The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Postgame Show: JuJu Fixes Things

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

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It's time for Thursday Thunder presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Juju, take it away. Welcome back. Welcome back to another edition of Thursday Thunder, where the question is always to fade or not to fade. First leg, Austin Reeves going up against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They're gonna need big games,

they're gonna need big players to step up in big moments. So I think my brother will get over 4.5 rebounds against the Minnesota Timberwolves this Saturday night. Lock it in. Or not. Second leg, lock it in. Or not. Ha ha ha. Second leg, Michael Porter Jr. I think he's one of the key pieces on the Nuggets,

the Denver Nuggets, you dig? Salute to his brother, Jontay. I think that he is definitely gonna get over 15.5 points this weekend. You got to know he will. He's gonna need it. The Clippers, they're getting scoring from all over the field, so I think he's gonna have to step up if they want a chance and

win in this series. And the last leg, the most important leg, the most important player in the entire NBA, Al Horford. Over 7.5 points this Sunday against your Orlando Magic. Lock them in. Yes, sir. Juju, I mean, I'd like an answer to this question on Michael Porter Jr., okay? Because the first series there is super interesting. I think, I can't wait to watch Kawhi and James Harden

and all of that. We were talking about strength that people don't understand. I don't believe that most people watching basketball understand how physically strong James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are, how much stronger they are than other human beings. That going up against Denver for a first round exit,

when Michael Porter, I believed when he played the Nuggets in the finals was the worst starter on the floor in those finals. He was worse than anybody who was playing, was not a factor in that. Why is Juju telling me that Michael Porter is gonna give us something? Well I think you should ask Juju first.

No, but I'm asking for your expertise on Michael Porter. Yeah, I mean I think, Juju correct me if I'm wrong, but you're thinking basically because he's the other option. If you are game planning against the Nuggets, you're worried incredibly obviously about Jokic and his catches where he's catching the ball. You're worried about the DHOs, with Jamal Murray, how he gets off. And you're worried about Aaron Gordon running the baseline

and being able to, those lob plays right there. So you only can take away certain things. You can't tell me everything. And so the guy that you choose to basically lay off of are probably gonna be Christian Brown and or Michael Porter Jr. And of those two, we imagine that Michael Porter Jr. has a better offensive package to take advantage of that.

But having said that, yeah, he's had blow moments in the playoffs in the past. But Juju, am I in the right ballpark while you got Michael Porter Jr. over on 16 and a half? Hell yeah, you exactly right. Everybody's plotting to see how can we stop the Joker? How can we slow down Jamal Murray? But over the past couple of months,

whenever injuries have played a factor on that team, Michael Porter Jr. has been forced to step up and take on a bigger role, as well as Christian Brown as well. But I think that that stepping up in those moments, it will be fruitful, you feel me, in a situation like Tyler Hero and the Heat have been. So some of them players had to step up, Khalil Ware.

I think that during this playoff series where you're gonna need different options, he's gonna be one of the key components if the Nuggets want to get it done and I'm glad you brought up Tyler hero because a lot of people kind of look at the step Tyler hero took forward this year a lot of it's kind of like Jimmy Butler getting out of the way and sometimes when you have a person with that kind of big personality and clearing out That can help a player like that play better.

So Michael Porter Jr., I would imagine, would have been the guys that Michael Malone was probably the hardest on because of his potential and because also he's inconsistent. So maybe having David Adelman as a coach makes him feel more comfortable, more relaxed, and he's a better offensive player as a result. Can we do something together here this weekend?

I wanna have a buildup of the weekend. Help me do something together here this week and i want to have a build up of the weekend help me do something this weekend as a group what i would like to do is i would like to figure out how to get tonight's sir tomorrow's stakes on zaslow in the studio to be something watching zaslow with the biggest stakes of his life uh... going into pearl jam in the miami heat i would like to on saturday or sunday depending on the game to have juju pop up with alie you what uh... with whatever game he wants to do and i mean to pop up with oddball

somewhere so that we can do some things around the basketball this weekend that makes the look the youtube channel feel a little bit alive uh... how do we do that can you, can the three of you explain to me how I execute this weekend, you guys doing stuff to promote your vehicles in ways that's fun? Well Dan, number one, we get with sales and we got to sell this thing and I'm thinking Omaha Steaks, I'm thinking maybe Poppy Steak, maybe Prime 112. Someone should be sponsoring the show, giving us product and I should be able to watch Zazz eat a steak as the steaks are rising for him.

Well I like steak, all right, and I like the Miami Heat, and I like Pearl Jam. I'm willing to do it here tomorrow night, okay? You guys get the game here? Yeah? Yeah, we've got many, many televisions. You got ESPN? We have cable, yeah.

