Episode 380 - Gotta Beat 'Em All - Bat Flips And Nerds

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hello, and welcome to Backflips and Nerds, the baseball podcast
with a British twist. We are back after a short hiatus.
Apologies for the large gap between podcasts, but we've got
a terrific four hander on deck for you today. Joining
me Ben Carter, we have got Rob Navera. Rob. How
are you hello?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm superb. I feel like every time we do this
we always end up apologizing for the big gap, so
you know, like anticipate another big gap even though we'll
say there won't be one. They probably will, but we're
sorry anyway.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Very true. Also joining us Russell Eason Russell, how are you?
Editor's note here?

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Unfortunately Russell's Wi Fi died right after he gave his
answer to this question, so he did not join us
for this podcast. Rest assured is safe and well and
we're back with us in due course. So yes, apologies
for that. I'm back to the pod.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Not hot and Whales though, is it, Darius?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
It's not.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
It's perfectly normal, balmy twenty one degrees here pretty much
so doing doing fine over here.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Moved to Wales and move to Wales.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Keep cool. Well, we've got yeah, obviously a lot of
baseball that we we could talk about because we've missed
quite a bit of that over the last couple of months,
but we thought we'd put a bit of a spin
on it today. Rather than just talking through all the
storylines that are weeks old. Now, we're going to go
through some of the teams that are looking more competitive
than the others and kind of rate there basically chances
in the postseason or how confident we are about their

(01:41):
chances in the postseason. There will also be a Pokemon
element to it that we'll get to, so apologies in
advance for that, but maybe we'll kick off with a
couple of things that have happened a bit closer to
home since we last podcast did. Let's start with with
MLB Hackney. I don't I know we were pretty poorly
attended at that one as a podcast. I was able

(02:04):
to make it down on the Sunday afternoon and check
it out, and it was really cool. I know it
was a couple of weeks ago now as of time
of recording, but from what I could see well attended
in the afternoon. I heard from others that it was
absolutely heaving on the Saturday night. I think Sean, our
friend who edits the site obviously is a big Cups fan.

(02:24):
He was down on Saturday and said it was yeah,
absolutely rammed. Loads of those people there, you know, drinking, eating, enjoying,
watching some baseball, which is a great sign because it
was a big venue, so I think to fill that
out is credit to him or be. And it looks
really cool the four different areas for the teams. There
were branded bars, There was a bunch of different activities
and activations taking place, bat and cages, diving into foam pits,

(02:45):
that kind of stuff. Lots of kids starre taking part,
which is always encouraging to see. So yeah, I only
hung around for a few hours. Saw Big Nick Swisher
on stage. He was judging a DJ battle, which why not.
I wish I could exploane better having watched it, but
even being there in person was a bit confusing. But
you know what Nick switch is like. He was just

(03:06):
dancing around on stage for like ten minutes. Was music played.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Presumably he was as enthusiastic about this as he is
about everything else exactly.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, so it still very much worked, but it was
kind of like watching Nick Swisher lip sync to various
rap songs from the nineties.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
So that was fast money for that.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
But yeah, I don't know if you obviously neither of you
guys attended, But did you see any of the stuff
about it on social did you feel like it landed
in any meaningful way just from what you could see
across yeah, Twitter, Instagram, anywhere else. What were your thoughts
from a distance if you did catch any of it?

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, I saw a little bit of it on on socials.
It looked like a fantastic day, and I honestly did
sort of have that kind of fomo feeling when I
was looking at it, which I think was a good
thing because if you can't go, you want to think, well,
you know, I wish I was there. It did make
me think about last year and the wonderful time we
all had at the Mets Phillies game in London, and

(04:00):
the fact we obviously don't have that this year. So
it was it was, Yeah, it was. It was kind
of sad seat, you know, it was going on and
I wasn't there. But that's fantastic because because baseball needs
to grow and keep going regardless of whether or not
I'm there personally to witness it. Were any of the
four areas like busier or less busy, Like what was
your what was your vibe on on the who was

(04:22):
a who was a popular team?

Speaker 1 (04:23):
It was, you know, it's interesting. They definitely were busier
and less busy areas, partly just because the way it
was laid out, Like the Yankees had the batting cage
in their area, and everyone wanted to have a go
in the bat and cage. There's always lots of people
there and there was a bar next to it, so
they probably had prime position team wise. Plus you know,
they're the Yankees, by just had good position. But they're
like activation area I think was some kind of like

(04:45):
photo booth activation that wasn't very popular, so there were
less people queuing up for that. Giants had a diving
catch thing, and then the Red Sox were a bit
hidden away, but they had another sort of batting cage thing,
so that also seemed pretty popular, but you couldn't really
like sit and hang out around there. Of the jersey
as I saw and actually and We'll be Europe did
a video where they found all thirty jerseys over the weekend,
which is impressive. Another Rockies fan, when I shake that

(05:07):
man's hand, but the yea of the bits that I saw.
The Giants were the best represented and had a team jerseys.
Theres a whole host of them sitting in the Giants section.
So yeah, Darius, you obviously weren't there in person, but
your team was represented. Well what did you think of it?
And I guess one thing I thought going into the
weekend was maybe this is going to be our announcement
for next year's game, Right, They're going to say at

(05:28):
some point over the weekend, like next year we're bringing
the Blue Jays and the Rays or whatever it might be.
But they didn't, So I'm now thinking should be concerned
they haven't yet announced twenty twenty five or twenty twenty
six is London game opponents? Or do you think this
is all part of the master plan.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
We are starting to get towards the point where you'd
think they'd want to be hyping it get people to
buy tickets. As you say, it felt like, let's tell
everybody here, Oh we're announcing tickets, you know, sign up
for the pre sale, here's your link. Get that interest up.
So that the that they haven't is yeah, mildly concerning.
There's still time, obviously, but after what happened in Paris.

(06:07):
I guess there's a little bit of concern. I don't
think we've got the same issue there as we have
in London, because obviously they have already established a venue
and run three successful games there, so hopefully it's nothing
more than that. Yeah, they just want to wait a
little bit longer to confirm the details. But it did
feel slightly like a missed opportunity to get this year
sort of hype around it. Say, look at all these

(06:28):
people here at this event, you know, obviously interested in baseball.
I am part of the Giants' Facebook group, the UK Giants,
and there was quite a lot of chattering that about
who's going down this Sunday. Quite a lot of people
organized I think in advance to pop along. So clearly
that played out in terms of the attendance of the day,
which is good to see.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Exclaim actually speak of that. Can I sidebar for a
moment about Facebook groups? I was I was in home base.
Yeah no, sorry, not home base, that's no longer a thing.
I was in the bit of the range now, which
still has the home basy stuff looking for I was
looking for some stuff to fertilize my chili plants, which

(07:08):
are going very well, thanks for asking. And a bloke
came up to me in a Maron and he wasn't
wearing a Marinon's hat, is it? But he came up
to me and he said, I happened to be wearing
a Cubs hat, not this one, but a different Cubs hat.
And he said, do you know what that hat is,
kind of slightly aggressively, and I said, yes, actually, but
I'm not a Cubs fan. I'm a Raised fan. And
it turns out he was a bloke called Ray who

(07:28):
has raised gear because he's called Ray. But he was
a Mariner's fan and he's part of a great, big
Mariner's fan group and there was a meetup. This is
maybe two three weeks ago. There was a meetup in London.
So I'm sure there is at least one of those
Mariners people listening. So if you do, please say hello
to Ray and shake his hand, and you know, good
job for it. Sounds like there's a lot of Mariners gathering,

(07:51):
gathering and chatting, so like the Facebook groups are out
there and people should go and meet them. And that
was the first, you know, very very kind of passive
aggress I kind of you know, what your hat means.
You know, like we all, we all kind of want
to say to the Yankees fan, you see set and
the bus stop, but like this booke did it. So
fair play to Ray the Mariners fan, wherever you are,
and I hope you had a lovely weekend, but please

(08:12):
please continue.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Good shout out to Ray. I think I did see
about that Marina's meetup because Bernie, who I know, yeah,
is the one Mariners fan I do know very well.
I think was attending that one and had promoted it
and stuff. So yeah, the Marinas are well represented. And
actually I'll use your story for a sidebar of my
own because you brought up Ray the Mariners fan. So
I think, like I've probably told this story on the
podcast before. But do you know the reason why the

(08:34):
Rays on Twitter aren't at Raise they're at Raised Baseball.
The reason because there's a man out there whose name
is Ray S and he got that handle first, and
despite being offered an extortionate amount of money by Major
League Baseball to give up the handle, he's straight up refused.
And I feel like they maybe had the same issue
with like Twins dot Com. I just literally a couple

(08:56):
of guys who are twins. Yeah, were like, I don't
want to give up my domain. So again they had
to be really creative and get around it. So a
couple of funny stories just on how you know sometimes
your team name can run into a man called Ray
s who does not want to give up his Twitter.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Handle, finding mister Ray following him quickly.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
On the topic of team meetups, I think we should
use this as a chance to plug the fact that
some of the Cubs fans are getting together this Saturday.
I know that's being organized by Sean again, who is
setting up a meeting at Passyunk Avenue this Saturday, August sixteenth,
the one at Waterloo with Bleacher Jeff, who I'm told
is a Cub super fan in attendance. I can't say

(09:34):
I know him personally, but apparently very nice guy. So
if there are any Cubs fans listening, especially, do get along.
But even anyone who's not a Cubs fan. But it's
free Saturday evening, I wants to watch baseball with fellow fans.
I can vouch for them being a good bunch. So
do you know, pop along, say hello, have a beer,
watch a game and hang out. And obviously if anyone
else is organizing meetups, then let's no obviously trying to
get word out about any of these baseball hangs. Roby

(09:56):
love that you've got something to tell us about Rayes.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I do have something to tell you about. Yes,
a couple of things. First of all, the Tampa Bay
Rays follow Rayes. Secondly, despite me not even knowing he existed,
I am blocked by Rayes, so I can see nothing
else about ray Yes, so that's uh, it's a very
small group, but it's now ray S and Kevin Kiermaier
who have blocked me.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
So do you think that's pride? Is that because of
the years of you tweeting at Rays with disgust the
morning after a loss, not realizing you were tweeting at
Rayesh Could be?

