The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: Flip Cup? (feat. Senator Mark Kelly & Adnan Virk)

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

"I flew a spaceship built by the lowest bidder." Senator Mark Kelly is a perennial optimist, but even he can admit that the country is currently in a bit of disarray. He joins the show to discuss the President's lack of strategy regarding Iran, ICE's slush fund, TSA, and why the administration is costing everyday Americans a chance at a normal life. Then, with that very logical lead-in, it's time for The Pitch Clock! Happy Opening Day, everyone! See you at 3:00 p.m.! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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CBC News. This is the Dan Levatore show with the Stucats podcast. We appreciate Senator Mark Kelly's work and his time. He's a former U.S. Navy combat pilot. He's an astronaut, former astronaut. He's the current senator for Arizona, Mark Kelly. We appreciate the time, Senator, for you joining us between a war, government shutdown and having to defend your First Amendment rights against Trump and

Heg Seth as they threaten to take away your military retirement rank and pay. I don't know how you're not walking around every day, wildly insulted about the position our country and its leadership has put you in. Thank you for the time. Well, it's good to be on, and thanks for having me on again. Appreciate it. How did we get to war with Iran, and what are you finding most offensive about how we got here? Well, I think we got here because we have a president that has a hard time thinking more than one step ahead. And these things have second and third order effects.

I also think he's an individual that doesn't listen to people around him. And in his second term, he has put folks around him, Secretary of Defense being, I think, at the top of the list, people who really shouldn't be in these jobs. So you're not getting great advice. You're also generally not listening to this advice. In the case of what happened in Iran, I really believe the president thought we'd drop a few bombs. here and then the administration would fall in Tehran and we'd have a new government that would be supportive of the United States. Incredibly optimistic thinking. And I'm generally an optimist, guys.

I flew a spaceship built by the lowest bidder, but I'm not that optimistic. You know, these things tend to go sideways on you and he wasn't thinking ahead. And now we're in his situation with the Strait of Hormuz shut down, 20% of the world's oil going through there. and he's got no answers and never had a real strategic goal for what this should be. So, you know, I look at this thing, you know, and I fought over there. I mean, I spent, you know, 1991, I was in the first Gulf War. I know how complicated these things are. This thing is turning into a train wreck.

What are the best case and worst case scenarios here? Always the best case would be for the Iranians to say, okay, we'd like this to end. What do you want? that's not likely to turn out that way. And the worst case scenario is that we wind up with the straight of Hormuz shut down for, who knows, months, years. I mean, I really don't see how this ends in a positive way right now. And what that means for the American people is rising costs. And it's not just gasoline and fuel.

I mean, costs go up on everything when energy costs more. any kind of manufacturing costs go up if the energy goes up so that's the you know the worst case scenario but even beyond that i'd say the worse worse than that is them rushing to get a nuclear weapon we didn't obliterate it last summer the president said it over and over again now he sometimes says that's why we're doing this operation sometimes he leaves it out so there's yeah there's a lot in the in the way of worst case have you ever in your life met a human being who lies this much no And I've only met him once. So, and it was before he was elected the first time.

But, I mean, he has, he has set. I think there needs to be a new entry in the Guinness World Book of World Records that includes Donald Trump for, for the lies and the falsehoods. Where are you on speaking freely on his cognitive decline and failing health? What's fair there? Well, I mean, I watch him closely. right? I mean, I don't watch everything he says, but sometimes I've seen him give statements where he contradicts himself multiple times within a matter of minutes. You know, he'll say this war is over, then he'll say he needs our allies to support it, then it's over again, then we're winning,

but we want help. I mean, he'll go back and forth, and that's, that indicates to me, I mean, you see, you see that a lot with people, you know, his age. That has. That has. happens. And he just doesn't seem to be able to track. And I'd say at the beginning of this administration, I noticed it was it was like from one week to the next. Now it seems to be more like from one minute to the next minute. What do we do about the state of our airports? When is this going to get better? And why are ICE agents at our airports? Well, he sent ICE agents there. He didn't send them there to take over the duties of TSA. That's what he said, but that's not what they're doing. So you still have the long lines. They shouldn't be there. We want to see ICE