I watch the game right here. Steaks will be nice, I'm not asking for anything extra, but ste got many many television. You got ESPN. We have cable. Yeah, I watched the game right here Stakes will be nice. I'm not asking for anything extra, but he's takes will be fantastic. You seem like a medium well guy Yeah, I am a medium. Well guy. How about a steak? It depends depends on a cut, you know, sometimes it's medium sometimes medium well, it's been so cut All right. Well we're not just down the line, Tony. It depends what we got in front of us. I will come here tomorrow night. I'm gonna watch the game. I'll probably bring my son, because he's just as involved.

I mean, come on, it's two tickets. We'll come here, we will watch. But here's, we gotta finalize the stakes, right? Okay, so here's what I'm about to agree to. All right, but Juju, what I mean, think about what it is that you're gonna do while he's talking here. Right, here's what I'm gonna agree to, all right? If the Miami Heat win tomorrow night,

I get tickets for both shows. I got two tickets for both Pearl Jam shows, and I work, but like, I'm working for normal pay, you know? Got the chart right there. Right, I'm working. Paid work. Right, if the heat come through, I continue to get paid work,

as much as you guys wanna have me here, I love coming here, and I get the tickets for Pearl Jam. If the heat lose, I guess I lose it all. No, and. Work for free. And you work for free throughout the hockey playoffs and and your wife and your

way unhappy wife. He hates you. I thought he lost his wife for a second. I was like, he will. I don't know if you guys know this. That one's gonna be tough because wives love money. Okay, I'm gonna draw the line right there. I think we should lean out of that misogyny of wives loves money because we've been getting a lot of heat online for

that earlier today. So wives loves money, husbands love money, kids love money, everyone loves money. Let's not put it on the wives. Salute though. But they do and husbands love money, but wives love money. I don't know why you keep doing that though.

I don't understand. And we still haven't gotten the right stakes. She's gonna be the one who's angry when I come home and say indentured servitude. Those are good stakes. Anyways. We should also lean away from taking of the ass. That's not necessarily,

that's a heinous crime these days, you know? Like, just remember, we're broadcasting amongst a lot of different airwaves, you feel me? Trauma is everywhere. Let's not take ass. There you go. Let's not take ass. There you go. Let's not take ass.

One by a lot. He is right on all these things. If he wants to be the ombudsman, wait a minute, we're not unaware that he's exactly right on everything he's saying, correct? Correct. And also he's got a great shirt on. For the listeners, he's got a Tingeist shirt on

and that's one of the greatest hoodies that you've ever created. Man, Tinge's, Tinge's, I need more smolder. You hate this Roman. Are we doing this? What? Tomorrow night, are we doing this? We're talking about Baby Billy right now

is what we were doing. Tinge's. Salute to Baby Billy. Salute to Sledge Johns on Twitter today, you feel me? Who pointed out a very important fact from yesterday's show. He says, y'all did Juju Gotti wrong yesterday, implying that he listed too many members of Pearl Jam, when in fact he listed all active members and previous members, including every former drummer dating back to 1991.

This show may be uncultured Philistines, but this old grudge fan sees you, Juju. And I see you back, guys. You feel me? That's a good job out of you. You should have... You feel me? I always know.

I always know I'm right when y'all calling me wrong. No, but Zazz should have defended you there. I wasn't here though. I didn't hear it. Oh. He wasn't here. He left before. So it's the rest of us. Okay, I'm right when y'all calling me wrong. But Zazz should have defended you there. I wasn't here though, I didn't hear it. He wasn't here. He left before. So it's the rest of us. Okay, I'm sorry, we owe you an apology, Juju.

No, it's okay, he don't. I don't defend myself in these situations, especially at this company. I realize that just defending myself just offends or makes you guys uncomfortable. So I just let you guys call me whatever y'all wanna call me. You gone.

All right, now we need to lay to call me. You got it. All right. All right. Now we need to lay down again here. Jesus. Okay. Oh, folks. Paul Maurice has released a statement, quote, everyone's available for game one. See, that's what I'm talking about.

Everybody except for Ernak Blad. He's suspended. Except for Ernak Blad. Well, he's not available. He's suspended. That's what I'm talking about.id. Well, he's not available. He's suspended That's what I'm talking about. Why would he do Chuckie's back, baby? Zazzle you know this means for lightning, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no It's bad news for the Lightning! Yeah!

Come on! Yeah! Yeah! Alright, coming up next, Pitch Clock. Yeah, Jeremy! 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.