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Or all those times I was telling Kevin to take
his shirt off.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, could be?

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Could be, Although Logan Morrison he just got jealous about it.
So you know, yeah, let's not go there. You know,
the court cases aren't going.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
I really didn't know how to segue this, but let's
talk about something different. I was hoping that.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Story about segues my stepmom. My step mom managed to
fall off of the segue. She she was told it
could not go over, yet she was still there and
the thing went over, just like she want to listen
to this. That's a good thing. But nobody but this
woman could fall off a Segueil was perfectly still. But sorry,
carry on, Garry on.

Speaker 1 (11:06):
No, I'm glad, I'm glad you're interjected with that story. Yeah,
Russells schroped off our court, hoping you'd be back on
because the next point I had was around the GB
under twenty three is winning the Euros. It's coming home.
It's come home, which obviously is huge news. They beat
the Czech Republic in the final, who I believe were
the fairly heavy favorites going into the tournament, so a

(11:27):
really big win for the program. I was hoping still
be here because hands up, I didn't actually watch any
of this tournament or finals, so I don't feel particularly
qualified to speak to how are they played or which
guys stood out, but I do know it was a
comeback victory in the final and it obviously bodes particularly
well for the future of British baseball. Did either of
you guys manage to catch any of this game or

(11:47):
any of the tournament? Can you speak any more to
it than what I can by reading the recap afterwards.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
I saw, I saw some highlights. I didn't watch anything live,
I say, but I mean fantastic news. Obviously, we've seen
quite an uptick in interest in British baseball, and I
think this is the kind of thing you'd expect to
see from a bursioning program. I think, you know, being
in Chechia against the favorites and managing to win that final,
it's pretty impressive feat. So yeah, I think hopefully this

(12:15):
boat's really well for future teams and to beat you know,
the best in Europe on their own home field, and
hopefully this poor ten small success for the main squad
in the future.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
I thought I saw a little bit of it. I
must admit I didn't really know that much about what
I was watching. I don't know these guys. I want
to know these guys, I mean, if these are these
are the guys, who are you know? I don't know
where they're from, I don't know how how bridge they are,
don't know how much their imports. But you know it
was I caught it whilst I was supposed to be
working and had it on a secondary tab in the background,

(12:47):
and yeah, absolutely it was fun. It was really fun stuff.
But yeah, I want to know more about these guys,
and I think part of the difficulty right now is
finding out more about these guys. So so you know,
give it to me, you put it in by veins,
I'm ready for it. Let's let's find out these guys.
Because you know, the if there is a criticism about
British baseball and how well we've done in the World
Baseball Classic and all that, it's you know, it's all

(13:08):
importans how many these guys are are properly British. You know,
what I'm hoping is that some of these guys are
you know, they're they're they're born and bred and they're
they're working towards it from from around here. So I
don't know, I don't know much about them, but I
want to hear more. Like, whoever's got that information, just
just get it to us, get it to us, We'll
get it on the website. We want to know it. Please. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Second, did I dare say you know some of these
guys If not in time the WBC next year, but
certainly at some point we'll be graduating to the senior
level and representing GB obviously on the full national stage,
but I think, yeah, to win a tournament at this
caliber shows tremendous progress, so it congrats to everyone involved,
and yeah, good luck for future such tournaments. Let's move

(13:49):
on then to the game's state side, and yeah, we
obviously wanted to talk baseball. Lots of things going on.
I think, as mentioned at the top, as a kind
of vehicle for our conversation, we're going to try and
look at each of the playoff contenders, postseason contenders and
kind of rate our level of confidence in them well,
I suggested on a scale of one to ten or
twenty to eighty. But right before we recorded, Rob came

(14:13):
out with a shocking take that we told him to
say for the podcast. Rob, you want us to avoid
twenty eighty?

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Why? I just hate twenty eighty. It's stupid, It's absolutely ridiculous.
So I know it's something to do with standard deviations,
which let's face it, no one in real life has
anything to do with. So we don't really know what
twenty eighty is. So okay, fine, if it's going to
go from twenty eighty, let's say, oh, this guy's this
guy's a thirty two or thirty seven. No, no, no, no no,

(14:40):
we can only do twenty forty, fifty, sixty, seventy and eighteen,
which is stupid. So fine, well let's do one to
one hundred, but again we don't do fifty three, so
why have they got zeros on the end? Just do
one to ten. So it's just a stupid, stupid scoring.
The fact that you have to I know something about

(15:00):
it before you can understand what's going on is just
just rubbish. It should be a case of a to F,
one to tip whatever. But like, twenty to eighty is
the stupid brainchild of someone who thought they were cleverer
than everyone else in the room, and it just come
across as a bit of a twat. So no to
twenty eighty. I am the one to ten scale please,

(15:23):
or an A to f, whichever everybody else wants, But
I am resisting eighty twenty.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
I'm gonna unfairly throw it to you here, Darius. You
did not invent the system by any means, But do
you want to provide some kind of rebuttal on behalf
of the baseball scouting community for why twenty to eighty
is at least in some circumstances, a good tool with
which to measure things.

Speaker 4 (15:42):
Well, I suppose you know, it's a construct like anything.
We decided that zero was the lowest, one hundred was
the highest for a lot of scales because we just
made it up right.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Well, no, because zero means nothing that makes sense. Twenty
doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't, right. I think this is
just exposing the twenty nothing making sense of anything. Yeah,
I think.

Speaker 4 (16:04):
I think it is a standard deviation thing. I don't
know what the original I think Branch, Richard branch Ricky
is supposed to have created it, but I'm not sure
the story of why Branch said. I don't want zero
to be bad. I want twenty.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
It is to do genuinely to do with standard deviations,
and that if you if you go to eighty, you're
at ninety nine point seven something percent, So the extra
zero point three percent really doesn't matter. But nobody works
in standard deviations. That's rubbit. No one ever works, clearly,
branch Ricky did, well, branch Ricky cant my Branch, Well, yeah, yeah,

(16:39):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (16:40):
I don't disagree with rob having having to learn like
what this means, you know, when you could just use
something that everybody understands in the first place. Does feel
a little bit like gatekeepery. You know, this is our thing.
We need to have our own scale for this, which
is just like the same as a regular scale. We
cut the ends off. It's a slightly way to think

(17:00):
about things, but it's also not really very complicated to learn.
Fifty is still in the middle, and you know twenty
is bad and eighty is great.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
So yeah, Bi, can we do fifteen to eighty seven please?

Speaker 4 (17:12):
Yeah, okay, I want all ROBS ratings between fifteen and
eighty seven.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
Fifteen to eighty seven scale. There we go, decided.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
I'm glad we got to this to date before we
even started talking about any of the actual teams, and.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Also upsets some mathematicians out there. Probably I was.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Going to say, there definitely are some people who do
work in standard deviations, but.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
Because I'm scared of the mathematicians, come at me. Come on, yeah,
all right, next London series mathematicians, come find ROB.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
I'm generally on team ROB for this, but I do
think a very cool, you know, baseball thing to say
is grade eighty about anything, just because it's you know,
one hundred, to be cooler sure, maybe I.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
Think eighty grade sounds better than one hundred grade. I
don't know who maybe rolls off the tongue bit easier.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, well, anyway, whatever, I think it's seven to rate
with what level our confidence stands with regards to these
teams that are in postseason contention. So, you know, do
we believe in those teams that are currently looking good
to make it to the playoffs? Do you think they're pretenders?
Do we think they're built for the postseason? Are they

(18:19):
going to fold at the first sign of a big,
scary crowd and the bright lights of October. The way
I've kind of cut this off is if you're more
than three games out of a world card spot, you
will not make it into our discussion, just because I
don't want to sit here and talk about twenty five teams.
And also, you know, if you're more than three games
out at this point, you're probably not making it. But again,
I might have to buy my mind.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
I assume it's because you want to annoy the Rangers fans. Again,
you're pickings of Texas Rangers.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
That's the way you want to read into it. So sorry, Yeah,
So yeah, we'll go through each team talk a bit
about how we feel about them, what level of confidence
we give them, and then we sparked a little chat
in our WhatsApp group about Pokemon most because, like many
others out there, I'm sure I saw the video of
Jacob Mizerowski Bros. Rookie, opening a pack of Pokemon cards

(19:07):
and he packed a Charizard, which I'll admit I didn't
know much about other than charizards are called Pokemon. Good,
say Darius. It turns out that charitards an imenseally rare
Pokemon card. I think it's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,
so not that Jacob Michowski really needs it, but that
video went viral for you know, Pokemon reasons. Turns out

(19:28):
there's a devisive subject to know WhatsApp greet Brob's gonna
probably give us an explanation of why when we ask
him for his Pokemon choice of some of these teams,
but we thought we'd have some fun with it and
kind of pick a Pokemon that represents each of these teams,
at least the way we feel about them, which, yeah,
I'm not sure it's going to go that well, but
we'll try. That's good.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, I'll just clarify him on the list of the
ten most expensive Charizard Pokemon cards on cards collector dot
co do at uk on a nineteen ninety nine first
edition holographic base set Charizard PSA, which I believe is
the highest quality grade of card you can get, recently
sold for four hundred and twenty thousand dollars owned. But

(20:08):
if you are at home and you've got some old
Pokemon cards kicking around, and some of them are looking
pretty good condition and they've got charis are on them,
then get yourself down to your nearest card auction house
now and make us up some money.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
I don't know. My views on cards generally is pretty
similar to Robsy on the twenty eighty scale. I won't
go into it now, but like, who is paying that
for a Charazar card? Anyway, Let's go on with a
team chat. Let's start. I guess so typically in the
al East Robin not talking about your raise, it didn't
make the cut. I guess. We can have a podcast

(20:41):
on the sad disappointing teams another time, but let's start
with the jas instead, who have been pretty surprising to me,
at least in terms of the run of form. They've
been on lately. How do you see them? What is
your confidence level? And do you have a Pokemon for
the Jason?

