Episode 382 - You Wanna Talk About Playoffs?

Ben and Darius step to the plate for some two-man playoff chat as the wildcard round gets underway and we officially enter the greatest month on the baseball calendar.

There's a brief discussion of the demise of the Astros and Mets before we look at some of the teams, storylines and players we're watching this October!

00:00-02:55 - Intro
02:56-12:20 - RIP Mets and Astros
12:21-23:15 - Storylines we're watching
23:16-32:26 - Who are the favourites?
32:27-37:40 - Who do we not want to win the World Series?
37:41-46:15 - Players we're watching
46:16-48:30 - Final predictions and outro

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello, and welcome to Backflips and Nerds, the Baseball podcast
with a British twist. Playoffs, talking about playoffs. We're talking
about playoffs and joining me the pleasure of talking playoffs
is Darius Austin. It's a two man point today, Darius.
Are you excited for the playoffs?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm very excited. I've been consuming playoffs. I'm delighted that
you've brought that out after having to wait all season
to unleash it. Obviously that was the highlight of your
year just getting to use that phrase. So, yeah, it's
been good so far. It's rare, not every day you
get to bring that one out. And yeah, looking forward
to what is feels like a open playoff field this year.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
It does. Yeah, it's fun that. Yeah, this I always
feel like these first few games in the in the
World Card Round, the vision around the best for us, right,
because you get so much more viewable baseball at a
polite hour that we can watch, which is fun. And yeah,
well I always forget, well not always, but it's easy
to forget how much fun the World Card Round is. Well,
every game has so much jeopardy involved in it, you know,

(01:25):
I understand that the best form of baseballs across seven
or preferably one hundred and sixty two games. But there
is something about a three game series where like you
lose and your immediately on the brink of elimination that
makes it quite fun, isn't there.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, definitely, it's sort of every every moment laden with tension.
We've had really really close games. Both the games I
watched yesterday, the Tigers Guards and the Cubs Padres were
really tight games through to the end, so high tension,
you know, ninth inning. I didn't watch the Red Sox
Yankees live, but you know, Chapman really had to dig

(01:59):
himself out of a whole in that as well. So yeah,
really really high leverage stuff all the way through, and
some really excellent starting pitcher performances. I'm sure we'll get
on to some of that in a bit, but good
to see sort of after the trends in baseball lately
towards you know, let's go to the ballpend early. It's
been great to see some big game starts from some
of the aces in the game.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
A turn of the workhorse. Yeah, we can get into that,
but that was that was fun to see. A good
day to kick off the playoffs. We're going to get
into some of the teams that are involved, some of
the teams we are excited to see. Some teams we're
routing four, maybe someon we're rooting against. I don't think
we're going to do our usual playoff preview, partly because
we're ready two days in. As I speak now, the

(02:40):
Guardians and Tigers are playing Game two, So in a
matter of hours, the Guardians may well be eliminated from
baseball to get from the playoffs all together. So we
won't do that, but we will talk a little bit about, Yeah,
some of the key protagonists who were excited to see
it take part in the playoffs this year. But obviously
we have to start with the big news of the week,
which is the Rocky getting rid of Bill Schmidt, their

(03:01):
general manager at a jaking We're not going to talk
about that, but a good move from the Rockies to
finally move on from their pungent general manager who's not
been doing a great job there, Bull Shmidt. Anyway, let's
talk playoffs. Let's start off. I guess with the teams
that didn't make it, in a couple notable ones. I

(03:22):
think we're going to cover to kick off. Maybe we'll
start with the Astros and then we can dive into
the poor old New York Mets. But I personally didn't
see the Astros missing playoffs this year. I think in
our pre season preview, both the A team and B
team had the Astros, you know, cruising back into the playoffs,
if not back to another division title. And it felt
like for most of the year they very much had

(03:42):
that under control. But it just started to drift away
from them in August and that sort of expected bounce
back in September neferent materialized and they ended up on
the outside looking in. Were you surprised, Darius? Was this
team simply not good enough? Or is this a massive
missed opportunity for a team that we've become so accustomed
to seeing an tay.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
That I obviously was on record saying that the Astros
were not going to win the division this year, So
I wasn't hugely surprised that the Mariners did it. I mean,
I was surprised that the Mariners sort of actually did
something at the trade deadline, and you know, they did
push them chips in, and to be fair to them,
they played very good baseball downe the stretch. I think
that was a big factor. This wasn't like some of

(04:22):
the other collapses that will talk about in a minute.
I think this was heavily on. Yeah, seat, I played
really good baseball in September and they won the matchups
they had to win. And also I think you just
have to look at the injuries the Astros had. You know,
you're done being down for quite a big chunk of
the year. Jeremy Pena, a couple of ile stones that

(04:43):
really hurt them. The injuries and the rotation they had
as well. It was you know, Valdez and Brown and
then who is starting this game now, Jason Alexander. I mean,
what is happening here? So it was not the Astros
we've seen in the past. This team is aging a bit.
Al Tuvey had the weird outfield experiment and bounced around.

