the end result somewhere along the line. If you are not going to spend money, and I think the last time that they signed a free agent to a multi-year deal was Ivanova. Yeah. I believe. And that has been more than eight years. So if you're going to go that route and not spend the big free agent dollars on somebody, what do you have to do? You have to draft and develop at an elite level, which is why teams like Cleveland and Tampa Bay for the most part.

Or if you don't draft and develop, you damn well better trade for young players that then end up growing into your system and being everyday contributors. The pitching part, starting pitching, the pirates have gotten down. Skeen's first round pick. Mitch Keller, second round pick. Jared Jones, second round pick. Bubba Chandler, third round pick.

You have nailed that because we all think Bubba Chandler's going to be real good as well. Here are your first round picks of everyday players over the last seven or eight years. Tamar Johnson, he was from 2022, so we're still waiting on him. He's in AA, but it doesn't feel like he's exceptionally close. Henry Davis was the number one overall pick. He ain't a catcher, and he's not hitting. So I don't know what he is. Nick Gonzalez, who I think was the seventh overall pick.

I actually kind of like him a little bit. He's hurt. He hasn't really played this year at all. Sammy Siani, he was, I think, a comp pick. He hasn't made it. Travis Swaggart, if you remember that name. He was a top 10 selection. He got booted out of town before he made,

and he's only made it a cup of coffee in the show. But Johnson, Davis, Gonzalez, and Swagger are all top. top 10 picks to have a zero production, basically, from four top 10 picks in an organization that does not spend free agent dollars is an organizational failure. So that's on the talent evaluators. The lack of free agent spending is on ownership and the guy who lost his job as the manager. You tell me if that's a well-run organization. So great points.

Yeah. Interesting in that 2021 draft, I realize it's, well, it's 2020. and we see teams call guys up quickly. They don't have the, the guy that jumps off the board from that draft is Jackson Merrill, who was picked 27. So I don't blame the pirates for that because I could blame 26 other teams. There's a couple other guys, Sal Freela, Colton Counser, Matt McLean,

but I don't know. That draft still has a lot to find out. And hey, maybe the one thing clicks for Hank Davis, and he's a stud. And hopefully we talk about that in a couple years. years, but it's been a really tough look so far. A couple other names from that draft, Marcelo Mayer, is he going to get the call soon? But yeah, you need, and like, yes for Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones.

I mean, Skeens, like, I'd like to think our current front office on this episode would have made the same pick that I don't, I can't give them, I can't give them a ton of credit for that pick as a front office, like, not to be, not to be rude, but, yeah, we, we, we, we, would have taken him. Well, you know what the worst part of the skiing stuff this year is they have a losing record when he pitches. Yes. I mean, we can't.

We can't do it. And I wish, I hate piling on because I want good things to happen. Have you been to that stadium? Yes. Okay. It's great. It is a beautiful place. It's awesome to walk across the bridge and be there and soak in the atmosphere.

It's, I don't know. I always say this, that ownership needs to speak twice. at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. And then if you make a huge decision, i.e. a managerial change or a GM change, you'd be, well, better get in front of the microphone. Okay, don't release a statement. That's cowardly. It's the only way that the fan base has the ability to reach a billionaire owner. It's the only way. You owe it to your fan. This is different than owning any other business. It's the only one where we put an emotional investment as a consumer into something that you're selling.

You owe that to us. So when you make a big decision, don't hide behind a goddamn piece of paper. Oh, I'm throwing shit around in the office. Jesus, Rosie. Get me fired up. Let's go.

Oh, my God. Can we move on to something else before I break something else in this room? We have to. I'm worried about your blood pressure. Slider is worried. He's going to get broken. It feels like one of those commercials people tune out of.

You have high blood pressure? Hey, Pirates, we'll check in on you. Andrew Heaney at this trade deadline, David Bednar, everyone in the bullpen. Could a Mitch Keller come available? Because God, the price tag for him would be maybe enough for a lot of GMs to put a dent in a rebuild. And you know Tommy Fan will find his way hitting 6th

in an NLCS game somehow, some way. So Pirates, great to see you this year. Let's move it on. in the NL, what else happened? Hey, Rosie, again, we can aim wide this episode because I haven't gotten to talk to you enough this year. Where are you at with the Atlanta Braves? Because as we do all these NL powerhouse conversations,

they've almost become, I don't want to say the forgotten man, but a little bit. Everyone loves the NL West. The Phillies have been doing Philly things. The Mets have been the breakout team. The Braves, if I take out that Owen's, to start the year. I think we're looking at 18 and 12. But with that, they're sitting at 18 and 19.

They just win a series against the Reds who have been hovering around 500 slash they got off to a slow start and playing a better brand of baseball. Where are you at with the Atlanta Braves? Much better spot. I actually saw them on that first West Coast swing where they started in San Diego. They lost four there and then they had to go, oh, hello, go play the world champion Dodgers. So I was all part of the end in the middle of it.

Their left fielder gets popped for PEDs and is done for half the year plus the playoffs. And you sat there and you wondered, my God, I mean, it's only one week, but it's one weekward. Jeez, how can you not win one freaking game even though it was against two elite teams? But they have slowly inched their way back. They haven't even played the Mets yet, correct? I believe that's correct. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's coming up. I don't even think that's even coming up until the middle of June. So they still have like another month to make up a little bit of brown. You know, I thought a really telling performance the other night was A.J. Smith Sharver. So he's a young guy that he came up. I think he was 20 years old when he threw his first major league pitch. They're like, man, are they rushing him? There's always that amazing stat of guys who throw their,

first pitch at age 20 as opposed to age 21. I remember years and years ago, Tom Perducci did some sort of study on that. And you wondered, oh, my God, did they rush him a little bit too much? And he goes out and has eight innings where he was amazing, took a no hitter into the seventh, only end up allowing one hit. He did walk four guys, but whatever. He's awesome. We know about sale. They're going to get strider back eventually. But Schwellenbach was the key to this team, I thought pitching wise. For people who don't follow baseball today, I had him as a surprise top five Sy Young candidate.