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Are you addressing me?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah? Sorry, that's for you. Very good.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
The Jays have been fantastic. There is no doubt about
the Jays being fantastic. I don't know how much I
believe it, which is stupid because I think at the
moment they're what, they're tied second best record in the
Major's right now. It's really come out of nowhere. I
don't think you would speak to many people preseason this
year and say do you think the Blue Jays are

(21:27):
going to be the best team in the American League?
They go, yeah, sure, yeah, absolutely. I mean you would
probably put three or maybe four of the teams in
that division ahead of the Blue Jays. I think there
was an element of calling for them to be the bottom,
if not second bottom, in that division, and here they
are absolutely demolishing it. I don't know how much that's

(21:49):
to do with a bit of sequencing. Luck. If we
look at run differential, which I personally sort of tend
to think is a decent arometer of where a team
should be, they are they are well behind that they're
sort of more level with the Rays, who are languishing
deservedly well down in fourth place. So I don't have

(22:12):
an awful lot of faith in the in the Blue Jays.
It's all coming together, you know, But no, really, I
think yet. They're obviously going to make the postseason at
this point, but will they survive long in that? I
just I just can't see where that's coming from. So uh,
I've put them down as washing machine tissue man, being

(22:35):
being the Pokemon that I have against them, as their
pocket monsters, I assume they are all things that come
out your pocket, so a tissue that's been and they're
kind of just sort of disintegrate a little bit once
once they get into the real, real hard, hard washing
bit of the season. Yeah, washing washing, washing machine tissue man.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
I'm glad I don't have to sit here and work
out which of the Pokemon you meant by washing machine
tissue man.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
I'm not. I'm gonna you know what I'm gonna whilst
you're talking, I'm going to look up pictures of Pokemon
and see if I can work out which, well I
think looks most like washing machine tissue man. By the way,
pocket Monster sounds like a horrendous euphebism. But carry on, Darius,
are you a blue lever?

Speaker 1 (23:19):
Do you think that the jayser for real?

Speaker 4 (23:21):
Not like winning the al eas three or no. The
pitching is kind of bad, Like it's not even above average.
I think they're going to get rocked in the playoffs.
To be honest with you, yes, I love Max Scherzer,
but you know it's not been peak Max. As he's
gutting it out there, I guess you know you believe
in the guts on the mound, but he's.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
Not what he was.

Speaker 4 (23:43):
I just think there's a lot of holes in that
pitching stuff and they might well get pretty exposed in
a playoff series. So the level of confidence is it's
not high that they're going to do well in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
What are we doing here? I guess I'll say thirty eight.
That's we didn't do a number. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you didn't.
You didn't do a number. But I'm doing a number.
It's a good number. I'm not far off you with
the with the number. You think that's a good number.
I think it's a good number.

Speaker 4 (24:12):
I think the pokemon that looks most like washing machine
tissue man of the original one hundred and fifty one,
which is all we're recognized. It's got the pictures in
front of me. Now it's probably prime ape, I would say.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean, if you gave, if you gave, if you
gave a washing machine tissue like little arms, stumpy arms
and legs, it would look a bit like crime map. Okay,
depending on the size of the tissue. I was thinking
the one that looks like a butterfly, but butter butter free?
Is that any good? No? Not really? Okay, right, well,

(24:43):
one of those, then there you go, butter free washing
machine tissue man the choice.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
Yeah, I think I might believe in them a little
bit more than you guys, just because I think the
lineup is really really good. Forty maybe one of the
best is in the American League. Ernie Clement breakout is yeah,
somewhat shocking, and then all the guys that needed to
be good have been good. But yeah, I do think
the rotation is a concern and that does tend to

(25:10):
matter in the playoffs. So maybe I've bumped them up
to did you say forty nine? I'll give them like
fifty two, middle of the pack. On what are we
calling your scale, Robie. You can have a think about
what we're calling it as we talk about the next team.
Who are the Boston Red Sox?

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Sorry the Pokemon for the Jay's I had pidgiot in that.
You know, when you first greet them as a little piggy,
you don't think much of them, But actually, as the
season's gone on and they have evolved, I'm giving them
a lot more respect as a genuine threat. Let's talk
Red Sox, Darius. Why don't you start us off with
your views on the Red Sox and how much you

(25:46):
believe in them, maybe getting it all together in time
for October run.

Speaker 4 (25:50):
I feel like on sort of any given week, you
could have thought that the Red Sox were terrible or
amazing this season and what they arrive at, but you know,
in those weeks in October is going to determine how
they go. There's obviously some very talented players on this team.
Alex Brigman loves to hit in Boston. We know remend

(26:12):
Anthony looks like he's going to be a pretty great player.
Bully o Bray, You're having an excellent season and maybe
they get a bit more out of you know, Christian
Campbell if he comes back from the Miners. Sadana Rafaela's
taking a level up. So you know, I like quite
a few of the pieces in the lineup. The pitching
is like, I do not know, Like Walker Buler has

(26:35):
been a mess for most of this season, but he
might just be Walker e. Fan Buehler in the playoffs
because that's what he does. He was terrible last season
and then he was great in the playoffs. Garrett Crochet
is a stud again. Giolito like he looks great and
then the next inning he looks like he might not
get anybody out.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
I just don't know.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
With the Red Sox, I think they could be immediately
swept or go all the way. So I guess I'm
looking for the most variants possible here. I don't know
what the most random Pokemon is that could just give
you anything. I'm trying to think of what is what
is like chaos personified in a Pokemon.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
I wrote in my notes Gangar, but I can't remember why,
but I feel like he's quite a chaotic Pokemon.

Speaker 4 (27:19):
Gengga is quite a chaotic Pokemon. I could I could
believe that. Yeah, so maybe it's Gangar. I feel like
number on your scale because there's a there's all these
numbered Pokemon. I can tell you which one it comes
out there. You go, oh, you're just going to give
it whatever number I tell you. Yeah, you give me
the number, I'll tell you which, which which pokemon Pokemon is.

(27:40):
I feel like I believe in them a bit more
than the Blue Jays, but maybe not a super amount.
So like forty seven.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Forty seven is it looks like a sort of a
crab parasect. Yeah, that's some sort of insect with like
a mushroom on its back. Rope. Okay, I saw crab.
But fine, if that's what that is, that's that's that's
all good. That's there is a crab. There are two crabs,
but there's that's different papal. One of them is called krabb.
I think that's creative, innovative, fantastic. Sorry, right, yes, keep

(28:12):
it moving, absolutely, I do. Actually, I'm I'm a little
bit more. I'm a bit more on the Red Sox.
I think again, one differential they've they've they are they're
hitting it hard, you know, and it's it's a slow
start that's kind of disguised where they where they've been
at and they've got a lot of guys who are

(28:33):
going to be good in the day rotation wise, you know,
like Brian Beao is terrible or brilliant, Lucas Giulioto is
still still got that, you know, Dustin May, who knows
at this point, but then Garrett Crochet and you only
need three of these guys to be any any damn
good in the in the postseason, and I just feel
like they sort of they sort of got it, you know,

(28:55):
like I don't know why Rob Refsnyder is still on
the bench, How that man is still drawing awage. I
don't know, Lovely Chap by all intents and purposes, but
like he's been kicking around bang average for Donkeys years.
Abraham Torro is still playing on that team. Like, I
don't know how it's working, but it's working. But then,

(29:16):
you know, you look at the rest is solid, Like
we're lacking stars a little bit, absolutely, But then over
the last few years is that you know, stars versus
stars and scrubs teams and the teams that were just
genuinely they got a bit going on for them. Yeah, absolutely,
those are the teams and I think I think they've
got a bit about them, So I'm I'm going to

(29:36):
give them more more of a sixty three. I'm I'm
kind of about them. I'm a sixty three. I quite like,
quite like the Red Sox. I think they've got a
really good chance of taking that pen. I don't think
they're the favorites, but I don't think they're a million
miles off. Yeah, I don't think you can count the
Red Sox out. So I've got them as the lint beast.

(29:58):
That is the pokemon I've got, you know, the lint
beast to still come out of your pocket.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yeah, I think I'm more skeptical than you, partly just
the gut feeling of like how this team's played all season.
I just don't see them being able to keep it
all together for a whole month in October. Like maybe
they'll sweep the first series, but then it will fall
apart from them in the next one. They've just been that.
I've been like waiting for it all to click and
it hasn't happened. Really. Yeah, and yet they're still, you know,
in contention, and Crochet is an ace, a legit ace,

(30:28):
and that always helps in October when you can throw
him out twice in A series. They've got a good
enough lineup that, yeah, maybe if Christian Campbell can can
bash the door down, Triple A gets better with him
coming back next month. But yeah, I just don't get
They just don't give me the feeling of a championship
caliber team right now. Would happily be proven wrong. But
I put the more around the fifty mark in terms

(30:49):
of my level of confidence or the middle of the
pack that the upside is there, but diggle it exactly.
But but I don't. Yeah, I don't have strong belief
in them turning into a into a wagon.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Let's we should have made the scale to be one
to one hundred and fifty one for this to work.
That would have made way more sense. But but no,
this is the the semi pocket monster scale of seven.
You can't go full pocket Monster scale on the first go.
You have to start with the semi semi pocket monster.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Sorry onto the Yankees? Uh they yeah?

Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well, hang, I thought we were we were three three
games back. The Yankees further.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
Out, I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Are they wild? Sorry they're in the divisions. Rob's eliminated
them already.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Wow, we know level stands.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
I'm giving them the the full bulbousur carry out.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Ball saw it is for the Yankees. I yeah, they
are another strange team, Like I don't know how they've
managed to find themselves in third place in division considering
how good they looked in the first month or two.
But it all just doesn't really feel right for them
this year, does it. Obviously Judges still being incredible. They've
even managed to somewhat keep stanting healthy. They're getting bits

(32:16):
from the rest of the lineup, but not really enough.
And then yeah, the rotation just hasn't really stood up
and found itself, you know, any kind of credibility has it?
I think obviously they massively miss Garrett Cole, but I
think even behind him, no one really has managed to
make that step up to become a reliable every fifth
day guy, which, yeah, you need multiple of those really
if you're going to compete in the playoffs. And obviously

(32:37):
the bullpen Devan Williams, I don't even know, Yeah, where
you even pitch him at this point. I think he's blown.
Like the last five saved chances has been given and
that doesn't tend to go down well in the Bronx.
So it all just feels a little bit dysfunctional. Right now,
there's enough talent, I think on this team for them
to you know, get into the postseason again and get
hot and maybe make it back to the World Series.

