The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Postgame Show: The Pitch Clock (feat. Kyle Sielaff)

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Kyle Sielaff is the play-by-play voice of the Marlins, who you may recognize from his Spring Training work with Billy and Chris. He joins Jeremy for some Marlins talk and to highlight the Blue Jays, the AL Wild Card, and our star of the week as Chris and Jeremy battle in Taylor's Trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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 interesting how you knew

Reggie Jackson that one okay so let's get this straight you think that I are we talking about last week yeah last week's show you think that...

Well, there was a controversy. If he didn't join us last week, Jeremy... Everybody joins us everywhere. Jeremy walked into a room holding a paper, like... And I was just like, that guy clearly looked at that paper. You have to understand that even... I could have looked directly at that paper. I didn't know what the categories were.

You should just walk in normally. Like, just like, all right, I'm holding this paper. I haven't looked at it. But like, the extended arm is just like... I didn't want to see it. Yeah, but it's just the extended arm implies that you cheated right before that. All right. Well, this is the pitch clock.

And Chris is just upset because he broke his win streak of four. I won last week. However, buddy. And I know Taylor. did it but there it is people wait for me to do it so taylor tell us what our game is for today go ahead it's darts 501 so the objective of this darts game is for each individual to work their way down from 501 so like if it's rbis in a single season whatever your number is or subtracting that from 501 you're trying to get as close to zero as possible the only difference between this and normal darts

is that you, you, you guys have to go past zero. So you have to be a dart. You have to, you have to know darts. I don't know, I don't know darts. I'm with you. I kind of, like, when he first said darts 501, I was like, what the hell is he talking about? But there is a game where in darts, you start at 501, and everything you hit, if you hit a 24, you get 24 off your score. Okay.

The goal is the first team to whittle down to zero. Okay. From 501. We can go past zero is what you're saying. Yes. But once you go past zero, it's whoever's the closest to zero. Okay, gotcha. It's going to be best of three.

The first round is RBI's in a single season. All right, so, Chris, I'm going to go. You go ahead and go first. Paul Canerco. Paul Canerco's career high, or single season high, was 117. All right, not great. So, Chris, you're at 384. I was hoping he got to like 131 here, but go ahead.

I mean, so Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds, single season high. is 137. So Jeremy, you're at 364. You're at 384, Chris Cody. This is such a fun game. Yeah, I like this. I just want to think of random names.

Like, who's the guy? There's these guys that could just like drive in a row. You could go as many rounds. I'm going to go with, damn, and I'll just go out, Albert Poulos. It's a good one. Albert Poulos' career or single season high, 137. Chris Cote, you're at 247. Miguel Cabrera.

It's confusing. I know he, like, led the league in our. RBI's. I just don't know what the time, how many that was. Triple crown. Right. Miguel Cabrera's career high in a single season was 139. Oh. So, Jeremy, you're down to 225. I am going to go with...

I'll go A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez's career high in a single season, 156. Oh, no way. Chris Cody, you're down to. to 91. Uh-oh. All right. Babe Ruth.

Different time. Babe Ruth's career high in a single season. 168 RBIs. Jeremy, you're down to 57. Oh, I told you it was a different time. I'm not happy about that. You guys, a reminder, you guys have to go past zero. I'll go, I need to go, I think, I'll go Hanley Ramirez.

That's a really good one. And mine... I feel like his highs are like 103 or something. Mine is from the exact same era. of Marlins. So we'll get to it in just a second once Taylor lets me know where you're at. He's probably had a 110 season. He has had a 110 season. His single season high was 111 RBIs. So Chris Cody, your final score for this first game is minus 20. So that means Cody Ross.

Damn it. Cody Ross's career high in a single season. 90 RBI. That puts him at minus 33. And that's going to be one point to Chris Cove. That was with the Giants, wasn't it? It was with the Marlins, 2009. Dude, that's a nice season. And now we get to our 2025 Major League Baseball expert.

