September 13, 2024 • 15 mins
Gene Watson - our resident MLB insider and Director of Player Personnel of the Chicago White Sox - joins the show to talk about Craig's Los Angeles Dodgers, Kumar Rocker, and Shohei Ohtani's push for the 50-50 club.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
That sound can only mean one thing. It's time to
talk baseball. Our weekly conversation with the man who is
so busy in his day to day operations with the
Chicago White Sox and yet still finds time to join
us on the hotline. Our good friend, Geene Watson. Where
does the road find you? Are you are? Are you
(00:20):
in the are you back home in the state of
Texas or are you out on the road again.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
No, I'm actually in Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I've been sitting on your Los Angeles Dodgers organization for
about ten days. I was in Los Angeles last week.
Now I'm seeing their Double A affiliate in Tulsa in Wichita,
and on Tuesday I'll head to Salt Lake City to
pick Oklahoma City for a highly anticipated conversation this winter
about a left handed starter.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
No, okay, all right, very very good and me and
since you brought him up, I'll go ahead and start
with them and then we'll move on to some of
the other ones. I the vibe I get and I
watch him so much is is that you know the
offense quite often and quite frequently really comes to the
rescue by having a lot of production. But of late,
(01:09):
of late. When they don't, they really struggle because of
the injuries, and they've had to go with, you know, bullpen,
a couple of bullpen games a week. And I said
a year ago, if you know, man does not live
by bread alone, and baseball teams cannot live with more
than one bullpen game a week because it can really
really hurt a team if they have to deal with that,
(01:29):
because it ultimately wears down the bull him PLU you
don't have that starter that you need. However, in the
case of the Dodgers, I don't know that they have
much choice. I know Landon Knack is going to pitch
for them tonight in Atlanta against a desperate Braise team
trying to lock down a playoff spot. But it's it's
kind of tough when you're starting rotation has been as
beat up by injury as the Dodgers has been.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah, and you know what, getting Yamamoto back will be
huge for the rotation. And really it's it's it's kind
of mundane just to get to octob over because once
you get to October and and you it gets to
more of a three four starter type situation, They're gonna
be fine. And land and Knack was just outstanding last week.
(02:12):
Uh when I saw him. It's it's uh, it's probably
one of the more underrated arms in the industry right
now because he's in such a talented roster.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But but just just.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
A power arm with four picks mitch and great pitch
usage and really competes. And if they can get him going,
if Walker Bueller can gain some consistency, uh and get
deeper into games with his pitch counts and just just
get back into his form with Yamamoto and uh, they're
they're gonna be fine. It's it's kind of just uh,
you know, just getting too October and and getting things
(02:45):
in order. But but they've done a great job with
their both and Daniel Hudson's having as good as year
as anybody in the league right now. And so you know,
once you get past uh those top three at the
at the order with bets uh Otani and Freeman, you
know you got to get a little bit creative. I mean,
and Andy Paie has has got to get going for
them to be successful. Gavin Lux has got to continue
(03:08):
to improve, especially versus left handed pitching. So really nothing
to worry about once they get into a five or
seven game series in October.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, I'm if somebody were to back me in
a corner and say which trade has been a better
trade for them, The one with the Tigers to get
Jack Flaherty or the one with the three way deal
with your ball club and with the and with the
Cardinals to get Tommy Edwin Edmund. I'd be kind of
stumped to say, because Edmund all of a sudden has
become this power machine. He's hit four home runs in
(03:39):
a couple of ball games, and and Flarity has of
course been a very consistent starter for them.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, Flarity is just such a stabilizing force to a rotation.
I mean, he's he's a solid number three star that
eats innings, and he's so prepared when he takes the maul,
and he's having a big year in a free agent year.
And and Tommy Edmund, I mean, the thing that's just
so great about him as he did the typical you know,
go to a winning ball club with great protection around
(04:07):
and and he's comfortable. They're not, hey, hey, la ain't
for everybody. And he's done a tremendous job and he's
very comfortable at producing and as long as they get
help from him, Podges, Gavin Lux and they take a
pressure off the top of that order.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
They're going to be really successful.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Talking baseball with Gene Watson here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundreds up. By the way, you say la in
for everybody, I know what's for you? Did you have
dinner again with Mary Hart and Bert Sugarman the other night?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
We did?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh, we were over.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
We were over at Dennis Gilbert and we had a
wonderful time. W went by the Playboy mansion but didn't
get in, but we had a great time.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, all right you and one more note on the Dodgers,
only because it's it's talking about history. I just do
two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, if you thought that
shoe a Otani was going to get to fifty to
fifty and you said, I don't only think he can,
I think he will, And you're looking like a prophet
right now. The dude with forty seven homers in forty
(05:04):
eight and forty eight stolen bases with better than two
weeks to go in the regular season, he's just amazing
to watch, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
He might shatter it and my gosh, it's just it's
so incredible to watch the way he prepares and the
way he plays. And I mean he may shatter it.