I thought he was going to finish there and I still feel that way. He has just been so dependable when you need a guy to give you six or seven innings and keep you in the game when your offense might be struggling a little bit. I think he is the perfect tonic for that. I still feel good about them. I think they're in a great spot and Ronald Ocunia is going to be coming back, if not later this month, certainly by the beginning of. June it sounds like, A-OK.

And we're going to look back at this start and be like, didn't they start Owen for the first week? We're not, it won't even register. Yeah, there, it's wild, man. I mean, Ryssels had a, had a tough go to start this season. None of, almost none of their team grades out. It's like, Braves, what do you do elite? And, I mean, the Braves of the past couple years,

you could point at their rotation. You could point at their lineup, I mean, that the one year Peter Moyland made the lock screen on his phone, everyone's OPS, because they were one of the best hitting teams ever. And it just, there's a little bit of missing identity, but it's glass half full, glass half empty season where I think the rotation is going to tick up, whether that's Schwellenbach to the next level or Smith Schaver or Strider coming back. Like there's a lot of potential there, the lineup with Ronald Acuna. And it feels like Austin Riley is back to being Austin Riley, which is really good for this team. But no one else is putting that nuts MVP and Fuego two weeks in that that's going to happen at some point, whether it's Olson or Ocuna coming back. Yeah, I know you can't, it's baseball, you can't get rid of that first week.

But you also can't. you also can. And I think it might be coming. And maybe in a week it's going to even feel different because they've got Pittsburgh and the Nationals coming up. Yeah. I mean, if you look at their team OPS overall, you know, they've got a bunch of, like Eli White has been a godsend for them.

He actually leads them in Ops at 888. Osuna, remarkably consistent player. Their catching position has been incredible, right? Drake Baldwin, when he filled in for Murphy, huge. And then he ends up getting the walk off the other night. Riley, Olson has been fine at 771. That's nothing to write home about, but it's not like, geez, what the hell has happened to Matt Olson?

But you've gotten nothing out of Albies. Michael Harris, the second. I know he's gotten a couple of decent hits lately, but he's still under 600. Nick Allen is in there because of his glove at shortstop. So they just, there are guys where they, where the position in the order has been somewhat invisible offensively. It's fine.

I mean, they have weathered this storm. For a lot of teams, it happens in the middle of the season or sometimes later in the year. The Braves have dodged the huge waves that could have crashed their season, in my opinion, working their way back toward 500 and what are they, five and a half out or something like that. So they're fine. They're fine.

Yeah, and I like, you know, getting Ronald back, that's going to feel pretty good. Getting Strider actually back, that's going to feel pretty good. And, yeah, I don't know. I know there was all this, everyone loves the N.O. West and my snakes, again, it's ironic that they, it keeps feeling like they get a little snake bitten. But not, four teams aren't going to make it out of that West. Like I, like you mentioned with division play,

a lot of division teams haven't played each other yet, that there's going to be so much, like the Yankees haven't played the Red Sox, the Mets and the Braves haven't played yet, that NL West is going to really start beating each other up. And who knows, I mean, I'd see a central team emerging before four teams coming out of the West, but that's ignoring the Phillies and the Braves. Yeah, I mean, if you do the math,

I only had the Cubs coming out of the Central. Last year, I liked the Reds, and then they peed all over themselves. I do think that Terry Francon, obviously, can make a bit of a difference. But now Hunter Green ends up on the injured list. Like, is this where it starts? The good news for them is, like,

Lidolo, who pitched, I believe, last night, has been great. That pitching staff has been top five statistically across the board. That rotation has lived up to it. Now we'll see if they can just keep enough healthy bodies and get enough out of their bullpen for full season to where they can stick around. But yeah, I think it's fascinating. I think it's fascinating in terms of how these divisions are going to shake out. You're going to learn a lot over the next six weeks once they've all played in divisional games.

Shout out to our cousin, Jeff Passon. He wrote an interesting article this week that I talked about it on Wake and Jake a little bit, but he has the upcoming basically nine-figure baseball salaries. Like who could be in play for 100 mil, 200, 300, 3, 4, 5, 6. And yeah, you'd be interested to see where Nick Ladolo is on that list. Because, man, if you, a young lefty pitcher with what he's been putting up in that stadium, too, Like, he's a guy. And yeah, I need my Reds to actually come together and have a full month before I can even dream of them in this National League.

By the way, Lodolo, to circle back to this team, the Pirates, he was a comp pick that was selected by the Pirates out of high school, elected not to go that route, went back in the draft and ended up, I think being the seventh overall pick eventually. and he avoided whatever the heck is going on in Pittsburgh. Although, could you imagine if Lodolo was there with Skeen and Keller and Jared Jones and Baba Chandler, then you'd only have to score two runs a game and they'd lose, of course, every game two to one. I think we'd be even more frustrated. I think that would be the problem. Hey, Rose, I think the last one I want to hit, again, we got a lot to chew through. Just the Giants and the Cubbies

Because these two teams have been Arguably the two of the most fun In the National League this year Sorry to our Mets fans You guys are great, all right? I love you. I don't, but whatever. Soto series in a week,

That is going to be electric in the boogie down Bronx. So we will talk about that a lot then. The Giants in the Cup, I'll aim wide because I actually, I think I'm talking a little bit of Robbie Ray later. two elite baseball teams start to finish so far this season. What do you have on both sides? Okay, so I did have the Cubs winning the division coming in,

and I thought that maybe they would do it a little differently than they have. They added four new arms to their bullpen, and I think their bullpen is their biggest question mark moving forward. In fact, they are going to make – I think they're going to add a starter because I think they're worried about injuries and guys making it all the way through there. And they have to add multiple arms in this bullpen. They don't have enough swing and miss stuff.

And I thought that the nine-inning, nine-run 11th inning that the Giants put up the other night was really telling on both teams fronts, that the Giants, that if they're going to stick around, they've got some bulldogs that are pitching the ball. And that's my alarm to get up. Get up, Chris Rose. Okay, so good.

This is what happens when you, you get old people. You know, you set multiple alarms. You know, usually it's to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night just to make sure you don't piss yourself. Oh, 237. Second piss yourself today, Chris Rose. Nice.

