April 15, 2024 • 51 mins
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Timestamps:
0:00 Big Announcement!
4:00 Sports Paradise
6:55 Fried's Bounce-Back
10:25 The Padres Have Changed
17:25 Good Intensity Around MLB
22:55 Two Teams I am UP On
35:05 Two Teams I am DOWN On
43:30 The Masters
46:30 NBA Playoffs
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to Waken Jake Myself, Jake's Story, Ellie producer,
Big Baby David. Happy April fifteenth, tax Day. For those
of you that haven't gone it done, I think you
still can no idea part of married crew which means
my wife kind of did.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It, which I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Equal part exciting end a little nervous that comes back.
That's a fight. Anyways, Hope you did your taxes. Big
Baseball Weekend Man series in Baltimore really got me going.
I think we're gonna do quick around the league. You
guys know when it's time to talk ball. I want
to cover as much as I can. I do have
(00:42):
two teams that have really impressed me that I think
I'm elevating to kind of serious. I don't know about
World Series Contender because still the big boys are up there,
but we got to take them more serious for the
twenty four season. And two teams I'm really down on.
It's April fifteenth. Can be tough and that can change
with one series, and I hope these teams too, so
(01:04):
take it that way. And I got to watch a
lot of ball this week, and especially with the Yankees
getting rained out on Friday, I was able to watch a.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Ton of games around the league.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I keep saying this and I keep hyping up for
baseball fans. MLB Network has a new channel. I don't
think they do it every night. Mine is right under
the normal MLB Network channel. And it was a whip
around show that showed all the games around the league,
and it was cutting to big moments and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
They have another one they do that they kind of
just put up like a quad box with four different games,
and I don't love that version of it.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I've come across the quad box and it's got It's
just a little hectic for me.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's a step away.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's you know, the beauty of NFL Red Zone when
it's right is that they're cutting in and out and
here's the two box, here's the octobox, like they they
use it for the moment where the other one just
kind of kind of sits there a little bit that
It was really good. I think Scooter Braun was a
part of it. You know, he wasn't getting in the
(02:11):
mix a ton, but it was a really good product.
So I got to see a lot of ball, which
really excited me, and MLB Network strikes. So if you
see that, if you get that with your package or whatever,
I would give that a look because it's a good
way to play ball.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So we'll do a.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Little bit of that. Maybe we'll end with some NBA playoffs,
maybe a little Master's Talk Scheffler my goodness. And with
all of that, you might have seen the big announcement
today that we are now partners with Dan Patrick. So
I mean in the Hall of Fame, still building his
(02:46):
Hall of Fame resume. Yeah, they reached out. They were
kind of doing a submission thing. I think there's over
like two hundred different people or companies they were looking at,
and they ended up wanting to work with us. Awaken, Jake,
You'll now be a part of the Dan Patrick Network
along with Jimmy's three Things, and we're excited to be
(03:08):
with them. I think I'll there might be a couple
appearances with them. I think they'll be sending a couple
people this way, and I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, it's exciting. And if you're viewing and thinking anything
really changes on your end, not really. It's still it
should be same podcast link you're used to. If that's
where you listen. YouTube's the same, just we might be
getting access to more guests, or you might see Jimmy
and Jake in different places sometimes as guess other places.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That was the best part of the partnership. Not much
is changing our r end. We just got more friends.
So with that, I'll do my little jaunt around the
league that I saw this weekend again. Saturday, just a
sports I was gonna say sports like that's a name
for a sports person, but it kind of was a
(03:59):
sports paradise man again. Friday night, Yankees get rained out.
I was like, what should I do? Should I do
something that's not baseball, but that's for later in the year.
That's like, you know, when dog days roll around. If
I get an off day, then it's like, hey, go
see this movie everyone saw. No I'm in baseball mode, baby.
(04:19):
So Friday night buckled in, got to see a lot
of teams around the league. Baltimore Milwaukee was a fun
series all weekend. It was one of my favorite talking
points from Talking Baseball Today. The Brewers went in there
just with piss and vinegar and rolled them. The first
night on Jackson Holiday's first home game, they gave away
(04:42):
Jackson Holiday t shirts. They roll them so bad. They
changed the energy in the building, which is always just
one of those funny things to see in sports, like
seeing forty thousand people kind of have a bad time.
It was a powerful message from the Brewers, and then
they came back against the Orioles and they're just giving
these crazy at bats everyone that the Orioles fought and
(05:09):
they came back on the Brewers on that third game,
and it was kind of both teams were playing Baltimore
style baseball. And if you've been listening to this, you
know how much I've fall in love with the Orioles
and how deep their lineup is and the fact that
they do not give it bats away, and the fact
that Brewers are doing that. That's some impactful stuff. Other
(05:32):
things I saw from around the league on the Friday
Night Action Rocks gave it to the Jays. Kevin Gossman.
I don't know whatever your Blue Jays expectations are. Kevin
Gossman should and has been a big part of that.
His past two starts, he's gotten rocked and his velo
is down, which in the age of MLB pitching and
(05:55):
elbow injuries, which is still the biggest conversation in baseball
Tyler Glass now getting interviewed Sunday Night Baseball talking about
the elbow David Cohne our friend, Uh talking about it.
That's Uh, that's gotta be nervous. Like if you're the
Blue Jays, if we were talking about the Blue Jays
and them having a big season, I think one of
(06:17):
the things, one of the boxes you would check again
would be Kevin Gossman being at least a stabilizing force
on that team. You know, I'm not saying he has
to be top five and si Young votes, but Kevin
Gossman has thrown a lot of innings. You know, even
if he has a down year for Toronto, he could
still chew up one hundred and ninety innings, two hundred innings.
(06:40):
Right now he is getting hit hard. So that could
change your Blue Jays expectations. Braves and Max Freed. This
was a big bounce back for Max Freed, who had
had a couple ugly starts to start the season.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
He goes six point one one in and run. I
believe good to get him back on contract. Year was
against the Marlins, and they might be the best dose
of medicine for any pitcher right now, my Reds went off.
Ellie de la Cruz is like going the slugging is
in the sixes. One of my ass before the season
(07:18):
is that one of those cruises from the NL Central
like becomes the Star. They can Uh, Ellie's on a path.
We'll have to check out. O'Neil get bbd on that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I'll check. Although the Pirates have been rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And then this, this is the only one that the
note really changed from Friday. Over the weekend, the Rangers
went into Houston. What's O'Neil doing the.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Slash lines two nine, four hundred, it's a six seventy nine. Ops,
not there yet, still not there yet, he's picking it.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
The Texas Rangers came out and did what they've done
to Houston a lot of times now.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
They rolled up on them. They were up seven to one.
They were then up eleven to three or excuse me,
twelve to three. That they just offense them to debth death.
They hit your don late in that game. Uh, and
I think it might have been his second hit by pitch.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Two he got hit by Dunning and Burke and it
was one of those again talking about the energy in
the Arena. Jeff Bagwell was on the call for Houston.
Hey Jeff, and they just missed your down with a pitch,
and he goes, get your down out of the game, like,
I don't nobody needs this, and he was kind of
pointing at Texas like, if they're gonna do this, this
(08:41):
is just dumb. They hit him with the next pitch.
Things are pretty tense. Kyle Tucker Homer's right after and
gives a little batflip to show the pitcher like, hey,
we don't do that. I know it was kind of
an accident, but if you're gonna pitch in to Jordan.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You can't hit him. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That may have changed the tone of the weekend because
Houston they put up a five spot that inning. Fortunately
it was already twelve to three, so the game was
kind of out of reach, although Texas had to use
some of their good bullpen, which changes a formula. Over
the weekend, Houston bounced back. They won two games at
home over Texas. They were tied late in that second game.
(09:20):
Maybe those are the wins to get them back on track.
Because the record's still not pretty six and eleven. No
one's out on Houston, justin Verlander hasn't come back yet.
They deserve every ounce of rope. Like if you're don't
be the person that's trying to be like, oh, I
had it first. I didn't think Houston would be good
in April.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I don't care. You don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
They've been to seven straight alcs's. They are not dead
until they are dead, and I don't even know what
that would mean selling at the trade deadline even then,
I don't if they're close to a wildcard, which they're
probably like even if their worst worst case. The Yankees
had a season from hell last year with a bad team,
(10:06):
and they were in the wildcard till like mid August.
So with the expanded wildcard, don't be Astros are dead, person,
because they're not, and they won't be. Let's see what
was the late night slate. Oh, Padres Dodgers had a
fun weekend at the ballpark. The thing I'm trying to
drive home, I don't know. I can't give the Padres
(10:31):
too too much credit. I mean, they are five hundred.
You really want to see them get five or ten
games up before you buy into the Padres. Especially with
what happened last year. People are saying the Culture's change
Buster Only was reporting and they were talking during the
broadcast about the Padres locker room last year and the
(10:52):
way that everybody talks about it. It sounds like there's
industry stuff that was going on. There was stuff going
on in that locker that was problematic, and I don't
know if it was I doubt it was Bob Melvin
being problematic. That's not his mo, but maybe something with
his managerial style or something with the players that I
(11:14):
don't know. It just didn't come together last year for
San Diego. And maybe it's none of that. Maybe it's
how bad their record was an extra inning games last
year and in one run games, two things that are
kind of fluky in baseball, like they've been proven to
be kind of fluky, Like, yes, if you're a good team,
(11:34):
in theory, you should be a little better at those.
If you're a bad team, you should be a little
worse at those. But otherwise, year over year, one run
games extra innings are fluky, and the Padres were awful
at them last year. They've had an interesting schedule because
they were in the Korea Series, So I guess that's
(11:55):
where my caveat comes in. The Padres are nine and nine,
but they have played five of their games against the Dodgers,
So the fact that they can get a chunk of
those out of the way and done with saying that
they have a road trip with the brew crew coming up.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think I think the Padres feel different this year.