He's got a good chance of shattering it.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
All right, let's let me move over to the American
League and get your thoughts. We talked about the Astros,
and lately they've had a stumble or two. They dropped
two or three to Oakland. They've they've won four of
their last ten. If Seattle could get hot, they would
catch him. But they've only gone five five of their
(05:47):
last ten, so there's still four in that back. Seattle
is an interesting study, isn't it. You know there they
were up ten games in June, they had this gigantic
Grand Canyon size, a big dip lapse, they made the
managerial change, and yet they haven't really gone away. They're
four and a half back, and their best hope to
(06:07):
make the playoffs is to catch Houston. But at least
they're kind of grimly, kind of hanging on to some
hope here.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, devastating loss last night when you go when you
have a four to one lead in the sixth and
you blow that game, And that's kind of been the
situation this year. You know, we were in there in
May when they had the ten game lead and we
could have swept them. We lost three or four, and
even as well as they were playing at the time,
there was just this sense of, you know, almost like
(06:37):
panic hanging over the team at the time because they
weren't scoring runs.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
They're starting pitching.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Is just so dominant and has been so good and
will continue to be the driving force for that team
into the future. But when you have starting pitching that
takes the mound feeling like they can't make a mistake
because your offense can't score, and then you've got to
be ultra creative with the way you use your bullpen get.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Knights like they got last night.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And so I think one of the things they're really
gonna have to address this winner is improving that offense
and try to get a lengthier offensive profile. And when
you look around baseball and all the teams that are
really struggling offensively, I think there's only so much you
can do. Just the pitching is just so good across
(07:22):
the league right now, and everybody is looking for solutions
to the offense. The Tigers, who were one of the
hottest team in baseball, for three quarters of the season
really struggled along with their offense, and then they brought
up a lot of their younger kids and they've just
taken off ever since. I think they're on a seventeen
and six clip on the last twenty three and so
(07:43):
for Seattle, that's what it's gonna have to be. They're
gonna have to really focus on improving the offense, taking
the pressure off that rotation, not to make a mistake
early in the game, and really try to be creative
in the way they use their bullpen all the way
to the line.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
What was your take on Kumar Rockers major league debut.
Went four innings on three hits, one run, two walk,
seven strikeouts. Gave up the homer, but that was the
only run he allowed.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, what I would say about Kumar Rocker is it's
evidence that players are allowed to get better. For all
the glamour around him. In the twenty twenty one draft
with him and Jack Lyder, you know, I was a
Gavin Williams guy that year, the first round pick of
the Indians. I thought he was the most talented arm
in that draft and Kumar, you know, it just felt
(08:29):
like out of the draft there was some like trust
issues as to what it would be like moving into
professional baseball, and he has proven everybody wrong from that standpoint,
and you could really see it coming in the Fall
League in twenty two, it was a different guy. It
was a different beast on the mound with the way
he was on the attack and his slider usage. And
(08:50):
then the Tommy John came and ever since, and sometimes
those Tommy John rehabs are so good for players, as
unfortunate as the injury is, the rehab and what it
does to your body, how it clears your mind, how
it gets you prepared for competition again, and almost hitting
a reset button with your career. I really think that's
what Kumar Rocker had and he is lights out right
(09:12):
now When you talk about adding inserting him into this
rotation Jack Lighter into the rotation, now you're looking at
one of the better rotations in baseball for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You brought up an interesting point, and I want to
get you to expand on this a little bit, and
that's the expansion of rosters. I'd like for you to
give folks a little bit of a view of this,
because I was trying to explain it to Linda and
some other folks as well about when the rosters expand
for September what the environment is like in an expanded
(09:45):
Big League clubhouse, Not to mention what managers are trying
to do. Yes, they have more tools at their disposal,
but they're still trying to keep that chemistry and that
good vibe going on that you've been around it. When
the rosters expand as they we have. Now, how about
your thoughts on the type of environment in chemistry it creates.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Well, it's really not what it used to be what
it used to be, Craig, because now it's only two
players that used to be able to be everybody on
your forty man roster. So if you were in playoff contention,
like if you had say a Girod Dyson that could
come up and steal a bag, or or you had
a power back like a Josh Willingham that could come
off and hit a home run, you were really bringing
(10:27):
up guys that one you wanted to get a taste
of the environment in a playoff culture, but they also
had a weapon that could help you win a game.