(32:58):
You know, they were very good last October, but right
now I don't see it. My confidence would be sub
fifty probably on Rob scale. Let's say forty six for
fear numbers.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
Oh yeah, it's a solid Paris Rob.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
What do you think of the Yankees?

Speaker 2 (33:18):
The Yankees? I think there's something wrong in the psyche.
There's no way the team that is playing this well
should just click and change. Now. There's happened to a
couple of teams, so you know, perhaps there's there's some
ball for Shenanigan's going on or I don't know what
it is, but it's clipped from such such dominance, like

(33:42):
they were the beast Yankees that we thought they were
supposed to be and they've fallen apart. We're talking about
a team that is still bound for the playoffs at
this point, but I think a lot of people are
starting to think like it's probably not going to be
the Yankees in the playoffs. Like they are looking dreadful
at the moment. I mean, we've we whenever the Yankees

(34:02):
start going bad for some reason, the defense just falls
off a cliff. And I don't know if that's that's
confident stuff, it's it's the way they're they're doing the
mental conditioning there, the pressure from the stands. I don't know,
but it feels like when it gets on them, it
gets on them. And I don't want to sound too
much like you know, call in radio from you know,

(34:22):
these guys just aren't trying hard enough. But my god,
like something has happened here, and it is not to
do with the way these guys are skilled, because they
were doing it just fine for the first part of
the season. Now it's just fallen off a cliff and
and a team like the Yankees, with the start they
had to think they are even considering dropping out of

(34:42):
the playoff races is quite insane. You know, you got
guys like Devin Williams you mentioned who who you know.
I would would have been burning to get a play
like Devin Williams on my teeth, and now he has
been dross recently, absolute dross. And I think it just
it was epitomized by that capitulation against the Marlins just
after the deadline when they bolstered it all. They've got

(35:05):
the new guys in and it all just went to hell,
you know, and the defense has been a disaster. So Yankees,
it's hard to say. As a team. I think they're
an awful lot better than where they are. Something needs
to get them at their funk being. I've never really
thought about a manager firing actually having it much impact before,

(35:27):
but surely this is the sort of thing, like these
guys need to think they could win again and you know,
get back to basics, fundamentals, blah blah blah, all of that.
They can do it, but they're not. So what's the
bit that's missing here? So Yankees right now? Twenty three's
on the scale they are. They are bottom feeders, and

(35:48):
that's not based on talent. That's based on something stinking
in that clubhouse, and that will be the crumpled Rosito.
I don't know, Pokeymard, You're mute, Ben.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
That was a smart move from me. Sorry. I was
really saying something quite for both there and insightful, but
I can't remember what it was now. It does feel
a little bit like Aaron Boone is managing for his
job here, doesn't it. I think Yankees fans have been
calling for his job pretty much every week for I
don't know, six years, ever since he started the role,
but he certainly feels like he's under the firing line.
And maybe Cashman too again unthinkable a few years ago

(36:25):
when Yankee fans loved him. But there may be are
questions around the way this Rosser is constructed at this
point and what they've done to build this team out
given how good they were last year. Darius said anything
to add to what Rob said, are you more optimistic
about the Yankees?

Speaker 2 (36:40):
And here is no, not really.

Speaker 4 (36:43):
The vibes are rancid Champ because they've got a lot
of power and a lot of arms, but none of
it's really working that well. And you can tell that
guy wouldn't be any good in the field. So I
think my confidence is probably pretty low in the Yankees
right now. I'm gonna say thirty four. Thirty four is

(37:04):
a nidger king the King.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
I think it works sure.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Also not that mobile.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
Just like.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
Stanton though, yeah, Stanton is at least mashing. Stanton is mashing. Yeah,
I mean the lineup actually, I mean it hasn't been
that bad. Grisham's been great, they just traded for Ryan McMahon,
Rocky's legend who I don't think he's done much since
he got to the Yankees. But the lineup's not bad.
Anthony Volpi, Yeah, he's got to at a BP with

(37:40):
like twenty home runs and twenty steels and terrible defense.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
But it can't catch the thing. Yeah, I think New
York is not the right place for Anthony valpy to be.
Let's say that to go to Detroit and be a
four wind player Detroit was exactly what I was thinking.

Speaker 4 (37:56):
Anyway, Scott Harris, I'm sure would say, please give me
Anthony Valpey for speaking.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Of the Troy Let's let's transition to the central and
talk about the Tigers. I'll let you gosk this one, Darrius,
that they, in my mind, seem like one of the
teams we can be more confident about. Would you agree
with that assessment.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (38:14):
It's if you ask me, like a month ago, I
think I would have been a lot more confident. The
fact that they're letting the Guardians creep back into a
race that should never have been a race is a
little bit nerve wracking to me. I feel like maybe
They're not dissimilar from kind of like the Red Sox
in that obviously School is a stud in the rotation,

(38:37):
but then I'm really not that sure about the rest
of the pitching stuff, and they're kind of mid overall.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Unlike the Red Sox.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
You know that they've had some good offensive performances from
guys you wouldn't necessarily expect to be great, but also
there's been some pretty concerning signs. I think Riley Green's
strikeout rate is like nearly forty over the last month. Yes,
you know, have bias had that what we said, bird
in his line and starting to make a lot more
have you buy it's like now, and there's not a

(39:05):
lot of depth there. You know, it's not a lineup
that you're like, here's all the studs here. I think
they could look pretty weak when they get into the playoffs.
So I also don't know that I have a lot
of confidence in the Tigers. I think maybe a bit
more than the Yankees, just because I don't feel like
they're in quite the same sort of vibes downward spiral
that the Yankees are at the moment, and they're probably

(39:27):
not going to get their fans given them quite as
hard as time as the seven.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
But I think I'm more confident in the Red Sox. Actually,
so maybe like a forty one, forty one is forty
one is a zoo bat. It's got bat in it.
That can't be bad. That's going to be a good
that's true.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Peaceful purposes, useful. How do you see the Tigers?

Speaker 2 (39:54):
Is the one that looks Is there a pokemon that looks.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Like a tiger?

Speaker 2 (39:59):
I mean there's like a couple of cats growls, right, Okay,
they look like tigers to me in the pictures I'm
looking at. Anyway, we'll take it the Tigers. I think
they they've They've done a lot of not having crap

(40:19):
on their team. I think they've done They've had some
guys do a lot better than we thought they would.
I think if you look at their stats now as
an overall, everything looks great. I think the problem is
if you look at their splits over the last a
little while, it's clearly on a downward trend. But we

(40:40):
know these trends don't tend to last. You know, every
team seems to be having a great run and then
a dip. If this is their dip and they come
back then, I have no no reason to doubt the
Tigers over any other team. They are beating up on
a crap division again. And no matter how much we say, oh,
maybe the Royals are good this year, all the Twins

(41:01):
aren't that bad after they sell off, or you know,
the sun rises of sunsets of Cleveland Indians are somehow
still in it being rubbish. But yeah, the Tigers. The
Tigers have had their their their division luck. But you
know what they're They're also good. They've also got the
run differential. They're also right up there with the Blue
Jays at the top of the American League. So I see,

(41:22):
I see no reason to doubt them other. You know,
once they get out of the dog days of summer.
So if it gets a bit cools off again, maybe
maybe that's the kind of temperature these guys working better.
So once it gets slightly cooler in October, I could
see them going a little bit further. So so give
me a give me a solid sixty two on the

(41:44):
on the Tigers, which would be overly optimistic, condom man
or sixty two things in my pocket A Poli Wrath,
Poli Wrath, Polyrath, Polyrath, poly wrath. Okay, yeah, there we go.

(42:05):
He's a part is a polyrath sounds.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
Like something you might find in your pocket. Yeah. I
was skeptical the Tiers coming into the season, then very
quickly had to change my mind when they were the
best team in baseball for the first half, And now
feel like maybe I was right about some of the
concerns about the lineup at the beginning of the season,
because a lot of them seem to have turned back
into pumpkins, the guys who had those great first halves.
But overall, I do still think I believe in Like

(42:28):
look having Scooborne the mound, similar argument to Crochet right
when you can throw him out there twice in a series,
I like your chances. He is just one of those
absolute dogs who is going to win you a game
on his own if required. And I like having that.
And I think there's enough pop in the lineup, and
I like the bullpen enough that if they can win
enough games to kind of get themselves a reasonably high seed,

(42:48):
I feel good about them. But if they continue to
fall apart and that get to the Guardian's narrows and
they limp into the playoffs, it feels like it could
be an early elimination and a bit of a disappointing
end to the season. So yeah, I'd put in the
in the sort of fifty ish fifty five range, just
based on on sort of the vibes lately, which have
felt a little bit off. Let's talk about those Guardians

(43:10):
who are just yeah, you know, don't hear a thing
about it for six months and you turn around and
hop Zeria Marriage is putting up MVP numbers and they're
a lot to make the World Card. It's just the
same thing every year, isn't it, Darius.