Pitch Clock is back. That's Chris Cody. Taylor Vipolis with us as well. Our expert will be here momentarily to talk through the 2025 MOB season, but as always here on Pitch Clock, Chris? That's an obnoxious mirror behind Taylor. I just wanted to say that. Oh, that is, is that Taylor? Is that your child at home? Your parents place?

My parents place. I'm rude. Sorry. That's probably like your great grandma's mirror. It's a really nice mirror. Actually. It looks very, my mom listens. So she's probably going to get a new mirror.

Taylor, Taylor, why don't you go ahead and tell us what our trivia game is for today? It's a really nice mirror actually it looks very the mirror my mom listens So she's probably gonna get a new mirror Taylor Taylor Why don't you go ahead and tell us what our trivia gave me is for today? So we're gonna alternate questions And if you miss the other person has the chance to steal the high score at the end wins So I just have trivia questions for you. All right, we'll start with Chris Chris the first question the most stolen bases in 2007 was from this middle infielder from the NL East. I think this guy might have been doing Rafael for call. Oh, that's incorrect. Oh, it's incorrect.

Chance to steal. 2007 and is that going to be Jimmy Rollins? It's not Jimmy Rollins. Really? Jose Reyes from the Mets. Oh, duh. Jeremy, very similar question the most stolen bases in 2009 was from this outfielder from the AL East

Jacobi Ellsbury Jacobi Ellsbury is correct. Yeah All right ball knower Chris Cody in 1995 the Yankees acquired this all-star Along with Jeff Nelson for Sterling Hitchcock and Russ Davis before winning the World Series. I'm gonna go with... this is totally wrong. Ruben Sierra. What is Paul O'Neill? It's not Paul O'Neill. No! It's not Paul O'Neill. You don't know ball Tino Martinez. Ah man same thing Jeremy in 1992 The Toronto Blue Jays acquired this all-star for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson before winning the World Series

John Olerud It's not John Olerud David Cohn. I didn't get a chance to guess. Oh GQ's with me. I had a little crap. All right, it's still one I'm gonna put an asterisk there for messing up Chris gets a half a point. I'm up one to a half and Now to the Chris gets a half a point. I'm up one to a half. And now to the 2025 baseball portion of today, I have our experts with us. It's the fellas from Cespina's family, Barbecue, Jake Mintz and Jordan Schusterman. Guys, it's awesome to have you back here on the pitch clock.

And it's been a really fun start to the 2025 MLB season. I wanna dive right into it with you. Who is a player in Major League Baseball this year who's gotten off to a hot start in these first few weeks that's been the most fun to you? Whether that's a cool surprise or a player who maybe is now finally like living up to their potential, whatever you want that to be.

Spencer Torkelson on the Detroit Tigers, who was the number one overall pick in 2020, looked cooked, looked washed, sent down to triple A last year, four months of last season, had two home runs on like July 18th, caught fire down the stretch, ended up with a league average line. He has looked like a legitimate MVP candidate so far this season. I know those aren't the two biggest markets, but those are two players whose highlights are worth watching. That's very, it's exactly why we asked you, right? Two guys who people aren't necessarily

Going to be watching yeah, you have an opportunity in those two players to see some elite baseball Jordan who has stood out to you So far yeah, I'll go I'll go two guys also the first more on the Corbin Carol end of things is just Tatis You know we've been kind of hoping that Fernando Tatis jr. Could get back to full-blown what it seemed like he was heading towards before his many off the field derailments. But now he's the guy. It really feels like for as awesome as Jackson Merrill was in his rookie year last year, I know Manny Machado is still kind of the face of this Padres era.

But Tatis seems to really be kind of grabbing hold of San Diego in a way that we saw him do earlier in his career. And now it is just at a totally other level. He had another home run last night. And then I have to say, too, another one just keeping in this in the West Coast theme, Tommy Edmond. I just love that Tommy Edmond, for him to arrive last year at the trade deadline and then have that amazing NLCS performance where everyone was like, oh, what a fluky thing. Tommy Edmund wins NLCS MVP. That's baseball. You never know who's going to emerge as the best player in a small sample. And now here we are the next season and he looks like one of the best players in baseball. And it's not surprising that the Dodgers have been able to get an even

higher version out of him now that he's fully healthy and swinging well from both sides of the best players in baseball. And it's not surprising that the Dodgers have been able to get an even higher version out of him now that he's fully healthy and swinging well from both sides of the plate. I want to go to a particular team here because maybe the most fun start of the season has been the Cubs offense overall. I mean, they're averaging over six runs a game. I think they have like 20 more runs to this point than any other team in baseball, you know, games played changes, some of those things, but it's been crazy.

