Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Wild 4th of July Weekend Leaves Teams Questioning

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALLGo to http://shadyrays.com and use code TALKIN for 35% off polarized sunglasses.Shop SKIMS Mens at https://www.skims.com/talkin #skimspartnerDownload the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALL Book your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.com Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake discuss the Nationals firing Davey Martinez, the Astros dominating the Dodgers, Blue Jays are clicking on all cylinders, is Zach Wheeler a future Hall of Famer and more!0:00 Intro2:45  AL BURN6:50 AL Standings9:40 Pirates / Mariners14:30 Astros / Dodgers19:12 Angels / Blue Jays26:20 Rays / Twins29:20 Guardians / Tigers31:30 Giants / A’s32:50 NL Burn36:30 NL Standings39:45 Red Sox / Nationals40:30 Davey Martinez firing54:13 Yankees / Mets59:18 Reds / Phillies1:01:40 Cardinals / Cubs1:04:38 Brewers / Marlins1:05:11 Rangers / Padres1:07:12 Standout Performances1:12:00 Zach Wheeler going into Hall of fame?1:14:50 En Fuego1:19:25 Players who are struggling1:21:30 IL update1:23:45 Awards Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talkin Baseball. It's a historic app. I mean, Kershaw 3,000 K's happened. GMs and managers are getting fired. Shutout sweeps are happening. It's a big app. All-Stars are here. Yoho Pozo?

Zach Wheeler. Oh, shit. You're out. Unless you're Austin Hayes. Hello and welcome to Talkin Baseball presenting you by Seeky Code Talkin' 2025. Jake Storelli, Trevor Plouf, Rob Chiracco.

Molly's here unsure on her last name right now. We'll cover that after the episode. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. And you know what? I hope everyone had a great 5th of July and a 6th of July. And the 7th could be tough for some people. The Monday after the 4th, that can get you. Not here.

Not here, coach. Because baseball couldn't be hotter in the street. Basically, every series has something juicy in it. There's a chance. It's a two-hour, 15-minute episode today. And if it was, I'd be happy I get to do it with a really good friend of mine, Trevor Plouf. Trev. We had some great moments this weekend, an impromptu FaceTime.

I got to see Mama Story Ali. Yeah, but you're right. Baseball's hot. I can't wait to talk about all-star snubs. Davy Martinez and Rizzo are, I can't wait to pick your brain about that. I find the Nationals organization fascinating. I truly, truly do. What they've gone through in the last 10 years has been incredible.

I don't know, Jake. I think we should just get to it. Enough with the pleasantries. You look like a young frat boy. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Yeah, this hat was fitting me better a couple minutes ago. And now I don't know what's happening. Are you losing weight or something?

Why do you look so skinny in the face today? No, I actually, I treated myself to a little ice cream. I was like, you know what? It was Sunday night post 4th of July. I'm doing this. Oh, let me check in on the Sunday night baseball game. Okay, Cardinals getting boat race, no thank you. Mason Wend just wearing that interview?

It's a tough sport. Trev, I mean, I barely even mentioned, and it's Monday, like the tigers are dominant. The Houston Astros, they've been here. Now they're here, here. And boy, we're going to eat some Yankees' tears later. I love Toronto. Canada Day. I'm still celebrating.

Let's do some American League baseball, huh? I don't like you doing this. Tabbing motion. We're going out to the Great Northwest because the beautiful Seattle Mariners. And I have another Jake family note. My Uncle Rick, big Pittsburgh Pirates fan. Called them for a little bit yesterday.

He said, I just want my pirates to score a run. They did not. All weekend. Spoiler. They got shut peace by the Mariners throughout. Wu, Castillo, and Kirby. They ruined Skane's Day. You can't ruin Cal Raleigh's Two Homer Day, and it's a big, big fly.

Treves Ben Williamson, he's drawing comparisons to himself. Mariners get the three-game sweep two one-oh games to end it. The twins, the Trevor Plouffe Bowl, the twins take two out of three from the raise. We're back, baby. and Bader. Bad day to be a baseball or a, I don't know, a young muse in Minnesota. Look at the way his hair is flowing. The pinch hit Homer. It wasn't enough in that final gaze. The race salvage the series with a 75-1. Joel Boyle is back up. Bill Simmons tweeting about him. That's some good stuff there. The Blue Jays sweep the angels. Check out

where they are in the standing. You know, we try to keep it in the series. Two extra inning walkoffs. Addison, how's your barger? That guy doesn't stop. George Springer hasn't stopped. And Toronto, is it a W-7? We're getting the standings coming up. HALOs. They lose. They get swept. Yeah, we're back there. It's a little bit of a sweep week. The Tigers sweep the guard dogs. And oh my God, unfortunately, the story is kind of in Cleveland. L-10? it's gotten dark there. Tigers, Casey Mives, with another great performance.

They shut them out in that second game. Zach McKinstree is a special player question mark, some really good base running to help secure the win. And this example was when times are good, there could. When times are bad in baseball, they're so bad, and that's what Cleveland is feeling right now.

The San Francisco Giants needed to win a series, and they do. against the A's. They lose the first one in a blowout. My guy Denzel Clark goes deep flying. We're going to check out another highlight of his later. But Logan Webb held to right the ship. Devers kind of needed a big game. He gets that in the final one. Giants take two out of three. Who watched White Sox Rockies? Trev did. I did too. I watched one highlight. The Colson Montgomery catch. That was sick. Otherwise, I don't know. Shane Smith's an all-star. Mickey Moniac is having a great year.

I don't know. White Sox took two out of three. Who can your team trade for from both those teams? And most importantly, it's time for the road warriors brought to you by Best Western hotels and resorts. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. And that is what the Houston Astros did. They swept the Dodgers and it kind of got ugly.

18 to 1, 6 to 4 was the close game and 5-1 on the final day. Christian Walker owns the Dodgers. He feels comfortable on the road there. Career 349, 1.197, 9 homers in his last eight games against the Dodgers. Astros are 55 and 35, best record since June 1st. They're here, people. Astros get the sweep. That is what happened.

in the American League. Love that for us. Love that for us. Coach, I have the standings in the American League. Do you need them? Oh, yeah. Like you need air. Oh, yeah.

We're starting out east, coach. Where? The Toronto Blue Jays are 52 and 38. On a eight-game winning streak, nine and one in the last 10. They have a three-game lead over the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay race, who are both 49 and 41.

The Boston Red Sox, one game over five. Are they back? Six and a half games out. They're 46 and 45. And the Orioles, 40 and 49. Are they playing like better baseball recently? I think they are. Okay.

ALE's coming hot. The Central, the Tigers, are running away with it. 13 and a half games up. They're 57 and 34. The Twins, 43 and 47. The Royals, 43 and 48. Remember when the Central was like, running the show in the AL and I tweeted that awesome Led Zeppelin lyric it's not happening anymore

guardians on the L 10 40 and 48 white socks nice round number for them 30 and 60 thank you for that only 26 and a half games out we're fine uh out west the astros have a seven game lead 55 and 35 over the mariners who are 48 and 42 the rangers creeping up and then they're four games out of a wild card. 44 and 46 for them. The Angels, 43 and 46 in the athletics, 37 and 55. Let's get to the wild card, Jake, where the Yankees and the Rays hold the top two spots. One game up on the Mariners who are holding the last spot.

The teams with incontention, let's see what I'll give. Okay. The Red Sox, two and a half games out, yes, you're in contention. The Rangers, four games, yes, you're in contention. The rest of the teams, even though you're four and a half. five five and a half games out angels twins royals am i giving you a shot at the wild card right now i don't think so i don't know maybe i should uh those are the standings in the american league let's get into a pop trev you're right about your central and yeah i mean i like everyone else i don't remember

the lead zeppelin tweet you're talking about but it was a banger it's i banged uh yeah man i don't know if any of them are going to kick into gear. And the royals have been missing for so long. I don't know. I don't even know what we should say about them. They're going to let their next three weeks or so decide as we head towards the trade deadline. Trev, there's so much to chew on that I, Mariners three-game sweep and they shut out the pirates

throughout. We're doing historic stuff here. I don't want to take away from the credit they deserve in this series because it's special stuff. I mean, 27 innings pitched 12 hits, zero runs, 36Ks. All the credit in the world

to the Mariners pitchers. Back to back one-nothing shoutouts. There's a little Pirates asterisk here. Julio with a special play to take away from your guy, Cutch, but this is Mariners ball. I got a little on it. Pirates came in on a six game

winning streak. They were scoring 7. one runs per game. That was against the Cardinals and the Mets. So they're playing a good team. Then, yeah, he just ran to an absolute buzzsaw. I've seen the Mariners a bunch this year, and all their starters are just filthy.

And the guys come out of the bullpen. We know they have the pitching. Yeah. And then to win games like this is nice. Cal Raleigh, I asked Robbie to pull up his first homer. He's a 3-1 pitch from Bailey Falter. Holy schnikes, you got it, Rob?

It's the whole dumper. It's loud. Oh. It reminded me of when you take a golf swing and you feel your feet move, but you just destroy the ball. That's what that looked like. It looked like a 3-1 middle-in pitch from a lefty to the guy leading the world in homers. I mean, what are we doing with that pitch?

I know you're trying to crowd him. Didn't. That was extension. I mean, that's close to getting out of T-Mobile. He smacked that ball. It's not a stadium. You can go look up all the Cowrally stats in the world right now about what he's doing to the baseball.

It's pretty obvious that he is, he's found a stroke. What else do I have on here? I wrote some stuff down. I don't know. I think you mentioned 12 hits and 27 innings. It's not like the Mariners didn't dominate offensively. had 19 hits in 27 innings. But there were some big ones, some homers there.