Sorry. Well, but it's part of the vernacular when you get into my decade. So, you know, the thing with the Giants is that they've got some ballers that can pitch and adding Verlander to a rotation where Logan Webb has totally set the mentality that, yeah. I don't want to see you as a starting pitcher having a sweat. shirt on in the fifth inning. You keep working until you are done, which means you better get your ass out there and be throwing pitches in the seventh inning. And I love it that Verlander, who's what,

41 or 42, brings that sort of mentality as well. So, you know, I like their pitching staff. Offensively, I really wonder if they've got enough. And that's the thing that I think keeps holding me back. But well, you put together a nine inning, a nine run inning. That's the second time I've said nine-inning run. Nine-run inning. Then, you know, that's awesome for them. But the fact that came against Ryan Presley, basically, signals everything that, you know, alarms should be going off in Jed Hoyer's office.

That, you know, he's a guy who has been exceptional, no matter what role he played in Houston, and particularly in the playoffs. But dude has got more walks than strikeouts. He's only got five strikeouts so far this season. He doesn't have swing and miss stuff at this point, and they've got to figure out more arms to go get. And preferably somebody who has the experience to close in the ninth inning or the 11th inning, if need be.

Hey, in today's MLB bullpen, guys find something and something clicks. So, again, I will root for a lot of the names I'm about to say with a big butt coming. If you're the Cubbies and it's happening, You got Kyle Tucker. Pete Crow Armstrong is living up to all of the hype. Up and down the lineup, it's incredible. The numbers back it up, everything. Guys currently listed in this bullpen. Chris Flexen, Brad Keller, Drew Pomerantz back at it, twirling the pill. Julian Meriwether, Teal Bar, and let's see where Presley lands it.

I'm not going to bail on Presley because I've seen him turn it around and when and his stuff is working out of the bullpen. It's really fun. But everything else is happening for you that, yeah, I think you nailed it. Cubbies, go address it. Go address it now with whoever's trying to do it. Because even sometimes one arm can change the whole feel of a bullpen because you've changed the whole depth chart down there.

And with the Giants, man, I don't, pitching-wise, I think they might end up being okay. because I like some of their guys in the minor league still. And I mean, every team's going to need arms, but I would circle if you can fix one or two spots in that lineup, people could believe in the Giants instead of them being like, hey, there's another good one in the NL West. Well, the other thing about the Cubs is that they are primed to be a trade partner

because they have so many assets that are right on the precipice of making the major leagues. They're not 19-year-olds in high A. They got guys that are knocking on the door. And by the way, if you do somehow extend Tucker, which I don't think is going to happen, but if you do, none of the outfielders are going to play. And they've got a bunch of guys in the outfield that are ready to go,

that are ready to be major leaguers and start doing this. So I also don't see a problem with trading for guys by the end of May or beginning of June. Why would you want to fight multiple teams? Why don't you try and strike now and tell your fan base, hey, hell yes, we are stepping on. We're ready to go. It's been a few years since the Cubs fateful have enjoyed a postseason series. So let's go get it. Bullpen's the easiest thing to fix, presumably.

Yeah, and give yourself a chance. We saw Miami trade early last year. There's a few American League teams that would get involved. Speaking of, let's hop over to the American League, Chris Rose, because we, I'm, I mean, maybe the biggest topic in ball right now, Rafi Devers, but there is also some good baseball as well. How about the American League Central, Chris Rose? Because everyone's winning except the White Sox, the Royals.

They take four. That's right. The four game sweep. Boy, did they pitch the whole time, Colrag and Seth Lugo, Waka, and Blubich. My goodness. And that's what's been happening along with Bobby. and our friend Vinnie Pasquantino,

but they can really pitch the ball. The offense hasn't fully clicked yet, but it was enough to get by the White Sox for all four games. The Yankees and the Padres, a lot of tension at this office this week. John Boy and Ryan Cohen sit next to each other, and man, it was tough after Monday, because the Padres sent Devin Williams back to the bad place,

late comeback win, but the Yankees did it on Tuesday night against that, vaunted Padres bullpen and then they did it on Wednesday to Yankee fans from their lowest they've been on Monday night to kind of the highest they've been since opening torpedo weekend. They take two out of three. Max Fried changing people's facial hair. The Mariners take two out of three from the A's and that's what they've been doing for a while now. The Mariners are winning a ton of ball games after losing on 11. Jacob Wilson. Where are you on the batting title list right now with the walk-off three-hit day in game one?

But the Mariners come back. There's Julio. There's Dylan Morley. I love me some Dylan Moore. And I love me some Seattle baseball right now. They take two out of three. The Sox kid! They take two out of three from the Rangers.

My God, Texas. How tough is that clubhouse right now? After they get six innings from Evaldi and the offense goes, they give up their third two-homer game to Williur Abraeu. All three of his two-homer games against Texas. Bregman's going nuts and there's devours. We're going to talk about the whole thing. Phillies, they sweep the rays and they get it done in dramatic fashion

after getting great starts from Wheeler and Sanchez. They come back late and get it done against Tampa Bay. My goodness, Bryson, stop with the big homer. These Phillies, they're back to. doing Philly things, Rays, out of sight, out of mind. The Baltimore Orioles. Are they dead? The Minnesota Twins might have just drove the stake through their heart. I'm actually glad Trev isn't here for this because the buck stops here. Byron Buxton hitting homers. Harrison Bader with the big pinch hit homer late. And Brooks Lee, how do you like that? Having a bad

day at the office, having a great day at the office. You know how I know? Coach Ballgame was there. And he was loving all of it. So that's fun for the twins. Orioles, the opposite of fun. And same for the Toronto Blue Jays. Is the East Mid? Because the Angels, they take two out of three. Dramatic, late fashion.

Jorge Soler with the three-run, walk-off double on Jeff Hoffman. Blue Jays salvaged the last game. Dalton Varshow, Vladdy, both with three hit days. That's what happened in your American League. And it's all brought to you by Best Western, I think, right? Zee, man. Our friends at Best Western, they've been with us this whole year.