It's not just Kyle Tucker who's going crazy. It's my favorite stats to look at right now. And Carson Kelly has one of the guys playing catcher for them. Pete Crow Armstrong leading, you know, the national league, I believe tied for the national league lead and stolen bases at the time of this recording. Are the Cubs sustainable? We're going to see a lot of slugfests with this team

and that will be entertaining for the neutrals. I know for Cubs fans, it might be a little bit exhausting, but also when you compare it to kind of the slog of mediocrity that they've given us over the last couple of years, this is a far superior product. And from an entertainment standpoint, I have to imagine Cubs fans still feel like they're gonna

be in every game because you now have a Kyle Tucker anchoring. You have a guy like Pete Kroh Armstrong kind of coming into his own as a hitter. And then, man, Michael Bush, that's another guy I thought about shouting out. With your first question, that's the guy who's who's been kind of everything you could ask for and more in terms of a young hitter that they traded for from the Dodgers. And that's been working out. Anything P. Carl Armstrong does, I want to watch. Like he's exhilarating in a way that we haven't had a whole lot recently.

I mean, it's a leap top of the chart speed. Anytime he touches the ball and it goes into play. It's interesting. Is this Cubs offense this good? No, no, they're not. No offense is this good, right? No offense is finishing the year with this type of production, which is a boring, sad answer. and I sincerely apologize for it. That being said, they have not gotten really any production from Ian Happ, who has been their most consistent player over the last decade, Danzby Swanson, who everybody listening to this knows, and then Matt Shaw, who was a big deal top prospect who broke camp with them. If those guys kind of go up and the offense from the catchers, which will not continue, goes down. I still think this could be one of the better offenses in the national league.

Taylor. What's the next question for Chris? DC. Chris Cody in 2000, the giants had the best record in baseball with this former giant as their manager. I'm going to say that was Jerry manual or or the, the, the, the Manuel. Wait, hold on, back up. All right.

Who the hell am I thinking of? You're thinking of Charlie Manuel. No, no, no, I'm thinking of, my bad. I swear to please just let me resale it. We're gonna let you resale it. I'm thinking of Moises Alou Sr. Yeah, okay. Okay, I'll allow that.

I was like- You're thinking of, I think what you're at, you're thinking of Felipe Alou. Yes. Felipe Alou. Sorry, that's what I think. I'll allow that. I was like- You're thinking of, I think what you're at, you're thinking of Felipe Alu. Yes. Felipe Alu. Sorry. That's why- I'll allow that.

Still wrong. Jeremy with the chance to steal. Dusty Baker. Oh, sorry. It is Dusty Baker. I'm an idiot. The two coaches I could think, Dusty Baker with the toothpick,

God, I'm an idiot. Jeremy, in 2006, the Mets had the best record in baseball with this former Met as their manager. Is the answer Bobby Valentine? No, it's not Bobby Valentine. I'm gonna allow Chris the chance to steal it. That's late.

That was late to guess Bobby Valentine. That was late. Robin Ventura. Oh! Willie Randolph went over from the Yankees bench coach. Of course it was Willie Randolph. The Yankees were 6-0 in the playoffs in 2009 and 2010 against this team despite them having two MVPs

on the roster. Twins. So annoying. It's two to one and a half now thanks to Taylor's blunder. Now I'm feeling the pressure. All right, the Yankees. You know I had David Cohn. It'd be 2-2 right now. No you didn't. I had it Now I'm feeling the pressure. All right. The Yankees. You know, I had David Cohn. It'd be too, too.

No, you didn't. I had it. I know you didn't. Look back at my face, the replay of my face. All right. We have the Isos. I want you to take the face he just made, the audio listeners.

He was very boisterous in the look that he just made. I had a finger up. But you know what he wasn't doing? When it was actually happening, making any face at all. I had a finger up. Taylor, what's the next question? This team failed to make an ALCS from 2000 to 2005, despite having two MVPs over that stretch from 2000 to 2005.