overhauled in a way that protects the rights of Americans. We have two dead Americans and you know how many countless of others whose constitutional rights have been violated. We could open TSA right now. We have offered to fund TSA multiple times. Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues have politicized this and they refuse to do that. We've also offered to fund Coast Guard multiple times and FEMA. Now, ICE has a $75 billion slush fund. You know, their annual budget is typically about $10 billion. And they've got $75 billion that the president can, you know, play around with. So we want to see some changes to ICE. TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard. We could go down to the floor and offer another vote here, but somebody would block it.

And that's happened over and over again. On just a human level, we can all play politics, but just on a human level, do you find yourself losing great amounts of respect for some of your peers here? Yeah. Yes, that has happened. You know, I try to, you know, work across the aisle. I have great friends who are Republicans. You know, I work with them on a lot of things.

You know, there's others. I'm not going to name names, but over, you know, my time here about five and a half years in the United States Senate, I kind of wonder how they get this. this job. Why are they in this job? They don't seem to know much about a number of things. I'm not talking about the majority of my colleagues. You know, just say, you know, a couple of individuals. I just don't get it. The top official at the TSA said staffing shortages have led to the highest wait time in TSA history and the agency has lost almost 500 officers since the shutdown began. What's the breaking point? How much worse can this get? Well, I think I thought we were beyond the

breaking point already, and that's why we continue to offer, you know, funding for TSA to try to get us out of this. You know, I hope we get a resolution here. I mean, hope is not a strategy, but, you know, I want to see this resolved as soon as possible. Sports fans, all the sports are coming together. It's a great time. Just sit on your couch, text your friend, hey, come over, let's watch the games. And when I do that to my friends, guess what they text me back? I got the Miller Lights. That's right. They pick up Miller Lights. I pretty much anywhere they sell beer, and they come over to my place. We take that first sip, and we realize, man, we just made a regular old-fashioned night

into a special night. Thank you, Miller Light. And shortly thereafter, we got multiple screens on. Everybody's dialed into something different. And the whole night just keeps building and building and building. That's why I reach for Miller Light. It can take an ordinary night and take it to an extraordinary place. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink.

Proof for taste with simple ingredients. Just 96 calories and 3.4. 2.2 carbs, the original light beer since 1975, and still hitting different. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time.

Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories, and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Sometimes I feel like we're all really good at handling everything around us and just ignoring what's going on in our own head. Like your phone breaks, you fix it immediately. your car makes a weird noise. You're like, all right, let's figure this one out. But then your brain's off, stress, burnout, not sleeping right?

We just kind of go, yeah, I'll deal with it later. And later just keeps moving and moving and moving. And that's why therapy matters, not because something's wrong, because it gives you a way to sort things out before it all stacks up. The problem is that actually getting started has always felt like a process, finding someone figuring out insurance, waiting weeks just to talk to somebody, and that's usually where people tap out. And that's where Rula comes in.

Rula is a healthcare provider group that makes therapy easier to actually actually access. They connect you with licensed therapists who take your insurance and sessions can be as low as 15 bucks. Your answer a few questions, find someone who fits what you need, and you can be talking to someone as soon as the next day. Thousands of guys have already used Rula to finally get the care that they need. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.com slash Dan and get started today. That's Rula, rula, rula, dot com slash Dan. Take the first step, get connected, and take control of your mental health. Hey, Roy, buddy. You know, you know that energy shift when the game gets good, and everybody altogether in unison knows to stand up on their feet.

Oh, absolutely, Mike. Yeah, you've been at many big-time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo. Oh, delicious. It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Quervo, man, it's at high-five a random stranger effect.