It's not the same anymore because now there's only two
players that are called up from each roster, and so
you're really you know, you're you're bringing up you're probably
your two most talented players that can inject into your
(10:49):
twenty six man roster to twenty eight. Or you're looking
for the one weapon, the one guy that can steal
a bag, that can hit a home run, that can
you know, win a game late for you a defensive placement,
but it doesn't have quite the impact now that it
did four or five years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Let me get your thoughts on the Astros here. They
are up four and a half. Like I said, they
haven't been a house of fire of late. They've dropped
six of ten, but they're still up by four and
a half. They start a roads wing out or continue
the roads winging front as they play in Anaheim and
against the Angels, and they got Kakuchi going around. Do
you see the Asters kind of re establishing firm control
(11:26):
in the West?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I do, and I think it's a situation now where
they're going to be real creative down the stretch with
the final two weeks and getting guys. What you don't
want to do is clinch and then turn it off,
because it's really really hard if you clinch and turn
it off to turn it back on. So I think
they're going to try to balance things out with the
way the starting pitching is just incredible. What the system
(11:48):
that they have in place with their game planning and
preparation and the starting pitching is just it's second to
none in baseball. To be able to push for your
eighth straight American League Championship series is it's like the
Yankees back in the late nineties early two thousands. But
I think there's going to try to be a method
to the madness in the way they manage the workload
of their starters, manage the workload of their team and
(12:10):
not like Clinch and then shut it down where you
got to turn it back on and you get into
a series versus a wildcard team that's playing really, really hot.
The thing to watch right now, Craig, is what's going
on in the National League East, with the Phillies and
the Mets starting a three game series tonight and a
four game series next week, and Atlanta having a little
(12:32):
bit of a softer schedule next week with Cincinnati and Miami.
That second wildcard's got a chance to be really, really crazy.
If Atlanta can get hot and Philadelphia can take care
of the Mets, or even they play five hundred ball
and Atlanta gets hot, that National League East race and
the wildcard race is going to get really really interesting.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Wow. Yeah, especially since it's Phillies Mets like you mentioned,
and it's Braves Dodgers this weekend in Atlanta. And then
in the American League East you mentioned the Yankees. Are
they finally starting to ease away from Baltimore. They're up
two games on the Orioles right now.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I don't think that thing's over yet.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I think they've got to get more consistency with the
starting pitching. Every series has been a dogfight for them.
Nothing has come easy, and I think that they've got
to really work to play better defense, get more consistent
starting pitching.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And I wouldn't count Baltimore out by any means right now. Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And then finally in that American League wildcard thing, whether
it's the Oriols or Yankees, are probably gonna be the
one wildcard. Cleveland's up four on your former ball club
on the Royals and the Twins five, and that back
are the Guardians at last now starting to pull away
from the others.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I saw them play in LA against your Dodgers, and
these guys just play so well collectively. And Steven Vote,
first year manager, has done such a great job of
just starting sting himself into what is the unique system
and the way they they they run that major The
(14:06):
players all respect him a great deal.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Fel Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They they work extremely hard, they play play well together,
they have.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Fun on the field. Uh, and it's just.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Stay a solid, solid organization when it comes uh to
competition standpoint, and they're really you know what they have
and logo and singer and and arguably one of the
best players in baseball and Bobby if you can just
get that bullpen situated, and I know that's something they're
focusing on right now. Right end for every team is
(14:52):
going to be so important in creativity and the way
they manage the bullpens, especially the last five six days
of the season is going to be the the tele end.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Off our team into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
You Uh, you have a go to restaurant in witchital.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Uh It's called It's called uh Scotch and Sirloin Scotch.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
It sounds like a place in Kansas Mafia.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
It's an old mafia steakhouse.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Okay, you're got a place, Hey, Gina, I appreciate the time,
enjoying the weekend.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
We'll visit next week, all right, guys, take care of
have a great weekend.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
All right. That's Geen Watson for the Chicago. That just
sounds like Gino's kind of place is Scotch and sirloin
or what kind of sound like my kind of place too?