(05:04):
You know, he had a decent season, but with them
trading awa attacker as well, this was not the strength
that we've seen in the past. So a bit surprising
to see them completely drop it all together. But I
think when you look at their underlying numbers, when you
look at what that roster looked like at the end
of the season. I don't think we should necessarily be
saying this is a massive shot that this team isn't

(05:24):
the playoffs. I think they were pretty fringy to begin with,
and yeah, I think probably we got better teams in
in the aggregate once you look at the big.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Picture, Yeah, it feels like it just never really felt
like the Houston Astros evolved this season. I think injuries
had a big part to play in it, and I
think they probably will bounce back next year, assuming better health.
But the Christian Walker sign didn't really pan out. Did.
I don't think he had a very good first season
in Houston. We sort of talked a lot about the
depth of that rotation at the start of the year,

(05:56):
but it actually bottomed out pretty quickly. And yeah, some
of the guys you'd expect to be dominant, like Frownber,
was strugling towards the end of the year. So yeah,
maybe not a huge shock that they weren't able to
get in there, although I do think, you know, eighty
seven wins in a three wild card league feels like
it would usually be enough to at least grab you
one of those spots. I mean, you know, in the

(06:17):
National League, Reds made it in with eighty three, so
maybe there was also an element of bad luck that
it was just a pretty strong AL World Card field
in the end obviously ended up with the same number
of wins to Tigers, but missed out on the tiebreaker.
But yeah, a shock not to see them in the
playoffs because I don't know how many years in a
row it would have been, but it feels like seven
or eight at this point that they've been playing postseason baseball,

(06:39):
so that's yeah, somewhat surprising.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, I think after they came out of that rebuild,
I think they've made the playoffs every year since until now.
I can't remember exactly how many years that was, but yeah,
it must have been about about eight. I think it was.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Four straight Alcyes appearances at one point too, like they
could just pencil them in for a while to be
in there in the ALCS playing someone. So yeah, changing
of the guard in the AL West. And I think
we're going to talk about the Mariners a little bit
later on what we definitely are, but an amazing season
for them that we'll get onto in a well deserved
division title. Now then the other big collapse and this
one really was a collapse the New York Mets. Where

(07:19):
did it all go wrong for them? I mean a
litany of issues that besieged this team, But at one point,
fairly far into the season, in May, I think the
Mets had the best record in baseball right, and they
were looking like being World Series contenders. You know, you
always had question marks about that rotation when Clay Holmes
was the ace, but it felt like the lineup was
really strong. They had enough pitching depth, the bullpen was solid.

(07:41):
This was going to be a team that would compete
with a Phillies for that division title. Instead, they just
slowly but surely crumbled. And yeah, getting picked to the
post and last year of the season, losing to the Marlins,
of all teams must have been pretty hard to swallow.
I mean, I say the Marlins of all teams. The
Marlins ended up four games back of the Mets, which
is remarkable in itself. But yeah, this is an utter
catastrophe for the Mets, isn't it? What happened?

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, it's funny that it's the miners. I think I
heard un effectively wild that the Mets have lost a
playoff spot on the last day of the season. Four
times in the last twenty eight years, and three of
those four times it's been because of the Marlins. There's
something about this. The Marlins are just like, we are
up for this. Now we're eliminating the Mets from the playoffs.

(08:25):
That is our jam. So I guess you might have thought, oh,
this is all right for the Mets. What they've got
to do is beat the Marlins. But maybe not the
best opponent for them to have. I think we talked
about the pitching and how that fell apart. I mean,
it's not ideal when the guy who was supposed to
be your ace ends up getting demoted to triple A
because he's pitching so badly. You know. Noman McLain or

(08:46):
credit to him, came up and formed fantastically, and I'm
sure the Mets would have been looking at him as,
you know, maybe their ace if they had made it
into the playoffs. But when you have to say, let's
give the ball to three completely unproven rookies down the
last couple of months of the season, I think that
really speaks to what went wrong on the pitching side.
They also did really try at the deadline, I think,

(09:08):
to strengthen that ballpen and it just went horribly horribly wrong.
You know, Ryan healed, he had the worst stretch of
his career probably as soon as he puts on a
Mets uniform. So you can't say that they didn't try
to strengthen that side of things. It just didn't work
out real well for them. They were also spectacularly on clutch.
I think the lineup was good from a you know,
if you look at everybody's individual stats, but they didn't

(09:30):
really score the number of runs you would expect from
that collection of talent. So yeah, I don't think you
can blame Juan Soto had an unbelievable season, especially in
the second half. You can't blame Francisco Lindor, you know,
thirty thirty year, I believe doing Lindor things, Pete Alonso
bringing the homers. You know, they were all there. They're
all hitting. It just didn't quite come together on the

(09:53):
pitching side. They're getting a bit old, not the best defensively,
And I think you just have to say that even
through all that, it was right there for them. You know,
it's not like they had to win a lot of games.
Eighty four wins was all it took. The bar was
pretty low and they couldn't manage it. So fair play
to the Reds for hanging around in there. But I
think if you were the Mets and somebody had said

(10:14):
to you at the start of the year, you need
eighty four wins to get into the playoffs, they would
have been like, yeah, one hundred, no problem, We're doing that.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah. Well, most people were penciling them for ninety four, right,
and a fight for the title. I mean, yeah, it
just constantly felt like the Reds are going to fade away,
the Mets will pull away, and always so close to
the end of the season. It got the more confident
you were, like that, it's just going to take a
few wins here or there, they'll pull away, going to
it's going to happen. And maybe the Mets themselves fell
into that trap of like just assuming that that World
card spot was there for them and it wasn't. And yeah,

(10:42):
those those couple of losses tots the end of the
season obviously proved massively important, but I mean any win
across the course of the season would have got them in.
So that's that's the painful part of it. Did they
leave it too late to call up those young pictures.
That's what I wondered, obviously, that they had so many
issues with the rotation, but it did seem they were
hesitant to call up some of those top guys who
actually looked really good. Mclaimed Tom even Sproke. I think