That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it, Cuervo. The thing that makes you go home at night cursing

because you're like, I can't believe the state of this country. Like, you are somebody who has served honorably and nobly because of the way you believe in the principles of this country and you see them being urinated on. Like, are you going home? optimists or not, hope not a strategy, not a strategy as you said, are you going home every night saying I don't recognize what's happening here? Well, I mean, this has just been like the slow moving, you know, train wreck over the last year. And I knew when Donald Trump was reelected, I thought

we were going to go through some really challenging times. I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I didn't know we were going to go to, you know, war against Iran with no strategic goal and no plan and no, you know, he's not even playing at checkers at this point. You often think of like, is this guy playing chess or checkers? And you would say, well, he's playing checkers. He's not even playing checkers. I think he's playing with a, you know, couple of those solo cups, right? Flip cup.

And it's, you know, those red cups? He's like just moving two of them around. There's like a two of hearts somewhere and he's just making his own game. Yeah, he's just, you know, moving those two things around. Not really thinking ahead on anything here. Hey, we're in some challenging times, but I think we're up for the challenge. I think we're going to get through this. I spent a career 25 years in the United States Navy.

I've seen the best of this country. You know, I also flew on a rocket ship four times. You know, I see what the United States can do when we put our minds to things. We have the best scientists, engineers, the best innovators. I really think if we can get our politics fixed, you know, the future for this country. is better than any other country on the planet. We've got hard problems to solve. We got the people that can solve them.

We need to get rid of the, you know, the children out of the way. I don't literally mean that. I mean the people that politicize everything and make this stuff a lot more complicated than it needs to be, we need to focus on science and data and facts and get rid of a lot of the bullshit. It's not working, though. Like you set a form of that last time. You were joining us during a different shutdown, right? And I understand why you're saying.

It's gotten worse. Yeah, well, that's, yes, it's gotten worse. The challenges have gotten worse. Put us next to you, though. Put us next to you. As someone who believes in the principles of governance and the principles of this country, when the news gets to you for the first time, yeah, we're bombing Iran. I mean, it's like what the, you know, I'm not going to drop the F bomb on you here,

but yeah, it's like why, what is the strategic goal? I got a list of like 15 things. I've been keeping track and it changes. I was down in the skiff the other day and we're talking about what's the goal now. You know what one of the goals is? To open up the straight of Hormuz, obviously. Well, that wasn't a goal on 27 February because it wasn't closed. So now we have a strategic goal that was of our own making, a problem.

that we made. And who's paying for this? The American people who are having a hard time affording rent. Half the country is having a hard time affording groceries. People are working two jobs. They're never going to get a chance to go on a vacation. And we're spending one to two billion dollars a day on this thing. Every single day, you know what that money could have been used for? Could have been like, don't cut kids' snap benefits. so they can eat and they can have a lunch when they go to school, give people, don't cut their health care. Instead, this money is being spent on the other side of the world. And by the way, we're depleting our munitions in a way that I have never seen before in my career.

And it makes us less safe. Senator, we have less than a minute here. Thank you for your time. A lot of the issues that you're highlighting are a direct result of misinformation being spread. we're at a time with AI advancements where you look at your phone and you simply cannot trust what you see. I'm wondering if misinformation is a huge issue for politicians like yourself and what can be done about this for the future because it's only going to get worse. It is going to get worse before it gets better. We are, it's something we talk about a lot.

It's going to get, and it always gets worse when we're getting up to an election. I would just caution people, you know, watching this, watching your show is that when you get to election time, probably a third, maybe half of what you see online about political candidates and about issues around the election comes from the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, and the Iranians. You know, they have misinformation operations at scale, and they just flood the zone with a bunch of, you know, stuff. So I would advise people, go to a trusted source. You know, you know, you might not like the, you know, New York Times, go to the Wall Street Journal or vice versa. Go to your local newspaper.

Go to ESPN. Go to your show. Yeah. Good information on your show. But, you know, getting stuff, you know, off at Twitter, if you don't know the source, you know, take it with a grain of salt. Senator, thank you for the time. And it's not good information on our show. Last time he was on it, he said Kyler Murray was going to remain a car. Cardinal and was a great story.

That was a bad take. I told you back then he wasn't that good. You told me he was good and then all of a sudden he's a Viking. It's the most offensive thing that's happened to you recently. Now be honest about it. Hey, but we got the number three pick. So we've got we got options. Murray went number one.

