MLB 2026 Season Preview With Bold Picks And Big Debates

The MLB 2026 season is almost here, and we’re not waiting for the standings to tell us what to think. We kick things off with a real fan question that turns into a bigger debate: is 162 games still the right length when the MLB playoff format keeps expanding and October weather starts changing how the sport looks on TV and in the ballpark? From freezing April nights to the idea of starting closer to May, we get honest about what makes the baseball experience better for players and fans.

Then we go full season preview mode with a panel and a pile of predictions. I’m joined by TJ, Tony, Bob Gavalier, and Fiddy as we pick World Series matchups, wrestle with the “Dodgers problem,” and try to sort out a wild American League that could send a lot of good teams home early. We talk Red Sox, Royals, Tigers, Yankees, Mariners, Mets, Brewers, and the ripple effects of pitching depth, health, and deadline moves. If you’re looking for 2026 MLB predictions that sound like what you’d hear at the bar after a game, this is that conversation.

We also hit the fun debates that always matter more than they should: which teams will surprise everyone, which contenders could face-plant, whether afternoon games beat night games, and who really has the better managerial resume between Terry Francona and Dave Roberts. Finally, we break down the pitch clock, the ghost runner in extra innings, and why rule changes can improve pace while still leaving fans divided on tradition. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us your 2026 World Series pick: who’s your matchup?

All music brought to you by former guest of the show Speedo

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introductions

SPEAKER_05 4:48

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is as always your host, Mike Bono. I have a great episode for us today. I got a panel of guests, and we are going to be breaking down the up-and-coming MLB season for the 2026 season and going over everything that we can expect and all of our predictions for this season, too, as well, with everything in the world of baseball. I'm going to let my guests introduce themselves here today. So, gentlemen, I need your name and the answer to these two questions. And it is what is a better letter, the letter E or Y? And if you could be either a groundhog or a prairie dog, which would you be? And we're going to start with TJ.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

How are you doing? Well, she's my daughter. She's all right. She's excited. She's she's mad. The baseball season hasn't started yet. Uh so TJ Ludd. Appreciate it. I'm glad to be back. And uh better letters. See, I have an E in my name, so I gotta lean with what's in my name. So I like wise creative, but you know, I gotta I'm I'm gonna stick with E here. More uses for it. And then I think I'm gonna be a prairie dog. I mean, just the yell alone, right? Here from miles away, people aren't gonna mess with a prairie dog. Groundhogs are good for one day a year, and they're usually pissing some people off that day.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

So I got you. Tony, let's start with you. My name's Tony. Great to be back on Rod Home Rants. Mine, I'm gonna go with the letter in my name. Why? Why I think is the better letter, and I would be a groundhog because I just literally keep to myself, pop out every once and again. I gotcha. Bob, let's go to you next.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

My name is Bob Gavalier, and I think E, I think there's more uses for E, I guess, than why. I don't know. I can't think of right now, but and then I'd rather be a groundhog. I think my dad has one in his backyard, and he does everything, and that guy still gets into the garden. And so no matter what he does, he still can't keep it out of the garden.

SPEAKER_05 7:06

I gotcha. And I think I know the answer to these two questions, but we're gonna go to everybody's favorite manager of the podcast, Fitty.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Thanks, everybody, uh, for being here today. I'm excited to be on talk, another baseball show here. I feel like we just did the World Series show. But I'm Fitty. I'm gonna probably go with the letter Y, because it has just cooler names, like yo-yo and yogurt, better than like E. And you think of like Excel and I don't know, like Evel from a project or something. So, you know, that's what I like to think of with Fit. But I want to go with the Y. Um, I'm gonna pick a groundhog and I'm gonna or sorry, I'm gonna pick a prairie dog over a groundhog. Because me and the groundhog that's been fighting me to live under my porch for the past year and a half is like reaching epic proportions. It is involved me filling holes with cement blocks, stone, ammonia, snow, screen, whatever I can do, and he still keeps coming back, and I keep missing him at night, and it's just like the never-ending thousand-year wars between me and the groundhog. So I take a prairie dog. They also aren't cousins with squirrels. I don't like squirrels, and a groundhog cousin with a squirrel. See, I found all this help I have in a battle with a groundhog. That's my rant on the ride home rants intro.