The former radio voice, current TV voice, in his first year on the television broadcast. It's Kyle Seeloff, who you guys might remember from some old clips on the Levitard show playing around with Chris Cody and Billy Gill during spring training. Kyle, welcome to the show. Love the Teal Marlins hat. Thank you for joining me today. I know. This is the best.

I was pumped when they wore them over the Hall of Fame weekend, so I had to grab one. But yeah, dude, it's great to be with you. It's bizarre. You and I are doing this when we're usually doing it on the broadcast together. That's right. That's right. And I'm normally upsetting you with all sorts of weird pop culture references. But today we're doing baseball

and baseball only. So you're here as the voice of the Marlins. And it's time to start with the Marlins. I've tried to avoid them as much as possible on this show, but now there's a real reason to discuss the Miami Marlins and for the people who have not been paying attention. The Marlins just now snapped a streak of six straight series wins as the Astros take this series from them this week. They went from 16 games under on June 13th to 500 by August 3rd with a sweep of the New York Yankees. They're the youngest team in baseball. Kyle, how have they done yeah it's a loaded question but i think it's a good one i'm you know look on on the surface i i think

you point to the pitching that's obviously been much better up until recently in the last couple of days i think the coaching staff fits perfectly because in addition to having the youngest team in baseball they have the youngest coaching staff yep i think when you start to put all that stuff together and you do have to start in the front office and hey i'll say this too and i've said it on the broadcast. It's the most unsexy thing in the world, but ownership has invested tens of millions in dollars to the infrastructure of the organization. I promise you prior to them spending this kind of money, they had no chance because they weren't going to keep up with the rest of the league. It required tens of millions of dollars just to be competitive, just to stay with the

industry standard, whether that's literal human bodies or technology and computers and all this stuff to give them a fighting chance. That to me is really where it starts. Without that stuff, I don't think they're any good. Again, you start to put all that stuff that I just said together, you can start to understand why they're having, they're having success. So again, I know that's a lot, but it's way beneath the surface of just, well, they're pitching really well. It's going so much deeper than that to give them a chance to win here. And so now I do want to give you an opportunity to highlight a player here. So I'm going to pick three. You know, we talked about the pitching. I'm going to bring it to the starting lineup at the moment. You got Kyle

Stowers, who you and I both have been advocating to at least get some MVP votes and consideration considering what he's done for this team and booing them in the early parts of the season before they got hot. There's Augustine Ramirez, who leads nearly every single offensive category amongst rookies, certainly in the National League. And then there is Jacob Marcy, who basically has lit the world on fire in his first five, six games here, you know, had a historic opening weekend, has shown a lot of patience at the plate, ability to drive the ball, and has made some pretty spectacular plays in center field.

So, Kyle, I know it's tough to pick one, but between Stowers, Ramirez, and Marcy, let's focus on one of them and give these folks an opportunity to hear some more. Yeah, I think it's Kyle Stowers. Last season, Kyle Stowers had an OPS plus Jeremy of 54. He was 46% worse than league average. if you told me at the end of last season and the Marlins made the decision to designate Kyle Stowers for assignment,

I think there's a chance that 29 other teams pass on him. He clears waivers. He ends up off the 40 man and he's a 4A player in Jacksonville. His OPS Plus and you and I are chatting at 1015 in the morning on August 6 prior to game 3 against the Astros is 155. He is literally 101% better.

year over year to me just to look at that one number to literally be per the data and the analytics 101% better version of yourself year over year and less than a year's time in the major leagues doing something that I personally think is the hardest to do than any other professional sport so now we've got a new category career wins for a pitcher oh good and bored who that was the all-time leader wins I'm just just because I can't think right now and I need a second I'll go Randy Johnson first Randy Johnson had 303

so Chris Cody you're going to be at 198 this is going to be a short one yeah and and it's going to be so short because I know that I'm about to go over if I'm going to guess in my brain it's 514 and it's Say Young Sayyong had 511 wins. Why would you pick pitchers wins if it was going to be able to get just one name in the game's over?