This guy's so hopeful. Thank you, Senator. We appreciate the time. Thank you. Good to talk to you. Likewise. Zaz, I thought you were great there. Really?

Was he better than Chris? Because Chris... Flip cup. Flip cup, he says. I heard him... It's like the red cup game. I heard him muttered during the middle of one of my questions. Okay, he says flip cup.

That's why I don't talk politics. That's what... He said it while I was asking the question. Oh, was that? I looked at Senator Kelly and like, this guy will get this drinking game reference. I wonder if it'll rattle Chris going into trivia on the pitch clock that's coming up. Dan, are you going to clip where the senator said we have to get rid of the children? Yes, he will.

I looked away and then I heard that and I was like, wait, what? Dan spearheading our digital team. We'll make sure that that is out there. Make the cut, Dan. Because our show is a trusted news source. That's right. Where do you get your information? I do so with pitch clock in a second.

And then at 3 o'clock with pitch clock, it's a trusted news source. I cannot believe that we're giving you more Jeremy on a day when he's had this many bad jokes. Can I get wind up one more time? Folks, listen up, quick break in the action. Are you counting down the days until payday? Instacash from MoneyLine can help you access up to $500 of your hard-earned pay early. There's no interest, no credit check, and no monthly fees. So you can manage those in-between expenses with less stress.

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Minimum odds required. Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources see sportsbook.draftkings.com slash promos, limited time offer. Dan Lebatard. Can I tell you something? I don't know, it was maybe like a month ago. And I decided to watch pitch clock. And I told Jeremy,

Stugats. This is a good show you're doing. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats. Baseball is back, Jack. Time for your favorite springtime sport. We are saying names like UNESCO, Betten Court. That's it. Hi, everybody.

Welcome to the pitch clock. Here's the pitch. A two-part baseball segment combining a nostalgic baseball trivia game and an interview with an expert. This is the pitch clock. Happy opening day! We're going to have an opening day live stream

on the Levitard YouTube channel later today. I'll be there. You'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. Will Percy be there? Percy will be there for sure. Percy will be there too. And Percy's here right now.

Birthday girl. As we get into our trivia for today, we will have some expertise previewing the Major League Baseball season a little bit later on in today's show. But Ethan, what is our trivia for this opening day? Do you actually know what day your dog was born? Her birthday's today. Happy birthday, Percy. She's seven years old.

Congrats to Percy's parents on the sex. Happy Mickey Mantle year. All right, Percy, get down. It's Rodriguez's year. All right, boys, it's opening day. So we're getting back into the wheelhouse here, boys. So in front of you, there are two opening day rosters. Oh, my God, I'm writing on.

The one with the new Marlins logo, hold on, is 2020. The 2020 opening day roster, the COVID season. The one with the old Marlins logo is 2006. Okay, that was Percy trying to get in here. The old Marlins logo is the 2006 opening day roster. Now, I have given you the names in a line straight down, Not by position like I normally do to make this a little more difficult, not in batting order. Just in random order.

What year? Dude, give me the years again. 2006 for the old Marlins logo and 2020 for the new Marlins logo. So what you're going to do is you're going to give me a name. You're going to put that person in a position. And if you are correct, then we'll keep going. It's going to be three strikes in your out like most of our lineup games. Jeremy, you dominated pitch clock.

Shepardy last week. You are going to go first. Okay, so, I mean, I'll start with the easiest one on this list. In the 2006, yes, we have DW. That's your pitcher, Dantro Willis. Correct. All right, instead of showing off, some of the deeper cuts I know, I'm going to take some of the easy ones off. Yeah, that's how you do it. And I will take Hanley Ramier. Yes. HR, 06. You said he has to get the position. Well, yes. I knew he knew the position. Just beneath Hanley Ramirez on this list, you have D.U. That's your second baseman, Dan Oggard.

Correct. Yes. All right, we'll just keep it rolling here. Miguel Cabrera, right after Dan Oglow. What position? Obviously. What position? What position was he playing in 2006?