Should MLB Shorten The Season

SPEAKER_05 8:21

Yeah, I I I already knew you were going with prairie dog because I know the war you've been having with that groundhog at your house. It's like Rocky and Drago going round after round after round. But for me, everybody knows me, Mike Bono. I'm gonna go with E. I mean, honestly, just because it's in it's in my name. So I'm gonna go with that one. And for me, I I gotta go prairie dog on this one. I just you know, everyone hates the groundhog this time of year because he's always saying there's more winter here in Ohio than there than there needs to be. So that would be my guess here. But we're not here to talk about letters or what animal we'd be. We're here to talk about the MOB season. Tony, we're gonna start with you. And is the baseball's regular season too long at six 162 games?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yes, as far no, as far as the season goes, actually 162 games is perfect, but I think we have too many playoff teams, if I'm gonna be completely honest with you. I think we should go back to here's what I would do. I have it kind of like you know, the setup before 1994. You have an Eastern division and a western division, top two teams in top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. And if there's a tie, we have a one-game playoff.

SPEAKER_05 9:49

Okay. I I don't hate that idea.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

I think it's too long because the playoffs got too long. So I think you have to do one of two things. Do you go back to the you know, three division winners and two wild cards, and you keep the game at 162? Or if you're gonna do what you're doing now with multiple teams and it's longer and all of that, then you go to 140 games, shorten it by 22 games. You can get rid of the month of April. Nobody goes to games in April, anyways, besides the Guardians like home opener. The weather's terrible in 95% of the country, so no one can enjoy it. You're probably losing money on the games anyways. So eliminate April, start in May, go 140 games and keep a longer playoff, or go back to a shorter playoff and keep 162 games. I would say shorten it by 22 games.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Okay. TJ, what about you? So uh my first thought was the beginning of the season, just even just playing college baseball was terrible. It's terrible. It wasn't even real baseball, really, because you're just sitting there just trying to get a grip of the bag, get a grip of the baseball. Now, as a fan, you go and you sit there, and again, kind of to the point that Fitty was saying, you're not enjoying that experience. And that's what baseball is great for. The experience of walking around the ballpark, enjoying it, listening to the sounds. And when you're sitting in 20 degree weather, it just isn't it, it's not what it is. Um, so I think that you start later. I think you start, you know, Mother's Day-ish area, give or take, move it back a little bit, gives guys a little bit more of a break too, so that they're not burning out and that now you're not sitting there looking at how long the season is. You can give your all a little bit more. And I'm okay with shortening the playoffs too, actually. Just the same thing. You run out of weather in October, and then all of a sudden, if you have a northeast, northeast team or whatever it is, you know, we're talking about a different baseball game. But it has the dynamic, you can never have too much baseball. But I guess over the overall product, shortening it would would be beneficial, probably in a couple different ways.

SPEAKER_05 11:47

Yeah, I got you.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Bob, brown us out here. I agree with you guys. I I say shorten the season. April was the worst month to I know I I buy a six-pack for the Guardians, and I usually stay away from even May games sometimes. April, I don't even look at it except for opening day. So, yeah, I agree. Shorten the season, maybe even expand the playoffs a little bit, you know, get done like the middle of September and then start playing your playoff games, get a couple more wild cards in there.

2026 World Series Picks

SPEAKER_05 12:13

Yeah, I mean, I I think I agree with everybody on this one. Like, that's let's let's short the regular season, keep the playoffs as long as they are if you want to go that route. You get warmer weather to start the season. More fans are gonna be in the stands because you know it's it's finally springtime, actually, springtime and not this fall spring that we got over this past weekend and snowing and cold back again here in Ohio. That happens this time of year. So I like it. I I think yeah, I I I mean, anytime you can get more baseball, I mean, are we really gonna complain about that? But I mean, the end of the day, let that let's make it enjoyable for the fans again. And yeah, let's let's shorten the regular season, keep the playoffs where they're at, and start later so that it is warmer. But Bob, we're gonna jump right back into this and we're gonna get right into it. Who's your World Series prediction and who wins?