They're starting pitching jumps off the page. They put up
a Hodgepodge bullpen that Let's see how that works throughout
the year. The biggest game changer for me Jackson Merrill.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
There's been a lot of hype about the three kids
that are playing at the major league level, all named Jackson,
all twenty years old, although if I read this correctly BBD,
Jackson Merrill turns twenty one on four nineteen, so we've
only got we only have four more days of Jackson
(12:53):
Merrill being twenty years old. Jackson Merrill stats on the
year three point thirty three, batting average, four to nineteen,
on base percentage in eight forty five ops, and he
made one of the highlights of the early season diving
on a ball in the gap on the warning track
(13:15):
in that first game. He also has three stolen bases
excuse me as two stolen bases. I was reading Tyler Wade's.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Three Stolen Bases. My doppelganger.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Jackson Merrill. For me, that's something you circle and you say,
that's massively different. That is a lefty bat which the
Padres needed, with the potential to play a high level
center field.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He's young.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He was a shortstop. But again, often these guys start
there and then move where they're needed at the major
league level. Jackson Merrill right now is needed at center field.
He made one nice play out there. I'm sure there's
gonna be some growing pains of being a young outfielder.
Jackson Merrill changes the dynamic of that team significantly. A
(14:05):
young lefty bat. He's been getting on base, which normally
that's not not the strength of a young player. He
was playing with such high energy. Jerkson Profar is off
to a hot start and had the relevant irrelevant moment
from this weekend. We've seen a lot of Jerks and Profar.
I'm not sure what the ceiling is on his best year. Well,
(14:31):
in fact, I could kind of tell you Jerkson Profar's
best ceiling.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You're probably looking at.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean twenty twenty two San Diego, where he had
fifteen homers, a three point thirty one on base like
he was a very he was a solid defender. Yeah,
with kind of an average bat.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
So slightly just plus overall played appearances.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, I don't I don't think I'm gonna get lost
in jerks and profile. I'm happy for him. I mean, again,
the former top prospect that Hey, maybe he's got a
couple twenty homer seasons in his bag going back to
eighteen nineteen, so maybe there's a little more in there.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
But he'll end up with ten years of service.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Like a hard hit rates us.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
He's there, He's there.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Jackson Merrill, that's one I want everyone to put in
their chamber. If you if you got Jackson Holliday, if
you got Jackson Chario of the Brew Crew, Jackson Merrill
has been lumped with them, but lump them in more
like no West Coast effect or anything like that. He
was just it was kind of a surprise Chario got
the extension. Everyone knew holiday was coming. Everyone was kind
(15:40):
of shocked. This dude made the Padres never mind, was
their center fielder. And he's he's electric. So to put
that with Tatis, who's looking the part this year? Uh
Manny Machado, who's been dhing a lot because he's been
dealing with some elbow stuff. Maybe people, So if you
(16:01):
can find me a some update on Machado's elbow.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah, I remember saw something that basically sounds like maybe not.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's just been it's he's been dhing primarily. And you
think of Manny Machado, you know, the all time defensive
third baseman. Hassan Kim has looked great defensively at short
Bogarts hasn't gone yet. Croninworth has shown them something with
the sticks. I'm not ready to buy in fully on
the Padres like I'm gonna do kind of in this
(16:32):
next segment with a couple teams because they I don't know.
I think they're again about to play the Brewers, which
I don't like that for them. They've got a tough schedule.
It looks like until mid to late May, but I
don't know. Again, it's one of those keep your head
above water, keep treading. Maybe they can get some good
(16:52):
juice if they're around five hundred or a little above
by mid to late May. Padres are gonna be a
big of this season, and it's just scary because we
said that last.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Year and it did not happen.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Anything else from Fry yay, Aeronato hit a homer, Him
and Goldie have to start going for the Cardinals to
get in the mix. I think the big thing. And
maybe you think this is lame, And if you're listening
to this, you probably don't think this is lame. The
intensity and passion guys are playing with from around the
(17:28):
league is awesome. It's awesome, man. You know that that
Brewers Orioles game. You know there was a trade in
the offseason, but a lot of guys don't care about that,
like they're just playing another game. The Brewers are playing
with some piss and vinegar that maybe they're this year's
(17:50):
fight team. That's what Trevor Ploof was saying on Talking
Baseball Today. I don't know, just everywhere they flipped the
camera to. And this is a little backhanded slap at
my Yankees, who the Yankees have always had an air
of professionalism to them, like we are the Yankees, we
win World Series, we go out and we do our job.
(18:14):
You know, not a lot of flash, no facial hair,
no long hair, you know, the whole deal around the
they've leaned into that more, which is kind of tough
because you haven't been to a World Series in fourteen years.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Fifteen years, this is the fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yanks look great, by the way, so let's not do
that right now. But I think the Yankees have leaned
a little too far into the professionalism. Let's not get
too crazy, let's not get too hype. Like I don't know, man,
there there was something Jackson merrill after he made that
dive and catch and he's letting out the let's go,
(18:53):
and just everywhere else around the league is just a
little more hype than the Yankees, and I want that hype,
and they're starting to get there.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It's compared to the prior Yankee teams. I'm noticing, especially
in the new guys, like like Sodo gets excited.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Sodo's an excited twenty five year old kid who happens
to be one of the best ball players ever. Alex
Radugo has brought some great energy. Stroman has brought some
great energy. And maybe it's a youth thing, like a
lot of the Yankees teams have been kind of veteran.
Leyden that maybe having some really talented young, really talented
(19:33):
young baseball players. Soto is obviously in a different world,
but with Verdugo, and I think that taps more into Volpi.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Who's looked incredible.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I think that taps more into his Waldo, who's gone
off to a really hot start for the Yankees.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
We'll see if that keeps up.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
See if Glabor gets going with what he'll provide there.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Man, that young something about young energy is super important
to baseball. Obviously you have to be good on the
at the game.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That helps to.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Give yourself reasons to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
But again, last Yankee centric point, I'll make you know
Tommy Kinley, who is one of the crazier people in baseball,
Like that's kind of hism o. He was like the
young kookie guy in the bullpen. There was one year
he got hurt and the team talked about how much
they missed his energy on road trips and stuff like that.
Tommy Cainley, in my head on the Yankees is still
(20:25):
middle of the pact, not an old he's thirty four.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
He's like one of the poor oldest Yankees.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
He's the oldest guy in the bullpen. He's one of
the older Yankees. And I guess maybe that's changed now
and maybe I need to change my scope on that.
But there's something to that young energy, and a lot
of teams have it. Pittsburgh Pirates Orioles Brewers, Blue Jays
have a lot of youth, the Reds Royals. I mean,
(20:55):
these guys watching Bobby Wit run. It's just something she'll
see on a baseball field in general.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Let me do the two teams that.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Manny Machado maybe end of the month, probably sometime in May.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Okay, so it's his right elbow right, Yes.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
He's been playing, playing his catch and taking grounders on
the field before games. But they're they're saying the hope
is by the end of the month. Probably probably a
May thing.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
That's interesting because right now they've had Tyler Wade and
a couple other guys filling in at third. If they
could open up that DH slot, it could be an
interesting deadline move. We've got a lot of time to
think about that.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Tommy Cainley, second oldest Yankee.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Crazy two teams. I'm high on two teams.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I'm a low one.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
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Speaker 2 (22:37):
The crown is.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yours, all right, the two up teams and the two
down teams. I really like what I've seen, And you
heard me talking about it a minute ago the Milwaukee Brewers.
And maybe that seems obvious to you, Maybe it doesn't.
(23:01):
I was locked in on Milwaukee and Baltimore this weekend,
Baltimore Jackson Holiday's Shirt Day. I keep harping on this,
and maybe it's old guy Jake kicking in a little
bit man giving away a rookie T shirt before he's
had a hit. I know he's like a number one
prospect and that gets treated differently, and like MLB already
(23:24):
promotes him, and we know who his father was, but
I don't know. The kid went hitless in Boston and
then he came into Baltimore without a hit. That's a
lot of pressure, man, watching a whole stadium wear shirts
with your face on it. His dad's sitting there with
cal Ripken Junior, Like, I don't know, a lot of
moving parts there, and they end up facing Freddy Peralta. Oh,
(23:48):
you know for anyone that's got a little little cheese
on him. For Cy Young, they're feeling pretty good right now.
Jolly Olive might see him coming up soon on Waking Jake,
jollye Alvin Foolish Baseball mixing it up online this weekend
over Freddy Peralta. Huh so, don't love that. Don't want
(24:09):
them getting chummy. Gonna bring them together soon for the
Brewers to lay it on them in that game and
then the next game day game Baltimore again, I can't
if you saw it, you understood the whole feeling in
the stadium was bizarre. It was forty thousand people that
(24:30):
showed up for a Jackson Holiday party. That left just
watching their team get whooped and then there's a little
fight involved. Cut to the next game Baltimore. They do
oriole stuff. They put up three in the first against
DL Hall, who they traded away. Then it's four to one,
(24:50):
and then Milwaukee punches back, and then they punch back again.
Milwaukee is up eight to five after four innings. They
ruined in the party again. Corbyn Burns pitches the final game.
He survives. The Brewers had a rally going every inning.
The reason I am up on the Milwaukee Brewers coming
(25:12):
into the season, Milwaukee has They've earned the credit of
the NL Central. They've had a winning record now for
the past handful of years, even in down years. The
Milwaukee Brewers, which you know when you talk about mid
market teams or teams you know without the biggest payroll.
(25:34):
You know, if if Milwaukee had been a look at
the Chicago White Sox right now, look at the Royals
past history. If you're a central team, you can fall
out of it quickly. Uh, Milwaukee has constantly been a
part of it. They're pitching has always kind of been there.