And a part of the reason handsome Chris Rose is here, Jolly Olive and the We Got Ice Boys are on the road doing some Best Western content right now in Louisville. And they went, me and Jolly, we're in Chicago together doing some stuff. The Ice Boys are going everywhere with them. That's because Best Western has 4,000. in hotels worldwide. So wherever you are, and for every unexpected turn

that travel can have for you, there's a Best Western waiting for you. A great stay doesn't just help you recharge. It sets the tone for the early. Wake up the late arrival, the last minute change, whatever you are doing. Life is a trip.

Make the most of it at BestWestern.com. Whatever you're getting into this summer, whatever baseball road trip, go check out. Best Western. Chris Rose. Yes, sir. Raphael Devers is having man,

this is tough. I'm a Yankees fan. Red Sox fans and Yankee fans might be united on Raphael Devers becoming a first baseman. Raphael Devers is not, and the quotes that came out yesterday, and I want to give a shout out to Chris Cotillo,

the beat writer, for the Boston Red Sox because last night, it's happening on Twitter, and it's been happening this whole week because why wouldn't Rafael Devers want to go to first base? And, you know, Corr has his quotes. Devers has his quotes. The front office, everyone's doing their dance.

Last night, it ended. Devers does a press conference, and he gets in front of it and says, I do not want to play first base. They told me to put the glove away, so I put the glove away. on the internet, and this happened sometimes, because Devers did the press conference in Spanish, and it was getting translated,

that sometimes things do get lost in translation. Chris Cotillo went out of his way for people saying that some stuff was getting lost in translation to emphasize that it sure was not, that in the 10-minute interview, Raphael Devers could not make it more clear that he does not want to play first base, Rosie, where do you start?

Well, to start with your point about it being translated perfectly, there were several times during that post-game press conference that his translator stopped and looked at Devers, and Devers continued on to make his point, and then the translator finished things up. So I think that there was to make sure there was a lot of certainty in this, because I think the translator could even feel like, holy shit, like this is the one.

Right. We're not going to get a breakfast ball on this one. There's no re-tee. Once we hit it, we're playing it. So I thought that that was great. So to quote some of the stuff that was said, I know I'm a ball player, but at the same time,

they can't expect me to play every single position out there. In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove. To me, that is the key part of this. If Craig Breslo sat him down and said, listen, we brought in a guy who's going to play third base. We love you. We love the work you've done here.

You're not going to need your glove. It's possible. That's the way it was said. But if he did say, put away your glove. Focus on hitting, and that is it. Well, that's what the team told him then. And I kind of understand a little bit how he could be pissed off. There are going to be, I would say, 90 plus percent of the people that are listening to this are going to be like, hold on.

They paid him $300 million. If they want him to be the bat boy one day instead of be the DH, then go be the best bat boy you can be. I wish Devers had come out and said, listen, the reason we're talking about this is because one of my teammates is hurting. It wasn't Tristan Kasa spraining an ankle here. Right. We don't know. Hell, he might have lost his career. This Patela tendon injury for a big man like that, who the hell knows what he's going to look like when he comes back?

and he had struggled even this year on the field. And, you know, he had health injuries last year, the whole bit. I wish he'd come out and said that part. To me, that would have at least recognized that one of my brothers is hurting. And that's the biggest part of this story. But it wasn't. So let's move on to what he should do. I think he's going to get traded.

I really do. You have to remember that Craig Breslo did not sign off on the Raphael Devers extension. And I think that he is going to piss off Rafael Devers to the point where he says, well, shit, he's a $300 million D.H. Do you know how much I could get for him for a team that would love to have him back at third base for the next several years before he really becomes a DH? Here, we don't need him. We got young guys coming up the pipeline. I can get older guys rest. I can get them off their feet.

I don't need to do, I don't need to pay a designated hitter 300 million. I think he's not sabotaging the relationship, but he is making it so strained that he wants to free up that area financially on the team to go a different direction. That's what I think. Chris Rose, I cannot believe you went there because I've been daydream in every sort of different direction. And let's do this now because the Devers, Devers move into first base. It feels easy for a lot of people that played teams like me, that, you know, the JV All-Stars that are, you know,

in our mid-30s and feeling more washed, which with each warehouse games competition we do, to say like, oh, if I, I'd do anything for the team. That's how I was taught. Like, first base is tougher than it looks, like, especially with, I know shifts have changed a little bit, but we've added to first base responsibilities. The thing that Devers really has going,

against him right now is Bryce Harper kind of making it look easy with his transition to first, although at first it wasn't, but Bryce has really leaned into it and he's been really strong over there. But did Dave Dombrowski go to Bryce Harper and say put your midaway, go be a DH and then tell him to go do that? No. This is more than just, hey, why don't you go play a different position? This is, we don't want you on the field. Right. We found somebody that's better. And by the way, that's right, Alex Brighman won the gold glove there last year. And even though Devers defense has improved, he's not Alex Breggman over there. So we can all see that. But you can't, we can't use the discussion. Well, I would go over there because guess what?

I ain't paying top dollar to watch you play baseball, brother, but I will to go watch Rafael Devers. So we have to try and get in his mindset. He's an elite major league player that has been an all-star, that has been a World Series champion, that is a $300 million ball player. so we have to think like him if we can. Don't think like you. So, and I mean, dude, all the personalities in play here. Like, you know, Devers should feel the way he feels about himself.

He's so good at baseball. He got himself $300 million. The front office switch, you've mentioned that some of those quotes this off season were very, that was Heim's deal, basically. And weird things have changed. Cora being involved in this whole thing. And there was some funny retweets of him at Spring,

training saying he he loves his players talking to the media and being themselves. And it's like, well, here we are. Chris Rose, the trade thing, and I can't believe you started there. I was thinking about it, right? Because they've got all these prospects coming up, Marcelo, and how good does Christian Campbell look in it? You know, this Red Sox front office that was getting criticized for not spending money for a while.