Randy doing his thing. Yeah, I mean, I guess snaps for the Mariners. And Pirates, fans, you had to get a little run there. Hey, six games. That's tough. Uncle Rick was not happy. And I like when he's happy. Yeah, yeah, it's all Mariners set.

Jake watches baseball. Look at that relay throw. I watched the end of the second game because as you know I went home this weekend you FaceTime me while I was at a brewery with my mom You called her hot on the FaceTime Which I don't know Did you hear that?

No parties loved me, my new dad, Jim Or my mom so 0 for three Okay But yeah I went home And it was that weird moment when you're home And you're like slightly uncomfortable And you're like what do I watch? Does this TV works?

I was like cast on to the TV that I watched the end of the Mariners game and Senor Smoke. He, we compliment those starters a lot. He deserves it. Matt Brash with the hitless 8th.

Oh, brash. Oh, my gosh. And like you said, Tra, I mean, this AL race will see if it actually heats up. But,

you know, early on this season, the Mariners have done enough that it looks like this is the year they should go dancing. Well, okay. I mean, if you add their pitch,

If you have their pitching staff, which is known it's been great. Bullpen, they found some excellent pieces in the back end there as well. Like if you add a guy like Calrelli doing historic things, you should be in a playoff hunt.

I mean, so, you know, more contributions up and out lineup will be very, very welcome. You know, they go through streaks

where they'll get, you know, performances can zone or obviously Randy does his thing. But more consistent offense would be very nice to the Mariners. They're doing okay. They're doing okay.

Yeah, I was interesting. They, I forget if it was on the broadcast, but they were talking, you know, their third base is kind of a spot for them. Ben Williamson gets a big hit,

but he's a young player that, I think they were talking about potential, maybe I dreamt this, but they were talking about trading Ben Williamson for A. Eugenio Suarez. Maybe I definitely dreamt this. But it was funny to me, because it went back to like an old day of trades

where it was like, hey, if you're the Mariners trying to make a playoff run and you need a third baseman, well, why don't you, give us the kid that plays third base and you get Suarez. I don't know if that would be a match or a fit or if that's even what Arizona would want. But it just took me back to a different day of trading when it was like, okay, you want a deadline guy? They'll give us that young third base.

And that's just how like shit used to work. Well, dude, I mean, GMs used to be cool. Now they're just like, meh. We'll get to that with Rizzo coming up. Josh Naylor, Eugenio Swares. Mariners. Whoa, double dip. Trev, I'm going to jump on the board for you,

and you'll see why in a second. But I want to go Astros Dodgers, because I think they deserve to be talked about. Because the Astros, pardon my French, if you're listening to With Children, maybe turn the audio down for a second. This was a shit pumping. My God, the Astros 18 to 1 in that first game,

5 to 1 in the second game, Zach Short. Shout out to Shorty showing up in that final one. But it's Christian Walker who loves playing in L.A. My goodness. Altovae Yiner Diaz has a big... This is what we've been saying. The Astros have been winning and getting first place

mostly behind pitching Peretti and Pena. And they have more on that team, and it's happening right now. since June 1st I got some stats up of Fangrass round some team stats let's just go by F-war starting pitching since June 1st is fifth in all the baseball the relievers are first in all of baseball and they're hitting is fourth in all of baseball I mean that's how you start to run off the streak that they're kind of on right now yeah again we I think we reference this every time we talk about they're doing this without one of the best hitters in all of baseball

who's on their team. And I'm, I'm, I'm just waiting for the late September return of Yordon Alvres and just getting ready for the playoffs and people being like, oh shit,

we forgot about this guy. Because, again, what they're doing without him is, is really something special. So, yeah, this was,

where was I on Friday? I think I was at, um, yeah, my friend's backyard. It was 4th of July. We're like, let's watch this game.

Let's turn on the, the Dodger game and then all of a sudden we looked at the score wasn't like, holy crap, this got out of hand quickly. Just a phenomenal, phenomenal series for the Astros. And I guess if you're a Dodgers fan, you're just like, eh, it is what it is, right? I think. Yeah, you chalk it up for a weekend. Emmett Sheehan back on the big club.

He's back. Yeah, the Dodgers, I feel like they don't care about a lot. Jumping back, Josh Hayter puts up a one point. he comes in for the final out of the inning, which that used to be a thing when he didn't have that contract in San Diego and how good he has been this year. That's maybe one of my themes for today's episode is of just how distracted we get from the guys that are casually so good every year,

Hater, Zach Wheeler, somehow not on our pitching performance list. We're coming for you, Dahl. I don't know. Treb I almost want to give us the pat on the back here because we've been doing the Astros dance for like before they even got hot like they just fell into the division lead

and it was like what? They're playing kind of bad. I think what we said early on was we always say they're inevitable. Does it feel the same this year? We're like, oh, time will tell. Then we just kept looking at the standings be like, okay, the Mariners are playing this incredible baseball to start the year, but the Astros are like, three games back, and then they were two games back, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere,

they're up seven in the division. Shohei for clicks. He's back, two innings, struck out the side. Cam Smith for clicks. Cam Smith is like happening too, which could be interesting to see where that trade feels like in a couple years. I mean, they have control him for five more years after this.

Signed to an extension. 286. 351, 4355 for the 786 OPS. Guys, he's 22 years old. You were kind of on Cam Smith first. He's got a great swing. Yeah, see. It plays.

Clearly. We'll see. I don't want to give him so much credit. He's a rook. That's another theme of today's up. We're going to keep some of the young guys in check. Anything else we missed this? I don't know.

It was just an ass whipping. There's so much. Yeah. Dude, every series has something that I want to give them their flowers. But speaking of giving out flowers, dude. Zach Short. Zach Short, back and balling, man. Three for three?

Why not? Trev, it's time to give the Blue Jays. Every flower we can find, baby. They sweep the Yanks Canada Day, four gamer, leads into three against the halos who, again, if we had recorded Friday, would have been more in the mix of that AOL wildcard talk. Instead, the Blue Jays winners of eight straight. Eight straight?

What's that, Jake? They're approaching Toronto like All-Star Break records. 52 wins with six games remaining. Their record before the All-Star break is 53 wins. 11 and 2 during their 16 games, 16 day stretch. Trev, I'll let you roll about them because I have some Jakey analytics here. We're winning on Bunce. Yeah, no, I mean, Bunts's a huge theme over the weekend, by the way.

Shout out Brooks Lee, Minnesota. The Js right now truly feel like a team. You know, I think the next man mentality, like, that gets thrown around a ton. But when you're winning games and going on stretches like this, it's usually what's happening. It's not one or two guys getting the job done. It's like, hey, we need everybody up and down the lineup to get done. And they've been doing that. Bottom lineups, been really good for them, at least getting on base, doing different things.

You got guys like, you know, Estrada and Fisher having, you know, great relief appearances. And so you're getting that from the back end of the bullpen. Or maybe the guys that aren't really necessarily like your stoppers, like the bullpens. been great for them, have these guys show up as well. There was an instance, like when Barger hit the walk-off base hit, in that inning, George Springer lines out to second base. They walk Vladdy, Bichette strikes out. So two outs, and then Barger comes up and gets knocked.

That's kind of like the next man up mentality. And I like him a lot. I love his swing, and he just looks good. Actually, was DM and Dave Popkins, the hitting coach there. You know, he's a former twins guy. liked him a lot so when they let him go i you know i kept in touch with him and he just he's i think you're applied to be w rc plus is god and he's like saying we're having fun there so like they're they're they're doing it man um but if you if you go again like up and down the line like what

they're getting george springers have an incredible year i think he's an all-star snub right he didn't he didn't make the team i don't think he's meant so much he's been their best hitter like the MVP of that team. He's been their best hitter. Yeah. He's meant so much to them. And then even if you look at like they're catching duo and the value they're getting out of Kirk and Heinemann. Like that is, these are the things that make the Blue Jays now leading the ALE. So you have to have those contributions up and down. So it's been it's been a lot of fun to watch them for sure. Kirkie hitting 301 on the year. Ernie Clement has been batting 400 for like a month. And you know what, Treve, I'm going to Mark DeRosa this a little bit,

the guy you're going to sur supplant as Team USA manager. You know what I see when I'm looking out at this Blue Jays team that's different now? Confidence. Yeah. I think the confidence is back. This is a group of kids that they were promised the world, the movie thing and all of that. They came into this year unsure again.

Vladdy didn't have a contract. It's like they didn't know where they were going to stack up in the alleys. The Bo Bichette Homer? Bob, I know I should have teed this up for you earlier. Oh, that was awesome. That is the old Blue Jays confidence when these kids came up and were filled with piss and vinegar. And their lineup was deep and nasty. And you had Guriel and Tayasker and the whole, like, it was the forming identity of these Blue Jays.

I mean, that's who Bo Bichette is. There's no better swing when he's right. It's the prettiest swing in baseball when he's right. I love it so much. The side view swings of his are so good. That 80 middle, middle change isn't going to work, Anderson. I don't know. I haven't seen, again, finishing my DeRosa speech, confidence.

and winning, man. Dude, this Blue Jays team hasn't won like this in a long time. They were 16 and 20. Now they're 52 and 38. Quick math tells me that is 32 and 18. Nice, Jake. I always put myself in a bad spot with that. They're playing awesome.

And yeah, you know, I have my struggles with Blue J fans on the internet. They have their struggles with me, and that's fine. That's part of this. Oh, yeah, you had a dust up, huh? The real ones, no. And Trev, you've heard me give this speech before. I've liked the Blue Jays. I love their veteran pitchers.