They've tapped into guys. We saw the rise of Corbyn Burns.
(25:56):
We saw the rise of Budra Woodruff. We're seeing Peralton
now kind of take over the staff. Their rotation on
paper doesn't do a ton for you, but the pitching
technology has gotten to such a good place, and I
think you guys have probably seen it in your team's
(26:18):
bullpen or spot starters. There's not a lot of guys
that get called up that you look at and you're
just like, WHOA, Like, I don't this guy shouldn't be
pitching in the majors. Pitching depth is there. That's why
these Tommy john injuries are happening. In the league kind
of shrugs and moves on because there's more guys throwing.
(26:40):
The Brewers have had pitching throughout the years. Right now
they're starting.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Pitching era is.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Ninth, which again that's that's pretty good. Their bullpen whip
is seventh, the least amount of walks allowed out of
their bullpen couple high end arms. This is without Devin Williams,
who got hurt before the season, and some people thought
that might be like damn like this Brewers, Y're no
(27:06):
Devin Williams, no Cordyn Burns.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
They'ren't even gonna be able to sell Devin Williams.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Here they are. They're off to a ten and four start,
and I haven't even talked about the reason why they've
changed how I feel about them the most. They are
hitting their second in ops, third in runs scored. It's
kind of like a raise from last year. Feel to
them a little bit like people like them as a team.
(27:32):
You didn't think they were gonna hit like this. Something
about hitting his contagious William Contreras has been one of
the best hitters.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
In baseball so far, one dot one.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Ing Christian Yelich, showing a little pop while also getting
on base. Williadamas has returned to form, which was huge,
and they missed him a little bit last year.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Again, it's early.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Some of these guys are gonna start to fade. Reyese Hoskins,
who's as steady Eddie as a hitter.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
It comes.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
They have their steady guys, which Milwaukee normally it's just
one or two. It's kind of been Yelly and Adamis
and then like rowdy to Les or you're hoping for
someone to step up. They kind of have four locked.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
In MLB guys.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
This is with their top prospect Jackson. This is Bryce
Terrang has been going nuts, a former first round pick
who's twenty four struggled last year. Sal Freelick's twenty four
was solid last year. He's contributing Oliver Dunn, Sure Pal,
Joey Ortiz who came in the Corbin Burns ring. This
(28:39):
team is hitting. I think they can play the matchups.
They're out of the gates, hot second in home runs,
third and steals. They can hit you in any way.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
The Brewers have changed my outlook for their season with
their three weeks. Normally, I don't like playing that game
because that just ain't how baseball works. If the Milwaukee
Brewers can hit, that's significant the other team.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not as sold.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
I'm not, and maybe I'm hurt by the jersey and
I'm hurt a little bit by the division. But I'll
put some chips on I guess if I was going
all in on Milwaukee, I'm putting like half half the
pot in or half of my chips on the Kansas
City Royals. I think the Ale Central is wide open,
I really do, and the Kansas City Royals are currently
(29:34):
doing it on both sides. They are second in starting
pitching era first and starting pitching whip. They are ninth
in run scores sixth and homers fourth and steals. See,
you want a little speed, you want a little pop? Okay,
Bobby Witch Junr. Is a bona fide superstar. We kind
of knew that, but we didn't know that he's the truth.
(30:00):
Any passed Guentino, a friend of the program. He's twenty six.
He had a shoulder injury. When it comes to hitting wrists, shoulders, elbows,
you get nervous about those.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
He got.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
He had a slow couple games and then he got going.
And a reminder Vinnie pas Quentino and I think Foolish
Baseball was telling us this. I think he had Vinnie
p as a guy who said he could have on
his Foolish top fifty next year. Like if he lives
up to his stats, you know, he's got close to
(30:42):
as many walks as strikeouts at the major league level.
He can be the lefty impact bat to what Bobby
wit Junior does. Lineup balance matters. We know this. We've
learned this. Big Salvy is Big Salvey. He's off to
a hot start. We love that he did leave the
game at a throw from home on Sunday's game against
(31:05):
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
MJ.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Melendez, who was a top prospect for them, kind of
had two okay MLB seasons, nothing too flashy. He's twenty five.
Guys can still get better as they get older. Sometimes
we get that prospect fatigue. He is there along with
(31:27):
Michael Garcia, who's twenty four. So they have a young core. Garcia, Witt,
Junior Melendez, Nelson Velasquez. Those are four guys twenty five
and under. Those guys have shown steps early on that
they have the talent to get better. If that core
goes within the AL central, my goodness. And that's ignoring.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
It's not ignoring.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
That's an obnoxious way of me getting to the pitching
and telling you Cole Reagan's might be.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Blown like star, it's that guy.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
There was a I think it was in a passing
article that he said Cole Reagan's scouts were saying it's
spring training that he was a lefty to gram. I
don't know about that, uh, but he's been nasty this year.
Fangrafts has him as the sixth best starting pitcher so far.
Brady Singer, who's twenty seven that we've had prospects fatigue on.
(32:27):
He has been lights out this year. And then on
the other end of the spectrum, they got their free
agent work done Seth Lugo and Michael Waka, who are
both really good for the Padres. Last year they have
been good. They retooled the bullpen. There's a young core
in the lineup again. I'm not as in the Brewers
(32:49):
have a history as a team in an organization of success.
It looks like a couple things are clicking, especially offensively,
that you can put that together pretty simply. And I
love me sament El Central.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
I love the Reds.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I think the Pirates are fun too, are the cart
like that whole division is alive. Royals make me a
little nervous, and I feel like there's gonna be a
week I wake up and if Cole Reagan's gets hurt
and Garcia or Melenda slows down, it's it's gonna feel
a little more Royalty. But these two teams have changed
(33:26):
my outlook for them on the season, and I'm excited
for them. The fan bases should be excited.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And there were people talking on the Royals front in
the offseason about how like, look, Yankees, they added exactly
what they needed soda, soda and verdugo. They needed lefty
hitting outfielders. They got two of the better ones. But
the people were saying, outside of them, I think the
Royals might be sneaky. The most improved, and that was
when we thought it was like a can they flirt
(33:55):
with five hundred? That would have been a year twenty
game improvement is what did most improve mean? What did
most improve mean? And we still have to play that
game a bit. It's a long season to go.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
But well, they've got three verse the White Sox, who
their season is flailing out of control. Really, it's just them,
the Marlins and the Rockies, whose seasons are like caputz Yeah,
and I don't like using that word. Hey, if they
can handle their business against the White Sox, let's say
that's even two out of three, they would be twelve
(34:28):
and seven. And then they've got a home stand Baltimore Toronto.
It's after an off day. Rest your pen. That'll be
the real test, because if they can survive that home stand, you've.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Had a good April. It's in the books.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Like with a good April in five hundred baseball, you're
currently in the playoffs with the expanded wildcard. So the
fact the Royals have put themselves in that position. And
most importantly, I told you two teams I'm up on
brew cruin Royals. That means I had to pick two
teams I'm down on, and one of them is the
(35:08):
Minnesota Twins.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
You know what, for those that have been listening, pitching
hitting is the new pitching. What that means is, I
think if you want to get through the regular season,
you gotta hit. Look at those Texas Rangers, look at
what the Diamondbacks did in the playoffs. Look at the
constant threat the Phillies, are, the Braves, the Dodgers, Houston.
I mean, sure a lot of those teams have had
(35:35):
pitching as well, but to get through the regular season
day in day out and just put it on teams
and get to their bad bullpen pitchers, there's a formula
there to win enough games in the regular season that
as long as you're in the dance, that's what you need.
And right now in Minnesota, I am worried. Twenty seventh
(35:56):
in ops, thirtieth in batting average.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
You know what that feels like, feels really bad.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
We were close to know them. What that feels like?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Watching that much a lot of Yankee Ball last year
saw a lot of stats similar to this. It feels bad.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
They were banking a lot on Royce Lewis was gonna
be out a while and he has a bit of
an injury history. Carlos Korea just got banged up, a
little bit of an injury history. Eddie Julian year two,
they're banking on a lot for him hasn't fully gone yet.
How about this, I'm just gonna read the lineup because
(36:36):
this is a team that went from.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Kind of like a sneaky deep roster.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
So I'm just gonna read what Fangrafts has as their
day and day out lineup. Eddie Julian leadoff, Ryan Jeffers
catcher hitting two, Alex Kirloff d hing Byron Buckston in center,
Willie Castro at short, Austin Martin in left field, Matt
won Learn right field, Carlos Santana at first, and.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Kyle Farmer at third. Not many chunks of that.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Lineup that you look at and are like, ooh, that's
that could be slippery.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
It's early. I hope it's wrong. This Twins team got
a lot of compliments on their pitching. Their bullpen has
still been really good. The starting pitching hasn't been great.
Joe Ryan's been good, Bailey over just had a good start,
Pablo Lopez fine. People were worried about their starting pitching depth.
(37:41):
The bullpen's also getting used a lot early on.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I don't know, like I.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Don't know what truly happened. I guess I was really
leaning into Royce Lewis. People were saying Royce Lewis is
the best player in the AL Central. Without him, well,
I'm still not fully bought in and I'm rooting for him.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
We gotta see the fully.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
You need to see him play.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Regular season baseball games. Not a ton of guys with
regular MLB pedigrees in that Twins lineup right now. Off
to the slow start, a little scary six and eight
starts the season. They can easily have one heater and
(38:27):
this could be in your rear view. I'm gonna need
to see them hit a lot, and I'm not seeing
a lot of guys in the lineup that have hit
a lot.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Ye last last handful of we're approaching like a week
of good ball for Eddie Julian that like, okay, you
get if you can start really getting going. He's the
type of guy that I think hitting would be contagious
for others. But I mean a lot, not a lot happening.