SPEAKER_03 13:12

I gotta say the Dodgers, unfortunately. I mean, they're just loading up again. Out of the Ale is gonna be tough. There's a lot of different teams. There's like different things I was looking at. Like if the Tigers, if they get rid of Scoobyl, then I think they have a chance to win. If they keep Scoobyl, if they get rid of them, they probably could be in there. You look at the Yankees, the the Red Sox are good against Seattle. So I'll I'm gonna pull, I'm gonna pull an upset and say Detroit keeps Scuble. They got that one three with three good starters, and I say they're gonna pull that out, and they're just gonna kind of ban on him or letting them go next year. So I'd say Detroit and the Dodgers, and unfortunately, the Dodgers are gonna win again.

SPEAKER_05 13:53

Yeah, it's tough to go against the Dodgers this year. But TJ, what about you?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

My wife saves the day. So God, the American League is so interesting this year. You have teams that really improve. They went out and actually got actual pieces to help their their teams. I'm torn between Boston and Kansas City. I think both of them are a mix of really good young guys and guys that are really hitting their stride. I think Boston's pitching rotation is gonna be pretty good this year, just overall from top to bottom. But I like Kansas City. And I know that Detroit got a lot better, which that's another team that the Central is gonna be stacked. I love it. Just unfortunately for Chicago, it's they're just gonna be Chicago. But I think that Kansas City makes it out of the American League. And then everything's telling me Dodgers. I got burned, I've gotten burned the last couple of years. But I give me somebody, uh give me maybe the Mets this year. I think the Mets have the year that they're supposed to have. And when they do, they're going to compete with everybody, especially even those high-level teams such as the Dodgers. I think the Mets put it together. I think they make some big moves at the deadline, even bigger moves to bolster their roster and they have the money to do it. So give me Kansas City versus the Mets. So rematch from what, 2015? Give me Kansas City this year. Okay. Bendy, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Man, it's it's gonna be, I think, contingent on a couple of things in AO. And I think it kind of goes back to like our first question talking about the season being too long. Like it depends, I guess, how cold of a spring it is and how terrible of a like fall it can be. Because I do like the the tigers. If the weather's bad and people gotta go play, they can travel in terrible elements, right? Like cold and rain, and you're miserable, and teams can go up there, and the tigers can have you know a home field advantage because people are playing terrible weather. Kind of the same thing with the Royals as well. People gotta go to, you know, playing bad weather there. So I think it's gonna be contingent on that. But if you're stripping everything away and just looking at two teams, probably gonna say, I'm gonna go with the Yankees and I'm gonna go with the Brewers. That's gonna be my World Series prediction with the Brewers winning the World Series.

SPEAKER_05 16:22

Okay. I I did not see that with the Brewers coming from you, but uh Tony, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

I I think the Dodgers are probably one one of the reasons why we're gonna go into a lockdown 27, first of all. Second of all, I can see them pulling a three-peat like the Yankees in from 98 to 98 to 2000. But it won't be like it was with the Jays, which was a seven-gamer, and I'm really wishing the Jays won that. But I do think that they're gonna go against Seattle. I think Seattle is gonna come out of the AL for their first dependent in franchise history. And Seattle is, I think that they're finally gonna break through because last year was the first time they made it since 2001. A few years ago was the first time they even made the playoffs since 2001. I think that this is Seattle's time, if I'm being honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Tony, you're gonna die on the Seattle Hillman. But every time you speak good on them, they they do all right. Hey, it's worked so far.

Surprise Teams For 2026

SPEAKER_05 17:36

Oh man, yeah. I think that was your prediction last year, Tony, if I'm if I'm not mistaken, with Seattle. I g I gotta go Dodgers Red Sox this year. It's just with with how stacked LA is, it's it's hard to go against them in the NL with they just keep re retooling and just keep becoming a powerhouse in the NL with all the money they spend. I gotta say, uh the inner Red Sox fan of me wants to pick them to win it, but I I think I think the Dodgers, the the sports analysis in me is is gonna go Dodgers and seven in that one. Over the over the Red Sox. But yeah, that the AO's interesting. There's so many good teams, but yeah, I I think the Red Sox pull through and get back to get back to the World Series in that one and just fall just short in in seven games against the Dodgers. But Tony, this this one's gonna be interesting for a lot of people. But who is your number one team that you think will surprise everyone this year?