Like, I've wanted this to work in Toronto. And the other sneaky secret on it that I revealed a little bit of the sauce on last year, last year their bullpen was ass. This year, their bullpen is not. Jeff Hoffman has been incredible for them. especially recently. Brandon Little that yeah, the Blue Jays are here

and they're very good. Gospin and Lauer have been really good. Is this, I'm looking at our statute, Ernie Clement is hitting 400 since the beginning of June is that's real? Ernie Clement is out of his dome right now. Some MF are named Ernie is messing up your team.

He's awesome. I thought I had something else to say, but I forget. I'm in barger Trev let's let's clean up a little bit I don't want to say the scraps of the ale but I do mean the ale central because your twins played

Bader put on a show and then the Tigers sweep Cleveland which again I Tigers deserve more and more flowers every episode and we try to in a way they're becoming boring because how big is that division lead 14?

It's it's a hat of that 14 and a half in Cleveland with a 10-game losing streak that I don't know, Pa. Easy, bro. It's 13 and a half over my twins. Sorry. Where do you want to start? I'll go quick on Twins raise.

Oh, on both of them. I'm good. Okay, I don't know. Twins are such an up and down team. If they get any sort of like offense, like they can be pretty good. That's been their biggest thing is their just lack of offensive consistency. um so yeah baiter had a really really nice series uh a walkoff homer he tied it um in the uh walk off homer first game lee had a walk up bunt which i wanted to talk about

because i texted him after i said dude you know how fired up i get about bunts and a walkoff god holy shit he said that he was down in the cage just in case was going to happen he goes i I worked on bunting so much in the cage just right before it happened. I was so nervous. I thought it might happen. He had never attempted a sacrifice bunt in college or pro ball. Never. This is a guy who's not like a banger, dude.

He's like a utility infielder. Yeah, I mean, he is a big. That should be what you do. He's like a legit prospect. No, I'm not saying he's not a good hitter. I'm saying he should have that tool in his bag coach. Treve, it's nuts. His dad coached him.

at Cal Poly. He's a son of a fucking college baseball coach, and he didn't bunt in college or pro ball. It's nuts that we're spending... That's insane, coach. We're spending our lives playing a bun. All over baseball just this weekend. Nobody can defend it.

Holy crap. We're spending our lives playing baseball, and we can't take one day a month to get a couple buntz down. It's nuts. The twins messed it up, too. There was a runner on second base. and extras and they go to sacrifice bunt, they bun it right back to Topa.

Brooks Lee for some reason, he's playing sidebice, isn't covering first base. I think Clemens was playing first base. He charges nobody's at the bag. They zood it. It was,

I'm telling people, I've been saying this for a year now. Just bun, nobody can fucking defend it, dude. You're not wrong. That's all I got. You're not wrong. Oh, Tigers.

I had Tigers. I want to show the McKinstree base running. Do we have that? Please. Because that was awesome. Either of these teams hit. In regulation, how many runs were scored? Oh, wow.

In regulation, because it was 2-1-10 first two games, and I believe it was one-to-one. Correct. After regulation and in the last game, and then they scored six there. Quick map would be six runs scored by both teams in regulation. Yeah, it's crazy. So great job by that pitching.

But the McKinstreet thing, this is why the tigers are different this year because they're doing stuff like this. So McKinstri comes into pinch run for Torkelson. Steal second base against Class A, you know, levers don't care about guys stealing second base. But they should. They should. Steel second base. And he gets to third and just has an excellent read on a ball that gets past Bo Nail. It gets underneath them.

And as soon as he sees like, Bo kind of look down and be like, I don't know where it's at. He was gone. And then Classet didn't really cover. and it was such a, just such a, I feel like I've seen the Tigers do stuff like this all year long to, you know, this was to tie the game to force extras. Like that's, it's winning baseball. And it's, yeah, on the replay,

McKinstree actually has the best angle at it. You got a great angle, yeah. The way he's taking the lead off of third, you can see the ball trickling away through Nailer, through the umpire. They, yeah, it ended up in no man's land. And that's what, looking around, baseball this weekend and whether it was the Astros, whether it was the Blue Jays, whether it was

Detroit, God, even, you know, the Mets embarrassing, the Yankees, like the good teams, they are putting themselves in good positions to win. Like, Zach McKinstree stealing that base and him being the base runner instead of a real plopper on the bases. It can be the difference that that would have been a 1-0-0 win to end a 9-game losing streak. Instead, you go back to the showers with a 10-game losing streak after you give up six runs in the 10th. Like, I don't know. I don't know.

Tigers are good. I mean, dude, in that first game, when you and I come back to the jimmies and the Joe's because that's what we know, dude, Zach McKinstry and Wenziel Perez with the homers to win that game to 1. Like, and scoobel is just on God right now. I don't, I don't, I don't know if we've seen a pitcher like this in a while. Like, is this de Grom level? You know, every time we, every time we say scubel's the best pitcher in baseball, I'm like, what about Zach Wheeler too?

I don't mean to take away from scoble. It's like he's, he, they're on, I don't know, there's a lot of good pitching right now. That's what I feel like. There's some guys that are just dominating. But Scoobo is so fun to watch. Tiger's getting healthy, Reese Olsen back. First start since May 17th.

They're good, man. They are. What were you saying about Chase Dallender before? You like him? My guy. Okay, you're in. We're in deep dive. Oh, we didn't cover that series?

We didn't. You've got 30 seconds. Shout out the Giants for going in, taking two or three. I think that's really cool for Sacramento to have both of those teams play, A's, and Giants. I saw a note that Logan Webb

had played there in high school in AAA, now the big leagues at Sutter Park, which is kind of cool. It looked like a lot of Giants fans, at least the parts of the game that I watched. I thought that was... I had a great time there in Sacramento, by the way. I don't know what people are saying.

I thought it was great. Yeah, I'd like to get out there. It doesn't feel like it's happening this year, but it looks like a good time. Yeah, and San Francisco, hey, four out of five, Willie Adomas with a couple big games. Domus coming back, looking good, they need that. They're still, they're in the wild card right now. Oh, little standings preview coming up.

And Trev, I think I'm starting a new segment that'll come up in the next part of the show. I think it's just going to be a weekly who had the better catch, Denzel Clark or PCA. Yeah, because they both rolled another pair out there. Let's get into some Bundes League of the National League. We play for rings in the desert, but maybe not this year. Two teams that have kind of been the definition of mid, the Royals and the Snakes. Royals take two out of three.

Vinnie P. Two Homer Day to get it started. Snakes took that second game, but Michael Lorenzen with seven-shut piece, and there's not much better than watching Big Salvi still turn on a ball. Royals take two out of three. Hey, you saw where those Red Sox were in the standings. It's because they swept the Nationals

and they swept the GM and the manager out of town. Lucas Gialito, 7.2-1 earn run. I think he's won four or five in a row. My goodness. Trevor's story, Rafael, continues. And don't put a lefty against Rob Refsnyder. What is you doing, baby? The Red Sox, they get a sweep.

They are in the mix. The Phillies take two out of three from the Reds. The Reds took that first game. Offense went big to help bail out Andrew Abbott in one of his rare bad starts of the year. But the rest of the series was the Phillies, held the Reds to one run in each game behind Ranger Suarez and a complete game one-earned run from Wheeler.

Stott turns on one. Schwartz turns on one. Phillies take the series. The Chicago Cubs, they take two out of three from St. Louis. The two games they scored 11 runs, those are the games they won. Including Matt Boyd with five shutout. He's going to the All-Star game. What a signing he has been for them.

It's the guys you know on the Cubs. It's PCA. It's Sayah Suzuki. He's on the snub list right now. Michael Bush, I have a whole speech prepared on him later. But Yo Helpozo. Couldn't stop him in game too. as the Cubs get two out of three.

Mets take two out of three in the Subway Series from my Yankees. They take the first two. Jeff McNeil, squirrels went out late to take it. The Yanks squirrel the ball all over the field. The bad defense. Yankees are back, everyone. Buckle up. Yanks salvage it on the final day.

Max Freed gets it done and Cody Bellinger, a massive defensive play to help save that one. Padres take two out of three. from the Texas Rangers. Kumar Rocker Randy Vasquez. Where were you for it? Croninworth with the walkoff RBI. Could have got pinch hit earlier.

He did not. Texas takes that second game. San Diego, a little bullpen day. Patchwork gets it done in that final game. Louisa Rice, two for four. Kirkajun, Trev does his impression of him later. Brewers take two out of three from the Marlins. Chad Patrick, another solid star in the law.

He gets sent down because Brandon Woodruff is back in a big way. Six innings pitch, one earn runs, zero walks, 8Ks. How's your rehab? Caleb Durbin, short king in around the field. You know that does something for me. And do we have to talk some Baltimore Orioles? They sweep the Braves. DED dead.

The Charlie Morton Revenge series, Orioles take the second one in extras as late. Layser Ramon and Jacob Stalings help get it done for the birds. Jackson Holiday, two-run Homer is the difference in that final game. And boy, the Orioles? The Orioles?

That's what happened in the National League. Trev, stand me. I'm just looking at the Orioles. They went 16 and 11 in June, kind of like quietly. I'm not looking and I'm liking, but I'm not looking and I'm hating. Okay.

Do you want the standings for the National League, Pop? Yes. In the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies have a one and a half game lead over the New York Mets. Phillies, 53 and 37, Mets, 52 and 39. The Marlins, 40 and 48, Braves, they're dead. That's who I was stabbing. 39 and 50, they're 13 and a half games out of the division, nine games back of a wild card. I'm sorry, dude.