Was off to a pretty nice start.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Eddie Julian's and not on base guy like that's supposed
to be his call card. So let's say Eddie Julian
even he's getting on base, three eighty clip figuring it out, boom.
Ryan Jeffers, I know he's had some heaters before, and
Currel off Bucks and Willie cast Or, Austin Martin Matt.
I don't know. Minnesota fans are worried, and I think
(39:17):
if we're being honest, Trevor Prooof. Trevor Proof usually, you know,
played for the Twins, works for the Twins. He's usually
pretty gung ho about what's going on. Right now, he
is not gung ho.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
The last and second team again, the offense has been
struggling and I did not plan this as I wear
my Seattle John Boy Media All Star Jersey Seattle Mariners.
It's a lot of the same. I hope it's just
three weeks to start the season, but they are twenty
(39:51):
eighth in batting average, twenty eighth in ops, twenty seventh
in run score, not homering or stealing bases. Julio is
off to another slow start, third straight year.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I love him.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
He's won of baseball's best when he's right, handsome, covers
ground offensively. Right now, he ain't hitting a lick and
kind of nobody is so. JP Crawford, who had an
awesome year last year, got on base a ton. Need
him to do that. But then even if he starts
doing that, Julio and Jorge Polanco, who is one of
(40:27):
their big ads, haven't been doing it. Those guys are
gonna kick in at some point. They will, and that'll
help out a lot. But Ty France, Mitch Hanneger, who's
actually maybe been their best offensive player, but he's got
a big injury history, and then.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I'm not HM.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
They signed Mitch Garver to be their DH, and Mitch
Garver was hitting third for the Texas Rangers when they
won the World Series. Mitch Garver hit a lot last year,
but I think it was only eighty something games, and
Mitch Garver's a guy with an injury history. That their
plan was they were gonna DHM, he'd spend a lot
of time catching well, DHM. That'll keep him healthy. He's
(41:11):
off to a cold start. He's thirty three years old.
It definitely felt like a value play in free agency
instead of a Jad Martinez who ended up signing with
the Mets. Jack Peterson was out there.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
It's not over.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
I'm not putting a signing fully down after three weeks.
The bottom of their lineup right now, Luke Rayley and
Josh Rojas. I guess, I guess my formula that's gotten
me to this point. Mariners are kind of built on pitching. Castillo,
Kirby Gilbert, Bryce Miller, and Bryce Miller has been really
(41:52):
good and they're gonna throw the pill at some point.
They need the hitting to kick in. I know, in
about a week they take a road trip to Colorado
and maybe that sparks everything and we can look at
it in a month and be like, hey, Seattle started
to hit.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Here we go, we're back.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
But in that Ale West I sold some ranger stock
to start the season. I regret that because I think
they can just bang. They're gonna win some games, because
they're gonna go up six nothing after the fourth Angels
not in on, but who knows what they'll be. Maybe
they'll be pesky. The A's have just won three straight series,
(42:39):
which the Mariners haven't won one. And then there's one
team below Seattle. It's the Houston Astros. A I ready
to sell on them. I've seen what they've done, so
I don't know with that outlook for the Mariners, it's
a little scary.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
It's a little scary.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
It's a team I've been rooting for their window, and
they made moves. They went out and got Luis Castillo.
These lineups gotta go if you're not hitting. That scares
me a lot in today's baseball, and man, that Twins
lineup on paper a little more daunting than I thought
(43:20):
it was gonna be. So some way too early, too
up to down and around the league. If you watch
the Masters, you're welcome. It's one of the best events
in sports. Pretty crazy that everyone kind of knew what
was going to happen and then it happened. Scotty Scheffler
won it again. He is crazy. I don't want to
(43:42):
say he's in Tiger territory, but there hasn't been a
lot of times that you can kind of pencil in
the winner, and Scotty is in that territory. I'm in
a one and done fantasy golf league that I've come
to really enjoy. If you are a loose golf fan,
I recommend you do it because it makes you, for
ten minutes before the tourney, just tune in to think, Okay,
(44:03):
who do I like? And then you learn a little
bit about the tourney, You learn a little bit about
the golfers, and it can really add to your experience.
Masters is a fantastic watch. I daydream more and more
about actually getting down there. One day I saw Rip
Hamilton went for the first time, got jealous of his
Insta stories. Scotty Scheffler baby on the way, said he
(44:26):
was gonna bail if wife went into labor. Apparently she
did not, So Scotty gets some Masters and they'll have
a kid in the next couple days.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Not a bad week.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Really fun watch watching the pressure of these guys look
over some of the toughest golf holes in the world.
It really is a great watch. I guess I can
understand if you don't have an appreciation for golf, and
if it looks slow, it's supposed to be kind of
a relaxing, chill watch. I guess unless you're rooting for
(45:00):
a player hardcore if you got a little cheese on
on some of the action, cause man, these you can
see pressure kick in. Uh and it's usually cool to watch.
There's a couple sad moments in golf where you see
someone actually break down and you're like, oh, I don't
love that, But watching watching some of the guys step up,
(45:22):
and that's where Scotty is just amazing. He's got the
same emotion on his face all the time, all the time.
And congrats to our guy Ludwig Aberg for finishing second.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Why not?
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Golf is sneaky awesome international sport. Let's see going down
this leaderboard. I've got USA, Sweden, England, Australia, France, Sepstraca,
what is that? Austria, South kore Finland, Chile. I see
(46:04):
a jokeiem Nieman Ireland vijagis tie thirty fifth, Columbia, I
think Canada, Ireland. If you're not into it, I get it.
If you're half into it, keep dipping the toe. Golf
is a good time. And the other bigger thing that
(46:24):
is about to kick in And you heard it with DraftKings,
the NBA playoffs are kicking off. I'm I like the
NBA product. I'll be honest. I listen to you guys, know.
I listen to some Simmons Orsillo. That's kind of where
I get caught up on the NBA because I really
respect those guys' opinions. And then I watch if if
(46:48):
there's a weak night and there's nothing else on, I'll
have an NBA game on. For me, it's kind of
a buffer between the start of the MLB season the
last two and a half three weeks, where up until
that point a lot of basketball has already been decided.
There's one or two playoff teams that are gonna sort off,
(47:09):
and their argument would be up until the last day
of the season, there was a ton of seating stuff
that happened every day.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
It's almost overwhelming for me.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
Like the Magic were the three seed a week ago.
I think they barely hang on to avoid the play
in right, So there's some sliding this year. I won't
knock it. I think if I was.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
If we lived in NBA pod only, I would I
would love all that love all that drama. For me,
NBA has become like a playoff, let's get lost in
it and Tuesday night we get some fun plays. LA
and New Orleans will play in to be the seventh seed.
There's some rumors that LA could potentially not be all
(47:58):
in on that game because because the winner of that
game goes on to face the Nuggets Lakers at New Orleans.
I still have a little bit of Zion stock, and
I know he had his low moment during the in
season tournament this year. Since then, he's kind of turned
it on and he's such a fun watch interesting, like
(48:21):
I'm gonna watch that Tuesday Night. That's a ton of fun.
Lebron Zion on the same court. Winner kind of moves on,
or winner does move on to a full playoff series
and faces the defending champion Nuggets that fell out on
the one seed because they blew a game, a Wemby game.
Wemby went nuts on them a couple of days ago.
(48:43):
Golden State sack though late losers out so rude. Golden
State's the favorite in Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
I mean ever, when I say this, I get in
trouble because I say everyone's root in Golden State. I
forget that there's a lot of Golden State haters out there,
because if you and.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
A lot people will hate you.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Every now and then, I'll just get caught up in
a Curry game and I'll be like, how could you
not love this guy?
Speaker 2 (49:07):
And then the team's kicking and they're like, what love Curry?
I hate Curry? Like what voice is that?
Speaker 1 (49:16):
Yeah, if you're a scriptwriter, you'd love to get another
Golden State LA game for the eight seed, because that
was the NBA game of the season, the Lakers Golden
State game a few months back, and the winner of
that gets to face the young OKC team that got
the one seed in the West. That's so impressive. But
(49:38):
if the Lakers or Golden State end up in that
eight seed, there's gonna be a lot of action on
those teams. Miami and the seventy six ers are doing
the seventh eighth place seeding game. Philly a favor in
that one, and then Atlanta Chicago. I had our guys
Zoe telling me that the Bulls are pesky. You don't
(49:59):
want to Okay, I'll believe that when I see it.
I'll be honest. After watching Trey Young, just do Trey
Young things in playoff games. I know how much that
can suck to be on the other side. But I
was told the Bulls are pesky, so we'll see. And
then when's the first full night of playoffs? So Saturday, Saturday,
(50:23):
Friday will have games or no, that's just the final
playing games.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
So Saturday today.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
Okay, so hey, this is where the NBA does win.
Phoenix Minnesota is gonna be awesome. Phoenix has turned it
on a notch that people were worried they didn't have.
Bradley Beal has started to go the tea. Wolves have
been so good this year, and Karl Anthony Towns is
coming back for the playoffs, and Anthony Edwards is this
(50:53):
gonna be his moment. It's where the NBA has star
power and fun matchups. I think the one in the
West Dallas at the Clippers, Luka Kawhi, Paul George. I mean,
it provides must watch television. And the second round of
the playoffs might be the best thing they have gone cause,
(51:17):
you know, if we want to be rude, you know,
maybe Indiana gets knocked out, Whoever Boston plays gets knocked out,
Whoever Denver plays probably gets knocked out. I think the
crop of team's left for the second playoff series in
the NBA. Every night's gonna be must watch. So we're
hitting a good sports apocalypse or sports eclipse. M Basketball
(51:42):
is the moon, Baseball is the sun.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
I still haven't figured all that out. What I did
figure out is we had some fun today. Thank you guys.