Give me a chance to think about it for a second. I'm trying to think, because I know the positions he played throughout his career. I'm trying to think that year, did he go? I don't think he had gone to first base yet. It's either third base or right field. Which one is it? This is stupid. It should just be the name.

Like, what do we really do? Which one is it? What are we really doing here? Which one is? Right field. Cody. That is incorrect. So I'm going to go ahead and say Miguel Cabrera, third base.

Correct. Yeah, screw you guys. Love you. As is exemplified by my t-shirt here, Baseball is for everyone that everyone includes Adnan Verk, who you know from his book, Cinephile. You also know him as the man on MLB tonight covering all things Major League Baseball. And you also know him as our most consistent guests. So why not start the MLB regular season with Adnan Verk to take us through basically the

table setter for what this season is going to be. For every listener of the pitch clock, we are going to get you ready to watch Major League Baseball this season. And I always say, Jeremy, listen, we love basketball, we love hockey, we love football. We're huge sports fans, of course. But there are two seasons. There's baseball season and waiting for baseball season. That's exactly right.

Baseball season and waiting for Godot. So give me our three best teams in Major League Baseball going into the year. Number three is the Philadelphia Phillies. They were a 96 win team a season ago. Yes, they lose Ranger Suarez, but I'm hoping for big things from Andrew Painter. And I do think Adoles Garcia replacing Nick Castellanos is an improvement, definitely defensively and hopefully offensively as well. whether it'll be back at some point or other. Christopher Sanchez is at a breakout season.

They locked him up long term. They've locked him to Hazius Lazardo as well. Schwerber got re-signed. Faley's still have the horses. Number two is the Yankees, 94 wins, and now Garrett Cole returns. Judges the three-time MVP. I don't see any letdown there from the Yankees.

And number one, of course, is the Dodgers. You go out and sign Kyle Tucker. You get Edwin Diaz, one of the best closers in baseball. It's ridiculous. They may not have the most wins, by the way. They sell this last year. They're not like a juggerna. They're not a hundred and 12 wins,

but when it's all sudden done, they're the best team in baseball. Obviously, Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, that's not a surprise. But Adnan, who are three teams in baseball this year that you think could under the radar, sneaky compete, end up being teams that we're talking about as we chase the postseason? So the first one I'll give you is the Texas Rangers. They actually had the best starting pitcher ERA in baseball last year. And they've now added McKenzie Gore, who always had this type stuff, but it felt like he wasn't

quite an ace. Well, no problem. Now you can be the best number three in baseball. because we're going to have Jacob deGrom and Nathan Evaldi in front of you. Jack Leder really came into his own last year, just like his dad, Al, one of my colleagues at MLB Network, walks a little too much, but he's got great strikeout stuff, and Jack started to figure it out last year.

Still waiting for Kumar Rocker to come along, but they're starting pitching is outstanding. Yeah. We both their bullpen a little bit, and their offense needs to pick it up beyond Corey Seeger. They trade his Marcus Simeon. But I think if Wyatt Langford is a big season, if Evan Carter has a good season,

maybe Texas is a team that will be tougher than we expect in the American League West. The other one, as you've mentioned, I've mentioned you before, just for our boy, Damashik, the Pittsburgh Pirates, because of the fact they did get some more offense. They knew they had to get some power. So Brandon Louska, 30 home run potential, especially from the left side, Clemente Walther and right. You got Marcelo Zuna. He's maybe 20, 25 home runs. Ryan O'Huron, 225 home runs. Jake Mangum in that line up.

So 80 home runs, perhaps, to the team that hit the fewest home runs in baseball. It's a good sign. Jerry Jones is not back until midseason, but beyond Skine's who's a supernova. you've got Mitch Keller, you got Braxton Ashcraft. I think they're a really good team. Pirates, even if they score four runs against a game, Jeremy, that could be a 500 team. And as we know, the Reds made the playoffs with 83 wins.