It just does not seem like it's going to happen. 37 and 53 for the Nats can't wait to talk about them. The Chicago Cubs opening up that division lead a little bit. They're four games up now, 54 and 36 for them. They're besting the Brewers who are 50 and 40. The Cardinals, 48 and 43. The Reds, 46 and 44, and the Pirates, 38 and 53. And then out West, Dodgers, very comfortable lead.

Doesn't matter that they got swept. They're still up seven games. 56 and 35 for them. The Padres and Giants. same games back 48 and 41 for the Padres 49 and 42 for the Giants and then the Diamondbacks I think

they got a they got to sell Jake I think it's I think it's appropriate for them they're 44 and 46 they're 11 and a half games out of the division the Rockies 21 wins but Jake 69 losses nice

in the wild card in the National League the Mets and the Brewers have the top two spots with the Padres. I guess they're up. Even though they're tied with the Giants, I don't know. They're tied for the last spot.

I don't know how they do that. But a lot of teams in contention still, the Cardinals only one game back of a wild card spot. The Reds only two and a half games out of a wild card spot. I said the Diamondbacks need to sell their four and a half games out. I think it's right, though. I think they should do that. And then nobody really after that, the Marlins, seven and a half braves, as I

mentioned nine. Those are the standings in the National League. Treb, nobody does it better than you. Maybe Shady Ray's. Because Summer is here, people. So get yourself a pair of sunglasses and do it with Shady Rays, the independent sunglasses company with over five stars, well, five stars actually, by over 300,000 people. They've got their lost and broken replacement guarantee. So if you don't love them, exchange for a new pair or return worry-free with within 30 days.

And they offer one of our best deals. Code talking, 35% off. Get your next pair of polarized sunglasses with code talking at shady rays. com. They've been with us for a while. They're a huge part of our warehouse games. They've got a ton of sunglasses, and it's sunseasoned people.

So go get yourself a pair. Shadyrays.com, code talking 35% off. in the National League Trev hey it might be the last time we really talk about them and you're interested maybe we just do some gnats

and hey it's Red Sox snaps like I said with our guy Lucas Gialito Yeah you learn off some good starts Won his fifth decision in a row 32.2 innings pitched a 083 ERA Happy for the Big Man Obviously was a part of Chris Rose rotation

and you've known him for a while from the Cali area. And he openly talked about how it was weird last year because he was like, you know, a guy getting a big check on the Red Sox and not able to help. He is now helping Roman Anthony with some highlights. Trevor Story. The story is the Nationals.

And I'm interested to see how much this has peaked you're interested on the Rizzo and Davey Martinez firings. It's just so interesting because they have been a franchise. as has had some incredible highs. They went through a rebuild that went about as good as it can go. Now, you can't do what they did anymore. I mean, they tanked and had a bunch of number one picks

and they got, was it, Strasbourg and Harper back-to-back years. That's pretty good. Helps. But they also signed Anthony Rendon. I think he was a high pick as well. It wasn't the one pick. I think he was like a sixth overall or something like that. He worked out well there.

They trade for trade Turner. So all these things are under Mike Rizzo. They sign Juan Soto. They bring him up. All these things are happening. They win the World Series in 2019. And then after that, it's just gone so poorly for them with the caveat that they crushed it in the Juan Soto trade, which is also a Mike Rizzo thing. So it's like it's gone poorly, but they've made some good moves.

The thing that's changed between the heyday and now is they just haven't hit on their draft pick. Right. Like that's that's basically it. They've done well in the trade department, but they've, well, I guess they're like kind of like one in one in my opinion in the trade department. Because you trade Scherzer and Turner to the Dodgers and you get Josiah Gray and KBere Ruiz. Like that hasn't really worked out for them. But, you know, the Juan Soto trade is a banger.

They crushed that. And I think it's. interesting. Usually I don't care about manager firings, but this one piqued my interest because of what Dave Martinez said, what, like a month ago? Right. It's never on the coaches. It's never on the coaches. And I don't, I think it's a little out of context maybe, or maybe he didn't exactly

mean to say that. And he was just trying to reference like, hey, like players need to play better. They're the ones on the field. I understand that. He obviously played the big leagues for a long time he should know that better than anyway you just can't come out and say that that's like that's a horrible quote and you're going to lose some guys in the clubhouse because it's supposed to be no it's us as a not just as a team and a roster but organizationally it's us together that's the way you're supposed to talk about wins and losses you win together as a team you lose together as a team but you have your manager coming out and saying that that's can't be great so I think if you're the

front if your ownership and you're like okay you guys have kind of run your course. I think Rizzo's been there since 2009. So he had a nice little run there. I think they're seeing this core, you know, the James Wood, the C.J. Abrams and the likes of them coming up, Cruz and Hassel. I think they're seeing them come up and I think they're wanting a different voice around them.

As we haven't really seen the winds come, like maybe we thought they would come. I think a lot of people are really pointing to next year, but you can't keep doing that. You can't always keep pointing to next year. So I don't know. I was interested in it. I thought it's these guys have done some really, really great things for that organization. But there does come a time where I do feel like there needs to be a new voice. And this is, in my opinion, I think the time for it.

Yeah, I mean, Davey Martinez, I'll start there. I mean that that quote recently, obviously, that now everyone turns their head just a little more because you're like, all right, what was going on? But, you know, they haven't had a winning record since 2019 since they won the World Series. Like Dave Martinez's record as a manager is 500622. So like a 446 win percentage.

So I don't know. I guess things do get a lot more interesting with the GM part of it. And hey, Dave Martinez, like, he's had some awesome press conferences. Like he's a baseball lifer that he's going to have next steps. And, you know, I never know. I was watching some MLB network last night and your guy, Yonder Alonzo. I like Yonder.

Sometimes he lays it on a little too, like generic. Like he was, he's like, I wouldn't be surprised if Davy Martinez and Rizzo are taking calls right now for jobs. And I was like, you know, it's maybe, also maybe not. I don't think so. I think Dave Martinez is in a collect his check for the rest of the season. Go fishing. Can I tell you another good thing that I looked up in the moment, Trev? And this is just lame.

You got Yonder by Homer's, 106 to 100. Oh, really? Yeah. I was thinking, you know, Yonder. I love Yonder. Yonder. Thick first baseman. He's got a couple nice seasons there, but you had the lawn game.

One of my favorite nights ever in the Big Leas was with Yonder Alonzo in Miami. I mean, Mr. 305, baby. I would like to be there. So, I don't know. Fireing Dave Martinez, it is what it is. There's, he doesn't honestly have a lot of ammo since 2019. Was I smoking cigarettes at the Fountain Blue and threw up in my hotel room later that night? Yes.

Like that, a lot. Okay, now I really wish I was there. Rizzo gets interesting because he's, he's known as. I don't want to say one of the less analytical guys, but he still believes in scouting and ball players and stuff. You're right, like he does have

a Stephen Strasbourg, Bryce Harper, Rendon, Lucas Gialito, Eric Fetty. Like, there was a run from 09 to 2014 with his first round picks that's, that's pretty strong. Since then, Dane Dunning,

we're not sure which hand he's thrown with. Seth Romero, Deenberg, Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavali, Brady House, Elijah Green, Dylan, Chris. So we're starting to get into some guys that let's see. And maybe... I just got an Instagram video about Elijah Green last night.

That's where my algorithm is. You know, he's sent them back down the rookie ball. He struck out over 40% of the time in his minor league at bat. It's like, yeah, you're missing... You're not going to hit on every draft pick. It's a crapshoot. But to go from where they were to now where they're at, I wonder

what it is. What's the difference? Is it just luck? It's probably a mix, and it's everything we talk. It's why when a pitcher signs with, you know, Tampa or L.A. or the Guardians or the Mets, we get excited. Like, has there been any player that signed with the Nationals, and we're like, oh, get ready for this? Like, no.

They currently don't have that. So organizationally, I don't know what that is. But Trev, the thing that I jump back to was like, okay, Right now they're last in the NL East, which I don't think the Nationals expected that this year. But for us, I remember when we did the team profile and projections this year, and you and I got to the Nationals, and we were kind of psyched. Like you get through some of the, for lack of a better term, rubbish teams.

Like, okay, what can I really say about the Marlins or the Rockies this year? and by the way, the Marlins are, you know, above them in the standings, the Rockies. We actually, you know, were like, hey, they've got a lot of young guys you can kind of get excited about. After the core of the Soto trade, essentially, and the Nathaniel Lowe, Trev, when we did the TPP, we laughed the whole time because we were like, I thought we were going to be juiced about these guys. I thought these were going to be sneaky N.O. Wild card. and when we looked at the depth of the roster,

there wasn't much there for us, and I guess that's where I'm at right now that when I look at the second half of the Nats lineup, when I look at where their pitching staff is, the way they, quote, unquote, won that Soto trade with this young talent they've accrued, there's really nothing else around it that, I think that's what they're looking at.

And the other thing that listening to MLB Network, John Marosi, who I've never, like, really crossed the bridge with, and this is a little jakey stuff, I don't know if it was the camera angle or if he's got a summer tan going. Morosi was looking good. Like, normally I have him pretty deep in, like, the nerd bucket. He kind of, he had a nice glow to him. He was kind of, anyways, his information that he was bringing,

that's the reason he's employed. He said this was unique from the perspective. of the draft is a week away. Yeah. So who's going to be calling the shots running the draft? Like that's very unique. But he also said that I think after the All-Star game, Davy and Mike Rizzo had options for 26 either kick in or come into play or something like that. I think they had to make a decision by mid-July.

So that's what ended up forcing their hand. Can I say this? Please. I'll go a little yonder on you. Again, shout out yonder, my guy. I like yonder, by the way. But sometimes it's like, Yonder, give me the real stuff. Like, you don't have to...