We will be back on Wednesday. We'll see what the
sports world brings for us. Thank you, guys. Subscribe
Hello, and welcome to Waken Jake Myself, Jake's Story, Ellie producer,
Big Baby David. Happy April fifteenth, tax Day. For those
of you that haven't gone it done, I think you
still can no idea part of married crew which means
my wife kind of did.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It, which I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Equal part exciting end a little nervous that comes back.
That's a fight. Anyways, Hope you did your taxes. Big
Baseball Weekend Man series in Baltimore really got me going.
I think we're gonna do quick around the league. You
guys know when it's time to talk ball. I want
to cover as much as I can. I do have
(00:42):
two teams that have really impressed me that I think
I'm elevating to kind of serious. I don't know about
World Series Contender because still the big boys are up there,
but we got to take them more serious for the
twenty four season. And two teams I'm really down on.
It's April fifteenth. Can be tough and that can change
with one series, and I hope these teams too, so
(01:04):
take it that way. And I got to watch a
lot of ball this week, and especially with the Yankees
getting rained out on Friday, I was able to watch a.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Ton of games around the league.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I keep saying this and I keep hyping up for
baseball fans. MLB Network has a new channel. I don't
think they do it every night. Mine is right under
the normal MLB Network channel. And it was a whip
around show that showed all the games around the league,
and it was cutting to big moments and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
They have another one they do that they kind of
just put up like a quad box with four different games,
and I don't love that version of it.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I've come across the quad box and it's got It's
just a little hectic for me.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's a step away.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's you know, the beauty of NFL Red Zone when
it's right is that they're cutting in and out and
here's the two box, here's the octobox, like they they
use it for the moment where the other one just
kind of kind of sits there a little bit that
It was really good. I think Scooter Braun was a
part of it. You know, he wasn't getting in the
(02:11):
mix a ton, but it was a really good product.
So I got to see a lot of ball, which
really excited me, and MLB Network strikes. So if you
see that, if you get that with your package or whatever,
I would give that a look because it's a good
way to play ball.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So we'll do a.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Little bit of that. Maybe we'll end with some NBA playoffs,
maybe a little Master's Talk Scheffler my goodness. And with
all of that, you might have seen the big announcement
today that we are now partners with Dan Patrick. So
I mean in the Hall of Fame, still building his
(02:46):
Hall of Fame resume. Yeah, they reached out. They were
kind of doing a submission thing. I think there's over
like two hundred different people or companies they were looking at,
and they ended up wanting to work with us. Awaken, Jake,
You'll now be a part of the Dan Patrick Network
along with Jimmy's three Things, and we're excited to be
(03:08):
with them. I think I'll there might be a couple
appearances with them. I think they'll be sending a couple
people this way, and I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, it's exciting. And if you're viewing and thinking anything
really changes on your end, not really. It's still it
should be same podcast link you're used to. If that's
where you listen. YouTube's the same, just we might be
getting access to more guests, or you might see Jimmy
and Jake in different places sometimes as guess other places.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That was the best part of the partnership. Not much
is changing our r end. We just got more friends.
So with that, I'll do my little jaunt around the
league that I saw this weekend again. Saturday, just a
sports I was gonna say sports like that's a name
for a sports person, but it kind of was a
(03:59):
sports paradise man again. Friday night, Yankees get rained out.
I was like, what should I do? Should I do
something that's not baseball, but that's for later in the year.
That's like, you know, when dog days roll around. If
I get an off day, then it's like, hey, go
see this movie everyone saw. No I'm in baseball mode, baby.
(04:19):
So Friday night buckled in, got to see a lot
of teams around the league. Baltimore Milwaukee was a fun
series all weekend. It was one of my favorite talking
points from Talking Baseball Today. The Brewers went in there
just with piss and vinegar and rolled them. The first
night on Jackson Holiday's first home game, they gave away
(04:42):
Jackson Holiday t shirts. They roll them so bad. They
changed the energy in the building, which is always just
one of those funny things to see in sports, like
seeing forty thousand people kind of have a bad time.
It was a powerful message from the Brewers, and then
they came back against the Orioles and they're just giving
these crazy at bats everyone that the Orioles fought and
(05:09):
they came back on the Brewers on that third game,
and it was kind of both teams were playing Baltimore
style baseball. And if you've been listening to this, you
know how much I've fall in love with the Orioles
and how deep their lineup is and the fact that
they do not give it bats away, and the fact
that Brewers are doing that. That's some impactful stuff. Other
(05:32):
things I saw from around the league on the Friday
Night Action Rocks gave it to the Jays. Kevin Gossman.
I don't know whatever your Blue Jays expectations are. Kevin
Gossman should and has been a big part of that.
His past two starts, he's gotten rocked and his velo
is down, which in the age of MLB pitching and
(05:55):
elbow injuries, which is still the biggest conversation in baseball
Tyler Glass now getting interviewed Sunday Night Baseball talking about
the elbow David Cohne our friend, Uh talking about it.
That's Uh, that's gotta be nervous. Like if you're the
Blue Jays, if we were talking about the Blue Jays
and them having a big season, I think one of
(06:17):
the things, one of the boxes you would check again
would be Kevin Gossman being at least a stabilizing force
on that team. You know, I'm not saying he has
to be top five and si Young votes, but Kevin
Gossman has thrown a lot of innings. You know, even
if he has a down year for Toronto, he could
still chew up one hundred and ninety innings, two hundred innings.
(06:40):
Right now he is getting hit hard. So that could
change your Blue Jays expectations. Braves and Max Freed. This
was a big bounce back for Max Freed, who had
had a couple ugly starts to start the season.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
He goes six point one one in and run. I
believe good to get him back on contract. Year was
against the Marlins, and they might be the best dose
of medicine for any pitcher right now, my Reds went off.
Ellie de la Cruz is like going the slugging is
in the sixes. One of my ass before the season
(07:18):
is that one of those cruises from the NL Central
like becomes the Star. They can Uh, Ellie's on a path.
We'll have to check out. O'Neil get bbd on that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I'll check. Although the Pirates have been rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And then this, this is the only one that the
note really changed from Friday. Over the weekend, the Rangers
went into Houston. What's O'Neil doing the.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Slash lines two nine, four hundred, it's a six seventy nine. Ops,
not there yet, still not there yet, he's picking it.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
The Texas Rangers came out and did what they've done
to Houston a lot of times now.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
They rolled up on them. They were up seven to one.
They were then up eleven to three or excuse me,
twelve to three. That they just offense them to debth death.
They hit your don late in that game. Uh, and
I think it might have been his second hit by pitch.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Two he got hit by Dunning and Burke and it
was one of those again talking about the energy in
the Arena. Jeff Bagwell was on the call for Houston.
Hey Jeff, and they just missed your down with a pitch,
and he goes, get your down out of the game, like,
I don't nobody needs this, and he was kind of
pointing at Texas like, if they're gonna do this, this
(08:41):
is just dumb. They hit him with the next pitch.
Things are pretty tense. Kyle Tucker Homer's right after and
gives a little batflip to show the pitcher like, hey,
we don't do that. I know it was kind of
an accident, but if you're gonna pitch in to Jordan.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You can't hit him. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That may have changed the tone of the weekend because
Houston they put up a five spot that inning. Fortunately
it was already twelve to three, so the game was
kind of out of reach, although Texas had to use
some of their good bullpen, which changes a formula. Over
the weekend, Houston bounced back. They won two games at
home over Texas. They were tied late in that second game.
(09:20):
Maybe those are the wins to get them back on track.
Because the record's still not pretty six and eleven. No
one's out on Houston, justin Verlander hasn't come back yet.
They deserve every ounce of rope. Like if you're don't
be the person that's trying to be like, oh, I
had it first. I didn't think Houston would be good
in April.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I don't care. You don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
They've been to seven straight alcs's. They are not dead
until they are dead, and I don't even know what
that would mean selling at the trade deadline even then,
I don't if they're close to a wildcard, which they're
probably like even if their worst worst case. The Yankees
had a season from hell last year with a bad team,
(10:06):
and they were in the wildcard till like mid August.
So with the expanded wildcard, don't be Astros are dead, person,
because they're not, and they won't be. Let's see what
was the late night slate. Oh, Padres Dodgers had a
fun weekend at the ballpark. The thing I'm trying to
drive home, I don't know. I can't give the Padres
(10:31):
too too much credit. I mean, they are five hundred.
You really want to see them get five or ten
games up before you buy into the Padres. Especially with
what happened last year. People are saying the Culture's change
Buster Only was reporting and they were talking during the
broadcast about the Padres locker room last year and the
(10:52):
way that everybody talks about it. It sounds like there's
industry stuff that was going on. There was stuff going
on in that locker that was problematic, and I don't
know if it was I doubt it was Bob Melvin
being problematic. That's not his mo, but maybe something with
his managerial style or something with the players that I
(11:14):
don't know. It just didn't come together last year for
San Diego. And maybe it's none of that. Maybe it's
how bad their record was an extra inning games last
year and in one run games, two things that are
kind of fluky in baseball, like they've been proven to
be kind of fluky, Like, yes, if you're a good team,
(11:34):
in theory, you should be a little better at those.
If you're a bad team, you should be a little
worse at those. But otherwise, year over year, one run
games extra innings are fluky, and the Padres were awful
at them last year. They've had an interesting schedule because
they were in the Korea Series, So I guess that's
(11:55):
where my caveat comes in. The Padres are nine and nine,
but they have played five of their games against the Dodgers,
So the fact that they can get a chunk of
those out of the way and done with saying that
they have a road trip with the brew crew coming up.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think I think the Padres feel different this year.