SPEAKER_00 18:55

As far as surprising someone this year, goodness. I am gonna go with the San Diego Padres. I think they can they will they've been able to put up a fight against the Dodgers the past couple years. If anybody could push them in the NOS, it would be them because they've they've got some good pieces. If you Darvish comes back and he recovers from his injury, he's another key piece for that Padres, that Padres team, and it would be really great to see San Diego knock off LA like they did in 22. Okay, baby, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

I think like I'm gonna go with the Brewers, and and here's why, like, they've been good. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, uh TJ Antony, because I know you're a little bit more historical in baseball than me with this, but you're in a NL championship game last year. Of course, you got crushed in four games, but you're in wild card two years before that. They're taking the steps to be in the right direction, and they have become a very good mid-market ball club. And I think they're really knocking on the door. Um, I just think the experience of having that playoff baseball the past few years has been good for them. And you've had guys, you know, play in the in the postseason. And I think for all of us, you know, we know if you want to build great ball clubs, whether it's anything from high school through, you know, professionals, the more playoff experience you have, you know, the farther you usually can go down the road. Uh, because you get all the extra practices and the at-bats and things like that. So I really do think it's gonna be the Brewers. I really do think they'll be the number one seed coming out of the uh NL.

SPEAKER_05 20:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

TJ, what about you? All right, I'm going two ways here. I'm gonna go surprise in a good way and surprise in a bad way. I think the Blue Jays surprise people in a bad way. I think that they get significantly worse. Not because their team gets worse or not because their players get worse. I just think that they played so well last year that replicating that without adding a ton of pieces, or really without not even adding a ton of pieces, but when Boston gets better, New York gets healthy, like now you're in that gauntlet of the AL East again. Baltimore's gonna get healthy. Now you're back to, okay, we're all fighting for that one spot. I don't, I think they missed the playoffs this year. So I think they're gonna surprise people in a bad way by stepping back in a good way. You saw what happened to Cincinnati with one year of Terry Francona. Every year he comes in and he's just, I win baseball games with what I have. And Cincinnati said, okay, here's Iovanio Suarez. Here we go. Now we're adding, and Terry Francona's gonna sit there with, yes, keep giving me pieces, and I'm gonna keep making it work for my franchise. So watch Cincinnati make a run. Watch Cincinnati control the year in a way that people aren't expecting. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Bob, what about you? I like what the Cubs did. I think the Cubs are gonna surprise some people. They added Bregman, they got Hop. They just need some pitching. I think if they need their pitching healthy, they got a good bullpen, good reliever. And so I think the Cubs are one of the teams that are gonna surprise people. That's gonna be a loaded central because I think the Pirates are gonna be better too. I think the Pirates will come back. They have two good really starters now, too. But I think the the Cubs, Cubs are gonna be like a softball team. I think they're gonna score a lot of runs and their pitching is gonna give up a lot.

Biggest Letdowns This Season

SPEAKER_05 22:31

I gotcha, and I'm so glad you mentioned the pirates because that is my pick. And everybody's gonna say, oh, we're just being a humber. No, look at what they're doing in spring training without Skeens in the lineup. They are absolutely dominating in spring training, and they look good, they have the hitting that they they were missing. Skeens and Bubba are gonna give you two aces that can that can be two wins if you can get them three runs uh in the central. That's that to me is a winning recipe in that division. If you can get those two guys to to come in and win you some series and just pitch pitch lights out, actually have some hitting. Am I pissed that we let McCutcheon go to Texas? Yeah, I mean, we want him to retire a pirate. I mean, he's always going to be a pirate, but yeah, he's yeah, now he's in Texas and it is what it is. But that the hittings there this year, we we've added some power to the rotation. I like what we did in the offseason. Everybody was calling for for Nutting's head, and I was one of them. And we'll see. We'll see what happens because Pittsburgh always loves to get your hopes up in spring training and then really disappoint you once the season starts, like they do every year to me. But I'm sticking with it, I'm sticking to my guns, and and the pirates uh they're not gonna make a deep playoff run, they'll get to the wild card. They they may make it out of that, but that's about it. If they do. But that's that's a winning season in Pittsburgh, and that's gonna bring life back to that city, which we all need. And TJ, I'm you you you you beat me to this next question with your answer to that one. And it who's your one team that will disappoint everyone this year. So we already know your pick on that one. But Bob, what about you on this one? Who's who's your disappointment this year?