(11:03):
that decent in his short time in the major leagues.
You know, should they have brought those guys up earlier
and have more faith or you know, was it very
much it's an emergency, let's just see what they've got.
And actually they were more ready than the Mets anticipated.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah, I think they might have been a bit of
a victim of that start. As you said, I think
they might have just been set out so far ahead,
and there was perhaps a little bit of temptation to say,
you know, we don't want to start the clock on
these guys. Maybe we think they're leading a little more time.
Maybe we just you know, want to wait and yeah,
we'll use them next season and you know, get an

(11:37):
extra year of control. I guess there probably was that
temptation with where they were in the standings. I'm sure
if you'd said to David Stearns in June, do you
need these guys? He would have said no, And yeah,
so at the point they did need them, I think,
you know, they made that move, and they made that
move on all three of them as well, which is
probably a lot more aggressive than a lot of teams

(11:58):
would be. But yeah, you could you could easily argue that,
certainly if they'd had another two or three starts from
McLain and then they would have got that that win
they needed that. The margins are easy to see when
it's the end of the season and the full picture
is then.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
It is. Yeah. Well, unfortunately for the Mets Masters, that's
the last we're going to talk about them this season. Unfortunately,
that's that's Curtains. But let's talk about some of the
teams that did make it in then. And as mentioned,
we're not necessarily going to go series by series here,
but we'll try and touch on on a few of
these teams. Let's let's start, I guess with a team
that you're not necessarily rooting for. We can get to

(12:35):
that later, but so a team that you're excited to
watch or have got question marks about or keeping a
close eye on, whether that be in this World card
round or lurking in that divisional round waiting for them.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
I'm very interested in in the Cubs. I think the
lineup has been excellent at points in the season, and
then you know, we've seen the PCA collapse. Saya Suki
had a real swoon before sort of coming around late
in the year and then hit a home run in
the first game against the Padres, so maybe he's coming around.

(13:11):
You know. I think this lineup could be really, really
dangerous if they can sort of all get clicking again
at the right time, and then it's just a case of, yeah,
can they string enough pitching together to keep the runs
off the board, Because it would not shock me at
all if the Cubs lineup made a run in this
playoffs and they ended up being the most fearsome unit.

(13:32):
I think they're right up there with the Yankees and
the Dodgers as the most dangerous. So yeah, there's definitely
some concerns there. We've seen the vulnerabilities that Cramstrong in
particular has, and maybe other teams will find that easy
to exploit. But they're a very good team defensively. Love
a lot of the bats in that lineup, and it's

(13:54):
just a case of, you know, can they do maybe
like what the Rangers did a couple of years ago
when you look at the stuff, you look at the
ballpen especially and say, well, this is not going to
cut it. And sometimes in the playoffs it just happens.
You know, everybody gets hot at the right time and
you end up putting it together. And I think another
comp with that range of team was that they did
have a really fantastic lineup that season. So I'm interested

(14:18):
in the Cubs. They've got a lead on the Padres
already by the time people hear this, but they may
well already be in the next round, so I think
there definitely wants to watch for me.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, that first game felt big for them to get
that win. It was their first playoff win I think
since twenty seventeen, which is crazy to say because it
feels like they've never you know, tanked in that period
of been terrible, but they just, you know, constantly have
been hovering with the playoffs and when they have gotten
in have been unlucky or bad in the World Card round.
And so good to see them get that win on

(14:50):
the board. I think that was big and hopefully they
can convert it against I mean a Padres team that
is also very fun. I wouldn't hate seeing them progress
through the playoffs. But something about I think playf it's
what A really feeled. It just feels quite right. So
I'll be interested to see, yeah, how far the clubs
can go. I mean, they never really had a chance
of catching the Brewers in the end, but that if
those two teams meet, that feels like it would be

(15:11):
a good series to keep an eye on as well.
I'm interested to see another team in the World Cals
Series wh've got a one noer leading and maybe you
can close it up today. The Detroit Tigers. I think
we probably should have talked about them in our section
on teams that missed the playoffs, and Tigers obviously did
make it in, but my god, did they make it hard?
Didn't for themselves? Didn't they? They blew a fifteen and

(15:31):
a half game division league, which feels almost impossible, and
it just felt like all the momentum was failing from them,
and I honestly, I think to just get into the
playoffs must have felt like such a relief, because it
would have gone down as one of the all time
great collapses if they missed out on the postseason altogether.
But they sneak in, and of course the way that
it ends up working out. They play the Guardians in

(15:52):
the first round, the team that snuck up and pit
them to first place in the end, as the Guardians
just always do negative run differential ale sex title. That's
just the Cleveland Guardian's way, isn't it. In that series,
I mean, it's Jesus going to be a low scoring
series and the look of things, and these are two
teams that have both struggled to score runs at different
times this year. But if the Tigers, I feel like,
can get through this, they maybe have the ingredients of

(16:15):
a team that can go on a bit of a run.
We saw that last year in October right where they
suddenly started clicking with Scooba and the mound last night
was at fourteen punch outs over seven and something innings.
He is good enough to win any game for them,
and that counts for a lot in the playoffs. And
I think that bullpen looks good. The lineup has scuffled
for a long time, but there's enough guys in there
that you can maybe squint and see production. But yeah,

(16:37):
some of the guys who started the year so hot
have tailed off. But again, another team that just feels
like now that they've got in. It's a huge sigh
of relief. Can they convert that into a reasonable October
run and takes momentum into into the next round. We'll see.
I think you were going to talk about the Guardians
and their pitiful run scoring, won't you. But yeah, they
need to get their bat together quite quickly.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Yeah, I mean, how is it the Guardians again? Like
this team just will not go away. It doesn't seem
to matter what the roster looks like. And not that
long ago, you know, you sort of thought, oh, finally,
the Guardians are just going to have like a seventy
seven win season and they're not going to be any
win in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
This is the year.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
We don't have to deal with this. And then they
put off the most improbable comeback in MLB history, and
without seemingly actually getting any better at scoring runs, just
by conjuring up this impossible pitching stretch. I think they
were one short of the all time record for most
consecutive starts with two or fewer runs allowed. Of nineteen