All right, we have more coming up. Stayed with us
here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone in
the iHeartRadio app.
That sound can only mean one thing. It's time to
talk baseball. Our weekly conversation with the man who is
so busy in his day to day operations with the
Chicago White Sox and yet still finds time to join
us on the hotline. Our good friend, Geene Watson. Where
does the road find you? Are you are? Are you
(00:20):
in the are you back home in the state of
Texas or are you out on the road again.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
No, I'm actually in Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I've been sitting on your Los Angeles Dodgers organization for
about ten days. I was in Los Angeles last week.
Now I'm seeing their Double A affiliate in Tulsa in Wichita,
and on Tuesday I'll head to Salt Lake City to
pick Oklahoma City for a highly anticipated conversation this winter
about a left handed starter.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
No, okay, all right, very very good and me and
since you brought him up, I'll go ahead and start
with them and then we'll move on to some of
the other ones. I the vibe I get and I
watch him so much is is that you know the
offense quite often and quite frequently really comes to the
rescue by having a lot of production. But of late,
(01:09):
of late. When they don't, they really struggle because of
the injuries, and they've had to go with, you know, bullpen,
a couple of bullpen games a week. And I said
a year ago, if you know, man does not live
by bread alone, and baseball teams cannot live with more
than one bullpen game a week because it can really
really hurt a team if they have to deal with that,
(01:29):
because it ultimately wears down the bull him PLU you
don't have that starter that you need. However, in the
case of the Dodgers, I don't know that they have
much choice. I know Landon Knack is going to pitch
for them tonight in Atlanta against a desperate Braise team
trying to lock down a playoff spot. But it's it's
kind of tough when you're starting rotation has been as
beat up by injury as the Dodgers has been.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah, and you know what, getting Yamamoto back will be
huge for the rotation. And really it's it's it's kind
of mundane just to get to octob over because once
you get to October and and you it gets to
more of a three four starter type situation, They're gonna
be fine. And land and Knack was just outstanding last week.
(02:12):
Uh when I saw him. It's it's uh, it's probably
one of the more underrated arms in the industry right
now because he's in such a talented roster.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But but just just.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
A power arm with four picks mitch and great pitch
usage and really competes. And if they can get him going,
if Walker Bueller can gain some consistency, uh and get
deeper into games with his pitch counts and just just
get back into his form with Yamamoto and uh, they're
they're gonna be fine. It's it's kind of just uh,
you know, just getting too October and and getting things
(02:45):
in order. But but they've done a great job with
their both and Daniel Hudson's having as good as year
as anybody in the league right now. And so you know,
once you get past uh those top three at the
at the order with bets uh Otani and Freeman, you
know you got to get a little bit creative. I mean,
and Andy Paie has has got to get going for
them to be successful. Gavin Lux has got to continue
(03:08):
to improve, especially versus left handed pitching. So really nothing
to worry about once they get into a five or
seven game series in October.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, I'm if somebody were to back me in
a corner and say which trade has been a better
trade for them, The one with the Tigers to get
Jack Flaherty or the one with the three way deal
with your ball club and with the and with the
Cardinals to get Tommy Edwin Edmund. I'd be kind of
stumped to say, because Edmund all of a sudden has
become this power machine. He's hit four home runs in
(03:39):
a couple of ball games, and and Flarity has of
course been a very consistent starter for them.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, Flarity is just such a stabilizing force to a rotation.
I mean, he's he's a solid number three star that
eats innings, and he's so prepared when he takes the maul,
and he's having a big year in a free agent year.
And and Tommy Edmund, I mean, the thing that's just
so great about him as he did the typical you know,
go to a winning ball club with great protection around
(04:07):
and and he's comfortable. They're not, hey, hey, la ain't
for everybody. And he's done a tremendous job and he's
very comfortable at producing and as long as they get
help from him, Podges, Gavin Lux and they take a
pressure off the top of that order.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
They're going to be really successful.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Talking baseball with Gene Watson here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundreds up. By the way, you say la in
for everybody, I know what's for you? Did you have
dinner again with Mary Hart and Bert Sugarman the other night?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
We did?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh, we were over.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
We were over at Dennis Gilbert and we had a
wonderful time. W went by the Playboy mansion but didn't
get in, but we had a great time.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, all right you and one more note on the Dodgers,
only because it's it's talking about history. I just do
two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, if you thought that
shoe a Otani was going to get to fifty to
fifty and you said, I don't only think he can,
I think he will, And you're looking like a prophet
right now. The dude with forty seven homers in forty
(05:04):
eight and forty eight stolen bases with better than two
weeks to go in the regular season, he's just amazing
to watch, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
He might shatter it and my gosh, it's just it's
so incredible to watch the way he prepares and the
way he plays. And I mean he may shatter it.