We know they look at the business side, and they had a great, they had a great offseason where they did invest. and they locked up crochet, all the good stuff. I have a team, and I have a guy who can play first base and hit right-handed, which the Red Sox actually sneaky still need right-handed hitters. You get off of the Devers contract, and a team that's been looking for a third baseman upgrade for a long time, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine the star power, they have Schwabber coming off the books this off-season. And so if they don't think Devers is going to stick at third, that could be your D.H spot. Devers at a hitter's park has a little more value because he is an amazing hitter, obviously, that, okay, if it was Baum and maybe you throw in a couple of those Phillies pitching prospects or something like that, the Phillies have been looking for that next step to elevate them in this now crowded NL as they have their core in their early 30s, this is obviously daydream. I have zero sources.

I don't know. It was my brain just jumped there for no reason this morning. And I was like, whoa, could both sides love this? Well, from the Red Sox standpoint, this only works for a couple of things. Number one, you have to sell to your fan base that, yes, whatever happens in 2025 happens. Do we think we're good enough to get into the playoffs and maybe do some damage there? Yeah, we do. But that's with a wink, wink, wink. Because you do take Raphael. Devers out of that lineup. You could say whatever you want about him and emotionally how he's doing. Guy is a damn good hitter when he's locked in, brother. There are a few guys that you'd rather pitch to or, you know, that you want to pitch to.

I don't think we've seen his best yet. He's had these weird seasons where there's a missing month or something. I think his best is coming. I agree with that. The other thing you would have to do is whatever money you save in moving Raphael Devers, and I don't think you would get equal return. This isn't a question of getting. the right guys back in the trade. It is freeing up the contract. Number one is you extend Bregman before he hits free agency because he can opt out of the last two years.

He's got 41.6 million due each of the next two years. But the way he's swinging it, he's going to opt out because he's going to want another 150, you know, on top of what he's getting. I would extend him in the middle of the season to make sure we've got that part of the equation figured out. and then at least the fan base and the media up there can see a plan and a pathway for the future. Because we're like, oh, yeah, you just trade Rafael Devers. That's still a $300 million bat you're getting rid of that is in his late 20s.

I'm excited. I mean, again, we're daydreaming a little bit. A lot would still have to happen between now and then. And hey, Devers, you know what, Devers is leading the lead in this year, which I did not. I did not have in my bag. One bold column. Any guesses? No.

Wax. Raphael Devers is leading the American League in walks this year. Which, yeah, when you think of all of his hitting prowess, I would lean bad ball hitter than taking his pitches. So that's an evolution for a lot of young guy. He's 28 now. 834 OPS. and yeah, it always, it feels like he has that hot streak is always about to start.

I can't wait to see the next parts. And hey, Red Sox fan, this isn't Yankees fan being like, ooh, chaos. I can't wait to see it. I love the personalities involved. I love that Kora's involved in this. I love that, you know, although there is my jakey team guy kicks in, and it's like, you know, if I was a Sox fan, I'd be like, hey, Rafi, grab the fucking first base club and let's do it.

this. I think this is good baseball entertainment. And I guess that's what it is. But it, to me, it feels like whether or not it's accurate or not that Devers feels like it got personal with Craig Brett. Yes. Oh my God. Because what he said was, right now I just feel like it's not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position. It was the GM that I spoke with. I'm not sure what he has with me. He plays ball and I would like to think he knows that changing positions like that isn't easy. When he says that little sentence thrown in the middle, I'm not sure what he has with me. That means he believes, whether it's accurate or not, that this is a personal stance by Craig Breslo. And if he feels like it's personal, I'm not so sure that that's something that

Raphael Devers can get past. Right? Once you, once you already know the GM is out there looking for your younger, cheaper replacement in this game. You already know that. but if you are verbalizing it, that's a real issue for a franchise and something they're going to have to deal with before it derails the rest of the season. Yeah, and that's a funny scene for every, every MLB the show player who wants to be a team GM. Imagine Craig Breslo going into Spring, hey, Rafi, let's sit down and talk. I don't think you can play third base.

And, yeah, there's such, there's a lot of salt in what Devers is saying, and who knows if that salt is accurate. And who's to say, right? Like, everyone's had their feelings hurt. And, you know, some people still get mad at their JV soccer coach in a shower once a month because I don't know, man, coach me a little better and maybe I'd be better. Does that mean that you're taking showers with your J.B. coach? I just want to make sure.

That was, there's some news articles you could Google, but a lot of charges were dropped. Some weren't. Man, we had some big topics today, Rosie, that I don't even know. We got to highlight some dudes the rest of the way. I guess one last team thing before we kind of keep moving on. Actually, I'll leave it up to you. Would you rather say nice things about Seattle, or would you rather say mean things about Baltimore?

If you follow baseball today, you know my stance on Baltimore. I don't want to continue to beat that one. Please. I just can't. I can't do it. because I can't believe what I watch every night with them. Right. I put them on and I sit here and I shake my head and it's horrible.

So I don't want to do that. So I want to say some nice things about Seattle. I hope people tuned into that series out in West Sacramento. I don't know. You know, it's hard for me to get a feel when I live on the West Coast. It's easy for me because there's like three games at night. And, you know, when they're the last game still going, it's awesome. It looks fun up there.

I know we've all kind of ripped on the atmosphere. And wait until they play a day game there in late June. It's going to be like playing on the sun. It is going to be so hot up there I'm going to feel for these people. But that series was awesome. There was so much intrigue. I thought that Dan Wilson mismanaged the game where he eventually loaded the bases by walking both Langelliers and Bladay

to get to Jacob Wilson, and who we know is going to put the ball in play and he ended up getting a walk-off hit. That kind of was the tone setter. But man, the Mariners, good for them. And I hope that Jerry Depoto adds to the offense. I still want to see him, but I don't want to see him get like some fringe guy that could help them out.

I want to see what shakes lose over the next six weeks or so and see which teams are really out of it and which bat could make. this team really, really interesting. We had a question on baseball today. What one player, realistically, would you like to add to each squad, meaning the Mariners and the athletics, to make sure that they kind of stay in contention all year? And for me, for the Mariners, it was Nathaniel Lowe. They're just, I know Rowdy hit a big home run the other day, but I thought that Nathaniel Lowe is a type of at bat. He grinds out at bats. He doesn't mind hitting with strikes.