I'm going I'm going with the Texas Rangers. No, it is not the Texas Rangers. Chris Cody with the chance to steal. I'll just I don't really know this one. I'm just going to go with the this one I'm just gonna go with The team that I'm thinking of that had a great pitching staff somewhere in there. I'm gonna go with the A's It is the A's That was like talking about like Mulder Hudson and not MVP

Tahata won an MVP and then Giambi Giambi won I thought of it for the wrong reason you thought of it for all the wrong We've been thinking of it I was just like there were a good team in that era that and I don't remember them making it that far And so let's just get this straight Chris Cody is now beating me two and a half to two should be three because of Taylor's mistake could be three and accidentally Thinking about the MVP going to the A's because he thought all of the pitchers

with their potential Cy Youngs that they didn't win would be the reason why. But that replay, I was like trying to get in. I was like, diva con. Diva con. I wanna stick with a couple of teams here now on the East Coast that have been somewhat disappointing. I look at the Baltimore Orioles,

I look at the Atlanta Braves. Jake, I'll start with you here. Which of these two teams should be more concerned about the start that they've had this season, projecting what the rest of their year could look like? I think it's the Orioles, and that's just because of the pitching. The Orioles' slow start has been the worst case scenario

people could have anticipated. The rotation right now is a big shrug and some rosary beads. Like they are the plant. What's the plan? The plan doesn't make sense. That's where you can have a problem. So Jordan, picking up from there, is it, does it have to be the Orioles? Like are the Orioles the team that you have to look at and say long-term they're, they're in more trouble than you know, you would be if you're a Braves fan.

I still think the Orioles are going to score a lot of runs and remain competitive but to Jake's point like it's literally exactly what we were concerned about and we're only three weeks in you see that they're last in the array last and with last and strikeouts last and hits per nine and among the rotation and the only thing they're doing is throwing strikes. But when you're only throwing 90, 92, that's not a good thing. That's great that you're not walking guys, but generally you're gonna get hit around the yard, especially when you're in the AL East. And it's just not a good recipe. This is where I wanna wrap things up with you guys. To me, yeah.

The maybe the coolest surprise of the first 15 games of the season is that through 15 games, the Marlins are a game over 500. That's with a couple of battles in division with the Braves and the Nationals and the Mets. To me, coolest surprise of the season so far is the Marlins. Am I right in saying that? For me, it's already nice to see some of the young players that they've brought in start to perform because that's really what you're looking for in a season like this. Who are going to be the players that could be around when this team starts to

kind of build back up. And ultimately when you, when you have a Clayton McCullough in place, you want to, you, it's all about player development. It's all about guys getting better at the major league level. Um, yeah. So hopefully they can have some more of those outcomes, regardless of the actual record. I just imagine you want a reason to care. Yes. Right. And Marlins fans just want a reason to turn on the TV and watch this team.

And when you're a fan of a bad team, what you're really looking for is trying to figure out which players right now on the bad team deserves to be on the next good team. That's right. And when you look at this Marlins roster so far, there are more guys than I thought who fit that mold. You can see a world where Stowers is on that team, where Xavier Edwards is on that team, even where Matt Mervis is on that team. And I think that's what should be so encouraging for Marlins

fans is you are seeing a path forward. Look, are they going to make the playoffs? No, they're not. And that's okay, right? But it is trending way better than we thought it would. And that is a good thing. Obviously, I think a lot of the concerns with Miami coming into the year is, right,

like how are they gonna score any runs when you consider how inexperienced the lineup is? But Max Meyer is someone with draft pedigree, with talent, who is gonna be important for this team with draft pedigree, with talent, who is going to be important for this team because if we're being honest with ourselves, you know, Sandy Alcontra, it's hard to count on him being part of this long-term vision. So thinking about who those next pitchers are,

I know there are some of the minor leagues, like Thomas White, who they're excited about as well, but Max Meyer is here and succeeding in the majors, and that's another guy that you should definitely be excited about. Between him and Sandy, when Yuri Perez comes back, it's going to be a fun season to watch some pitching with the Marlins and the rest of this baseball season.

For that, you need to follow these guys at SespedesBBQ on Twitter and I believe across platform, Jake Mintz, Jordan Schusterman, all their work at Yahoo Sports. Thank you, fellas. We gotta get back to our trivia game. This team's 2003 opening day lineup consisted of Mo Von, Roberto Alomar and Jeremy Bernitz.

This is so easy. Mo Von. I just said Mo Von. I meant to say the New York Mets, but I said for some reason Mo Von. It is the New York Mets. Of course it's the New York Mets. Mo Von, Jeremy Bernitz. This is like my 03.

I can't believe what you've done to me. I can tell you three players on every team in oh three this team's 2002 opening day lineup consisted of Fred McGriff Corey Patterson and Delano de Shields I got this one to Tampa Bay Devil Rays It's not the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. All right, say the names again. I'm gonna steal this one really 2002 opening day line up. I know Fred McGriff, Corey Patterson, Delano Deshields. Chicago Cubs. The ball knower, the ball knower Chris Hogan.

Now I beat you by more than a half a point, so. That was a ball don't lie situation. That sucked so much. Taylor, you threw me off my game, and now I feel like a loser. Guess what? I didn't know David Cone I knew it and I still won see you next week