He's got a good chance of shattering it.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
All right, let's let me move over to the American
League and get your thoughts. We talked about the Astros,
and lately they've had a stumble or two. They dropped
two or three to Oakland. They've they've won four of
their last ten. If Seattle could get hot, they would
catch him. But they've only gone five five of their
(05:47):
last ten, so there's still four in that back. Seattle
is an interesting study, isn't it. You know there they
were up ten games in June, they had this gigantic
Grand Canyon size, a big dip lapse, they made the
managerial change, and yet they haven't really gone away. They're
four and a half back, and their best hope to
(06:07):
make the playoffs is to catch Houston. But at least
they're kind of grimly, kind of hanging on to some
hope here.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, devastating loss last night when you go when you
have a four to one lead in the sixth and
you blow that game, And that's kind of been the
situation this year. You know, we were in there in
May when they had the ten game lead and we
could have swept them. We lost three or four, and
even as well as they were playing at the time,
there was just this sense of, you know, almost like
(06:37):
panic hanging over the team at the time because they
weren't scoring runs.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
They're starting pitching.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Is just so dominant and has been so good and
will continue to be the driving force for that team
into the future. But when you have starting pitching that
takes the mound feeling like they can't make a mistake
because your offense can't score, and then you've got to
be ultra creative with the way you use your bullpen get.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Knights like they got last night.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And so I think one of the things they're really
gonna have to address this winner is improving that offense
and try to get a lengthier offensive profile. And when
you look around baseball and all the teams that are
really struggling offensively, I think there's only so much you
can do. Just the pitching is just so good across
(07:22):
the league right now, and everybody is looking for solutions
to the offense. The Tigers, who were one of the
hottest team in baseball, for three quarters of the season
really struggled along with their offense, and then they brought
up a lot of their younger kids and they've just
taken off ever since. I think they're on a seventeen
and six clip on the last twenty three and so
(07:43):
for Seattle, that's what it's gonna have to be. They're
gonna have to really focus on improving the offense, taking
the pressure off that rotation, not to make a mistake
early in the game, and really try to be creative
in the way they use their bullpen all the way
to the line.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
What was your take on Kumar Rockers major league debut.
Went four innings on three hits, one run, two walk,
seven strikeouts. Gave up the homer, but that was the
only run he allowed.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, what I would say about Kumar Rocker is it's
evidence that players are allowed to get better. For all
the glamour around him. In the twenty twenty one draft
with him and Jack Lyder, you know, I was a
Gavin Williams guy that year, the first round pick of
the Indians. I thought he was the most talented arm
in that draft and Kumar, you know, it just felt
(08:29):
like out of the draft there was some like trust
issues as to what it would be like moving into
professional baseball, and he has proven everybody wrong from that standpoint,
and you could really see it coming in the Fall
League in twenty two, it was a different guy. It
was a different beast on the mound with the way
he was on the attack and his slider usage. And
(08:50):
then the Tommy John came and ever since, and sometimes
those Tommy John rehabs are so good for players, as
unfortunate as the injury is, the rehab and what it
does to your body, how it clears your mind, how
it gets you prepared for competition again, and almost hitting
a reset button with your career. I really think that's
what Kumar Rocker had and he is lights out right
(09:12):
now When you talk about adding inserting him into this
rotation Jack Lighter into the rotation, now you're looking at
one of the better rotations in baseball for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You brought up an interesting point, and I want to
get you to expand on this a little bit, and
that's the expansion of rosters. I'd like for you to
give folks a little bit of a view of this,
because I was trying to explain it to Linda and
some other folks as well about when the rosters expand
for September what the environment is like in an expanded
(09:45):
Big League clubhouse, Not to mention what managers are trying
to do. Yes, they have more tools at their disposal,
but they're still trying to keep that chemistry and that
good vibe going on that you've been around it. When
the rosters expand as they we have. Now, how about
your thoughts on the type of environment in chemistry it creates.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Well, it's really not what it used to be what
it used to be, Craig, because now it's only two
players that used to be able to be everybody on
your forty man roster. So if you were in playoff contention,
like if you had say a Girod Dyson that could
come up and steal a bag, or or you had
a power back like a Josh Willingham that could come
off and hit a home run, you were really bringing
(10:27):
up guys that one you wanted to get a taste
of the environment in a playoff culture, but they also
had a weapon that could help you win a game.