They're starting pitching jumps off the page. They put up
a Hodgepodge bullpen that Let's see how that works throughout
the year. The biggest game changer for me Jackson Merrill.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
There's been a lot of hype about the three kids
that are playing at the major league level, all named Jackson,
all twenty years old, although if I read this correctly BBD,
Jackson Merrill turns twenty one on four nineteen, so we've
only got we only have four more days of Jackson
(12:53):
Merrill being twenty years old. Jackson Merrill stats on the
year three point thirty three, batting average, four to nineteen,
on base percentage in eight forty five ops, and he
made one of the highlights of the early season diving
on a ball in the gap on the warning track
(13:15):
in that first game. He also has three stolen bases
excuse me as two stolen bases. I was reading Tyler Wade's.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Three Stolen Bases. My doppelganger.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Jackson Merrill. For me, that's something you circle and you say,
that's massively different. That is a lefty bat which the
Padres needed, with the potential to play a high level
center field.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He's young.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He was a shortstop. But again, often these guys start
there and then move where they're needed at the major
league level. Jackson Merrill right now is needed at center field.
He made one nice play out there. I'm sure there's
gonna be some growing pains of being a young outfielder.
Jackson Merrill changes the dynamic of that team significantly. A
(14:05):
young lefty bat. He's been getting on base, which normally
that's not not the strength of a young player. He
was playing with such high energy. Jerkson Profar is off
to a hot start and had the relevant irrelevant moment
from this weekend. We've seen a lot of Jerks and Profar.
I'm not sure what the ceiling is on his best year. Well,
(14:31):
in fact, I could kind of tell you Jerkson Profar's
best ceiling.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You're probably looking at.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean twenty twenty two San Diego, where he had
fifteen homers, a three point thirty one on base like
he was a very he was a solid defender. Yeah,
with kind of an average bat.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
So slightly just plus overall played appearances.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, I don't I don't think I'm gonna get lost
in jerks and profile. I'm happy for him. I mean, again,
the former top prospect that Hey, maybe he's got a
couple twenty homer seasons in his bag going back to
eighteen nineteen, so maybe there's a little more in there.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
But he'll end up with ten years of service.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Like a hard hit rates us.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
He's there, He's there.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Jackson Merrill, that's one I want everyone to put in
their chamber. If you if you got Jackson Holliday, if
you got Jackson Chario of the Brew Crew, Jackson Merrill
has been lumped with them, but lump them in more
like no West Coast effect or anything like that. He
was just it was kind of a surprise Chario got
the extension. Everyone knew holiday was coming. Everyone was kind
(15:40):
of shocked. This dude made the Padres never mind, was
their center fielder. And he's he's electric. So to put
that with Tatis, who's looking the part this year? Uh
Manny Machado, who's been dhing a lot because he's been
dealing with some elbow stuff. Maybe people, So if you
(16:01):
can find me a some update on Machado's elbow.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah, I remember saw something that basically sounds like maybe not.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's just been it's he's been dhing primarily. And you
think of Manny Machado, you know, the all time defensive
third baseman. Hassan Kim has looked great defensively at short
Bogarts hasn't gone yet. Croninworth has shown them something with
the sticks. I'm not ready to buy in fully on
the Padres like I'm gonna do kind of in this
(16:32):
next segment with a couple teams because they I don't know.
I think they're again about to play the Brewers, which
I don't like that for them. They've got a tough schedule.
It looks like until mid to late May, but I
don't know. Again, it's one of those keep your head
above water, keep treading. Maybe they can get some good
(16:52):
juice if they're around five hundred or a little above
by mid to late May. Padres are gonna be a
big of this season, and it's just scary because we
said that last.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Year and it did not happen.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Anything else from Fry yay, Aeronato hit a homer, Him
and Goldie have to start going for the Cardinals to
get in the mix. I think the big thing. And
maybe you think this is lame, And if you're listening
to this, you probably don't think this is lame. The
intensity and passion guys are playing with from around the
(17:28):
league is awesome. It's awesome, man. You know that that
Brewers Orioles game. You know there was a trade in
the offseason, but a lot of guys don't care about that,
like they're just playing another game. The Brewers are playing
with some piss and vinegar that maybe they're this year's
(17:50):
fight team. That's what Trevor Ploof was saying on Talking
Baseball Today. I don't know, just everywhere they flipped the
camera to. And this is a little backhanded slap at
my Yankees, who the Yankees have always had an air
of professionalism to them, like we are the Yankees, we
win World Series, we go out and we do our job.
(18:14):
You know, not a lot of flash, no facial hair,
no long hair, you know, the whole deal around the
they've leaned into that more, which is kind of tough
because you haven't been to a World Series in fourteen years.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Fifteen years, this is the fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yanks look great, by the way, so let's not do
that right now. But I think the Yankees have leaned
a little too far into the professionalism. Let's not get
too crazy, let's not get too hype. Like I don't know, man,
there there was something Jackson merrill after he made that
dive and catch and he's letting out the let's go,
(18:53):
and just everywhere else around the league is just a
little more hype than the Yankees, and I want that hype,
and they're starting to get there.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It's compared to the prior Yankee teams. I'm noticing, especially
in the new guys, like like Sodo gets excited.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Sodo's an excited twenty five year old kid who happens
to be one of the best ball players ever. Alex
Radugo has brought some great energy. Stroman has brought some
great energy. And maybe it's a youth thing, like a
lot of the Yankees teams have been kind of veteran.
Leyden that maybe having some really talented young, really talented
(19:33):
young baseball players. Soto is obviously in a different world,
but with Verdugo, and I think that taps more into Volpi.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Who's looked incredible.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I think that taps more into his Waldo, who's gone
off to a really hot start for the Yankees.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
We'll see if that keeps up.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
See if Glabor gets going with what he'll provide there.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Man, that young something about young energy is super important
to baseball. Obviously you have to be good on the
at the game.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That helps to.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Give yourself reasons to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
But again, last Yankee centric point, I'll make you know
Tommy Kinley, who is one of the crazier people in baseball,
Like that's kind of hism o. He was like the
young kookie guy in the bullpen. There was one year
he got hurt and the team talked about how much
they missed his energy on road trips and stuff like that.
Tommy Cainley, in my head on the Yankees is still
(20:25):
middle of the pact, not an old he's thirty four.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
He's like one of the poor oldest Yankees.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
He's the oldest guy in the bullpen. He's one of
the older Yankees. And I guess maybe that's changed now
and maybe I need to change my scope on that.
But there's something to that young energy, and a lot
of teams have it. Pittsburgh Pirates Orioles Brewers, Blue Jays
have a lot of youth, the Reds Royals. I mean,
(20:55):
these guys watching Bobby Wit run. It's just something she'll
see on a baseball field in general.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Let me do the two teams that.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Manny Machado maybe end of the month, probably sometime in May.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Okay, so it's his right elbow right, Yes.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
He's been playing, playing his catch and taking grounders on
the field before games. But they're they're saying the hope
is by the end of the month. Probably probably a
May thing.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
That's interesting because right now they've had Tyler Wade and
a couple other guys filling in at third. If they
could open up that DH slot, it could be an
interesting deadline move. We've got a lot of time to
think about that.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Tommy Cainley, second oldest Yankee.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Crazy two teams. I'm high on two teams.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I'm a low one.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
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Speaker 2 (22:37):
The crown is.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yours, all right, the two up teams and the two
down teams. I really like what I've seen, And you
heard me talking about it a minute ago the Milwaukee Brewers.
And maybe that seems obvious to you, Maybe it doesn't.
(23:01):
I was locked in on Milwaukee and Baltimore this weekend,
Baltimore Jackson Holiday's Shirt Day. I keep harping on this,
and maybe it's old guy Jake kicking in a little
bit man giving away a rookie T shirt before he's
had a hit. I know he's like a number one
prospect and that gets treated differently, and like MLB already
(23:24):
promotes him, and we know who his father was, but
I don't know. The kid went hitless in Boston and
then he came into Baltimore without a hit. That's a
lot of pressure, man, watching a whole stadium wear shirts
with your face on it. His dad's sitting there with
cal Ripken Junior, Like, I don't know, a lot of
moving parts there, and they end up facing Freddy Peralta. Oh,
(23:48):
you know for anyone that's got a little little cheese
on him. For Cy Young, they're feeling pretty good right now.
Jolly Olive might see him coming up soon on Waking Jake,
jollye Alvin Foolish Baseball mixing it up online this weekend
over Freddy Peralta. Huh so, don't love that. Don't want
(24:09):
them getting chummy. Gonna bring them together soon for the
Brewers to lay it on them in that game and
then the next game day game Baltimore again, I can't
if you saw it, you understood the whole feeling in
the stadium was bizarre. It was forty thousand people that
(24:30):
showed up for a Jackson Holiday party. That left just
watching their team get whooped and then there's a little
fight involved. Cut to the next game Baltimore. They do
oriole stuff. They put up three in the first against
DL Hall, who they traded away. Then it's four to one,
(24:50):
and then Milwaukee punches back, and then they punch back again.
Milwaukee is up eight to five after four innings. They
ruined in the party again. Corbyn Burns pitches the final game.
He survives. The Brewers had a rally going every inning.
The reason I am up on the Milwaukee Brewers coming
(25:12):
into the season, Milwaukee has They've earned the credit of
the NL Central. They've had a winning record now for
the past handful of years, even in down years. The
Milwaukee Brewers, which you know when you talk about mid
market teams or teams you know without the biggest payroll.
(25:34):
You know, if if Milwaukee had been a look at
the Chicago White Sox right now, look at the Royals
past history. If you're a central team, you can fall
out of it quickly. Uh, Milwaukee has constantly been a
part of it. They're pitching has always kind of been there.
They've tapped into guys. We saw the rise of Corbyn Burns.