SPEAKER_03 24:34

I'm gonna say the Yankees. I'm you know, you look at that pitching staff, and they're they got they're old, they're hurt. They don't have a lot of you got judge, and all those guys are getting old and stuff like that. So the Yankees, I think I wouldn't be surprised if they come in last place in in the AL because, like I said, Baltimore's loaded up, Toronto, the Red Sox. Uh so I'm gonna say the Yankees uh with the they struggle with their pitching staff. It is there.

SPEAKER_05 25:01

I got you. TJ, are you changing your answer from the previous answer in the Blue Jays, or are you sticking with Toronto?

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Oh, because the Yankees, it'll be fun to watch. It'll it like like if they fail, everybody's happy. Like, so it's it's not disappointing. It's it's it's it's it's it's what the world needs.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

Everybody, everybody needs the Yankees to lose. Everybody does. I'm hoping you're right on that, Bob. I really am on that one. But Benny, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Man, you know, this is hard, and I'm gonna say this, and even though I'm a fan, it's gonna I think it's gonna be the Guardians, right? Like, they did nothing to improve in the offseason, and sure, they made this great run, like it was the movie major league, except Tom Berenger's not running down the first baseline, you know, last in the playoffs. But the thing is, like, you know, Francona comes, you know, leaves. You get you know, you get the new guy in there, you know, you you have a pretty good first season with him, right? And then your second year, you really get into that funk. Yeah, you win some games, but I think you still lose five more games than you did the year before. That disastrous first round, painful playoffs was like the worst baseball I might have ever watched. And I haven't watched a ton of baseball, but it's uh it's pretty bad. And if that's like the worst I ever watched, because they haven't done anything in I this isn't like I mean in baseball, yeah, you can grind out wins, but like okay, you can be the Yankees and win games 12 9 because you have hitters and no pitching, or are you the Guardians and you pray you win games three to two and two to one? You know, with a bunch of young stud pitchers, they which they do have, but a pitch clock and not allowing these guys to rest and drag out games at three and Half four hours anymore. I just don't think they they I just don't think they got the muscle to do it. And and I don't know if the Guardians have the means to get out of what's going to be happening until they spend money because the Tigers aren't going anywhere, the Royals aren't going anywhere, the Twins, even though Baldelli's not there, you still will be okay, you know, and then you have the White Sox. So I think it's the Guardians, and this might be the dark days ahead for them.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Okay, Tony, what about you? So good. I can't believe you said that about the Guardians, Figgy.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

I can. We are you serious, Tony? Like you're really surprised we didn't came out with that.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Like, I'm saying it as a fan, though. It's it's true though. You didn't get better. You didn't get better in anything.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Those same prospects came from 15 and a half back and were only 500 in September and pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Even though they did lose in the wild cards, yeah, just in time to lose to the next two of the three. But speaking of the AL Central, I am gonna my team that is gonna be disappointing is gonna be in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers. I feel like it's gonna be the Tigers because I feel Tariq Scootball is gonna have a good year, but it's gonna be kind of like Paul Schemes. It's like, what can you do to keep him where he's at so he doesn't go somewhere else? On the flip side, I do want to see Justin Verlander do good, just not against the Guardians, because I think Verlander's probably gonna be the last. That's it. Yeah. Yeah, he's one of the last OGs. Other than that, I think Detroit could potentially you have to wonder if, even though they did beat Cleveland in the wild card series and take Seattle to five games in 15 innings, you have to wonder if that still weighed on their mind, that huge collapse in September. Because imagine if they cruise to the Central and the Guardians were nowhere near the playoffs. How would things shake out? Would Scoobaul have signed a major deal already? And then you do have, I believe, no, Kenzone plays for Seattle. But I know that somebody in Northeast Ohio did play for Detroit at some point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Yeah, hold on.