He's a great dude in the clubhouse. He's a really, really good defender there at first. He's got a winning personality. I think that he's a sort of guy that could change, you know, keep a team consistent. But they've had an outstanding performance offensively, which is very surprising this year. They've already got their personality at first base and Rowdy, though, you know? I love Rowdy as a guy, but I think it's he and Solano. Solano's the right-handed first baseman, I think, and that's need a little bit more. Nathaniel Lo has some Seattle energy. Hey, they just made their big ad. Lioti Tavaris. And he got a big hit for them.

Huge one. And that's, hey, they rehabbed Victor Robles off the waiver wire last year. Maybe it's Leotie this year. Go Seattle, Go. It feels different. Sixth in OPS, seventh and runs. Fourth in home runs. Like, yes, Seattle. This is what you've been asking for. This is what we've been asking for. Rosie, let's keep it going into our standout performances, and this is special. It's time for standout performances.

Stand out performances. Stand out performances. This guy stood out for Trev. That was made by the beautiful Rob Chiracroko leaning into some of his old radio days, I believe, but I'm into it. All right. I was wondering where that was from. Yes.

And I'm leaning into DirecTV. Today's episode is sponsored by DirectTV, the ultimate destination for baseball. Chris Rose talks about watching those West Coast games. He's watching Ball in DirecTV's MLB coverage. That's where you can be watching every team, including your team, from around the league. There's no more satellite people. It's 2023. You heard that right.

satellite is not required to get yourself some direct TV and watch the most MLB games. Visit directTV.com slash johnboy to stream the MLB games from the comfort of your couch or on the go. Thank you, Direct TV. Chris Rose, I asked you to pick out a standout performer. Did someone jump off the page for you?

Well, I've got a couple of them. Am I allowed to do multiples? So this is just a singular ad? I'll let you do two. Why not? All right, good. All right. So I've got one.

One is a surefire Hall of Famer, in my opinion. A guest earlier this season on dugout discussions, which, by the way, we've got Vladdy Jr. coming up. So make sure you get that this Sunday. Sweet kid, Vladdy is. Freddie Freeman recorded his 350th and 350 first career home runs on Monday and Tuesday against Miami. And now, who has hit the most home runs all time against the Marryman?

Marlins, surpassing Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman. It is not a first baseman named Ryan. It is a first baseman named Freddie. So you can take the kid out of the National League East, but you can't take that power stroke away against the Marlins. So Freddie Freeman hit 464 this week with a triple three homers, 12 ribs, an OPS of almost 1.4. Not bad.

Another guy is another left-handed hitter who has. hasn't done quite as much at the major league level as Freddie Freeman, but he is from the Cleveland Guardians, Daniel Schneeman. Hit over 400 this week with five extra base hits, including three homers, an OPS of almost a one-dot-sixer. Pretty good. And it really was a huge, huge weekend, particularly in Toronto. Daniel Schneeman looks like he should be from Toronto. He is not. He is actually from California, and he had to grind his way to get to the big leagues. I think he made his Major League debut at age 28. So he's one of those dudes that I always, I root for guys around the league who would take

some years and years and years to finally realize that dream. He hit that go-ahead grand slam over the weekend where Tom Hamilton had a wonderful call, the future Hall of Famer had an amazing call. And Daniel Schneeman has really solidified things where he is now become an everyday player, whether that's at second base or center field or elsewhere for the guardians. He's been going nuts. Daniel Schlebeard. Yeah, it's a name that doesn't wreak of baseball excitement,

but he's been one of the best hitters in all of baseball the past week or so. What's our Guardians meter at, Rosie? Way better than the first two weeks I was miserable. They started off on a 10-day road trip and just, look like dog shit and that lineup you know their two best players are five five foot eight you know okay on and hosy what's wrong with that no hold on hold on i know nothing i'm all i'm saying is we're not necessarily sending you first off the bus but actually at our company i got to be honest with you at our company that

might be true yeah they would do you do you hire guys based on height like i feel like i'm an anomaly we measure every inch of them hey now um um So, you know, we're not that imposing a team physically. But, you know, first of all, Detroit is the best team in the American League. Yes. They are. And they're only going to get better when they get Veerling back. And then they get, who else am I forgetting?

Oh, my God. I'm having a brain cramp here. From Detroit? Parker Meadows. Yeah. So. Okay. And I'm worried about Can City because I think they're pitching staff.

They're pitching staff is World Series winning caliber. Just send big Christmas off the bus first, if that's what you're worried about. Oh, no. Now we're good. Now we're good. It's Nolan Jones and John Kenzie Noel are first off the bus. Okay. The problem is that once they get in the batters box is the issue.

Although Nolan Joneses at bats have been better. Okay. We like that. We like that. Great standouts, Rosie. I'm going to go to the pitchers. There was a few really good ones, and I think I could talk about Max Friede every episode.

And again, this facial hair is inspired by him. I'm going with Robbie Ray for the San Francisco Giants. We talked some giants earlier. And Robbie Ray was one of the, he would have been a great spring training. Is this anything story? Because if you remembered, he shared tips and tricks. with Terrick Scoobel this offseason,

and that's always one of those, you hear that, and you're like, okay, if Robbie Ray has added one of the best change-ups to the game to his reputoir, maybe that matters. Robbie Ray got off to a solid start, a couple okay ones out there. He got hit around. He had the walks with the Yankees,

which have been a thing in Robbie Ray's pass, and then the Phillies, four innings, four earned, five walks, and you're just like, okay, this is Robbie Ray with a 419 ERA. His last four starts, 25 innings pitched to the tune of a 1-8. The last one against the Chicago Cubbies in Wrigley, six innings, one earn run. The ERA's down to 284. I've always enjoyed Robbie Ray.

It was cool seeing that, you know, the breakout Cy Young season, and there was a fun story tied to that. I think the Blue Jays pitching coach was an old. pitching, or bullpen coach was a pitching guy that Robbie Ray had worked with previously. He's always had the talent that some of the old strikeout numbers are crazy. And hey, man, it was just one of those things when you looked at the Giants before the season and the Giants have had a little stigma since their insane 2021 season that it's like, what are you? Like the Giants highlight every year was which free agent turned them down.