Speaker 4 (43:20):
Yeah, except somehow I think worse this year because usually
you're at least like, oh, the Guardians will true out
the pitching and like, I'm pretty sure Cad Smith is
their best pitcher this year, and it's not particularly so
he's in the bullpen. Like yeah, I think like Garvin
Williams is interesting. I think is more more more there maybe,

(43:43):
But there isn't a guy there, you know, there's no
Corey Kluber here. There's nobody You're like, oh, this guy
is going to put the team on his back and
take him to the World Series. It's not happening. And
the lineup is dreadful. It's Ramirez. I guess Kyle Menzade's
come around a bit. Even Stephen Kuan's not really hitting
that well. And that's it, Like it's it's just terrible.
So I have no confidence in the Guardians. They have

(44:04):
no business being here. I'm giving them a twenty and
that means they will go to the World Series.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Twenty is a raticate. It looks like they're quite scrangy,
go scrappy, tenacious, not actually any good, but somehow like
still there to annoy you.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
Yeah, I'm a client clients, Okay. Rob Any further takes
on the Guardians.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Well, they're herpes, aren't they. You know, they're not very good.
They're crusty, and they keep coming back. I mean, it's
it's insane. This is in your pocket? Are they here again?
Next to my pocket? We'll edit that out as well.
Just for the record, I don't have herpes, but the

(44:47):
kleetl Linians I like herpes. I mean it's just that,
you know, how are they there again? It's insane, like
the Twins should be there. There is no reason the
Twins aren't where the the Guardians are now, it's it's nonsensical,
you know the fact that they're still in with a
shout of this thing, sir. Yeah, they give away the

(45:09):
whole roster, absolutely, but before they gave away their whole roster,
they should have been where they are, Like, what is
Rock about the Delhi doing there that the Twins aren't
where the Guardians are they? The Guardians are just they've
been bad for years, like no one has had any
faith in the Guardians for years, and and here they
are yet again, you know, and if they get to

(45:30):
the playoffs, just it's it's gone in a heartbeat, like
they're not getting anywhere. Fast forward a couple of months
and we're talking about the World Series winners. But I'm
giving them an eighteen. It's the key leg wounder. You know,
like when you have keys in your your pocket and
you're bumped into something or you try to shift something
with keys in your pocket and they've stabbed into your leg.

(45:52):
So that my pocket monster is the key leg wounder
for eighteen, which is a pigeon, a pigot, pigeot, pigeot chose, Okay, fine,
I will drop it to seventeen, which is a pigeot

(46:12):
toeto pigeons.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
I am excited to see how John Kenzy, Noel Big
Christmas himself and his negative one WRC plus takes over
October this time, because you just know there'll be another
random pitch hit spot where he'll come up with an
insanely clutch home run. But he has been bad this season.
Onto the West. Speaking of teams that just do not die,

(46:38):
the Houston Astros are back atop the division, which I
guess we probably all expected but took their time ascending
to the very top. Do we expect them to stay there?
Do we think they're going to be another threat come October?
Or is this a bit of a mirage given sort
of the way the rest of divisions played out here?

Speaker 2 (46:55):
Darius, I think, you know, the Astros are maybe more
vulnerable than they've ever been, and yet here we are
again and they're still in first place, and you sort
of feel like even if they fell out at first place,
they'll still get in the playoffs and be an absolute pain.
They've got Valdez, They've got Brown. You know, having two

(47:15):
absolute studs is going to get you a long way
in the playoffs. And they're still I mean, who knows
when we're going to see what you're done others again,
but they're still guys in this lineup that you're worried about.
So yeah, I think I have confidence in the Astros.
Maybe it's just because they're the Astros and I shouldn't.
And I could easily see the Mariners taking this division,

(47:37):
and I did boldly predict that the Astros would not
win this division the season, So I am kind of
rooting for Seattle to do it. But I think the
Astroids is going to be in the playoffs anyway, and
I think they're going to be a pain forever they face.
So I'm going to give them a sixty two and
I'm going to say, well, yeah, they're kind of like
in a final Boss, really, aren't they? They're always the

(47:58):
final Boss. So I'm just gonna say the mewtwo. So
another Polyrath. There's two polygraths we've had school. We definitely
should have made the scale one two hundred and fifty one. No,
the semi Pokemon scale fifteen to eighty seven. That's what
it shouldn't be. Astro I mean, I can't disagree with
anything they're like, I don't think they're going to win

(48:21):
the division. But then I didn't think they would be
where they are now, so they probably will. They're the
anti Angels. You know, every year you think, oh, this
is the year for the Angels, we keep saying about
the Astros, of this is the year They're not going
to do it. But here they are again, And yeah,
they're quite good despite justin Verlander. So yeah, I can't.

(48:44):
I can't think of as most of us can't the
postseason without the Astros at this point. So, yes, they're
going to get there. Yes, they'll probably get to the
Alcs again despite last year's missing it. I don't think
they'll win it, but they're they're a decent let's say
decent seventy two. No, that's far too high. Sixty eight

(49:06):
sixty eight. Sorry, sorry, I like how you said far
too high. And then we're down four. We already had
one of those. Okay, I'm gonna go down five to.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Choke.

Speaker 2 (49:17):
Choke.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
They do seem to be increasingly beset by injuries, which
doesn't help either. They seem to suffer a good deal
of bad luck, and even the guys that have come back,
like Arraghetti has not looked great since he came back
from injury. So I worry from a depth perspective. So
I look at the pitching staff and yeah, those two
guys at the top are great, but after that, slightly concerned.
And then the line up again they've actually performed pretty well.

(49:37):
But I look at the list of names of guys
who are like leading the way for them and it
doesn't blow me away, which maybe says more about me,
you know, and my views on Jake Myers on Maris
showed bond. But I just struggle a little bit with
those guys being the sort of anchors of you, of
your lineup. But it is the astros, they always find
a way, So yeah, put them around the sixty mark
for me as well. I had them yeah as in

(49:59):
me out as my Poe one, because that's the Pokemon
always gets beaten up in the in the TV show,
and they're pretty beaten up right now.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
So it still comes back every episode from.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
Comes back every episode in the area is you know,
smiling again saying that's right. Yeah, let's two and.

Speaker 2 (50:17):
You know team Rocket that works well with Houston, so well,
that's true.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Actually I didn't even put two and ta together on
that one Rocket.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
I'm assuming it's not about salad.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
Your team Rocket when it comes to salad. Aren't you
the Seattle Mariner? So what that means, don't don't distract
yourself with that the Seattle Mariners. Do we believe? Is
this finally the year or is it another you know,
heartbreaking any to the season for them?

Speaker 2 (50:39):
I believe, I do believe. I think they've got moxie.
Is that a Pokemon moxie? I think they've got I've
got that sort of that sort of like everyone's behind
the Mariners. You know that they're there's the level winness
of Big Dumper. You know, they've they've got rand Ero
as a rainer, like they've got the phenomenal pitching that

(51:01):
was obviously slightly absenced this year with the injuries. But
don't I don't dislike the Mariners. I don't think anyone
can dislike the Mariners. So I think there's almost a
group will behind them doing okay, and I'm pretty sure
everyone other than the Astros are going to be sort
of wanting them as their kind of second team. I
can't really see who else you root for as your

(51:22):
second team in all of this, So yeah, I don't
think that's you know, vibes, is a good enough reason
to put them there, but it's sort of starting to
come together. I like what they did in the trade deadline.
Suarez was obviously a big ad, and they've got Nayler
at first, who does somehow seems to be a fantastic

(51:42):
bas dealer. And those two bits couldn't have slotted more
perfectly into this team. That's that's exactly what they needed.
So yeah, I'm fairly high on the Mariners, and I
think there's there's a run in this and I think
there's a decent seventy two. Let's say seventy two. I
reckon seventy two on the fifteen to eighty seven scale,

(52:03):
And I've run out of makeup Pokemon, So let's say
what else goes in your pocket? Ah? No, I can't
say that. Never mind, carry on, carry on.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
I'm a believer too, you know, against my better judgment,
I just feels like a different team. Maybe that's more
because of Cayle Allian. Just like the absolute fairies heal
season he's having. They've got a guy who is legitimately
like you have to pitch around him, he's that good,
and even then he'll take you deep anyway, which they
haven't had really ever in my baseball watching lifetime, and

(52:39):
then the guys around that performing like Julio Randy for once,
you kind of feel that they've got enough decent hitters
that they're not just going to be a complete walkover
in the postseason if they get there. And then on
the pitching side, I mean we you know, it's been
clear for a while, but they have got good starters
with depth. You know, Wu's been great this year. Castillo,

(53:01):
Gilbert Kirby. That that's a legit top four if they
can all stay healthy. I like that going into the playoffs. Obviously,
Minos has had an amazing season the ballpen, and they've
got other arms in there to spire Matt Brash like
that is a legitimate weapon in October that I think
could rival any other team. So yeah, against my best
judgment'm I believe I put them around the seventy mark
as well. But bring us back down to earth, Darius,

(53:22):
Why is it all going to end in them crushing
and burning?

Speaker 2 (53:24):
I am here to bring you back down to earth.
I'm going to readly some numbers, Okay, one hundred and
forty numbers, two and twenty more than a one hundred
and ninety one one hundred and eleven fifty. These are
Carl Rallies WRC plus numbers by month. He has struck
out forty point eight percent of the time in August,

(53:45):
Big Slumper, as Ben Enenburg dubbed in one Effectively World
this week. The Mariners have run this guy into the
ground and it's been an unbelievable season. But you're telling
me that he's going to come out there in October
and still going to be able to do this.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
Yes, chance, absolutely, What part of the Big Dumper story
has been logical from the start?

Speaker 4 (54:03):
I love this, I mean even more stupid Josh Naylor. Yes,
eleven stolen bases in seventeen games. He's the slowest non
catcher in baseball. I've been saying this for years. Anybody
can steal a base like I've fed up with people
citing Sprint Speed. Shut up about Sprincebeed.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
It does not matter.

Speaker 4 (54:18):
Anybody can seal the bats. Anytime you hear your fancy
analysts for ranting one about Spincebeed, just send him an
email and say shut up and then stop listening to
their podcast. Wow, nonsense, that's why Sprint Speed ran over.
The Mariners are the Marinists they've never made the World Series.
I think the rotation is great. Everybody knows the rotation
is great. I love the rotation. Are Wires five WRC plus?