Okay. I didn't think he was going to get Sai Young. Well, what else was I going to do? My boy, Sy Young, that I know is over 500 wins. The guy that's the pitching award is named after. He also has the most losses. Chris, you could still. Jeff Heisman.

Chris, you could still win this. I know. Yeah, easily. Tell me the number I need. What do I need here? You need $198, but you have as many rounds to get it. Like, just you could name, you could name pitchers that you think could start chipping away at $198. Don't just guess.

Back to back weeks where Taylor gives a strategy to Chris. Interesting. Interesting bias that's happening. Sandy Alcantra. I'm going to trickle this down. You're just got to really chip away. God. The time of the recording, Sandy Alcantra, 46 wins.

So Chris Cody, you're at 152. You know what? Let me just, I'll take a big chunk out here. Show Hey, Otani. It's not that big of a chunk. It's a chunk, though. I was going to say Trevor Rogers, so just be happy I said. At the time of the recording,

Shohei Otani, 38 wins. So Chris Cody, you're down to 114. That's so fun. Keep chipping away, baby. That's so fun. I'm trying to think of someone who's been in league for like three years, but it's been damn good for like three years. I'm going to go, well, this is not three years.

I'll go Paul Skeen's next. I never got it. At the time of this recording, Paul Skeens has 16 wins. I'll tell you right now, the way Chris is playing, a win is within range. It totally is. I got a good one that I think will help take a chunk out of this. Max Freed. At the time of this recording, Max Freed has 84 wins.

So Chris Cody's down to 14. This sucks. All right. I almost just said Trevor Rogers, but that might be too much. Hold on. That's not my game. Yes. Yuri Perez.

Did he get more than 10 last year? Oh, no. How long has he been around for? At the time of this recording, Yuri Perez has eight wins. So Chris Cody is down to six. Oh, that's even, oh, damn it, this is hard. I know the name that's at the top of my head

that I would go with just for fun. But I think it would make it even more difficult on him. Scruble. At the time of this recording. 51 times Chris Cody's at, Fifty-one. Wow, I'm a terrible guess. Can I tell you, can I tell you, I would have gone, 50 wins already.

I was going to go, first of all, I think if you would guess Trevor Rogers, you would have beat me. Trevor Rogers, he had 18 wins. Yeah, I knew it. I can't believe that you, literally, from your second guess, we're teasing. Trevor Rogers, Trevor Rogers, Trevor Rogers. That's how he had like six wins. Incredible. Let's talk about the Toronto Blue Jays, huh?

They've stormed back from being a pretty mediocre team, you know, and by the end of May, a team that was just two games over 500 entering June, now sitting around 20 games over 500. Kyle, what's changed for them and what makes this team so good as a bit of a surprise in the American League? Yeah, I mean, I think they pitch pretty well again. I think if you don't get good pitching and you're constantly behind every night, it's hard to win.

But go look at Nathan Lucas and Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk. Clement, Joey Loperfito, some of these guys that you've probably never heard of before are having great seasons and they're huge complementary pieces to a team that's pitching well. The other thing, too, is I watch the Blue Jays a little bit when I get an opportunity to do so. They do every little thing right. Generally, mistake-free baseball. They don't bash their way to a win every night, but they just do every little thing right. And when they get on base, they'll put pressure on you that leads to extra baseball.

hits or a base hit with two outs, a score, run. So that's a real team. I don't think that's a fluke. Let's take a look at the AL Wildcard race now that the Blue Jays have jumped into that first place spot in the American League East. And we can maybe pick a team to focus on here because there's a couple of AL East teams that we'll talk about. Red Sox, they've been surging, playing really good ball as well. Obviously, they had that profit Devers trade earlier in the year and they've only played better since have some guys who were really standing out and young players who were standing out. There's the Seattle Mariners who were really aggressive at the deadline.

They acquired Johanios Svarez. They acquired Josh Nailer who's like stealing bases at a record rate since he's been acquired. Pretty funny. And then there's the Yankees who have been falling apart at the seams. You watched it happen in Miami as the Marlins swept them. Which of those teams stands out to you that you want to highlight here, Kyle? Well, Seattle and Texas. I think the American League West is going to get really interesting Jeremy down the stretch here.