When they traded for Robbie Ray, it was like, wait, he's got a lot of money. on the books and who is Robbie Ray at this point. It looks like that investment is starting to pay off. And if you want to dream about rotation and playoffs, like Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and then is it, does the old Bull Verlander have some bullets left? Does, well, Jordan Hicks, what does he look like at the end of the year or someone else?

Robbie Ray could be a massive piece for this Giants team. And I think he, there's a lot of guys. that are coin flips coming into a baseball season? Like, you know, you know whoever's on your team who's playing way over their skis this year or is playing awful this year, and that's baseball, Susan. Robbie Ray has been great. And if the Giants are going to stay in it, I think he's going to be a big part of it. Two things about Robbie Ray and then we'll wrap it.

Number one, he is the first Giants pitcher to start 5 and 0 in his first eight starts of a season since The Freak in 2010, which was, if you're a Giants fan, the start of something special. Number two, do he and Justin Verlander have a tight pant off, if you will, between the two of them? Yeah. Yeah, I think they go in and talk to the equipment manager and says, my pants are too baggy. Make them tighter.

Make them tighter. You mentioned that John Boy Media application process. It's very, very similar to that. And that's how we found jolly. I'm excited for Giants. How about the Giants and the Mariners? Come on. Exciting baseball.

Everyone stay up late. Sleep in, you know? Let's go. See some good West Coast Base. The ALE East is blowing it, except the Yankees. There was a lot of guys who stood out, and a lot of these guys end up on our coronavirus. and Fuego. And Fuego is brought to you by Corona,

the official servesa of talking baseball. You got the clipsack? Dirt nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby. Like Waco. Rosie, this is normally the only part where Trev locks in for a second. So I'd love if you'd have the honors on this of just walking us through some guys who have been in Fuego of late.

All right. So I already kind of, you know, with free, Freeman and Schneeman, you know, I crossed some signals. Yeah, I thought that that's where a couple of guys that I should have used. But you're good. In honor of Trev not being here, I will give you two twins as they have ripped off, I believe, five in a row. Byron Buxton is a guy, four for ten, a couple of homers, seven ribs, scoring five runs an OPS of a one. dot sixer.

And he's actually he's been doing this remarkably well all season. Slugging almost 700 with runners in scoring position. Second best in the AL. Pretty good. Duran out of the pen.

Last four games, four innings pitched, four saves, an ERA of zero point zero and a whip of 0.75. Only one walk. To me, that's the key. If you're going to give up some hits,

you'll give up a couple of hits, that's fine. But only one walk. That is a big, big deal for him. If you want to throw in one guy who we really haven't talked about, we kind of just glossed over the Cardinals and what they've done. They swept the double header from the Mets on Sunday, and then they rolled through the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wilson Contreras, welcome back to the show.

Yeah. An average of 400 with a couple of bombs and seven ribs and an OPS of 1.2. So there's a few guys. that we want to give to the applause to. Per usual. Better than Trev. Yeah, how about the Cardinals and the Twins? I think everyone was grabbing whatever deadline pieces they needed from these two teams,

and here they are. Cardinals are back at 500. The Minnesota Twins, 18 and 20, and that Central is going to be tough. But my God, I talked about, you know, if Mitch Keller were to catch a price tag this deadline, Duran, man. God, how many bullpens and pitching lab coaches

are drooling over what that guy can do? And I really like the Tigers and Royals a lot. The Guardians, as you know better than everyone, Chris Rose. They befuddle me and they're 22 and 15. I don't know what they're good at. Oh, Trev sends me texts three times a week when they pull off some win than they shouldn't have. And he's like, how the heck did this happen?

So it's a good question. I don't really have an answer. And I just, I'll just keep smirking all along. Let's roll with it. As long as there's W's. Let's roll with it. Now this part, we have a little lull before grand finale, Chris Rose. Yeah, there's a little, I know.

It's a grinder of a show, baby. These are guys We want to We're looking for them to get back on the right track It's labeled batters who are struggling It's the past two weeks Who's on the struggle bus And we hope it's a little inspirational

Like a guy like Michael Conforto One for 40 That's in 025 the last couple weeks no extra base hits his last 86 at bats. I'm going to wear this one. I watched one of the early games, and the Dodgers broadcast was like, his swings kind of like Freddy's.

And I was like, ooh, that Conforto All-Star inbound hasn't been going this way. Brian Rochio won for 29, Rosie, is that? Yeah. Well, I will just give you this line. If Juan Brito, who was in the second base competition in spring training but was left behind when the team went north, If he had been healthy, he injured his stummies out two to three months.

If he was healthy, Rokio would be in the minors right now. That's how bad it is. 16 at-bats, ending in a fastball without a hit, the longest in Major League Baseball. Pavin Smith, he giveth and he taketh away for the snakes. He's on a two for 26. Oh, my God. Jose Iglesias, 3 for 32. OBP of just zero five with two strikes over the last 14 days.

That's the lowest in the NL. And never nervous, Matt Mervis, three for 29. Well, he gets nervous if it's over 95 miles per hour and OPS of 1, 7, 8. We dig a little lower before we come out, Chris Rose. Because we have to tell the people who went on the IL. Because there's a couple big names. I know, right?

I fight back. I'm like, the people don't need this, but it is informative. Yordaun Alvarez. Hopening for a minimum IEL stint, if you're a baseball nerd like us, go look at the baseball reference. You'll be shocked to see where his statistics are at. They're hoping it's the minimum of 10 days.

Shoda with the hammy. Let's see what goes on there. Three to four weeks, but we'll see you've got to start throwing again. Jesse Winker with an oblique. the Mets. Tay Oscar left groin for the Dodgers. Andrew Benintendi for the White Sox. Can he ever get on the trade rumor scene? We will see. Not with that contract. Noelvi Marte one month for the Cincinnati Reds. Evan Phillips out of that Dodgers pen. Hunter Green, right groin. Let's see what goes on there.

Because he's, his breakout has happened and it's been fun to watch. this is where things start coming back up, Chris Rose. Returning from the aisle. Minnesota. Willie Castro, Royce Lewis, baby. Let's go. The Padres, we're happy to see Jackson Merrill come back. Yon Moncada, welcome back.