Do you know what I respect about Yonder? This is going to be my new thing. His suits. This is so stupid that I'm even talking about this. You know, everybody wears like a suit with like shoes now. Oh, yeah, yeah. There's no rocking dress shoes. Nice.

Yes, Yonder. I'm with you. Yeah. If you're going to do that, wear the shoes. Yeah. I'm with you. I think Rizzo and Martinez

taking call I think the nationals are taking calls I think there's going to be people lining up like this is this has got to be one of the most I think favorable spots to land

if you're looking to become a first time GM like this is the job that you want you have that young core now ownership it's a big market They have money. They've spent before,

but they're also like kind of actively seeing if they're going to sell the team. So what does that mean as far as like future commitments to payroll? It should mean nothing. It's not going to be your money when you leave. Right. So I think big market. I think the ability to, you know, have a payroll.

They've done it before. Hopefully they, you know, I think they can be convinced to do it again for the right people. And again, like you already have this core. You're getting another. what will be a top prospect

in the number one overall pick you're going to be in the draft lottery again following this year I think this is a job that if you're an AGM somewhere or even if you're having an expiring contract where I think you're like

back channeling like how do I get an interview I want to I this is a job for me. Yeah I'm just going to you're right everything there is accurate like it in a way for the opportunity you're going to get offered as a GM. This has a lot of chips on the table

between current guys, prospects, and, you know, having a little bit of a bank roll to be able to throw elbows around. I guess for me, I'm just starting to get nervous because, I don't know, I kind of thought the nationals

were going to be next year's team, and now it feels like that's going to roll over again, and then what happens next year? And then, I don't know. It's when we look around baseball and even these teams that are supposed to come to fruition, looking at the Orioles and things like that, like, it doesn't happen until it happens.

I know that's some yogi Jake shit, but, like, I don't know. When is CJ Abrams going to start looking at, like, a new country? You know, like, I know we're not there yet, but what if next year's not the year? And CJ Abrams gets one more year closer to free agency. I don't know. It's, um, it is in a way a very appealing job to a new GM, but also, you know,

the East is tough. Like, Mets, Phillies, Braves, that can change really quickly. Um, and I, I do think we, we've never seen a free agent pitcher or player go to the Nats and we're like,

yes. It's just kind of like, okay. Well, sure is there. Yeah, but I mean, that's, you know, How long ago was that? And I mean, I guess I was doing that in the player development front. Yeah, they haven't done something like that, yeah, since the World Series.

So, yeah, interested to see the next steps there. Hey, good job Red Sox. Baring them. I'm burying you. My guy, Raphaela. I mean, Trev, where, do we do Yankees' Mets now? Yankees I think we kind of got to run through these

quicker. If you want to get your Yankees Mets in, Cody Ballinger saved the season according to Jimmy. So again, this is where the internet out is at. Jimmy was Jimmy tweeted that facetiously and people are taking it

real. Nice catch. It was a great play. But Yankees fans are horrified. Horrified, Trev. This was, this is now been three summers in a row that summer has hit, and they've just, like, lost their marbles. Some of the defensive lapses are horrific, mental, and physical that, coming off of the World Series, the excitement was, okay, Soto's out, but this lineup is deep.

They were getting some of the best contributions from the bottom three in their lineup. They are now not getting that. And the other thing was they were playing sound defense. Judge moved to right. You know, we've got center fielders now. Jazz was at second. Jazz is playing third, and he is not a third baseman. And that's okay.

Because it's a really hard position to play. Ask me and Trev. And now Volpe is going through an offensive slump that I think is leading to a defensive slump. And now DJ's at second. and he is not moving like a 33-year-old DJ LaMahue. He's moving like a 36-year-old DJ LaMahue. Some of the relay throws are not even baseball.

So the Yankees are doing the scary baseball stuff. And dude, their press conferences as a fan are a nightmare. We think we're the best team. Awesome. You're not and you're playing horrible. You don't want to have your guys confident in saying that? They're doing half of the press conference. We stink right now.

Half of the press conference. Half of the press conference is, hey, it's baseball. It's a long season. We got to go get them tomorrow. They're missing the first half or it's like, yeah, that's bad baseball and we can't be doing that. They don't say that part. And it's, it's absurd. Yeah.

It is, it does seem a little like, hey, all the things that you, you guys were terrified of last year are kind of happening again. Yeah. On the Mets side. Robbie, can you check when Shamania is coming back? Oh, you love Shahn Maha.

Because the starting pitchers in this series for the Mets, as they won, Justin Hagenmon, don't have them in my book. Okay, Frankie Montas, what third start back, whatever, that's great. And then they had an opener in the last game.

They are, the Mets are also kind of going through a little mid-summer slump right here. And Manaya seems like the perfect guy to clean that up. Do we have any update? Yeah, Manaya is scheduled for one more minor league rehab start on Tuesday. And if that goes well, he could be activated by Friday. Get his ass. One more minor league start.

Why? Get his ass to the big leagues. Mania and I think Sanga is on a timeline. So yeah, the Mets were playing horrific baseball. After winning the second game, I think they won four in a row, so let's see where that takes them.

They're finishing with a little roadie Baltimore and Kansas City. Jeff and Neil had an absolute pump in that series, by the way. Yeah, I mean, a game-winning pump that, again, it's the beauty and scary part of baseball that if Luke Weaver looked like Luke Weaver did pre-injury, we're probably talking about the Yanks, taken two out of three, but instead we're not. Why was he in there?

Weaver? High leverage. Dude, the Yankees pitching is now thin. So the Yankees have offensive options. You know, on a given day, there's two guys on the bench that can hit. So that's good. Oh, here's McNeil pumping Weaver.

Yeah, he knew it. And that's a fun one right there. Yeah. Subway series, take the lead in the year. I think I'm like super into Jeff McNeil. I've been on the fence for a while. I think I'm in. I don't know. I don't know him at all. He's a dog. His postgame interview, he was full golf outfit on the 4th of July, which I kind of liked. Like, is Jeff McNeil going straight ballpark to hit balls? Is he going to barbecued?

I probably would not hang out with him off the field, but I like the way he plays baseball. Just get him out of the outfield. And the other, uh, okay, welcome to talking yanks. Clark Schmidt, uh, Tommy John. So the Yankees pitching was a need at the deadline. It is now multiplied. that, you know, obviously every team has a big deadline. The Yankees, Yankees need a lot, and if they don't get a lot, again, like, the Blue Jays have arrived. Tampa's been really good for a while.

Boston is nowhere near dead. Or the Orioles are playing a better brand of baseball that you've got to be careful, because right now teams are playing the Yankees and they smell the blood in the water, and the Yankees smell their own blood. That one play goes wrong, and everyone starts looking around a little wide-eyed. interesting

final week coming up for them um golly trev um snakes royals a bit of a mid-off I have some fillies stuff coming up

reds reds fillies awesome you're going to talk about one of the guys there I wanted to shout out brison stott I don't know like I just feel like he's got some incredible moments uh for the Phillies there a great go-ahead homer there in the last

game to allow your guy to go back out there. I think that was really cool. Here it is. Whack. Some guys just make it look prettier. I know Bryson's not a power hitter, but that's just a beautiful homa, homa. Chase Burns with a better, you know,

like a kind of a bounce back start after people thought he was tipping his pitches against the redsikes. I don't know if we talked about that. I don't think he was. I think Duran was saying something. I think he saw a little bit. there was like a speed up on the off speed, like just a little quicker with everything,

and then like a little more rhythmic and slower on his fastball. But there were, I think it was like a little bit of that. Maybe a few guys were like, okay, I can see it. And then he also was just leaving stuff over the plate. But, you know, a nice kind of bounce back start here. He goes four and two thirds, only one run, run, seven Ks. Like that's, he's nasty.

To make it full circle, your guy, yonder and, Alonzo was also like, I don't think he was tipping. I think he was just, I think it was just bad pitches. There was, I was watching. I went back and checked it out. Like you could, you could see on, you know, a handful of his breaking pitches of sliding, the sliders that he was just quicker.

Like, you know. And, but again, not everyone is keen to picking that up. Like, there are guys that are good at and guys that aren't, guys that want it, guys that don't want it. So it's, I don't know. It's it's day by day People think like Oh you got a tip

For sure you're gonna get a knock It's like no dude Like a lot of times You're like Like looking at the picture Like am I seeing that? Huh Okay

I'll try I think so Yeah It's not like cut and clear Like most of the time Like that happens very A few and far between For that

Most of the time it's like Oh shit Should I try it or not Uh I Trevor I I mean The cubbies are still

dominant. I have more on them later, but it feels weird to pass up on them because it's, it's so impressive. Dominance by the Cubs. I think this is a great, like, litmus test for them. And, you know, if you're the Cardinals, you had been kind of running up the standings a little bit there, kind of running into a speed bump here. I think the Cubs asserted a little bit of dominance in the division with this series, you know, a couple 11 game, 11 run Johnny's. I did not, excuse me, I didn't know say Suzuki was doing it like this. Yes. It's just been so methodical, dude.

75 runs driven in already? Crazy. All-star snub, 23 homers and 75 runs driven in is insane, dude. Yeah. So shout. I'm seeing them tomorrow, man. I'm flying in tomorrow. I'll be there to see all my Cubs guys.

I'm very excited about that. But they look. Michael Bush looks incredible right now. they look like one of the most formidable lineups in baseball. I have a little more Michael Bush coming up because we get distracted by the whole outfield, the DH, the shortstop, the second baseman, what Carson Kelly did in the first month.