(25:56):
We saw the rise of Budra Woodruff. We're seeing Peralton
now kind of take over the staff. Their rotation on
paper doesn't do a ton for you, but the pitching
technology has gotten to such a good place, and I
think you guys have probably seen it in your team's
(26:18):
bullpen or spot starters. There's not a lot of guys
that get called up that you look at and you're
just like, WHOA, Like, I don't this guy shouldn't be
pitching in the majors. Pitching depth is there. That's why
these Tommy john injuries are happening. In the league kind
of shrugs and moves on because there's more guys throwing.
(26:40):
The Brewers have had pitching throughout the years. Right now
they're starting.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Pitching era is.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Ninth, which again that's that's pretty good. Their bullpen whip
is seventh, the least amount of walks allowed out of
their bullpen couple high end arms. This is without Devin Williams,
who got hurt before the season, and some people thought
that might be like damn like this Brewers, Y're no
(27:06):
Devin Williams, no Cordyn Burns.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
They'ren't even gonna be able to sell Devin Williams.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Here they are. They're off to a ten and four start,
and I haven't even talked about the reason why they've
changed how I feel about them the most. They are
hitting their second in ops, third in runs scored. It's
kind of like a raise from last year. Feel to
them a little bit like people like them as a team.
(27:32):
You didn't think they were gonna hit like this. Something
about hitting his contagious William Contreras has been one of
the best hitters.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
In baseball so far, one dot one.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Ing Christian Yelich, showing a little pop while also getting
on base. Williadamas has returned to form, which was huge,
and they missed him a little bit last year.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Again, it's early.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Some of these guys are gonna start to fade. Reyese Hoskins,
who's as steady Eddie as a hitter.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
It comes.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
They have their steady guys, which Milwaukee normally it's just
one or two. It's kind of been Yelly and Adamis
and then like rowdy to Les or you're hoping for
someone to step up. They kind of have four locked.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
In MLB guys.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
This is with their top prospect Jackson. This is Bryce
Terrang has been going nuts, a former first round pick
who's twenty four struggled last year. Sal Freelick's twenty four
was solid last year. He's contributing Oliver Dunn, Sure Pal,
Joey Ortiz who came in the Corbin Burns ring. This
(28:39):
team is hitting. I think they can play the matchups.
They're out of the gates, hot second in home runs,
third and steals. They can hit you in any way.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
The Brewers have changed my outlook for their season with
their three weeks. Normally, I don't like playing that game
because that just ain't how baseball works. If the Milwaukee
Brewers can hit, that's significant the other team.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not as sold.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
I'm not, and maybe I'm hurt by the jersey and
I'm hurt a little bit by the division. But I'll
put some chips on I guess if I was going
all in on Milwaukee, I'm putting like half half the
pot in or half of my chips on the Kansas
City Royals. I think the Ale Central is wide open,
I really do, and the Kansas City Royals are currently
(29:34):
doing it on both sides. They are second in starting
pitching era first and starting pitching whip. They are ninth
in run scores sixth and homers fourth and steals. See,
you want a little speed, you want a little pop? Okay,
Bobby Witch Junr. Is a bona fide superstar. We kind
of knew that, but we didn't know that he's the truth.
(30:00):
Any passed Guentino, a friend of the program. He's twenty six.
He had a shoulder injury. When it comes to hitting wrists, shoulders, elbows,
you get nervous about those.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
He got.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
He had a slow couple games and then he got going.
And a reminder Vinnie pas Quentino and I think Foolish
Baseball was telling us this. I think he had Vinnie
p as a guy who said he could have on
his Foolish top fifty next year. Like if he lives
up to his stats, you know, he's got close to
(30:42):
as many walks as strikeouts at the major league level.
He can be the lefty impact bat to what Bobby
wit Junior does. Lineup balance matters. We know this. We've
learned this. Big Salvy is Big Salvey. He's off to
a hot start. We love that he did leave the
game at a throw from home on Sunday's game against
(31:05):
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
MJ.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Melendez, who was a top prospect for them, kind of
had two okay MLB seasons, nothing too flashy. He's twenty five.
Guys can still get better as they get older. Sometimes
we get that prospect fatigue. He is there along with
(31:27):
Michael Garcia, who's twenty four. So they have a young core. Garcia, Witt,
Junior Melendez, Nelson Velasquez. Those are four guys twenty five
and under. Those guys have shown steps early on that
they have the talent to get better. If that core
goes within the AL central, my goodness. And that's ignoring.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
It's not ignoring.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
That's an obnoxious way of me getting to the pitching
and telling you Cole Reagan's might be.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Blown like star, it's that guy.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
There was a I think it was in a passing
article that he said Cole Reagan's scouts were saying it's
spring training that he was a lefty to gram. I
don't know about that, uh, but he's been nasty this year.
Fangrafts has him as the sixth best starting pitcher so far.
Brady Singer, who's twenty seven that we've had prospects fatigue on.
(32:27):
He has been lights out this year. And then on
the other end of the spectrum, they got their free
agent work done Seth Lugo and Michael Waka, who are
both really good for the Padres. Last year they have
been good. They retooled the bullpen. There's a young core
in the lineup again. I'm not as in the Brewers
(32:49):
have a history as a team in an organization of success.
It looks like a couple things are clicking, especially offensively,
that you can put that together pretty simply. And I
love me sament El Central.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
I love the Reds.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I think the Pirates are fun too, are the cart
like that whole division is alive. Royals make me a
little nervous, and I feel like there's gonna be a
week I wake up and if Cole Reagan's gets hurt
and Garcia or Melenda slows down, it's it's gonna feel
a little more Royalty. But these two teams have changed
(33:26):
my outlook for them on the season, and I'm excited
for them. The fan bases should be excited.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And there were people talking on the Royals front in
the offseason about how like, look, Yankees, they added exactly
what they needed soda, soda and verdugo. They needed lefty
hitting outfielders. They got two of the better ones. But
the people were saying, outside of them, I think the
Royals might be sneaky. The most improved, and that was
when we thought it was like a can they flirt
(33:55):
with five hundred? That would have been a year twenty
game improvement is what did most improve mean? What did
most improve mean? And we still have to play that
game a bit. It's a long season to go.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
But well, they've got three verse the White Sox, who
their season is flailing out of control. Really, it's just them,
the Marlins and the Rockies, whose seasons are like caputz Yeah,
and I don't like using that word. Hey, if they
can handle their business against the White Sox, let's say
that's even two out of three, they would be twelve
(34:28):
and seven. And then they've got a home stand Baltimore Toronto.
It's after an off day. Rest your pen. That'll be
the real test, because if they can survive that home stand, you've.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Had a good April. It's in the books.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Like with a good April in five hundred baseball, you're
currently in the playoffs with the expanded wildcard. So the
fact the Royals have put themselves in that position. And
most importantly, I told you two teams I'm up on
brew cruin Royals. That means I had to pick two
teams I'm down on, and one of them is the
(35:08):
Minnesota Twins.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
You know what, for those that have been listening, pitching
hitting is the new pitching. What that means is, I
think if you want to get through the regular season,
you gotta hit. Look at those Texas Rangers, look at
what the Diamondbacks did in the playoffs. Look at the
constant threat the Phillies, are, the Braves, the Dodgers, Houston.
I mean, sure a lot of those teams have had
(35:35):
pitching as well, but to get through the regular season
day in day out and just put it on teams
and get to their bad bullpen pitchers, there's a formula
there to win enough games in the regular season that
as long as you're in the dance, that's what you need.
And right now in Minnesota, I am worried. Twenty seventh
(35:56):
in ops, thirtieth in batting average.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
You know what that feels like, feels really bad.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
We were close to know them. What that feels like?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Watching that much a lot of Yankee Ball last year
saw a lot of stats similar to this. It feels bad.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
They were banking a lot on Royce Lewis was gonna
be out a while and he has a bit of
an injury history. Carlos Korea just got banged up, a
little bit of an injury history. Eddie Julian year two,
they're banking on a lot for him hasn't fully gone yet.
How about this, I'm just gonna read the lineup because
(36:36):
this is a team that went from.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Kind of like a sneaky deep roster.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
So I'm just gonna read what Fangrafts has as their
day and day out lineup. Eddie Julian leadoff, Ryan Jeffers
catcher hitting two, Alex Kirloff d hing Byron Buckston in center,
Willie Castro at short, Austin Martin in left field, Matt
won Learn right field, Carlos Santana at first, and.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Kyle Farmer at third. Not many chunks of that.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Lineup that you look at and are like, ooh, that's
that could be slippery.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
It's early. I hope it's wrong. This Twins team got
a lot of compliments on their pitching. Their bullpen has
still been really good. The starting pitching hasn't been great.
Joe Ryan's been good, Bailey over just had a good start,
Pablo Lopez fine. People were worried about their starting pitching depth.
(37:41):
The bullpen's also getting used a lot early on.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I don't know, like I.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Don't know what truly happened. I guess I was really
leaning into Royce Lewis. People were saying Royce Lewis is
the best player in the AL Central. Without him, well,
I'm still not fully bought in and I'm rooting for him.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
We gotta see the fully.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
You need to see him play.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Regular season baseball games. Not a ton of guys with
regular MLB pedigrees in that Twins lineup right now. Off
to the slow start, a little scary six and eight
starts the season. They can easily have one heater and
(38:27):
this could be in your rear view. I'm gonna need
to see them hit a lot, and I'm not seeing
a lot of guys in the lineup that have hit
a lot.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Ye last last handful of we're approaching like a week
of good ball for Eddie Julian that like, okay, you
get if you can start really getting going. He's the
type of guy that I think hitting would be contagious
for others. But I mean a lot, not a lot happening.
Was off to a pretty nice start.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Eddie Julian's and not on base guy like that's supposed
to be his call card. So let's say Eddie Julian
even he's getting on base, three eighty clip figuring it out, boom.