(17:43):
they put together in September, I think it was like
the nineteen fifteen White Sox with the last team to
be that they got twenty. They missed that well exactly. Yeah,
dead ball times we have to roll back to to
limit runs like this Guardians team did in September. So yeah,
I mean, fair play to them. They've done it again.
With the old pitching factory over there. It seems you

(18:04):
still don't feel like they've quite got you know, some
of those rotations of old But Gavin Williams has really
come around. Tanner Biby's pitch really well lately. I believe
he's pitching really well again right now. And then I
almost thought last night that they were going to Guardians
their way past Scooball, who looked absolutely dominant. You know,

(18:25):
they could barely get a ball out of the infield.
I think Kyle Manzade was the only to hit the
ball out of the infield, and the run they did
score was just ludicrous. I think it was like a
forty eight mile per hour slow chopper that you know,
the second baseman couldn't make a play on in time.
And then a little blue hit that sort of just

(18:46):
looped over Scooball's head to get the run to come in,
and I was just like, the how are they doing this?
Like this is the most guardian thing I've ever seen. Fortunately,
the Tigers did eventually manage to close it out despite
a little scare in the ninth. But they are I
don't think this is hyperbole. I believe they are the
worst offense in the playoffs in baseball history by OBP.

(19:08):
They've got a two ninety six OBP, and I just
don't I don't. I don't want to continue to see this.
It's not particularly entertainty. They don't score runs. I'll give
them credit. They did hit home run today, Well done,
George Valeria. But they called Chase in Water up for
it like he's making his MLB debut in center field today,
because they're like that desperate to get some offense to

(19:30):
the team that they've got. This guy who's never never
actually played a major league game in his life. I
think he's only played about thirty games in center field
and the miners, and they're just like, please, or somebody
give us some offense. No offense to hose Ara Mirus,
who is obviously a very good player. But the rest
of this lineup is absolutely god awful. I mean, I
think you only have to go about four hitters deep

(19:51):
to get to sub seven hundred ops. It's dreadful. So
all credit to them for the unbelievable comeback, but I
do not want to be seeing through playoff games later
in this postseason. Just watching the Guardians like small ball
their way to one nil victories without ever hitting a
ball out of the infield, It's it's not entertaining to me,
do you.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
Know what, I'll play Devil's advocate. Not because I think
the Guardians, you know, offense is good or entertaining, God, no,
are not insane. But I just feel like this team
has a way of playing really entertaining playoff games. Like
last year we saw it in their series with the
Yankees that like every game was crazy back and forth
and you had the big Christmas home run, And I
feel like they've got the energy of a team that

(20:31):
could do that again this year. You know, they as
we speak, they've just got to have a first and
third and no one out jam in the seventh to
keep their playoff hopes alive. And I just feel like
those teams that don't score many runs but have good
pitching create entertaining or at least close playoff games, right
because you end up getting to the seventh eighth nightth
it's like every run is so important, you know. Don't
get me wrong, I love a good slug fest as

(20:52):
much as anyone, but I do feel it. There's something
about an October game that's two to one, one nail,
three to two going into the late innings that they
and maybe that makes me sad. In fact, it definitely does,
but I feel like, you know, the Guardians are that team.
So I'm not going to sit here and say, like, God,
I hope they make it all the way to the
World Series, because I don't. But I will say that

(21:13):
almost painful brand of small ball, low scoring baseball can
sometimes actually be quite a fun watch when October comes around.
And look, I mean, maybe it is the guy they've
called up today who turns into the spark plug they need.
But all it takes is for someone to have a
decent month and give Ramirez In quite a little bit
of support, and I guess you can squint and see
some run production or at least enough to carry that

(21:35):
rotation through that that is October for you. But yeah,
it also feels like they could go out today with
a whimper and with the same old issues as every year,
where they can't score any runs.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, they feel a bit like the Brewers have for
like quite a lot of years, where you know they'd
be good in the regular season and they get to
the playoffs and they just get shut out because there
wasn't that actually, you know, it's Christian Yelich and then
a bunch of people can't hit the Jose Ramirez being
the Christian Yelich on this team. I don't suppose you're
wrong in the sense that the sort of percentage of

(22:08):
high leverage moments in these Guardian games is probably pretty
high because they almost never blow anybody out. So if
you're sort of looking for a game with high volume,
you know, I want to spend as much time as
possible not knowing who's going to win this game, then
I guess they're pretty good for that. I think it's
the sort of the sheer, fluky feeling of all of it,

(22:30):
Like that run they scored against Scuball yesterday, you know,
it didn't feel like they did anything right and they
still got a run across sort of felt perverse against
the rules of the universe. And maybe that's how all
those scoring games are really. You know, you just need
a bit of luck to get over. But it seems
disproportionately weighted towards Cleveland somehow.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
They can be infuriating as well, especially if you have
a rooting interest in the team going against Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure the Tigers fans are yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
On a wild pitch or you know, just this stuff.
It's like, how they're not good? How are they managed
to do this? So I can see how, Yeah, that
could be frustrating to watch and to know in your
heart that you're a better team than them, but you
just can't. You just can't prove it. Let's maybe talk
World Series favorites things. I was saying to my mind,
this feels like one of the most open postseasons where