And lastly, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Now, this one's tricky because they're starting pitching isn't great. Beyond Zach Allen, who I love, fellow Eagles fan, he gets the qualifying offer. He's the race. Adrano Rodriguez, though, was great at the world baseball class. Awesome at the BBC. But really, I just want to mention the fact

they've got three of the best position players in baseball. It's crazy when you think of Corbyn Carroll, Catele Martin, Geraldo Pardomo. Prado was fourth in MVP voting last season. He's one of the most anonymous, unassuming stars in the game. They're probably not good enough, but they're a really fun team to watch, especially with those three stars. Fourth and MVP voting, probably the third biggest star on his own team in Arizona, which shows you just how under the radar he really is.

And I like this pick from you as an under radar team because I remember last year, they were your pick to go to the World Series, and I'm not going to let you forget it. 06 catcher. Miguel Oliva. That's my boy. That's a great one. That's my dog. I love that deeper cut there.

I mean, I'm just, um, I, so here's my, here's my debate about how I'm going about this, Chris. Fastball swinger. My debate on how I'm going about this is do I want to continue to name names from 2006, hoping obviously to stump you. Yeah. Because I don't think you'll know just about any of the ones from. I have two written down. 2020.

Thank you very much. For what it's worth, I'm struggling more with this than I thought I would. Ooh, I know one of them, and I can't wait to say his name. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go ahead and go to JW in left field. That's Josh Willingham. Correct. So thus far, just so we all are clear, there have been six names taken off the board.

We have Hanley Ramirez, Dan Ugla, Miguel Cabrera, Josh Willingham, Don Trow, Willis, and Miguel Olivo from the 2006 Marlins. There have been zero Marlins from the 2020 roster. named yet. Can we make a rule that for 2020 you don't have to do positions? I mean, I, I, I, fair, but there's a few guys here. I don't want to change the rules. There's a few guys here that you should know. I do. Cody. It's on me. The board is yours. I don't know what position this guy played. Are you going 06 or? Yeah. I mean, I'm kind of just already doing shitty here. You must know. Um, all right. 2020. Catcher.

Harold Ramirez. Did he not play? Harold Ramirez was on this roster, but he did not play catcher. Not a catcher. But see, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to. I'm thinking of Augustine Ramirez or Augustine Ramirez, or Augustine Ramirez, Gus Ramirez, if you will.

He's not on this team in 2020. He just came up. Harold Ramirez is great shout. No, great shout. I want to give it to you so bad. I really do. not going to, I'm going to give you another opportunity to guess that one because I'm going to tell you who the catcher was.

Eight guesses. I'm going to tell you who the catcher was. And you're going to love this. This is Italy manager, Francisco Cerebelli. That's correct. Yeah, that is correct. Didn't he play like three games in that series? He was there and then get a concussion and then not play again. His concussions were really a big issue for him. But he, I just was speaking. I was just

speaking at spring training with Marlins catcher Brian Navarretto. And he said Francisco Cervelli still mentors. him to this day. Oh. 2020, pitcher, Sandy Alcantara.

There you go. There it is. All right. So Chris is down to two strikes. Up to two strikes. Sure. Fallon pitches off right there. So I'm going to go ahead then.

Fallon pitches off. I'm going to go ahead and stick with those six just to try to make Chris be put in the position to have to figure this out. I'm going to say MJ on the 2006 Marlins is Mike Jacobs, the first basement. Correct. Not Jewish. Famously not Jewish, but held Jewish Heritage Night with him as the face of Jewish Heritage Night. All right.

Let's get into this Adnan. I want to start focusing on the individual. So outside of Otani and Judge, who are the very obvious guys to watch, two of the greatest players of this time period, of this generation, and really of all time, if we're being our most honest. But we can get into that another time. I want the top five players that you're looking forward to watching this Major League Baseball season. Well, there's nobody that me and my kids enjoy watching more than Fernando Tatis Jr. You know, Nando is the coolest guy to watch play baseball. He saw the world baseball classic.

He had huge home runs. The best bat flips in the game, the eye black, the dreds, the stutter step into third base, and the dancing. I mean, every time Nando's out there, he's the best. Just in terms of war, he's one of the best players in baseball because he's so incredible defensive. This is a guy who's always going to win a gold glove in right field. And he could be a platinum glove award. as he's been in the past. I hope he has some more power this year. We know the power hasn't been the same ever since he got pop for BEDs. He's more a 25 home run guy rather than a 42 home run guy.