Ryan Jeffers, I know he's had some heaters before, and
Currel off Bucks and Willie cast Or, Austin Martin Matt.
I don't know. Minnesota fans are worried, and I think
(39:17):
if we're being honest, Trevor Prooof. Trevor Proof usually, you know,
played for the Twins, works for the Twins. He's usually
pretty gung ho about what's going on. Right now, he
is not gung ho.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
The last and second team again, the offense has been
struggling and I did not plan this as I wear
my Seattle John Boy Media All Star Jersey Seattle Mariners.
It's a lot of the same. I hope it's just
three weeks to start the season, but they are twenty
(39:51):
eighth in batting average, twenty eighth in ops, twenty seventh
in run score, not homering or stealing bases. Julio is
off to another slow start, third straight year.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I love him.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
He's won of baseball's best when he's right, handsome, covers
ground offensively. Right now, he ain't hitting a lick and
kind of nobody is so. JP Crawford, who had an
awesome year last year, got on base a ton. Need
him to do that. But then even if he starts
doing that, Julio and Jorge Polanco, who is one of
(40:27):
their big ads, haven't been doing it. Those guys are
gonna kick in at some point. They will, and that'll
help out a lot. But Ty France, Mitch Hanneger, who's
actually maybe been their best offensive player, but he's got
a big injury history, and then.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I'm not HM.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
They signed Mitch Garver to be their DH, and Mitch
Garver was hitting third for the Texas Rangers when they
won the World Series. Mitch Garver hit a lot last year,
but I think it was only eighty something games, and
Mitch Garver's a guy with an injury history. That their
plan was they were gonna DHM, he'd spend a lot
of time catching well, DHM. That'll keep him healthy. He's
(41:11):
off to a cold start. He's thirty three years old.
It definitely felt like a value play in free agency
instead of a Jad Martinez who ended up signing with
the Mets. Jack Peterson was out there.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
It's not over.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
I'm not putting a signing fully down after three weeks.
The bottom of their lineup right now, Luke Rayley and
Josh Rojas. I guess, I guess my formula that's gotten
me to this point. Mariners are kind of built on pitching. Castillo,
Kirby Gilbert, Bryce Miller, and Bryce Miller has been really
(41:52):
good and they're gonna throw the pill at some point.
They need the hitting to kick in. I know, in
about a week they take a road trip to Colorado
and maybe that sparks everything and we can look at
it in a month and be like, hey, Seattle started
to hit.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Here we go, we're back.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
But in that Ale West I sold some ranger stock
to start the season. I regret that because I think
they can just bang. They're gonna win some games, because
they're gonna go up six nothing after the fourth Angels
not in on, but who knows what they'll be. Maybe
they'll be pesky. The A's have just won three straight series,
(42:39):
which the Mariners haven't won one. And then there's one
team below Seattle. It's the Houston Astros. A I ready
to sell on them. I've seen what they've done, so
I don't know with that outlook for the Mariners, it's
a little scary.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
It's a little scary.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
It's a team I've been rooting for their window, and
they made moves. They went out and got Luis Castillo.
These lineups gotta go if you're not hitting. That scares
me a lot in today's baseball, and man, that Twins
lineup on paper a little more daunting than I thought
(43:20):
it was gonna be. So some way too early, too
up to down and around the league. If you watch
the Masters, you're welcome. It's one of the best events
in sports. Pretty crazy that everyone kind of knew what
was going to happen and then it happened. Scotty Scheffler
won it again. He is crazy. I don't want to
(43:42):
say he's in Tiger territory, but there hasn't been a
lot of times that you can kind of pencil in
the winner, and Scotty is in that territory. I'm in
a one and done fantasy golf league that I've come
to really enjoy. If you are a loose golf fan,
I recommend you do it because it makes you, for
ten minutes before the tourney, just tune in to think, Okay,
(44:03):
who do I like? And then you learn a little
bit about the tourney, You learn a little bit about
the golfers, and it can really add to your experience.
Masters is a fantastic watch. I daydream more and more
about actually getting down there. One day I saw Rip
Hamilton went for the first time, got jealous of his
Insta stories. Scotty Scheffler baby on the way, said he
(44:26):
was gonna bail if wife went into labor. Apparently she
did not, So Scotty gets some Masters and they'll have
a kid in the next couple days.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Not a bad week.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Really fun watch watching the pressure of these guys look
over some of the toughest golf holes in the world.
It really is a great watch. I guess I can
understand if you don't have an appreciation for golf, and
if it looks slow, it's supposed to be kind of
a relaxing, chill watch. I guess unless you're rooting for
(45:00):
a player hardcore if you got a little cheese on
on some of the action, cause man, these you can
see pressure kick in. Uh and it's usually cool to watch.
There's a couple sad moments in golf where you see
someone actually break down and you're like, oh, I don't
love that, But watching watching some of the guys step up,
(45:22):
and that's where Scotty is just amazing. He's got the
same emotion on his face all the time, all the time.
And congrats to our guy Ludwig Aberg for finishing second.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Why not?
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Golf is sneaky awesome international sport. Let's see going down
this leaderboard. I've got USA, Sweden, England, Australia, France, Sepstraca,
what is that? Austria, South kore Finland, Chile. I see
(46:04):
a jokeiem Nieman Ireland vijagis tie thirty fifth, Columbia, I
think Canada, Ireland. If you're not into it, I get it.
If you're half into it, keep dipping the toe. Golf
is a good time. And the other bigger thing that
(46:24):
is about to kick in And you heard it with DraftKings,
the NBA playoffs are kicking off. I'm I like the
NBA product. I'll be honest. I listen to you guys, know.
I listen to some Simmons Orsillo. That's kind of where
I get caught up on the NBA because I really
respect those guys' opinions. And then I watch if if
(46:48):
there's a weak night and there's nothing else on, I'll
have an NBA game on. For me, it's kind of
a buffer between the start of the MLB season the
last two and a half three weeks, where up until
that point a lot of basketball has already been decided.
There's one or two playoff teams that are gonna sort off,
(47:09):
and their argument would be up until the last day
of the season, there was a ton of seating stuff
that happened every day.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
It's almost overwhelming for me.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
Like the Magic were the three seed a week ago.
I think they barely hang on to avoid the play
in right, So there's some sliding this year. I won't
knock it. I think if I was.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
If we lived in NBA pod only, I would I
would love all that love all that drama. For me,
NBA has become like a playoff, let's get lost in
it and Tuesday night we get some fun plays. LA
and New Orleans will play in to be the seventh seed.
There's some rumors that LA could potentially not be all
(47:58):
in on that game because because the winner of that
game goes on to face the Nuggets Lakers at New Orleans.
I still have a little bit of Zion stock, and
I know he had his low moment during the in
season tournament this year. Since then, he's kind of turned
it on and he's such a fun watch interesting, like
(48:21):
I'm gonna watch that Tuesday Night. That's a ton of fun.
Lebron Zion on the same court. Winner kind of moves on,
or winner does move on to a full playoff series
and faces the defending champion Nuggets that fell out on
the one seed because they blew a game, a Wemby game.
Wemby went nuts on them a couple of days ago.
(48:43):
Golden State sack though late losers out so rude. Golden
State's the favorite in Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
I mean ever, when I say this, I get in
trouble because I say everyone's root in Golden State. I
forget that there's a lot of Golden State haters out there,
because if you and.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
A lot people will hate you.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Every now and then, I'll just get caught up in
a Curry game and I'll be like, how could you
not love this guy?
Speaker 2 (49:07):
And then the team's kicking and they're like, what love Curry?
I hate Curry? Like what voice is that?
Speaker 1 (49:16):
Yeah, if you're a scriptwriter, you'd love to get another
Golden State LA game for the eight seed, because that
was the NBA game of the season, the Lakers Golden
State game a few months back, and the winner of
that gets to face the young OKC team that got
the one seed in the West. That's so impressive. But
(49:38):
if the Lakers or Golden State end up in that
eight seed, there's gonna be a lot of action on
those teams. Miami and the seventy six ers are doing
the seventh eighth place seeding game. Philly a favor in
that one, and then Atlanta Chicago. I had our guys
Zoe telling me that the Bulls are pesky. You don't
(49:59):
want to Okay, I'll believe that when I see it.
I'll be honest. After watching Trey Young, just do Trey
Young things in playoff games. I know how much that
can suck to be on the other side. But I
was told the Bulls are pesky, so we'll see. And
then when's the first full night of playoffs? So Saturday, Saturday,
(50:23):
Friday will have games or no, that's just the final
playing games.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
So Saturday today.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
Okay, so hey, this is where the NBA does win.
Phoenix Minnesota is gonna be awesome. Phoenix has turned it
on a notch that people were worried they didn't have.
Bradley Beal has started to go the tea. Wolves have
been so good this year, and Karl Anthony Towns is
coming back for the playoffs, and Anthony Edwards is this
(50:53):
gonna be his moment. It's where the NBA has star
power and fun matchups. I think the one in the
West Dallas at the Clippers, Luka Kawhi, Paul George. I mean,
it provides must watch television. And the second round of
the playoffs might be the best thing they have gone cause,
(51:17):
you know, if we want to be rude, you know,
maybe Indiana gets knocked out, Whoever Boston plays gets knocked out,
Whoever Denver plays probably gets knocked out. I think the
crop of team's left for the second playoff series in
the NBA. Every night's gonna be must watch. So we're
hitting a good sports apocalypse or sports eclipse. M Basketball
(51:42):
is the moon, Baseball is the sun.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
I still haven't figured all that out. What I did
figure out is we had some fun today. Thank you guys.
We will be back on Wednesday. We'll see what the
sports world brings for us. Thank you, guys. Subscribe
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