It's not the same anymore because now there's only two
players that are called up from each roster, and so
you're really you know, you're you're bringing up you're probably
your two most talented players that can inject into your
(10:49):
twenty six man roster to twenty eight. Or you're looking
for the one weapon, the one guy that can steal
a bag, that can hit a home run, that can
you know, win a game late for you a defensive placement,
but it doesn't have quite the impact now that it
did four or five years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Let me get your thoughts on the Astros here. They
are up four and a half. Like I said, they
haven't been a house of fire of late. They've dropped
six of ten, but they're still up by four and
a half. They start a roads wing out or continue
the roads winging front as they play in Anaheim and
against the Angels, and they got Kakuchi going around. Do
you see the Asters kind of re establishing firm control
(11:26):
in the West?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I do, and I think it's a situation now where
they're going to be real creative down the stretch with
the final two weeks and getting guys. What you don't
want to do is clinch and then turn it off,
because it's really really hard if you clinch and turn
it off to turn it back on. So I think
they're going to try to balance things out with the
way the starting pitching is just incredible. What the system
(11:48):
that they have in place with their game planning and
preparation and the starting pitching is just it's second to
none in baseball. To be able to push for your
eighth straight American League Championship series is it's like the
Yankees back in the late nineties early two thousands. But
I think there's going to try to be a method
to the madness in the way they manage the workload
of their starters, manage the workload of their team and
(12:10):
not like Clinch and then shut it down where you
got to turn it back on and you get into
a series versus a wildcard team that's playing really, really hot.
The thing to watch right now, Craig, is what's going
on in the National League East, with the Phillies and
the Mets starting a three game series tonight and a
four game series next week, and Atlanta having a little
(12:32):
bit of a softer schedule next week with Cincinnati and Miami.
That second wildcard's got a chance to be really, really crazy.
If Atlanta can get hot and Philadelphia can take care
of the Mets, or even they play five hundred ball
and Atlanta gets hot, that National League East race and
the wildcard race is going to get really really interesting.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Wow. Yeah, especially since it's Phillies Mets like you mentioned,
and it's Braves Dodgers this weekend in Atlanta. And then
in the American League East you mentioned the Yankees. Are
they finally starting to ease away from Baltimore. They're up
two games on the Orioles right now.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I don't think that thing's over yet.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I think they've got to get more consistency with the
starting pitching. Every series has been a dogfight for them.
Nothing has come easy, and I think that they've got
to really work to play better defense, get more consistent
starting pitching.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And I wouldn't count Baltimore out by any means right now. Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And then finally in that American League wildcard thing, whether
it's the Oriols or Yankees, are probably gonna be the
one wildcard. Cleveland's up four on your former ball club
on the Royals and the Twins five, and that back
are the Guardians at last now starting to pull away
from the others.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I saw them play in LA against your Dodgers, and
these guys just play so well collectively. And Steven Vote,
first year manager, has done such a great job of
just starting sting himself into what is the unique system
and the way they they they run that major The
(14:06):
players all respect him a great deal.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Fel Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They they work extremely hard, they play play well together,
they have.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Fun on the field. Uh, and it's just.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Stay a solid, solid organization when it comes uh to
competition standpoint, and they're really you know what they have
and logo and singer and and arguably one of the
best players in baseball and Bobby if you can just
get that bullpen situated, and I know that's something they're
focusing on right now. Right end for every team is
(14:52):
going to be so important in creativity and the way
they manage the bullpens, especially the last five six days
of the season is going to be the the tele end.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Off our team into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
You Uh, you have a go to restaurant in witchital.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Uh It's called It's called uh Scotch and Sirloin Scotch.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
It sounds like a place in Kansas Mafia.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
It's an old mafia steakhouse.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Okay, you're got a place, Hey, Gina, I appreciate the time,
enjoying the weekend.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
We'll visit next week, all right, guys, take care of
have a great weekend.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
All right. That's Geen Watson for the Chicago. That just
sounds like Gino's kind of place is Scotch and sirloin
or what kind of sound like my kind of place too?
All right, we have more coming up. Stayed with us
here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone in
the iHeartRadio app.
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