Here's a yacker for you. Dylan Moore for Seattle. Mike Soroka for Washington. And now it's time to lift people up before we send them away, Chris Rose. It's time for awards. And Kelsey Wingert's saying it. It just makes everything feel better. Hi, JoJo's mommy.

First Mother's Day for Kelsey. Wow, that is a good reminder. And a good reminder for everyone for the moms or reach out. Tell someone happy Mother's Day. How about that? I will do a little self-promotion for dugout discussions. Yes. I'll let you know.

Our question with the queen is Mother's Day stories from baseball players, and there are some amazing ones. Oh, I have a pretty good ones. I have a tough Mother's Day story. Maybe I'll say it quick at the end. Chris Rose, there is one thing I forgot to prep you for, so if you'd like to take a minute and think on it while I deliver. We normally end with awards that it could be any player, any team or anything.

I have a quick one ready to go. So if there's anything that you think needs to be talked about in a minute, we'll let you finish there. For me, I was going to give out the Lord of the Flies Award. People know the popular book. It's not about that at all. I'll be honest. I did not read that.

That was very much in the high school. Look at the spark notes, get through the class. I know they're fighting to stay alive on the island. It's a group of kids, hierarchy forms or whatever. And I could spin that into baseball. the AL Central. Because, God, you're Detroit Tigers. Boy, do they look good.

They are the best team in the American League. I like the team that's chasing them, and it's not your guardians. And I spelled Lord with an E, because I love Lord the performing artist, and she's back right now. She just announced a word of tour. She's got a new music. Great Met Gala outfit. The Kansas City Royals are 15 and 2 in their last.

17 ball games. They are playing a fantastic brand of baseball. You mentioned the pitching. Cole Reagan's 57 punchouts are the second most by a royal and franchise history through their first seven starts of the season. The only person higher, Zach Grinky with 59 and 09 when he won the Cy Young that year.

Rosie, you might have said it better than I was planning on saying it. The Royals pitching is World Series. That rotation, they are currently second in starting pitching ERA. They are fifth in bullpen ERA. There's something special about showing up to the ballpark and knowing your team is going to have a chance. And here's our backhanded Royals moment of the day, the opposite of what they feel.

The Kansas City Royals, they're not sure how many runs they're going to push across. It might be two. It might, whatever Bobby Witt does and hopefully someone else, and that's kind of their offensive formula. But God, Cole Reagan, Seth Lugo, Waka, and Bubich, what the White Sox just ran into. And Michael Lorenzen, we've seen him put together good months and good halves.

This Royals pitching is World Series and how they've bolstered it by getting Erseg and Estevez, who had Estevez signing with the Royals this offseat? I really like their bullpen. I really love their rotation. They have an MVP candidate, and they're going to have a couple contributors on offense. God, they really need something else,

and I hope this is the deadline we're talking about it. The Royals are really damn good. And I didn't fully put that together until last night, and it starts with the pitching. My God, if they get any hitting, and whether that's Jack Cags or a deadline piece, hopefully both will never be Royals. I love what's going on in KC right now.

You know, everybody was laughing at the American League Central after 10 days. I know. I know. I was laughing. I know. Not anymore because now that the twins have started to step on it a little bit, you could say that it is, I mean, it's not on par with the National League West, but it's the next best division. I think you could say that. And that is where my award actually resides as well as in the, American League Central.

And I believe the award is, holy crap, I can't believe that this guy is finally earning his money in this city. Okay. And it goes to Javier Baez. Yeah. The first three years in Detroit, can I tell you this? I went and covered the Tigers Dodgers series. So the first one out of the gate in the season.

That's where Detroit opened up out here. Because I did scoobble for dugout discussions. I walked into the Tiger's locker room and I was like, I'm looking at all the numbers. I was like, God, who's 28? And Javier Baez walked past me. I was like, I forgot he was here. Like, you totally forgot it. I was like, what the hell is he going to do on this team?

They traded for Sweeney last year. He's their shortstop. What is he going to be a utility guy? And then all of a sudden he starts popping up in center field because of the injury to Parker Meadows. You're like, no, this isn't going to work. And all of a sudden, he's tracking down balls. Well, have you noticed he's got five straight multi-hit games right now?

his OPS is well over 800. The last two years, it was sub-600. The first three years of his contract, which you'll remember, he signed a six-year $140 million deal. The first three years of his deal, his war combined was under three. Okay? He's already at like one and a half right now. And that included a negative war, negative 1.1 war.

Negative 1.1. when you were playing shortstop, that's hard to do. That tells you how inefficient he was in the batters box. But he is back earning his money. He won't ever be the $140 million ball player that they brought in. But I'm sure for him there's a sense of pride that he's got it back a little bit. Yeah, you wonder when the documentary comes out, was it watching the Tigers get hot and essentially Trace Weenie took the job from him?

Or was it something in the office? Who knows? Baseball fans watched years of the pitch ninja gifts and what's hobby swinging at and all of that. Something's happened. And it's been one of the best stories in baseball this year. Because it's almost an episode where we spend a lot of time talking about Rafi Devers.

Baez, playing center field. Like he could have said no. Instead, he said yes. And the bats are better. And they probably don't win game one in Colorado without his four RBI day. You know, he's currently on pace for like a five-war season. So maybe he does play it. He's probably not going to play up to the contract.

But that's none of their business right now. What is our business? It's thanking Chris Rose for hopping on talking baseball with us. You're the best. I might be seeing more of you in a second if Coach Trebs' power is still out, which I don't think we've heard from him. everyone comment below what did you love and what did you like

no hate today how about that you could throw hate in there that's fine all right throw hate towards treb you're right um no no we're not toward treb he's not here to defend himself even better um happy mother's day to everyone enjoy the baseball watch west coast ball and watch central ball the east coast is out

east coast is out right now thank you guys uh and we will see you on monday This baseball music, huh? Mm-hmm. Shout out to Zach Asbizito Producing today. Yeah. Hot.

I suck. Any instruments from you, Chris Rose? I was a saxophonist in high school. Okay. Tenor sax. Wow. Trombone. Well, yeah, I've heard.