What Michael Bush is doing this year is insane, arguably the best first baseman in baseball. If you didn't watch Sunday Night Baseball yesterday, They had Mason win on, like, miced up, and, like, they were just getting shalacked. And there was at one point they had a pitching change. I'm sure he thought it was like, all right, I'm like done now. And our guy, Carl Ravich, is like, and we'll have more with Mason win after we get back from this pitching change. He's got to be like, damn.

Are you sure, Carl? Yeah. Why don't we just. Not be on there when my pitchers are just getting shellacked around? How don't we just stay at the break? Golly, Trev, there's so much. I'm just going to say a couple names that I deserve to be said. Charlie Morton back.

Trevor Rogers. You know, that was one of their impact moves. He's been hurt. He's been back in pitching really well. 6.2 shut piece in that one. Baltimore 22 and 12 since the beginning of June. Excuse me. No, I had that totally wrong.

wrong. 19 and 13 since the beginning of June. Okay. Pretty good. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. It's almost a 600 winning percentage,

people. And yeah, just a final reminder. If you look up best pitchers since tooth out, since 2020, you'd be shocked at how high up on the ERA leaderboard you'll find

Brandon Woodruff. Yeah. And he is back for Milwaukee, who again, another casual two out of three from them. Chirillo picking up some steam after he's got some weird splits right now, interested to see his second half. And if you remember last year, he had a massive second half. So is he a second half guy? We'll find out more on that. My guy Kyle Higigashioca had a monster game in the middle of that podcast.

series too. You might hear about him later, not in a positive way. Oh. Damn. Go Padres, go. I follow this one guy. Oh. What's,

it's a, and I apologize. Can't wait to see who this is. I think it's like Padres blogger. Is that what it is? We've got a head nod from our second resident Padres. Padres blogger. And this guy goes nuts.

If the Dodgers stink, I think he's got like young kids. So when he wants to go like sound off, he like has to run to his family. garage and just start screaming. I don't know. I like his content. I think it's funny. So him and I go back and forth quite a bit about the Padres on all Instagram. Padres fans are crazy. That's my roundabout way of saying it. Like the guys that I know, Molly, I don't know Molly that well. Can you get to know you? Probably when we come to the warehouse.

Ryan Cohen and Padre's blogger, absolutely insane. Both of them. Yeah, I mean, Ryan Cohen is one of the biggest gap between actual human and baseball fan representation that I've, seen. He's one of the sweetest guys in the world, but if there's a Padres Dodgers game, like, it gets real. Like, you, anyways, uh, let's go out to standout performances that are brought to us by skims. We're not skimming through this part of the season. This is the final juice and you shouldn't be skimping out on your underwear.

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Let them know we sent you after you place your order, select podcast in the survey. Select our show in the drop-down menu that follows skims. It's time for stand-out for performances. Stand-out performances. This guy stood out for Treff.

Say what? How come it just says this guy stood out for Treff? Because you're the star. I don't know what you want to hear. What are we doing here? I'm just the conduit. I'm just the conduit. I'm just the.

conduit. I'm going with Sadan Rafael. On Sunday he goes three for four, a double, a homer, two runs scored. So like nice game, but more I wanted to talk about like kind of what he's been doing offensively over the last month or so.

It's been incredible. We're talking about a guy who could easily win a gold glove, platinum glove out there in the outfield with what he does. He hasn't won one yet, as he? No, yes. Definitely in the future for him, because he goes and absolutely gets the ball. Last 28 days, Jake. I want to read a slash line.

313, 337, with a 614 slug. A 952 OPS over his last 28 days. This, again, coming from a guy who's like not really known as a hitter. He's more of a defender, but things are all coming into place for him. It's been, you know, obviously great to see. but for the Red Sox, like, it's kind of like coincided. Like, they're kind of getting back a little bit back into the swing of things here. Like, I don't think you can discount them from making a run and getting into the playoffs.

I still think that that can happen. And Robbie, can you get their record since the Devers trade for me, please? Okay. Because it's, I think it's pretty good. Well, they have been volatile. They have been volatile, yes. They had a six-game loser in there, the offense didn't get started,

now they're going again. 46 and 45 right now in June 15. Okay, they're 500. Sometimes the numbers don't back up what you think, okay? And that's fine. And that's fine. But today has been awesome to watch. I wanted to shout them out.

The offense is obviously a very welcome site for the Red Sox. We're right in the think of it. They're involved, man, and they're going to be. I can sense it in my bones. I've watched enough of this. And I love him, man. He's an absolute electrician. For my standout, I talked about Bader's hair a lot.

Again, Higgie, Zach Short showed up. I don't know. I was craving the pitchers today. I could have had my pick in Seattle. It's scubel every week. I'm going Zach Wheeler Trev because

the complete game is just different It hits different these days Nine innings pitch One hit, one earn run, zero walks, 12 Ks One batter above the minimum Austin Hayes got them Clipped one to right center

Pretty swing. Revenge game for Austin Hayes People forget That's it Otherwise you got out And it's the whole Zach Wheeler conversation that we run through, I'd say, every month. And it's just like here he is again as the second best. Every year he's the second best pitcher in the National League and Logan Webb is the third best picture. This could have been Logan Webb as the standout performer.

It's Zach Wheeler. Again, pitcher war sometimes gets weird, but 4.8 war right now. a 217 ERA and 18 games started. He leads the National League in strikeouts in WIP, and there's just, it's some different form of dominant from him. That's one hitter away from a perfect game. And the Philly crowd was going nuts. Like it is the perfect combination of whatever energy he brings on the mound

of boring dominance and the crazy Philly fans. and his when he's pitching in a Philly day game like don't even show up he's one of the best players in the game I Treve I had a late night like Hall of Fame um 40 career war he'd he'd have to keep going but in a way he just He announced his retirement I know he pre-retired because he he he doesn't care I don't know man the numbers that I'm going to get into when I have a boring moment

in the next couple days, what he's done from age 31 to 35, I don't know how many pitchers have done that as he continues to roll this year. He's been so good, so good for the way. They always talk about like seven-year peaks for Hall of Fame. He's kind of, he's got a pretty dang good seven-year peak year.

And he's still peaking. Yeah, like he, yeah, he's maybe has his, even reads to it. If I get to see, because when did he say he's retiring after 2027? Yeah, he's got a couple of years left in his concha, then he's out. If I see Zach Wheeler in the next couple years, which that would suck for Zach Wheeler, I'm going to tell him, hey, dude, do the Roger Clemens, Andy Petit?

Like, I need so much more of that. Like, Zach Wheeler's going to have more in the tank. He just doesn't want to be on the road every day, and I get that. Come join the team in July. Why? We're good, man. Only fly in for your games. Like, who says no? Who says no?

Not me. By the way, Roger Clemens, don't know him. His son, Cody Clemens, awesome. Okay, that's good. Awesome. That's good to hear. I was reading some postgame quotes after that Wheeler start, and, you know, Bryson's thought hits the two run home

or Topper goes in to find Wheeler and says, hey, can you go back out there? And then when he came out, I guess the roar of the crowd was, you mentioned, it was so big that they couldn't hear the pitchcom. Bryson's thoughts that I had to turn it all the way up, could barely hear it. Ria Muto said he couldn't even hear his at all. So he was like, I hope I'm pressing the right buttons because I might get crossed up right now if he couldn't hear it. So shout out, Philly, man. That's fun. It's a lot of fun.

God. Third, third oldest pitcher in MLB to throw the complete game one hit, 12K starts. R.A. Dickey and Randy Johnson. How about that? How about that crew?

Trev, there's a lot of standout guys, but I think a chunk of them landed on Enfuego. Durn Nasty's on Fuego. That means I'm on fire, baby. Like Waco. Enfuego is brought to you by Corona, the official survey. of talking baseball.

We're going to start out with a series where Jose Al Tuve go six for 11, a double, a triple, and three homers against the Dodgers, seven runs driven in. Harrison Bader, A, Bebe, you and him together,

that'd be some fun energy. We'd ruin... I don't know why. We'd ruin people's nights. He looks at me and is like, get out of here. Yeah, you're old. You, I have style, you don't have

style. Three for nine in the series, but all three hits were homers, including a pinch hit game tying Homer there for them. Mickey Moniac, my guy, six for 11 in the series, a double, a triple, and a homer. He's got an OPS of 1.2 with runners in scoring position this season. That's third best in all of baseball, the least 135 play appearances for the week, for the year for his life, George Springer, 12 for 28. Five homers, 13 runs driven, and he became the fourth player, age 35 or later, to have 15 homers in 10 stolen. I love this list. This list is awesome.

Alfonso Soriano did it in 2013. Gary Sheffield did it in 2007 and Reggie Sanders in 2005. Dogs. Dogs. Speaking of dogs. Randy, Rosarano. That's my dog bark. I hate my dogs bark, by the way. I can't stand it. Oh, yeah, too small. I hate it.

She's just the mix of like, she's just big enough where it's loud, but she still has the high pitch. I hate it. I'm like trying to do like the shaking thing. You ever have one of those? Excuse me? Oh.

Like shakes and makes a noise. She doesn't care about it. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I need a shot. It sounded like you were shaking your dog for a second, which we would have had to take a time out. Only your babies. Don't shake your babies.