(23:23):
there's no real obvious World Seils favorite, and that maybe
we say it every year right when it comes around
to playoff baseball, you can't really have a favorite. It's
never a predetermined outcome because of the fact that in
a five game series, three game series, seven game series,
anything can happen and any team can get hot. But
it feels like, whereas in the past it's been like, oh,
the Dodgers are the favorite, or oh the Yankees or whoever,

(23:44):
this year it is very open, and maybe I'll kick
off just talking about the Milwaukee Brewers team you just mentioned,
because they ended baseball with the best record, which somewhat shocking,
especially because I still have that opinion of them that
you just spoke about, where yeah, okay, out a way
to get some good pitching out there, but they just
never ever are able to get done with their lineup
in the playoffs. So I just have that same thought

(24:07):
in the back of my mind. But is this year's
Brewers team different? Should we be thinking of them as
a World Series favorite? Does the record reflect how good
they are or is it again a bit of a
mirage they had obviously that crazy hot run in the
middle of the season that pushed them up to this
great record. Or is there a reason to think that
some of these guys that they haven't had previously, whether
that be Reese Hoskins or a Jackson Turio or other

(24:31):
guys who've had breakout years, are going to carry on
through through October. What's your view on the Brewers.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
I think it's it's a better lineup. It's a deep
line up. Now, you know, there's not a lot of
weakness here. If you look at the performance, there's a
lot of guys who have had above average seasons. I
still think they're very light on guys who are like,
this is the game changer. You know, there isn't there
an Aaron Judge. There isn't the Jose Ramirez of Vladger Junior.

(25:01):
I think Al West, every other team and then the
playoffs has got probably multiple guys in their lineups and
you're kind of like, yeah, it's Yelich and then not
sure really, but you know, maybe I'm not giving enough
credit to some of the guys who've come out of
nowhere this year. We've had guys like Isaac Collins for example,

(25:23):
you know, getting on base pretty high clips. We've had
the the Andrew Vaughan renaissance coming out of nowhere. They
are very good defensively. I think William Contreros has had
a bit of a down year, but we've seen him
be very high end defensive player. So I think they've
got more than they've had in the past. This is
definitely not Guardian's level, you know, terrible line up. They're

(25:46):
definitely an above average line up. I still I'm not
sure that it's going to be the best for them
in the playoffs when there's a bit more time to
game plan when it is a bit more of a yeah,
now we've got an opportunity to put our best guys
out there really focus in. We've got extra off days.
Is that going to play into their hands? I don't
think so because of that lack of high end talent.

(26:07):
So I'm going to say I'm still not a big
Brewers believer, but I think maybe they'll be less of
those sort of very frustrating We've gotten too the playoffs
and we've immediately been bounced without scoring any runs type
series for them. I don't think that's going to happen
to them this year, but I still do think they
lack that the top end of the roster to be

(26:28):
a true world series.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
Who do you think is a favorite?

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Then?

Speaker 1 (26:33):
If you had to call it right now, who who's a.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Team to be It's difficult. I want to say the
Mariners because they've actually made it finally. They've got the rotation,
which is great, and you know they do they do
have they have a megastar. You know, they have Julio
who's the absolute elite centerfielder and has done his usual
doesn't really hit in the first half. I wait actually

(26:58):
he's elite in the second half of move which if
you could just fix that for the whole season would
be incredible. I think he was still worth nearly seven
war despite another slow start this year. So I'd love
to see them do it. I still, you know, it's
it's not a great lineup. There's there's concerns in there.
They've got some pretty weak spots. Maybe cal Ready can

(27:21):
keep doing this for another month fingers crossed. So I
don't know that I have the level of confidence in
them to say, yeah, they're the favorites. But I think
they've got a lot of components that you look for.
They've got great pitching, they've got offensive threads. They feel
they feel like the you know, team of Destiny a
bit this year with the way Raley's season went, don't they.

(27:43):
I think if we're looking for the playoff team of
Destiny this year, it kind of feels like the Mariners.
So I'm going to say that's what I want. And
you know, then the obvious answer for who is the
actual favorites is the Dodgers, clearly. But I don't know
if anybody needs to hear us say that.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah, I'm with you with it. On the Mariner. It's
not that I think they're going to get to the
World Series, just they just feel like a team cursed
to have their season ending heartbreak. Even if this year
they did win a division, which is which is amazing,
and like Marion's fans should be delighted with that. It
was such a long wait it they became the butt
of the joke for so long. And it's not just
obviously they made it this year, but they earned it.

(28:23):
I think they were the best team in that division.
I think they are one of the best teams in baseball,
and so it is great that they are going to
be in the playoffs and I'm excited to see them play.
And I think how Rally maybe is the player I'm
most excited to watch as well, because like, look, everyone
knows how great he's been this year, but I think
there is still that slight like tasting everyone's mouth of
one year one the when's the magic going to run out? Yeah,

(28:46):
he hits bombs, but he doesn't do X, Y and Z,
and I just think, like who cares, Like even if
this is the only year he has that is even
close to this level, Like what an unbelievable season and
how amazing would it be if he can cap it
off with just a not Hober leading that that team
to the World Series and that whole crowd there, Like,
it's just a really fun team to root for. So

(29:08):
I'm definitely cheering for the Mariners favorites. Wise, I agree
with you. I think it's hard to look beyond the
Dodgers boring, but their lineups so good. They showed it
last night in Game one against the Reds. Obviously, the
rotation show Hey suddenly looks like he is back to
ace form. I mean, we never should have doubted him,
but having en obviously a healthy pitching show Hey makes
a massive difference. Maybe Snell's finally going to pitch more