(54:43):
Since they trained for him, I mean, the diamond Backs
must be laughing their asses off. They bought the dip,
they got the peak production. Like, here you go, Jerry,
give us some prospects, we'll sell it.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
Send you in back. And now he's in one of
his slumps because it's Wires. This is what he does. Yeah,
it's not going to happen. I want it to have him,
It's not going to happen. I'll give them a fifty
because I've had a nice season, and yeah, I like
that they tried at the trade deadline for once. But
that's our second dig lit Their Pikachu, the Mariner's is

(55:13):
a Pikachuo. They've shocked us a little bit this season.
Kind of cute.

Speaker 4 (55:16):
Everybody's rooting for it, but actually, if you took a
Pikachu like up against a good Pokemon, you would just lose.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
I had twenty five. It doesn't exist.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
I had the same idea with my my Pokemon went
for ev instead. Cute. Everyone loves it, but it's probably
going to be useless when it actually matters.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
Yeah, that's not good unless you like apply something can
level it up a little bit exactly.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Yeah, probably, yeah, something you do speak sense. I want
to disagree, but it's one of things, particularly callings. It's like,
hang on a minute, this is the same spire as
we gave away two years ago. What the hell I
thought he was better now Marina's fans will be feeling
with that, but look, what can you do? It could
become good. Yeah. I still believe in Big Dumper. Yeah,

(56:01):
he probably is exhausted, but he's not just going to
turn into a pump.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
I may have you bet you asked for that, so
I may have got.

Speaker 1 (56:09):
Great sprints being run right onto the n It might
be quick with the NL because we've been we've been
long on the Alsis. Apologies to NL teams, but let's
let's dive into the East. You know what, Let's just
start with the Mets. I think they'll be quick. It's
all falling apart for the Mets, isn't it. Do we
have any reason to believe they can arrest this skid
and be the team that they looked pretty good for
the first half, or how they truly turned into a

(56:31):
lineup of a reasonably good one so too, and a
bunch of people who can't hit. Oh and I guess
Peter a Lonzo hits stingers and the rotation that is
probably just as weak as we feared at the start
of the season. Is there any reason to think that
they'll turn this around? Do you have any confidence because
I don't, rob No, not in.

Speaker 2 (56:48):
Not in the rotation, though I think they are the
nl Orioles. From that point of view, we we knew
that rotation was going to be a bit crappy. It
is a bit crappy. I think the lineup will do
enough to get them to the postseason, and from there,
I think they're going to struggle a little. So no,

(57:09):
not not particularly any any faith in them, but equally
not not horrendous. So give me, give me a thirty
nine on them, which is the fake quid, Because you've
always got a fake quid in your pocket. It's never
a real one, and it doesn't matter how many times
you seem to give it away, it keeps coming back
and change. So the fake quid, because they've got a
bit of money. So what I would I say? Thirty nine?

(57:31):
That's really a a jiggly puff perfect No, not, Yeah,
it's a normal fairy. Apparently, I have no idea. I
don't know what to say, so that really, that's a
normal fairy.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
The Pokemon I was primate because the description of Wikipedia
described him as getting angry courses primeates blood to rush
faster than usual, tightening its body muscles, but making it dumber,
which feels like exactly what Mets fans are doing at
the moment, getting extremely angry and irrational. Darius, do you
think they'll turn around?

Speaker 2 (58:06):
I was going to for wheezing, just because of the sheer,
toxic cloud of vibes that's covered the entire of New
York over the last month. Do I think they can
turn it around? We said, what does this Mets rotation
look like in August? Here's what it looks like. Not
particularly encouraging, is the answer to that question.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (58:26):
I'm not confident in the Mets. So yeah, they're plagued
by similar problems to the Yankees. I think you can't
super argue with Francisco Lindor and I'm Soto at the
top of your lineup, So yeah, I have more confidence
in the lineup, but I think they've got some pitching
issues still, and they didn't go out and get that

(58:46):
guy who you were like, oh, we're scared of him
in the playoffs. And I think even if they do
ballpen this to death, they're going to run out of
steam sooner or later. So I think they're a fine team.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
I guess I'll give them a fifty one, but I
don't think they are the super team that they want
to be yet, and they're going to need a lot
of work on the pitching side together. Well.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
The benefactor of the Mets slump has obviously been the
Philadelphia Phillies, who it doesn't feel like I have necessarily
hit top gear yet this season, but yet they find
themselves with a five game division lead and probably one
of the highest seeds going into the playoffs. I'm more
of a believer in the Phillies just because you know,
they have those guys in the rotation that are experienced,

(59:26):
that are good, that have been there, done that, starting
obviously with Zach Wheeler, but Sanchez has been great, Suarez
at very good moments this season, and even the bullpen
seems to be improving a little. And then the lineup.
I mean, I don't think it's all come together for
them yet, but Schwarber is an absolute monster Harper turn
of real muta. You kind of know what you're getting

(59:47):
with those guys and your piece together the rest, so
I would be a believer. I have them at sixty
ish on my score, maybe even sixty five. I think
they're a good.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Sixty five is a alkazam Ale.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
That's a very pokemon.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
You weren't far off because next to it is something
called Victory Bell, which would have been very apt.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
They have a big bell and victory.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
Well. Quickly beforehand, I did just ask which pokemon the
Mets are, and Tom came back with something called side
Duck because he promises so much but delivers so little
and he's a little bell end. And Russell went with Onyx.
Do those make any sense?

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
Side Duck is like just a little duck that gets
confused and uses sight of powers that doesn't do it
very effectively. Onyx is just like a bunch of rocks
in a string. That's that makes sense to me. For
the Mets, it looks it looks like if you made
a snake out of rocks. Basically, that's what I'll next

(01:01:02):
to try. Okay, okay, yeah, Yeah, I'll go with that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
The Phillies. Yeah, I believe in the Phillies. If you
genuinely good teams, like who is genuinely good and that
is the Phillies, Like they've they've got it all there.
They've got really good pitching, they've got they've got guys
who can thump, they've got the star power, they've you know,
they've got a little bit of depth going on there.
I'm all in on the Phillies. I think there's really
really could and should be their year. We'll talk about

(01:01:29):
the Dodgers in a minute and how maybe they're not
quite quite the power we thought what they were. So
I don't think the door is any more open for
the Phillies. Then then it's going to be this year.
Then they've obviously got the Mets are going to keep
throwing money at the problem until they're amazing. So this
is gonna be a good year for the Phillies. You're
right now, I'm not sure they're fully at top gear yet,

(01:01:51):
but the fact they're not in top gear means there's
probably more to go. And yeah, if I were a
betting man, which unfortunately some of the guys are allegedly
I would. I would probably put my money money on
the Phillies this year. I'm super in on them. So yeah,
let's give the seventy one, which is the Victory Bell,

(01:02:12):
which makes perfect sense. So I'm going for that one
seventy one the Phillies. Yeah, Victory Bell was my pick
for obvious reasons. The rotation is eli. I was on
the Christopher Sanchez train this season. But yeah, top to
bottom of they're fantastic. Donbo going out and getting Duan
Duran is like classic Donbau move, Like I have identified

(01:02:33):
the number one Weeklys of my roster and it's the
absolute shut down guy that I can trust in the
night and inning and then one and go home. So
I have high, high philis confidence. I think that I'd
like it if the lineup was a little bit better
than it had been. But we also know that these guys,
you know, you can kind of believe that Bryce is
going to come up with a big postseason moment, can't you.
Nick Cassianis will suddenly turn into like some stud right

(01:02:55):
fielder and mash in the playoffs. I'm pretty comfortent with them,
so I'm going to give them a sixty four. Sixty
four is a cadabra. I see where they're gone with
these silly magical names. Okay, yeah, the cadabra. You're muted again.
But Podcasting Excellence somehow heard a sound of your muted.

(01:03:18):
It's done the old double mute.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
I did the double mute. Good lord, we'll try that
transition for the third time. Speaking of magic, the Milwaukee Brewers,
what's going on over there? I'll just cutut the nonsense
in the middle. Yeah, there's something bizarre happening in the
water in Milwaukee. Who I mean, we are you know,
they always seem to find a way to win, but
they are finding a way to win relentlessly at the moment.

(01:03:44):
I think they're on a twelve game winning streak, which
backs up and eleven game winning streak they had a
few weeks back. They've won something like thirty four of
their last forty or or something insane like that. They've
been on a heater like no other of late. And
I think now, do have the best record in baseball?
Do we think they're the best team in baseball? Do
we have high confidence in them? I'm not gonna cloud

(01:04:06):
any of your judgments, but I'm a little bit unsure
they can continue up quite at this pace, especially with
their lineup. But Rob, do you think the Brewers are legit?
Are they your sort of team to beat in the
playoffs based on their form of late?

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Are they legit? I think they're a good team who've
gotten a bit of luck. I think they've got enough
of a lead now that I really don't think it
matters too much if they drop off a bit, because
I think they've they've probably got the distance between them
and the rest of the league to make that make
it stick regardless of if they you know, if they
dropped five hundred for a bit, they're still probably going

(01:04:40):
to be there. The Brewers have got that small market
team not quite spending that bit to make the big
changes that seems to have hurt the other small market teams,
including the Brewers in the postseason last few years. You
look at the Rays, you look at the Guardians, you
look at the Brewers, and they're just not getting through

(01:05:01):
on that that sort of magical quality they need for
the last last last bit. You know, they they haven't
gone out and got Duran Duran, and they haven't gone
out and you know got the big bopper, I said
Duran Duran. Yes, I'm fully aware they haven't got and
got that big bubber at the deadline, and that's gonna
hurt them. They'll they'll get there, no doubt they'll get there,
and they are a good team, but they've not spent

(01:05:24):
that little bit to make them a spectacular team, and
it's gonna hurt them, as it does every year they
make it to the to the playoffs. So give me,
give me a sixty six for for the Brewers. And
I've gotten down as the their Pokemon, as the surprise

(01:05:44):
fiver because you know, when you find a surprise fiber
in your pocket, it's always it's always a good day.
So yeah, I love the vibes. It's it's a it's
a great feel. And that's that's where the Brewers are
right now, Darius.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Can they keep this up in October? I mean, even
the rotation, I just don't believe in it, really, But
they do keep winning, don't they?