That's not allowed. Randy at Rosa Raina. It goes nine for 26. Six homers on the week. I think it was five straight games nine runs driven and Trevor Story's been doing it 12 for 25

3 doubles three homers 10 runs driven on Friday he recorded this third career game with four hits one plus homers and four plus RBI's his first time since May 19th, 2020 doing that Willie Adomas snaps for Willie he had some hilarious quotes about his slow starts he's like

everybody was worried my mom was worried you know my parents are worried yeah he goes I was worried and then he's like but I kept telling everyone chill out it's going to be okay so I was like okay were you worried right or are you chill who cares

love you Willie 11 for 26 two doubles two homers nine runs driven him he had three plus RBI in consecutive games on Saturday and Sunday the first shortstop for the Giants to do that since another great name Richerilia oh stud

yeah how about the Martian though for the Yanks 11 for 26 a double a triple two homers and six runs driven in on the week and here's some pitchers that shoved um Lucas G. Alito didn't get mentioned on here. Ross just mentioned him again love him uh Colin Ray uh first he has a uh you went six and two thirds with one hit one earned run he's got a first pitch strike rate of 70 percent on the season uh that's fourth highest in all the baseball jp sears for the a's has been making some good starts here uh he goes six and he's

pitch zero earned runs in his starts. That's consecutive starts of five and two-thirds innings plus with no runs given up. It's the second time in his career and first time since May 22 where Sears has thrown back-to-back starts of that five and two-thirds

innings pitch with no runs. Casey Mize for the Tigers. They just do everything well. Seven innings pitched, four hits, no earned runs. He hasn't given up more than three runs since May 1st in the start. Yum. Ryan Nelson of your snakes, Go seven innings pitched four hits one earned run he carried a perfect game through 16 batters Jake he's three and no with a 201 in his last five starts and then we mentioned this guy and this is just snaps

Brandon Woodruff comes back six innings pitch two hits one earned run eight case he had to made a start in the major since September 23rd 2023 and that was when the Brewers beat the Marlins to clinch a playoff berth so shout out Brandon Woodruff coming back Big Wu, as they call him. And now Jake, that was who's in Fuego. Please, tell me who he's struggling. I've got good news for Miguel Vargas, who starts off the list. Three for 41. 086 on fastballs away this season.

That's the worst in MLB. Kind of bad news for him, I feel like a lot of pitchers throw a fastball away. Yeah. So we're... One of their favorites. We're going to have to work on that one. Hey, we know what to target. and Miguel Vargas is joined by a collection of ballers.

Jose Ramirez is in a 5 for 41. Oh, and Cleveland's lost their last 10? I'm shocked. Yeah, I'm kidding. That's crazy. That's insane. He's the most valuable guy ever. He's going to turn it around.

I can basically promise everyone. Ryan McMahon, 5 for 40, 18 strikeouts in his last 44 plate appearances. that's the most in MLB, just tanking his value to get traded to the Yankees, I guess. Marcelo Zuna, 6 for 42. The Big Bear. No RBI since June 21st, hasn't homered since June 13th. I think he's a little banged up. I wonder.

Oh, the Braves are nine games back of a wild card. Let's get him. People keep linking him in Texas to go be their DH. That would be interesting. Jackson Merrill. rounds out the crew. So, okay, J-Ram, McMahon, Ozuna, Jackson, Maryland, and eight for 46 right now.

And he's chasing. He's chasing. He's also rolling balls over. I watched a couple of his bets this weekend. Hey, Padre's blogger, why don't you tell me what's going on there? It looks like he's just a little quick on the draw. Their little hips going a little too fast for me. Stay in.

Keep that shoulder in. Yeah. Was I Googling? Or was I YouTubing softball power swings this weekend? I was. Yes, you were. the IL as we continue to lower everyone's mood before picking it up. Joey Butts, Jose Budo, is going on the IL for the New York Mets.

Clark Schmidt, as I mentioned for the Yankees, Tommy John, out for this year, out for next year. Yikes. Jameson Tyone with a right calf, minimum of six weeks for the Cubs. That's an interesting development. Trevor Williams, our guy, he's got some right. elbow stuff going on right now. Andres Jimenez for Toronto, spraying that left ankle.

That was a funky one. Gary Sanchez with a sprained right knee. Paving Smith, man. Right oblique, Trev. Get the DM going. Lane Thomas with some planter fasciitis. And then there's a handful of relief arms on here, too. The good news is, as life goes,

some go on the IL, some come off the IL. Graham Ashcraft and Noel V. Marte for Cincinnati. Reese Olson, we mentioned him for Detroit. Tyler O'Neill, let's go for Baltimore. Good fits, Fitz McGee. Corbyn Carroll, that's good. Matt Chapman, that's good. Wyatt Langford, that's good.

Brandon Woodruff, that's great. I am absolutely loving this. A few more relievers. Ryan Burr, Mason Thompson, sure. Key Bear Ruiz for the Nattonels. Zach Gullof, come on, go doors.

That's your guy, Trev. Let's start off everyone's week the right way. Words are brought to us by the Draft King Sportsbook. Baseball is here, people, and get in on the action with our friends at Draft Kings. If you got to lean on one, right now, new customers who bet just $5, get $150 in bonus bets instantly.

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see dKNG.co slash audio. Shrab? My award is, Hey, yo, Unk. You need to chill. Go get them. I just learned, like, what Unk meant, not too long ago because if someone called me Unk,

It basically means an old head, but not too old. You're not like Gramps. Correct. You're Unk. Yeah. You're just outside of, like, being young and cool. Unk is, if there's a family party and the kids are, like, shooting hoops, Unk walks over to the court and, like, pulls up his pants before he shoots.

That's Unk. Is that what Unk means? I thought Unk was just like, you're just, like, a little outside of me. I'm at the Unk age, 39 years old. Joe's Mcfly is Unk. You're not Unk. Nobody. looks at me and it's like that guy's cool like I I I'm just gonna get emotional I remember like

you know back in the day like you'd walk somewhere and like you know maybe I you see a chick be like maybe they'll tilt the head a little bit I don't ever get that anymore no even what the days I'm like damn I feel like I'm looking pretty good there's pop in true outfit no nothing this is gonna blow your mind some of us never really had that effect anyways uh unk chill out a little bit that's the award. There's a few things like, you know, have happened in baseball. And if you've ever listened or watched a baseball game, you hear it all the time from broadcasters. I really try not to be that way because it bothers me. Guys, it's just back in my day, this is the way it's it should be this way all the time. I can't stand it because look, the game is always evolving.

And you have to keep up with the times. Okay. Like there's reasons for things. You might not like them. You might not have ever done them so you don't understand them, which I think is the main problem here. But you have to like learn these things and what they mean or else like the game's in a past you buy and you just sound you just sound outdated. I think you even your past unc status. Your old man yelling at cloud status, right? Yeah.

There's a couple of things that, you know, the unc's need to chill out about. Number one, you know, I think we talk about this all the time. Things, some things like new age things when they go wrong, just look. looks so bad and that's why they get like a bad rep. For instance, like the shift, okay, like defensive shifts. You know, when we used to be able to really do them and the guy would, like, say we're shifting a left-hander, everybody's on the right side of second base and the third base and is playing shortstop and a lefty like punched one down the third base line.

And, you know, people like, oh, oh my gosh. Like if we were just playing traditional defense, like that's a ground ball. But, you know, truly what the numbers would say is you're saving way more hits than you're giving up. It's just the ones that get by look so bad. That's why people get so mad about it. But the reason teams do it is because they're saving more hits than not doing it. That's why they still really try to shift, even though we've put some rules against it. Like they're still doing it.

They're positioning guys there because they're going to save more hits. than give up hits. It still looks bad. I find myself even thinking sometimes, like, what are we doing here? For instance, you know, the twins rarely play like traditional double play depth.

Like, in fact, I don't think they really ever do. There'll be one guy in the non-pool side will be like kind of traditional double-play depth. And like Carlos Correa, for instance, will just be like in the hole at shortstop.

Like, how are you ever going to get to turn double play? And they barely do. But like they've, they've decided that that's going to give them more outs. They don't want to give up that, the whole, whatever it is. My whole point in all that is saying when a hit goes through a shift, it looks bad, but really we're saving more hits.

So on chill out. The real thing I want to talk about here is now Mike Petriella, who is like a great, great sports writer, had an article about the one knee catching trend, which we can't really call it a trend. It's been going on for quite some time. And in fact, Jake, 95% of the time this year in the big leagues, guys are catching with one knee down. So it's not a trend.

It is, in fact, that is happening, and it's going to continue to get even more that way. Austin Barnes was a holdout. He was at 23% of the time. The Dodgers released him. He's now in the minor leagues with the Giants. The only guy that's like not in the 90% of the time, Kyle Higashioca.

41% of the time. That's almost four times the amount that he did last year. I'm quoting a lot of things from the article. If you want to read it, it's on MLB.com. But it's out like a week now, so I don't feel too bad of going over it. So when you watch a game, and I actually saw this with your Yankees,

Ben Rice, who I didn't know as a catcher. Oh, yeah. Did not know that. I just didn't think that. He let him all go, pass ball, and I was texting Joe's and he was so mad about. it. But that got me started on this whole thing. Because I think that's another instance, this is another instance of like when things look bad, they look really bad. Like when a guy's on

one knee and doesn't block a ball, the old heads go absolutely insane with it. You hear it on every single broadcast. I might even have been, I don't know if I've said anything about it. I'm not really sure. But I've definitely thought it. I'm like, oh man, like if you were just like we're a traditional stance, you'd be able to block that ball. Turns out the numbers do not support that. Pass balls and wild pitches in 2025, where 95% of the time guys are on one knee are at the same levels as they were in 1960 and their lowest rate since 1981. So guys are blocking the ball just fine and maybe even better than they were when they're on two knees. And there's other stuff that just supports this and it's the reason it's going to stay.

I thought there's a quote in here from Stephen Vote saying, it's just so much easier on guys. They're going to be able to catch more because it's easier on their knees and their back. It's just like it's a better position to put yourself in than their traditional squat. So he says that alone right there should have people excited about it. It's going to keep guys healthier.