SPEAKER_05 29:19

It'll come to me. Yeah. Tony, I'm gonna start calling you hot tag Tony on these shows. You come out with some stuff, man.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Like Detroit, I just I just I I can't it's hard to say a team that's adding is gonna do worse, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_05 29:38

Like that that's just that's a bold stance for what they did in the offseason.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

With Tony, I can see them doing uh the only Tony's I can see them doing bad if they trade Scoobyl like near the end of the pennant race. Like, so that's the only way I get I could see them doing bad is if they kind of load him near the end of the pennant race.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Yeah, that's yeah, but it's but they but Frambert Valdez, I mean Frambert Valdez is a side young guy too, and they added him. I I just when you add pitching, it's good, yeah.

Day Games Vs Night Games

SPEAKER_05 30:04

You don't need a lot of runs when you add pitching. Exactly. When you when you have that, you only need two to three runs to win games. Detroit has that, and it hurts me to say anything good about Detroit as I hear my wife gagging in the background because I watch in Detroit because she hates everything from Detroit, from the Red Wings in hockey to the Lions to in football to now the Tigers in baseball. She just anything from Detroit is just god-awful. For me, the biggest disappointment this year, I'm gonna have to agree and say the Yankees. And that's more of the I can't stand the Yankees, and I want to just put that out into the world so that they do bad. Uh, but I just don't, I just there's so much hype around this team that they're not gonna live up to that hype this year. They're gonna have a good, a decent season by any team standpoint, but it's not gonna be a Yankees season, and it's gonna disappoint a lot of people in New York. And the Mets now are just fighting for that New York team. They're the they're not wanting the Mets are gonna become the new age Yankees of old, where they're I can't every time. My my wife in the background, she goes, let me stop you right there. Mets suck. Um and just old friends references all day here. She just loves the to to make me laugh when she comes out with that while I'm recording. But yeah, it's it's the Yankees for me. I think they're going to disappoint a lot of people in New York, and I'm here for it. That that's that's where I'm at with that. Tony, as a baseball fan though, I want to go to you are afternoon games or night games better to attend and why?

SPEAKER_00 31:55

It would depend on the weather, if I'm being completely honest with you. Yeah, I will take a warm night over a cold day, but if it's like say a cold day and it's sunny, or a mild day if it's sunny, over a warm night where there's rain in the area. So it basically depends on the weather. I got you. What about you?

SPEAKER_01 32:21

I think it depends if you're sitting in the sun or not, like for an afternoon game. If you're in like you know, May, September, October, Sunday afternoon, could be warm, could be cool, whatever. But it could be nice in the sun. But if you're sitting like dead sun, July, one o'clock, with with like if you go like this with your hand and that's like a fierce gust of wind, then yeah, it's gonna be probably terrible. So you want to go to the night game. My opinion, though, perfect weather scenario. I love afternoon baseball games, whether it's minor league or professional, just because you can go hang out. There's usually less people, it's not as crowded leaving. Perfect weather conditions and shade. I'll take the afternoon game. If I had to sit in the uh the the heat and stuff, I would take the night game. But I'll tell you a quick, quick story. You guys will laugh at this. So, probably about like maybe like 12, 13 years ago, maybe a little even a little bit longer than that. We went, my my mom, my stepdad, my sister, her best friend to me went to a pirates game on the 4th of July at one in the afternoon. It was so hot, so hot, and it was so stifling in that in the in the baseball stadium. We were sitting down like home plate, like probably like 10 rows up. We left at the top of the fourth inning. It was like like a high of like 94 that day. It was the most brutal, unbelievable thing ever. We stayed for not even four innings, and we left. Like, I fell asleep. That's how hot it was on me. And I just it made me that sleepy. We were like, we have to go.