(29:30):
than six innings in the playoffs. You know, all this
stuff seems to be converging nicely for them. But I
think the two teams I point out as my favorites
would be the Phillies in the n Now. I just
think it seems like things went wrong for them a
little bit this year at certain times, and they just
found ways to continue to win games. You know, Nola
had a really poor year. Zack Wheeler obviously injured at
the end. I don't know what his prognosis is he

(29:52):
going to return in the playoffs, didn't know if he is.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
No, he's got thoracic outlet, the good kind of thoracic
outlet syndrome, but still it's going to knock him out
and they're hoping that he'll be back for next season,
but there's no chance he'll be in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
So chance well then yeah, So that's obviously a huge loss.
But they still just seem to pick up pitching another
places obvious Christopher Sanchez has a great year. The Sardo
seems to be somewhat of ice size that they just
find ways to put it all together. And that line
up is so legit and it is so battle tested
and experienced that I just trust it so much. And

(30:27):
getting Duran at closer, like that's a guy who, as
I'm saying, is so I'm realizing he's going to melt
down now at some point in a massive, high leverage situation.
But in theory a guy that you trust to close
out games, which has always been their achilles heel. So
I like them, and I'm excited to see what the
Blue Deards can do in October. Like fair play, they
have not been a good team in a long time,

(30:49):
and they've come out this year and proven everyone wrong
to an extent. And like you say, they've got the
superstar and Vlad, they've got a rotation that's really fun.
They've got other stars in the lineup that probably don't
get the national acclaim they should, so that I think
would be a very fun bold series matchup. You can
get those two teams together, but yeah, plenty of other
teams that will be interested in watching and excited to

(31:11):
see who who is your vote for world series you
want to see.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
I could go for a Mariner's Phillies world series, actually,
I think that would be a lot of fun. Yeah,
I could be on board with that. I definitely think,
you know, for never having one reasons, the Mariners would
be great. I think there'd be a lot of people
rooting for them to do it. And I think the
Phillies feel like they've sort of been here, don't they

(31:40):
the last few years. It's they've been really close to
getting it done and they've just not quite got over
the hump. But this feels like the most open postseason
that we've had in the last few and yeah, the
opportunity is definitely there for them as long as they
can sort of hold it together. That that pitching does

(32:01):
look a lot less intimidating Without Wheeler, I think, so
it's a real shame he's not going to be there,
But I still think, yeah, they've they've got that formidable
lineup and you definitely Trusts and Sanchez and Brenda soire
Is at the top of their rotation. So I think
I think for these Mariners would go over pretty well.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
It'll be fun. Yeah, and that let's go on to TV.
You don't want to see in the word series he'll
we hate watching in October. I mean, obvious team is
the New York Yankees, right, I don't want to be
controversial here. I quite like the Yankees. I think they're
fun to watch. Judge is awesome, Max Breeds and Ace
like that. I've been impressed with how they've been able

(32:46):
to get over some of the issues they've had this
year with injuries obviously, you know, losing cold for the
whole year before the season even started, and various players
not forming up to standards. I guess he's been the
brunt of a lot of jokes, hasn't he And it
feels like they could have very easily gone through a
Mets style collapse and just fallen out of it. But
they kept finding ways to win. Some guys got healthy.

(33:09):
The lineup looks pretty strong. It's been a great year
for a friend of the podcast, Toby bell Ringer. He
looked back to top four. So, I actually, I don't think
the Yankees are the team I would least like to
win the World Series. Isn't it like it's been a
while for them, right, So I'm not going to say them.
I think we're at that point now where I'm hate

(33:30):
watching the Dodgers. I'm sorry, I don't want them winning
the World Series. I get it, they're awesome. I love
show Hey, I love Bets, I love all these players,
like the whole cursh Or narrative. I get it. That
would be so cool. But it's enough like they are
the modern day Yankees from the perspective of just being
too good all the time that I want someone else

(33:50):
to win the World Series. I want someone else to
be in the World Series this year. So look, Dodgers bands,
I'm sorry, but you've had a bit too much. I'm
openly rooting for your downfall this year. I do not
want you to win another World Series. But Darius, who
who do you least want to win the World Series?
And why?

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, I mean the Yankees is a good shout in
sort of like you. I do quite like a lot
of the Yankees. I was quite hardened to see Volpi
hit a home run last night, have a good game,
you know, because I just think he's twenty three. Then
the amount of abuse is pretty horrendous. I know it's
been a tough year for him, but yeah, he's like

(34:28):
he's bat's eighth in the lineup. Like, don't worry about it, guys.
The lineup is great. It's fantastic lineup. You know. Hopefully
we get playoff Stanton. I love a bit of playoff Stanton.
Always fun to see. So I don't think that I
would necessarily object to a Yankees run, but I think
I would object to the discourse. I cannot take the
discourse a level of analysis. We get the level of

(34:52):
griping from the Yankees fans. You know, it's it's just painful.
And yes, I know it's been since two thousand and nine,
and then I'll know, terrible a long time since you
have won the World Series. So I just think for
that reason, alone that that is high on the list
of maybe just get them bounced early and then we

(35:13):
don't have to deal with this anymore.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
We saw them get to the World Series last year.
That was enough, wasn't it. We only to see them
win it.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yeah, and then we had to hear about their lack
of Well, we've still been hearing about their lack of
fundamentals all the way throughout this season. After that Game
five performance, like that story did not go away. So
that's that's what we've got to look forward to. I'm
sure if anybody makes a big error in any spot
at any point in this postseason for the Yankees, I
don't know that I want the Red Sox much more necessarily.