But still, every time Nando's out there, I just think he's so much fun to watch. Paul Skeens, I think, is must-a-t-tby-t. Every time he's on the bump, if this guy could throw a no-hitter, he could rack up, you know, immaculate innings. Skeens to me is always must-see TV. Ellie Della Cruz, again, much in the mold of a Nando, electrifying, young, talented, brash, the bat flips, the excitement, the dreads. And I hope that Terry, Frank Cohen can get him to cut down the strike cuts because I do think at his best Ellie de la Cruz could be an MVP candidate. Pete Crow Armstrong apparently is about to be locked up by the Cubs.

He had an unbelievable first half. He slowed in the second half, unfortunately. But just again, based on war alone, this guy's a six-war player because he's spectacular defensive. He's the best defensive. So good. Right. He's an elite base runner.

And I know he's on-base percentage isn't great. You know, sub-300 is not great to me, but he can slug. And he's a 30-30 player, the first the Cubs have had since Sammy Sosa. He's also a great dude. Not sure if he had a chance to interview him. I have PCA is an awesome guy, very down to earth. Mom was in Summer Catch. I mean, the son of an actor who.

A little big league. Come on, don't get it, don't get it twisted. I was thinking about Freddie Prince, Jr. The mother, the mother of one Bill Haywood, okay? Good catch, Tasset. And the last one, this one made surprise you. I'm going with young players and stars, but the one to watch for me is Bryce Harper. He got cold out like Dave Jombowski last season.

He's a two-time MVP. Philadelphia has a lot of pressure on them. They've re-signed Schwarber. but like this is kind of an aging core, right? Kasi Anus has gone. Rayl Muto's back. Who knows how much more he has left? I'm very curious what Bryce Harper does.

Did not have a great WBC with the exception of one massive home run in the final. I'm really, really curious to watch Bryce Harper this season. I hope he has a big time year, but I'm curious after what Dave did calling him out. I love that call. Jake Mintz of Cespitas Family Barbecue last week on our show. Mention Harper is one of the guys he's watching this year. He also made a comparison that you are going to love very quickly. He called him the Elvis Presley of Baseball.

is a guy who is a white guy culture vulture, but it's actually a good thing in the long run for the sport. So ultimately, Adnan, I want to get this. This is true rapid fire here, all right? I'm going to list off several things. We're going to get your picks, and we're going to call it a day. And then I'm going to fact check you later in the year. We're going to go back through this list.

I'm taking notes. So Adnan, who are your MVPs in each league? Joe wins his fifth MVP and his first MVP after being a runner-up to Shohei Otani in 2021. Vladimir Carrero Jr. wins the American League MVP. Sy Young's in each league. Mariners pitching staff is so electric. Every year you feel like you can pick a different guy.

It's going to be Logan Gilbert. It's going to be George Kirby. I'm calling Brian Wu to win a Cy Young. Wow. And how about the National League? Logan Webb, perennially a bridesbade, never a bride. Logan Webb finally wins a son. This guy every year, 200 plus innings, 200 plus strikeouts.

Incredible. Logan Webb is like an old school pitcher. If you love old school pitching, fans of the pitch clock, he is a guy that's must see TV on MLB TV. Division winners in each division, Adnan. Tell me who you got. Yankees, Tigers, and Mariners, the American League, and the National League, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers.

Feel like I'm going to go in chalk. No real surprises here, but I'm not going to get burned again after betting on the Royals last season. Yeah, you did bet on the Royals last season. Thank you for bringing it up yourself because I was going to. Who are your wild card winners? Best Division in baseball is the American League East. You're going to see the Blue Jays and the Red Sox and the playoffs. And the Astros will just squeak out the Orioles and the Guardians.

So I've got Jays, Red Sox, Astros, the National League, Mets, Padres, and back in the playoffs for Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants, a full season of Raphael Devers. Look forward to that. Who makes the World Series and who ultimately wins it? Yankees over the Dodgers.