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
They do? And they are again it's you know, Cleveland
n L. Version.

Speaker 4 (01:06:07):
I guess we sort of all doubt them a little
bit every year. And I don't think we thought this
would be a Brewers and Cubs race in this division.
But they're hosing down the Cubs right now, and I
think the lead is such that even if the Cubs
make a bit of a comeback, it's kind of looking
a bit too late.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:06:23):
That said, no, I don't really believe in this. We've
seen the Brewers make the playoffs almost every season and
then they have this problem when they get to the
playoffs where they don't score any runs. And it's not
like you look at this lineup and go, yeah, they're
going to score loads of runs. I think the depth
helps them a lot in the regular season and when
it gets to the playoffs and it's kind of all
we can concentrate, you know, those roster spots in something

(01:06:45):
a bit less. I think that is not a good
thing for the Brewers. It's going to count. And maybe
Andrew Vaughan is suddenly a stud you know, that would
be the big bat that they've been missing. It's been
one hundred and fifteen plays appearances, and he looks incredible.
So I guess anything as possible. But yeah, like like
Rob says, you look up and down this lineup and yeah,

(01:07:07):
apart from Yevich, there's nobody here who's you know, really
had that history of setting them all on fire and
Jackson Cheerio hasn't really gone anywhere offensively, so I'd like it.
You know, it'd be great if they could finally do it,
But I still have a lot of doubts and likely
say the rotation as well. It's it's questionable. Maybe Woodruff

(01:07:30):
and Miserawski can hold that up together, but guy coming
off major injury, a layoff, and rookie with very little
experience of pitching that deep into a season probably not
the two guys you're confident.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
About hanging your help.

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
So I'm going to give them a fifty four just
because they've had a great regular season and they're definitely
going to be one of the top two seeds I think,
But I'm not going to predict they go real deep
into this postseason because I think they'll get a bit
exposed when the teams that can concentrate on them a
bit more and put their best foot forward really have
the opportunity to do.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
So.

Speaker 2 (01:08:05):
You don't want to expose your little birlin. I guess
I'm going to say they're a ditto because they kind
of look like and them orphless, but actually they can
pretty much be anything ditto ditto. What's the Ditto. Look,
let's have a look.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
I gave them dragon Kite really friendly looking, but also
it's shockingly powerful.

Speaker 4 (01:08:23):
Looks like a blob, yeah, Patrick, But dit To can
mimic whatever Pokemon it's facing, So if you're a Ditto
can just become the really powerful pokemon.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
I've seen dragon Nite, and this is what was introduced
to me as a as a Chariza the other day.
It's a big orange dragon.

Speaker 4 (01:08:42):
I can see how you would get dragon Night and
Charas are confused to somebody who's never played pok.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
They are both big orange dragons.

Speaker 4 (01:08:48):
Yeahs, dragon Knight does look much more friendly than are though,
I'll give you that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:54):
Yeah to the friendly confines and the Chicago Cubs see
you probably kicking themselves a little bit that they aren't
in control of this division, given they've been pretty good,
but they've had to sit and watch Brewers win every
single game for the last month, which has not been pleasant.
But they're looking company for a World card spot at worst.
Do we think they've got what it takes to make

(01:09:16):
a run in October? How do we feel about the Cubs?

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
Rob Yeah, I think they I think we were all
sort of looking at the way they added over the
off season. There was a bit of questioning to start
with about some subtraction and then they then they got
Tucker in and and you know, got in for the
longer term. And wait, they haven't extended him, have they?
I think of somebody else. Either way, Tucker's great. I

(01:09:39):
think Tucker and PCA on a flying on the right time,
Like he's not been great recently, but if they catch
him hot again, those guys are enough to sort of
carry the offensive a team and the defense of a team.
So yeah, I think they're well, well constructed, sort of
solidly built team again where they've added a couple of stars.
So I could I could get behind the Cubs. I

(01:10:01):
think they are upper half of the playoff field at
the moment, I could. I could see the Cubs going
going a little way. I think they're going to struggle
against the West teams, but they just need a bit
of luck for their way. And yeah, they they I
think they'll probably peak Championship Series. Maybe that's probably probably

(01:10:22):
their peak for this year. But I'll give them a
sixty two sixty two. They're good, solidly good.

Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
Darius. Do you have a special slump nickname for PCA
who is running into the same kind of poor form
that our friend Big Dumper is.

Speaker 4 (01:10:37):
Yeah, we're going for like Pete crow Arms week or
something like. Yeah, the fact that he got pinch it
for the other day is kind of a little bit
indicative of what's going on over there. I mean, yes,
the dude is a stud in center field, but he
has a two naughty one OVP. Now I know he's
not a guy who walks a lot, but yeah, is
he going to take m VP off? Otani question is

(01:11:00):
rapidly fading into the distance now, isn't it. It's becoming
a concern. Yes, the lineup is fantastic. I mean, these
guys go really really deep. There's you know, basically not
a bad hitter amongst the bunch. Quite the lineup they
put out a lot of these days. That's fantastic. The
pitching is real bad, and yeah, maybe shot Man can

(01:11:22):
have one of those as performances. But I think they
are really really vulnerable there, and they haven't got the
kind of bullpen where you're like, oh, they'll just you know,
let the start go three or four and they can
turn it over and do the playoff thing they need,
like Tiger's chaos energy. I think to make this work
in the playoffs. I don't have any concerns about them
scoring runs, but I think they're really going to struggle

(01:11:44):
pitching wise, and you need good pitching in the playoffs.
So for the offense alone, I'll give them a middling grade.
But I guess I think they're about a forty nine
middle of the package just because they didn't go out
and get that guy that you're super scared of in the.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
Side, Veno Mothveno Moth. Yeah, who are the Cubs. It's
a good question. I didn't think of the Cubs.

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
I had the Cubs as a champ and they really
took them, but for the sort of so much offense
but not much else reason.

Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
Yeah, a lot a lot of power, no defense. Yeah,
maybe like a hitman chan or something like, yeah, all attack,
no no defense.

Speaker 1 (01:12:27):
And then shockingly, there's another team to talk about in
this division, and it's a Cincinnati Reds who are just
hanging in there a little bit, aren't they. And they
seem to be the team profiting most from this Mets
slump because they have now snuck up to be just
one game out in that World Card Chase. So I
still would say possibly, if every team we're going to
discuss today, my faith in them would be lowest going

(01:12:51):
into the playoffs. But Hunter Green came back from injury
last night night before and looked great. That would be
a game changer if he can stay healthy and be
just as good for the rest of the season. And
they've had some pretty good performances from the rest of
that rotation as well, which maybe makes you think that
the pitching is somewhat legit. And I guess the lineup
you've got Ellie and dudes who maybe you can turn

(01:13:15):
it on in the playoffs. Is there a reason to
believe in these guys? Rob or Am I right to say?
It's been a nice story, but ye're not making it
past the World Card round even if you do get in.

Speaker 2 (01:13:25):
I honestly have no idea, If I'm honest, I can't
have hadn't really noticed the Cubs at the Cubs the Reds,
I had no idea they were even there. See I
proven my point. Yeah, they're They're just great. I mean,
who knew they were? They were? They were there? They
are good Good luck to them. You really have very
little to say about the the Reds. They are they

(01:13:47):
are they are missing phone man hoo, come on, because
I didn't know they were there. They've gone. I'm patting
my pockets and I was like, oh, oh, where's the Reds.
They they want to see the Reds no idea. Yeah,
good luck to them, but no clue. I can't have
much faith. Let's give them a twenty two six more

(01:14:10):
optimester six.

Speaker 4 (01:14:11):
No are give them twenty four. Yeah, it's it's kind
of fun that they're still here. But I kind of
agree with Rob. You just sort of haven't really thought
about them very much for most of the season, which
is funny for a team with arguably the most entertaining
position player in the game. But yeah, they just don't
have a lot and between Early and Hunter Green, they've
got a star on each side, I suppose, but it

(01:14:34):
kind of runs out quick afterwards. I don't really believe. Yeah,
whose rotation pieces being what they are, But the real
concern is that that lineup, there's just there's not a
lot there get they get thin pretty fast. So I'm
giving them a twenty four partly because there's a pretty
good chance that they're not there at all. So I
think confidence has to be relatively low.

Speaker 2 (01:14:57):
Thirty four.

Speaker 4 (01:14:57):
They've got to be one of the fire Pokemon, haven't they?
For Like, you know, we've got to get a red
theme going here. Maybe we just give them like a
I don't know, a magma or something flamethrowing, but a
bit sluggish.

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
Twenty four is a great big snake. It looks like
a cobra called arab boch. He said, look like a
pirate our box. Well, hey, I'm endorsed it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:22):
That's you know, it sounded for a moment that like
one of your cats was trying to argue on behalf
of the Reds. Rob Did you get a sense of
what they did not know?

Speaker 2 (01:15:30):
You could hear my cats if zumis wow, yeah they are.
They are going mental. So I don't doubt what is
going to make an appearance in the moment.

Speaker 1 (01:15:39):
There we go, someone believes in the Reds. Let's finish
off with the n West then, and would you believe it?
We do not have a Dodger as a top this division.
The San Diego Padres have have climbed, the Dodgers have
been stalling a little bit lately. The pud is now
game up. I think those two are playing each other
this weekend, which will be very fun that that's always
a good series when these two play each other. How

(01:16:01):
do you feel about the Padres, rob Are they the
pick of the bunch in this division? Are they legit
going into October? It feels like they I want.