(35:43):
You know, they've had a lot of success in recent years.
Probably the discourse will be just as bad if the
Red Sox go deep into this postseason. So yeah, they're
both probably towards the bottom of the list of teams
I'm rooting for. And then I you know, I dunked
on the Guardian already, I guess, so that way. I

(36:03):
know it's been a really long time since they've won it,
and I feel kind of mean for saying it, but yeah,
I just I don't think I would get a great
deal of joy out of watching this caliber of lineup
go deep into the postseason, especially, I mean, can you
imagine them against the Mariner's rotation, Like, what is the
pain going to be of that? There's just going to

(36:26):
be nothing, And they'd still find a way to win
one thill they probably, and that would be the thing.
They just have, like three four one nill victories. Yeah, dreadful.
I guess they don't need three in the DS. But yeah,
I just I'm not sure I could bring myself to
watch a series of Guardians one nill victories on a

(36:47):
you know, an error and a stolen base and a
you know, sack fly or something not what I'm looking
for from entertainment as a genuine concept. I guess this
is not not why I come to watch baseball. So yeah,
I guess they're They're my bottom three.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Yeah, I'm not. I'm not too worried about the Guardians
making the World Series, as much as I feel like
I'm now destined to have had the Colder is tagether,
I don't see them putting that run to together. Although
I guess after last year's World Series being you know,
the major networks dream we're probably due for a for
a Guardian's Brewers World series to help even it all out,
So maybe we should bear that in mind. But yeah,

(37:27):
I agree, I would would not be too excited about
seeing them seeing.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Them made after the early home run. Today they still
only have two hits and it's now the bottom of
the eighth, so that tells you how that's going.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Miserable. Yeah, before we wrap, maybe we can just have
a quick look at, rather than teams, but a player
that you are excited to see in this year's postseason,
whether it be one of those big stars like caw
Rally who I mentioned, or whether it be more of
an under the radar guy who you're just excited to
see playing in October baseball. Who's who's got your attention?

Speaker 2 (37:59):
I got a couple of names, one one more of
a veteran, one more of a young guy, George Springer.
I think we'd just have to mention the season that
George Springer has had probably his best offensive season at
a point in his career when I think a lot
of people I certainly had written him off as yeah,
he's on the downswing. Now we're not going to see
peak George Springer back, and you know, he had one

(38:21):
sixty six WRC plus this season, hit three oh nine
thirty two home It's like, really really good. Big reason
why the Budjos won the division this year is George
Springer making that bounce back. And he's always been a guy,
you know, when the Astros have been making all those runs,
he was always there, you know, being the hype guy
in the dugout, being excited. He's a fun guy. You know,

(38:41):
if you've got one of those classic postseason games, he's
getting hyped up. He's a fun player to watch. So
great see him back. Great that he had such a season,
and I'm hoping that we get some more classic Springer
playoff moments. And then on the other side of the
pitching side, I'm going to say Brian because I think

(39:01):
you know, he was sort of seen as third, maybe
fourth on that Mariners pitching depth chart, you know, on
that pecking order, and Logan Gilbert had some injury struggles
and didn't quite pitch up to his previous levels, and
George Kirby didn't have his best year, and Brian Rude
just stepped up and was really the rock in that staff.

(39:23):
Pitched unbelievably while this season really cemented himself as an ace,
and I think it's always great when we get these
players that maybe people aren't necessarily paying attention to if
they're not on their own teams until it gets to
the playoffs. So I'm really hoping that we kind of
shows out on the national stage and people get to
recognize what outstanding picture he is because he had a
really excellent season.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
Two good picks. Yeah, we have always thought it's really
fun to watch pitch. I know he went through issues
with various like shoulder swallers and stuff at one point,
but yeah, to see the way he's loss of this
year has been has been fun. It's really really exciting
to watch who finally, I guess is getting his slows
Like you said, rotation for a long time, but was

(40:06):
always really good and getting getting those points. I think
my obvious pick would be would be Kyle Schwarber. It's
just something about the way that man hits home runs
and something about the way he does it in October
particularly that is just really fun. I think a playoffs
are better when Carl Shauber's in them, and fortunately he
has been a lot recently partly off his own back.

(40:26):
He's just a very good player. But yeah, been really
excited to see to see him and that hopefully he
is aren't really a bit especially Shawber back out there
in October. And then the other pick, I think it
has to be one of these, you know, starting pitchers
who put the ability to telling the games. He talked
about scooball already, but less mention Garrett Crochet. I mean,

(40:47):
he was outstanding in Game one for the Red Sox.
You know, certainly not under the radar pick, but he,
you know, has all the makings of a kind of
guy who can just take over a game and a
postseason and be just on and carry that team. And
I think that is super important October to have a
guy you can rely on, even if it isn't you know,
the Sy Young Winner. I think it's important to have

(41:09):
that kind of guy. But yeah, big your pardon, Croche
is a sy Young Winner or sy Young contender at least,
and I think he could take that team a long way. So, yeah,
he is brilliant in Game one. I think he'll be
a big part of the Red Sox making a run
if they do. So very excited to see him in action.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
That was a real old school I think they let
him go one hundred and seventeen pictures as well. The
game from ten ten years ago. It's like, you do
not see this number anymore. Ever, you never see anybody
get but he was. He was just dealing and yeah, yeah,
Cora was like, let the man roll. Fair play for him.
So great to see. I will just note that since

(41:47):
we ragged on the Guardians a bit more, they have
now scored two runs, so obviously that obviously they're going
to make the World Series.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Are they wasting all of their runs in one game? Though? Three? Goodness? Three?
Well there you go. Well maybe that series is going
to a decide of them, which is exciting. We will see.
I mean, I'm starting pictures. Obviously, it's a banner night
for them in that first night. Is there do you
think a trend towards pictures or managers, sorry, trusting their