We get a rematch for a couple years. Wow. Aaron Judge finally silences the critics and has his big moment, much like Barry Bond's finally had his big moment, 2002 Giants Against the Angels. That would be spectacular for Major League Baseball after what should be a great season.

We've had mentioned in this pitch clock, Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Pirates, Padres, Reds, Cubs, Dodgers again. Everybody in baseball, except for the Marlins. Yeah. All right. Let's talk to you. Your boy, Peter Bendix, you got it covered.

You will leave the Marlins talk to me. We're actually doing it in the trivia game that's happening right now amidst this pitch clock. But pitch clock fans, if you live here in Miami and you're planning on potentially going out to the ballpark, may I entice you with the fact that this weekend, opening weekend, I will actually be your in-stadium host. You can see me on the big screen, welcoming you to the ballpark. I'm looking forward to it and getting back on that broadcast on marlins.tv. It's going to be a lot of fun.

You can also check out Adnan on MLB Network. He'll have you covered all throughout opening day. He's also going to join us on our live stream. Later today, we will be live Thursday to 26 from 3 to 5. You can watch us on the Lovetard YouTube channel. Adnan, as always, thank you for joining us. Cody, there's no way. that the Marlins right fielder

in 06 Ethan talk to me with your eyes Don't talk to him with your eyes Stop talking to him with your eyes Look at it on the sheet I'm not looking at him I know who it is

I know who it is I mean I don't know who else this could be Jeremy Hermita Yeah, baby Awesome Doesn't that name just gets you juiced up Yeah I love the name Jeremy Jeremy her me

One more Yeah If you guys get this guy Like that's deep Marlins knowledge Because I didn't know this name Okay can you tell his position then Do we both agree? Well there's one position left

On the field Shit Okay let me do that math Okay so I'm gonna go ahead And move back up to the 2020 Marlins while Chris does math I'm gonna name their third baseman That's at the bottom of this list

B.A. Brian Anderson Correct Oh yeah See this is so annoying. I'm still in this game. I'm in this game if it's not for the positions. I don't remember what position this guy. Yeah, it is fair. He has, to Chris's credit, he's gotten every name. Oh, he's spot on. Yeah. That's why I added the positional element. Because I, another level of knowledge, sir. Yeah, if I just gave you guys the initials at positions,

I don't think you guys would have struck out. So I had to make it a little more difficult. They're not at their positions, but it could be the way you did it. You just don't have to say the position. Yeah. That could have been an option as well. Go ahead. Um, It's like I know this guy played all over the field, but I think he, like, he wasn't our starting in 2020. Could he have been the starting? Okay. Did he's just, all right, Jeremy's going to, I'm going to follow Jeremy here. Shortstop.

Hmm? Like, I hate this. It's Ian Desmond. No. No. He was never a Marlon. He was a rock. I actually remember Ian Desmond sitting out this year.

I'll tell you who it is. Who else has ID? ID. You're starting second baseman for the 2020 Miami Marlins. He's got it. Ison Diaz. Oh, God, that guy. All right.

So let's go around the board here. So that is three strikes. Can I name a couple more, but I can't remember what positions they would have played? Is there a world in which Jorge Alfaro played left field? Jorge Alfaro did not play left field. That, J.A. is Jesus Aguilar. Jesus Aguilar at first base. A rape of power.

Corey Dickerson and left as well. Corey Dickerson. was in left. Yep. So I couldn't remember. I'm stunned you guys having gotten the shortstop. Oh, Miguel Rojas. And then JV.

This is a deep cut. I'm trying to think. This one's a deep cut. I have no idea. Jonathan VR was in centerfield on opening day. Right. Jonathan VR. And then who was the center fielder in 2006? Eric Reed.

R.E.D. Definitely not R EID. It's the third time I've started in left field for the Marlins. That's a, that's a, that's a, a victory in which Jeremy Tashay has started 1 and 0 in trivia this year. Sports fans, all the sports are coming together. It's a great time to just sit on your couch, text your friend,

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