But there's some really crazy, crazy stats. I want to read, then I'll kind of let you go. So this is interesting, and this is a good way to think about it. Jerry Weinstein, from at J. Wan catching, put out a tweet. He goes, take pop-ups, tag plays, bunt plays, etc., out of the equation, and break down the percentages of the defensive events that happen most often for catchers. And you're looking at receiving, blocking, and throwing. Of those, receiving fills up 90% of the bucket, blocking 6% and throwing 1%.

percent of the time. So receiving is what they're really trying to go after here. You know, that's the reason they started this trend, which I believe it was a Yankees coach. Yankees catching coach Tanner Swanson created this. Yeah. So that's what they're trying to do. And basically what that tweet is saying is like the majority of catching is receiving and you're trying to steal some strikes. That's why they're doing it. That's why this is going to continue. Since 2020 through Wednesday, catchers in a knee-down stance have been worth 169 positive fielding runs, while those with both knees up are negative 152 runs. So this is not going anywhere.

And then this is kind of the last quote I want to give, and then I'll kind of wrap it up here. Kevin Cash talks about why they really want to do it. When you take a one-one pitch and help turn that pitch into a strike as opposed to a ball that's way more valuable doing that three times than a ball getting box. you to advance a guy from first to second. So, you know, think about that. The way they're valuing, you know, and these are traditional stats, too, that you can look

up. The difference between a two-one count and a one-two count is basically what he's saying. And those swing counts, a one-one counts, a swing count. One-two-two-one, go look at the batting average. If that's what you're into, go look at the batting average of the difference in those two counts. I mean, that's why they're trying to steal strikes. So all this to say, you got to stop complaining about some of the new things in baseball because the numbers truly do support them.

And just because it's something that you did or the game you saw back in the day doesn't mean it's necessarily right. This isn't going anywhere. So Unk, relax a little bit. Yeah. As you noted, this was a Yankee thing. So I've seen the development of this. And yeah, Higgy was allowed to not do it

because his pitch framing was so good. Higgy was a top percentage pitchframer, so they kind of just let him ride. And he didn't like it. I guess for me, like, the answer is correct. Everything you said is correct. And it's the part that frustrates me is it stealing strikes that, like, the fact that's part of a game

is kind of dumb, and it's far of the reason Kirk, Alejandro Kirk is such a good pitch framer is because with his shorter body, he's already lower, that it's like, we're tricking umps, which I don't love how much of that is the strategy of the game, but it clearly is. And those big at-bats in those big moments,

it's very much worth stealing a strike. And you steal 10 a game, and that's going to be much more valuable than you're three at bats as the catcher in moments that matter. That, yeah, it all makes sense. There's parts of me that still don't love it. Like, the fact that it is formed from stealing strikes. Like, I don't love that that's the formation.

And I think the optics... Just stop saying stealing strikes. We are. Because I feel like people don't like stealing. It's like you're getting more strikes called. You're tricking the ump. You're not tricking the. the um because they know everything that's going on but isn't that the whole point you're just make you're just

you're just you're just presenting it better to the empire isn't that the whole point of why we're saying that this is but here's a thing okay i'm glad you brought that up and let's just let's just keep rolling on this um sat down and was having a meal with joe mauer who when i was in minnesota and we were talking about this and it was just one of those things like you know a lot of these new age things people are so scared of but they've been going on in the game forever. He's like, you know, I had a big body. So when I was behind the plate, he goes, when I would try, instead of taking, you know,

his glove down and going up and trying to steal the low strike, he goes, that wasn't really a thing. He goes, I had hands. I could do it. I had strong hands. His thing was, he said he'd set up. And if he, if the ball, let's say, I'm going this way, if the ball was going to be over here, instead of bringing his glove there, he'd bring his whole body there.

So it looked like he caught it right in the middle of his body instead of reaching for it or moving his arm. He said he would do it really slightly. You couldn't do it fast because they'd notice it, but if you did it slowly enough and kind of like timed it right, that's like that was his way to steal strikes. Yeah. So I don't know.

It's been going on for a long time. But again, this isn't going on. So there's just some things. I think I'm overall point here is, guys, you can't hate on the game so much. Like learn and understand it before you just completely criticize it. Yeah. I

I think whenever we see something new, a lot of people get freaked out by it. And I'll say, and again, I don't know if there's an answer. The only part of it that's really tough is when you see a, it's a pitch that gets spiked. So again, you're back to the pitcher. Like, don't do that. But when they're in that squat and it's to their backhand side,

their only chance is to pick it clean. Which traditionally we have the image of the catcher in our, like throw your body around. Like that used to be the signature play, right? Like you picture the catcher flying around getting their chest down and keep it in front of them. They don't even have the option for that. Not that a lot of guys were great at that anyways.

And that kind of goes to all the data and information you have. It is just a weird feeling as a sports fan. It just looks bad, but the numbers don't support. that it's when he works. Exactly. And I guess where I would want to go is like should it be different for pitchers with different pitch mixes or reputois? Like if you have a guy that throws a splitter and sometimes they yank it, okay, should you maybe not be in the full squat then? Because there's a chance they could yank that pitch that gets past you. I guess I just think with a lot of the new information

we get, there can be more layers to it that I'm interested to see. It'll continue to grow for sure. For stealing, not stealing strikes, for presenting strikes better, it's an absolute no-brainer. And that's why, dude, you watch every game, if you asked any new baseball fan

and be like, hey, dude, how does a catcher catch a ball? You see it at spring training. They just bring it back to the middle. Bring back knee savers. That's what I want. You know, maybe my most controversial you'll take all time

is give him a bucket. Like if we're trying to save catchers knees, what are we doing? Have you ever wore gear with knee savers? Yeah. It's incredible. Yeah. But nobody would ever wear it because it was like you're soft.

I think, I want to say Mauer tried him out for a little bit. Kurt Suzuki was like, that was never going to happen with him. That's an old school catcher right. I still didn't even like them. I think my knees have zero cartilage in them. so it was always tough to catch.

And my calves are so thick that, like, they just didn't sit right. Okay. Got personal at the end here. Go get those unks. Trev, you're not unk. You're still turning heads in the street, dude. I'm not doing that,

but I'm at least understanding the game of baseball or trying to do it. You're turning heads. I get the 28-year-old dude on the subway who kind of looks at me like, wait, I think that's the John Boy guy. So that's... I mean, yes. I get the, the, the young guys still know us from their phones.

We got it, baby. Holy smokes. I, uh, Trev, my, my award, and I think it's an award I've run annually is one is, one in the hand is better than two in the bush. Just a funny phrase for me. And I think it means that just having one is more valuable than looking at, two. It doesn't really apply to the award. I just think it's a funny phrase in our society. And it's a play on the word Bush. Because Trev, our guy, PCA, gets in front of the cameras yesterday for Sunday night baseball. And he's like, get Say it to the All-Star game. And he's right. Leading the league in RBI has been one of the better hitters the past three years now.

It's crazy where his stats have just landed. And who he is for the Cubs and how good they are that, yes, if we didn't have the every team, All-Star thing? Like, say Suzuki's an all-star. That's a no-brainer. So hopefully that does happen. He's not even the number one excluded guy. And dude, we have done this so much, and it's starting to blow my mind.

Michael Bush is maybe the best first baseman in baseball. He had a three-homer game on Friday. This weekend, Trev, he went nine for 12, two doubles, four homers, six RBI, six runs. That's a 272, 2702 OPS over the weekend. He has the highest OPS of all Major League Baseball First Baseman.

Hey, Trev, has Pete Alonzo had a good first half? Yes. Bush has a better OPS. Freddie Freeman? Bush is ahead of him. Jonathan or Randa, whoever you want, this guy's number one. And we talk about him as he's like, Cubs number player six. Like, and I guess if I really want to do two in the Bush,

they traded two prospects for Bush. So maybe that could be my spin zone. I don't know, man. I just think Michael Bush has become like the, yeah, the Cubs have a nice like lefty swinging first basement. But that outfield's crazy. Dansby's hot like Trev Michael Bush is a 3-4 war

297-384 of 566 slug 970 OPS that's rare air and this guy doesn't get talked about enough so I'm trying who did they get traded for? I believe it was Zaire Hope

they just had no room for this guy Dodgers 40 mandam yes they got got real prospects back. Jackson, Ferris and Zaire Hope, but still, he's like, he should, if we just went Numbies,

he would be the National League starting first baseman for the All-Star game. Waded runs, created plus. He's first, of any first baseman for a 170, the next closest to him is 160, and that's Pete Alonzo. It's going off, man. Like, how much

has Pete been discussed this year? How much has Michael Bush been discussed this year? And that's what we do. That's what we do. God. Zaire Hope? Yeah, kind of sick name, right?

It is, I mean, yes. And the Dodgers traded for him. So it still sketches me out. Like, there's still a couple years when we're going to see one of those dudes. I don't think Zaire, is he a position player? Let's double check. I know one's a field prospect. Top 100, 876 OPS at high A this year.

Okay. So try doing a 970 at the big league level. That's all I'm saying. A little different, a little different. And that's what we are. Built just a little different. Diesel won today. We missed Friday's episode.

Kershaw 3,000 K's. We didn't even... Oh, Dodger fan Trev's going to hear about that. We love you guys. See you Wednesday. Jack sucks. All-star teams. 3,000 K's Jim Wolf, my good buddy, called it.

Rung him up right there. Only four lefties. all time. When they took the rubber out of the mound and gave it to him and they gave it to him and almost fell. Imagine if he dropped the rubber on his foot.

The rubber's way too big. Yeah. All-Star Clinton Kershaw.