Speaker 2 (01:16:09):
Them to be, But are they I saw the Padres
this year and it was a wonderful place to go.
I really enjoyed myself there. They weren't particularly brilliant on
that day, but that's just one day. I think this
this division probably just risks purely on who plays the
Rockies most in the running that these teams are very

(01:16:29):
well matched this year. I think the Dodgers are. I
think the difference maker here, the real difference maker here
is is the wasting disease that Mooki Bets had had.
If you add a full fired mooky Bets into the
mix here, I don't think it's particularly competitive. I think
there's a bit of gap between them, but that's not happened.
Injuries are part of the game and they've got to
contend with that. I still think the Dodgers are a

(01:16:50):
better team. They're an older team, but you know, he's
thrown all of the kids into the to get a reliever.
So what could POSSI go wrong there? It could possibly
be wrong. We're selling, selling the furniture to get a reliever.
So I still believe in the Dodgers more. I think
the I think the process is better. I think they

(01:17:10):
they've they've got the superstars. But yeah, the the the
Padres are right right there. They're right there, and you
know what, they've been there for years and years. They've
had the players. I still believe in them so that
they're both high scorers. But I will give the Padres
a sixty seven pretty high.

Speaker 1 (01:17:29):
Darius and his thoughts and the Padre they feel like
a boring Padres team to me compared to you know,
the Slam Diego Padres of years past. And it's like
even Tatti's I feel like I've not seen as much,
you know, off his bat flips and highlights of usual
will be sort of in a great season. Are they
going under the radar as far as Padres teams go.

Speaker 2 (01:17:45):
I don't think they are.

Speaker 4 (01:17:46):
I don't think you're wrong, because I mean, here is
a list of some teams who have scored more runs
than the Padres, the Miami Marlins, the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals,
the Los Angeles Angels, christ these teams have all scored
rob your Tampa Bay Rays've easily scored more runs than
the Padres. The lineup doesn't like on the surface of it,

(01:18:08):
look like the stats are that bad, but they just
have not been able to generate that much offense. It's
kind of surprising, really. It's not like Machado has been
bad and Tatis maybe not quite the heights of peak Tutties,
but still pretty good. Sana Bogartz has been fine, you know,
not elite, but fine. Yeah, they've gone out. Preda has

(01:18:30):
gone out and preload all over the place and got
Ramon Loreano and Ryano hearns from the Oriols. It looks
like an okay line up. It doesn't look like a
lot of that should have scored fewer runs than all
those teams, yet they have. The good news is the
pitching has been fantastic, but again, kind of not the
way you'd expects. Dylan Ceesars kind of sucked. Michael King
has been hurt. Yes, Nick Corvett has been a great signing,

(01:18:54):
but yeah, it doesn't feel the same. Slam Diego we're
super scary, and yeah, here we are, and they've just
taken the vision leading from the Dodgers. I think Bob's right,
that's much more to do with the Dodgers than it
is to do with the Padres. And yeah, maybe maybe
this is the you know, one of those weird twists
where the year that we're at least worried about the
Padres is the year they actually go and win it all.

(01:19:15):
But I can't help but feel that, yeah, there's there's
still a few question marks here that they haven't really answered.

Speaker 2 (01:19:23):
The rotation. We'll see if the pitching holds up this
well all all postseason. I guess yeah, I have above
average confidence in them, just because they do still have
the stars and they have they've been there before, They've
they've had these battles with the Dodgers, and they've come
pretty close to eliminating them last season as well. So

(01:19:44):
I'll give them like a fifty eight. I think they're
They're definitely in the mix, but I have some questions
about whether that lineup can get it together and really
make you scared again, and the way they have in
the past, Row Live I'd.

Speaker 1 (01:19:57):
Give them, mister mind it's a smoke and mirrors mine
I think you're gonna enjoy looking that one up, Rob, Yes,
not not a believer. Just this doesn't feel.

Speaker 2 (01:20:09):
Nice to mine. Oh my god, what is that? That
is horrific?

Speaker 1 (01:20:14):
What is that?

Speaker 2 (01:20:16):
That's that's the Padres? That's horrible? What is it that's
not a bit like a man? Oh my goodness? Too long?
There's one called Jinx that's just as equally awful looking.
My god, why have I not seen these ones? These
are horrible. No, I'm not allowing it, mister mime is struck.
Pick another one. I don't like.

Speaker 1 (01:20:34):
It's one of the things you would not want to
find in your in your pocket, in my pocket?

Speaker 2 (01:20:38):
God, No, what is his? His hands look like they've
got too many fingers yet. Yeah, there's the right number,
but it still looks like it's too many.

Speaker 1 (01:20:45):
That is weird. Let's close with the Dodges. Then we've
talked a little bit about them already. But for everything
we've just said about the Padres, they're still ahead of
the Dodges. Right, Something is not right in La. There's
a bit of a tungs and o Doyle fear all
to the series just gone where o'tani was like hitting
game tying home runs and striking out six, including Mike

(01:21:06):
Trout twice and hitting into a triple play. And the
Dodgers got swept by the Angels, which made it a
season sweep for the Angels, which anytime you get beaten
six times by that team without winning one, that's a
red flag. What is it that's going wrong for the
Dodgers at the moment, Darius? And is there any way
out of it for them to kind of get back

(01:21:26):
to the team that we've become accustomed to seeing over
the last I don't know decade.

Speaker 4 (01:21:30):
Well, I think Rob mentioned a major factor, which is
that Moki Betts is not himself, but you still look,
you know, Otane Smith, Munsey Freeman, like this is you
couldn't really get a better form, Like if you get
gave me and you picked the best quartette from any
offense in the baseball and I probably take that for
like yeah, and you can't beat that. I think the

(01:21:51):
ballpaen is a mess a lot of these games they've come,
you know, I've gone into check often, I wake up
and the Dodgers are still playing, and guess what's happening.
The ballpen is a in the game. So that has
been a big problem for them. And yes, the pitching
is coming back yet it's starting to get healthy, you know,
it gets now, and Glassnell's back now. And Clayton Kersher

(01:22:12):
has you know, still got a three forty in era
even though he can only throw eighty nine because it's
Clayton Kershew. But yeah, that that bullpen concerns me. They've
had some in your issues in there and in the
past sometimes they've just been able to whack a starter
in the bullpad and fix it, but that doesn't always work,
and it just yeah, the vibes feel a bit bit

(01:22:34):
off in LA now. We saw them limp into last
season's postseason with no rotation and win it all. And
I think when you have the amount of stars these
guys have, you know, most teams would kill for the
names that I just mentioned and I didn't even mention. Yes,
you know me Yama Moto, who's been pretty elite this year.
So confidence is high with the Dodgers, but it's not

(01:22:55):
as high as it has been. I think I've I've
maybe got them kind of around the fillies area around
that sixty five ish because it's the Dodgers, but you know,
they're the Dodgers. They ought to be in the high
seventies to eighty kind of range. That's that's where they
ought to be with this roster. So yes, I have
I have concerns, but you know Dodgers level concerns where

(01:23:17):
we're like, oh, we're worried about this thing, but they're
still obviously going to make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:23:22):
Yeah, i'd agree, and that smells back healthy. I think
that's a big one for them. If they can keep
him healthy, that's an effective ace that they can have
in the playoffs. And you do feel like, get them
in there and get them as healthy as possible and
they can put it all together if they need to.
Pokemon I have for them was was snort acts obviously
sleeping giant, ready to to rear your day when they

(01:23:44):
wake up.

Speaker 2 (01:23:44):
Yes, okay, heady bear. Yeah. I mean the thing about
the Dodgers is they've given up a lot of runs,
but they've also scored a lot of runs. And the
thing they're getting back is not hitting, which they don't
need is pitching. And so it's there's not a lot
needs absorbing at that the bottom end of their pitching,

(01:24:05):
and it takes one of these guys to make it
in the bullpen to just bring that up and Darrett's
spot on, like they went the whole way with no
rotation whatsoever last year. This year they've got a bitter one,
so they're already starting from a better place. So I
feel like what is coming back from them the snails
that you know that part of the world is gonna

(01:24:27):
gonna have a bigger impact on this team. Then then
getting a hitter back or something like that. And yes,
the five war missing from rookie Betts would be the difference,
but you could easily put that in the bottom end
with the pitching as well. So I can't. I still
can't look far past the Dodgers, and I'm very happy
to give them a seventy seventy four.

Speaker 1 (01:24:47):
I agree with that. Well we did it. Do you
work a team, that's all? If you didn't talk about
your team, unfortunately your team is terrible. Better look next year.
But there we have it, Jersey go on quick ear
of you guys. Maybe you've already looked at it because
it is hilarious. But can you guess the Rockies run differential?

Speaker 2 (01:25:08):
I have seen it, so I will I will stain,
but I don't know what it is I'm going to
say negative two hundred and forty seven.

Speaker 1 (01:25:16):
Not even close, negative three hundred and twenty six. They
are already considerably worse than the White Sox were last
year in that department. And that's one or two came
when he had to do.

Speaker 2 (01:25:27):
I actually had a little, you know revival. So before
the eight game losing streak. Yeah, yeah, they're runder read
that's half if you take all the negative run differentials,
they account for more than half of it.

Speaker 1 (01:25:39):
Believable.

Speaker 2 (01:25:41):
So yeah, I mean talk about but they're probably not
going to be the worst team ever. So that's good.
Oh my beer said the Rockies.

Speaker 1 (01:25:50):
At least we could confidently say they're not getting unlucky.
Let's let's end it there. Thank you guys for jumping
on talking for those teams. Good to talk a bit
bit of baseball again. We always say we're going to
be much more regular with podcasts going forward and then
failed to live up to it. But I think we
will genuinely try as we get towards the point at
the end of the season to do this a little
bit more often. As mentioned, we've got some good content

(01:26:12):
going onto the website at the moment, gave I know
is working hard on getting so much content up there
along with the rest of the editorial team, so do
check that out. I do also want to shout out
the Basis Covered crew who are doing the coverage every
Sunday on the BBC at the moment of Yeah Sunday
Night Game, so make sure you check them out. Obviously
good friends of the podcast. Hopefully we'll get a chance

(01:26:34):
maybe even talk to them on a show at some
point with the rest of the season, but they're a
very entertaining bunch that could definitely or definitely warrant our supports.
To make sure to do that, and yeah, get in
touch with any questions thoughts some we've gone through tonight
Pokemon or not related, and we will catch you on
the very next show. Thanks very much,

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Episode 380 - Gotta Beat 'Em All

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 380 - Gotta Beat 'Em All