I think Seattle had the best trade deadline above. of anybody. Obviously, everybody knows how good they're starting pitching is. But to go out and get Suarez and Nailer and put those guys around, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, that's a real team. I think

if they get in, I honestly think the Seattle Mariners could win the World Series. I really do think that's how good they are. Nathan Avaldi with the Rangers is an unbelievable story. That guy's made like a million bucks, and he's been doing this for 15 years, and he's aging like a fine wine with

Jacob de Gras, who's overcome his injuries. But if I took a dark horse to win the World Series right now, I think it's the Seattle Mariners. Kyle, I'm springing one thing on you real quick. I'm just going to look for a quick note. We normally do what we refer to as a golden era of baseball star of the week on this show. Just a quick note on Kyle Schwerber. We've talked to Kyle Seeloff.

We've talked about Kyle Stowers. Kyle Schwerber has been ridiculous. Anything that you got on Schwerber? I think he's the front winner. to win the National League MVP, every time they're down on their luck. They've lost a couple games. They need a big hit to extend a winning street. That dude comes up, and it's generally not a single.

It's like 35 rows deep somewhere. Yeah, exactly. As long as he, I think he is in such good position to win the National League MVP. If he remains very steady, doesn't need to be elite in the left final two months, I think he's going to win the National League MVP. We have Kyle, Kyle Swarber winning the National League MVP. Kyle Stowers, certainly the Marlins MVP and probably top five.

Kyle Seeloff, our MVP today. Thank you, Kyle. And now it's time for us to get back to our game with Chris Cody. This round, to settle it, it's going to be... I just wanted a game three. Yeah, okay. Most strikeouts in a single season for a pitcher.

Okay. Nolan Ryan. Nolan Ryan's career high in a single season, 383 strikeouts Jeremy, you're down to 1.18. Verlander. That's a good one. In 2019, Justin Verlander had 300

strikeouts, so that brings Chris Cody down to 201. Perfect. Yeah, you know what? Low career highs, though. That's weird. I've got a, I've got one. Eric Gagne. I like the strategy. I get what you're doing. Eric Gagne's career high in a single season, 137.

Jeremy is going to go over, but he's at minus 19. I overshot it. Which means I got to be under 220. Correct here? I'm at 201. Yeah, you got to be under 220. You just have to be closer than minus 19. Between 201 and 220.

Minus 19 is not bad. I'm going to go with a guy that I don't think ever had, like, he was great in the playoffs, but I don't think of this guy is ever having like a dominant season where he would I had like $250 and $2.60. And it's a Marlon. Oh. And I just picture his career high being somewhere in this range. Yeah.

I'm going to go Josh Beckett. Yeah, it's a good one, I think. It's got it. I wonder if he ever got to $200. Chris Cody, you're at 201. Josh Beckett's career high in a single season was 2009 with the Red Sox. $199. You're down to two.

Oh, my God. Oh, no. That's terrible. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's not good. this guy I'm about to say my buddy of mine that like he's not a buddy of mine I just know who he is

he probably has like 47 career strikeouts like you know what I mean it's one of those where it's like damn oh man but whatever the pitch clock's running out on me whatever I'm just gonna guess I don't have a better guess I'm trying to think of like catastrophic injuries after like three starts

I don't have I got nothing Tyler Kinley oh Tyler Kinley I bet he plays with the Rockies he was with the Marlins He's probably played five seasons, but like he's like a... I don't know. He's not a reliever that gets used a lot.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. You were at two. He had 72 strikeouts. Chris Cody finishes at minus 70. Wow. I win?

What a... Back to back? Back to back! I ruined this. Wow. I had a chance. Look, man, you know what's most important that you start playing your best ball in August and September?

And that's what's happening here, all right? And July on the right note at the trade deadline. Start things off right in August. I'm feeling good. Pitch clock. Way to go, Taylor. That was fun. We'll be back next week.