(42:16):
races a bit more and letting them throw maybe not
one hundred and twenty pictures, but certainly go deeper into
games and let the aces eat or is it just
a matter of Look, we saw a few of the
best starting pictures in the game last night. Go deep.
But the general trend is still going to be giving
four or five in inches. I'm turning it over to
the pen.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, I think I think maybe there's a little bit
more on the If you have got one of those
no doubt high end aces, we will let you roll.
But we've seen some exceptionally quick cook so far already.
I mean, is in this Tiger's game, you know, I
think he walked a guy to start the fourth and

(42:54):
Jahine was out there like, you're done, mate, Like that
was that was it? So the kind of thing you
would not see in the regular season. I think he'd
thrown sixty odd pitchers at that point, so definitely wasn't
a pitch count thing. It was just a this is
a playoff game and I'm not messing around.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
I think that kind of thing is you've walked to
Guardian's hitter, You're done.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, that's you know, that's it. We can't tolerate this
kind of thing. So I think we'll still continue to
see that with the guys lower down the pecking order
in the rotations. I think, yes, your scooballs, your crochets,
your woos, then we'll see those guys allowed to go

(43:36):
a bit deeper. I think, especially if you've got them
like lined up that first game of the series, you
don't necessarily want to say, yeah, I want to get
five innings out of the bullpen already. You know, you
don't know how the series is going to go. That
can have an effect, obviously, if you're going to get
through a series, you're going to need that bullpen probably
multiple times. And yeah, to sort of cut somebody out

(43:59):
of the game, especially when they're pitching the ways that
Scooble and Crashet were in those game ones. I think,
you know, if they're rolling, then I think we're going
to see managers just say I'm going to keep keep
letting them roll. But I think we're still going to
see forty fifty to sixty pitch starts from a lot

(44:20):
of the guys pitching in these playoffs, and maybe even
you know, we'll probably there's going to be how long
do we get a Dave Roberts bullpen complaint? I mean,
it's it's coming, isn't it. They're going to they're going
to yank one of those Dodgers start as early and
they get somebody who relieves them is going to give
up runs. That's that's going to be very interesting storyline
to watch how the Dodgers ballpen plays out, because they

(44:41):
do not have anybody that Dave Roberts trust right now.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
It will be interesting. I mean, yeah, I do not,
you know, something, one of those old heads, but I
do miss the days of pitchers being given longer leashes.
And I think it's great that, even if it's a
few guys that are being given the chance to go
deep in games and put the game on their back.
But there's also, like you said that, there's a strategy
piece of if you want to burn your bullpen arms
early in a series, you can, but that may have

(45:06):
knock on effects. I do feel like we saw their
little bit of that last year where teams that have
been so heavily aligned on bullpen games and believers going
out there two three days in a row or four
or five times in a series were starting to flag
towards towards the end of October. So maybe we'll see
a slight shift the other way, especially when it comes
to those top hand guys. And yeah, the bullpen chat,
I mean, it wouldn't be a postseason without you know,

(45:28):
what was he thinking when a previously excellent reliever just
happened to give up a home run or a series
of unfortunate hits. But you know, that's what we do
it for. Is the discourse.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
Is Clayton kersh You're going to be out there for
the save in Game seven of the World Series. I
guess that's that's what I'm asking, is that is that
the thing we most want to see for the narrative.
It would be cool until he blew it, and then
we'd be like, oh no, now, now his career is
over and he's one more blemish on the postseason leg just.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
To blow it in October one more time.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
The floor is yours, one more for the road. I
wish I hadn't put that out there into the world now,
but I have, so there it is.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
You hate to see it. The content would be tremendous,
can you imagine? Yeah, right, let's leave at that, and
we've done now. Who we do want to see any
World Series? Who we don't want to see in the
World Series? With your prediction is who is going to
be in the World Series? If you if you have
to choose me, give me.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Give me the Mariners, Give the Mariners and the Dodgers,
because you know it's the Dodgers, but Mariners and my
team of destiny this year. I believe if Cady can
hit sixty home runs, anything can happen.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
God, I love that. I mean, not the Dodger's bit,
but I love the Mariners. But give me the Yankees
and the Phillies. Give me an O nine World Series rematch.
But I really, I really do hope the Mariners at
least gone a good run here. That would be that
would be so much fun. Right, well, we'll be back,
I have no doubt between now and the World Series

(47:01):
to talk more about baseball's happening. I'm actually going to
be in Boston in a couple of weeks time, So
if the Red Soots could extend their run until I
get there, that would be fun for me on a
very personal level, even though I'm not particularly fussbut seeing
them when the World Series.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
But yeah, no pressure on Garrett Krache, but he needs
to get the job done.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
Kind of has to win a couple of series here yet.
But yeah, we will be back to discuss. I think
we're going to try and get the rarely sighted gav
On to talk about his travails in Rotterdam. We didn't
do a very good job mentioning it at the top
of the podcast, but he was out there to watch
TMGB in the European Championships. Unfortunately, TMGB did get knocked
out in the quarterfinals by Spain in the Euros that

(47:42):
were eventually won by the Netherlands, who did have a
lot of extremely good major league talent on their roster,
so not a massive shock. But I believe I've had
a wonderful time out there. I think there was a
lot of very good baseball played by GB and others.
So I look forward to hearing his recap of the tournament.
Wants we're able to get him back on the show,
and yeah, we'll do some more, some more playoff chat,

(48:02):
hopefully with a few more of us available in very
due course. That's all for me, Thanks Darius for for
joining me and and talking to baseball, and yeah, enjoy
it wherever you're watching. And let's see if the Guardians
can score more than three runs again. H m hm

(48:34):
hm m m

Speaker 2 (48:39):
M