SPEAKER_05 33:59

July in Pittsburgh is on those three rivers, it's just a that's a bull strategy continent. Let's see how it plays out. Like, you're gonna be miserable on those three rivers in an afternoon game in July in Pittsburgh. I love Pittsburgh and I love that stadium at PC Park, but July in afternoon game in Pittsburgh, it's just you're you better be sitting somewhere under that ton that tundra where you're getting some shade because you're gonna be hating it if not.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

It was like it was so hot, you just seemed like steam. And like the sun. I'm like, I'm like, am I like am I in like the Sahara Desert? You're starting to hallucinate at a baseball game, like, and everyone's just sitting there, like, and then you know, when everybody's hot, I just kind of sit there like this, and they're like, Oh my god. That was before the pitch clock, right? So like each other, like an hour long, you know what I mean? Because it was just so hot, and they were grinding out the game. I'm like, come. Well, I was like, I looked at my family and I was like, Can we please go? And they were like, Yes. I was like, perfect, thank you.

SPEAKER_05 35:10

All right, DJ, what about you?

SPEAKER_02 35:12

Night or afternoon games. Uh, this is awful. The first thing I thought about was the traffic after a game. I can't stand after a night, after a night game, and then you're just sitting in like traffic for 30 minutes. We have terrible, terrible patterns, like uh traffic patterns here. So give me the day game, but I I don't know. I feel like you wake up, you get your breakfast, you go down to the ball field, you walk around, you're you're doing all those things, then you're you're back home by six. So, you know, I I I I like that. I think that, and then at night games, you gotta wait all day, and then like your whole it's your whole night. It's six o'clock to 11:30, you know. So I I I like day games. I I really do. I'm okay with being hot. Uh, you know, I like walking around and like exploring the stadiums. But yeah, give me the day game. Gotcha, Bob.

SPEAKER_03 36:02

What about you? I'm a night guy. I love being under the lights, you know. Nothing better than because the sun starts setting and you get the lights getting turned on and stuff. So I I'm a like night guy. You get the you know, it cools down a little bit sometimes, uh, some days it does. But I had the same scenario, Fitty. I went to a Reds game in Cincinnati one time, and it was like that. It was so hot, and we were in the upper deck, and it rained thunderstormed, and then it was just so muggy, and it was just like we just like we were eating ice cream, and it was melting before we even got like this was so miserable. I think we lasted like three or four innings at a reds, and that's the worst, that's down south, more south. But yeah, for me, going to a night game under the lights, I just enjoy that. Yeah, I for me I like the night games.

Guardians Or Yankees Go Further

SPEAKER_05 36:49

I'm one of these people, I can't be cool enough. So those day games, like when you're just cooking and sweating, that's that's tough for me. But I also like Pittsburgh always does fireworks. I always go back to Pittsburgh, it's the it's the stadium I've been to the most. You know, they always do fireworks at the end, you know. You really get to see them versus the day game. I mean, they still shoot them off for their for the day games, but you really get to see the fireworks and enjoy them over that city and seeing that there. So there's nothing better than plus, you know, being on the three rivers there, you you get that cool breeze at night there in Pittsburgh. That's that's just one thing that that I like about night games. I do hate the traffic, no matter where you're at in Pittsburgh. There's always traffic, whether it's a day game or a night game, just because everything's a one-way, one-way street, and the street you need to be at is going the wrong direction. Uh you gotta go around the block to get to where you already were. Um but yeah, Pittsburgh it loves their one-way streets, it's for sure. Yeah, uh, everything is a one-way, and the streets you need to be on, you gotta go three blocks up the wrong direction and go around to get to where you're at to be able to park. That's that's the worst part about Pittsburgh is the is the one-way streets and the parking there for me. But yeah, I'm a I'm a night game kind of guy, I don't mind waiting all day. I kind of amp myself up for it all day. Make up all the scenarios in my head that will never come to fruition during the game. But yeah, I just I just love the night games. But Bob, for for you on this one, who makes it further this year in the AL? Is it the Guardians or the Yankees?

SPEAKER_03 38:41

Oh this is a tough one. I think they both are gonna be bottom dwellers, but uh I will say the Guardians win more games just because they have to play the White Sox a lot. So I'll say the Guardians will have a better record than the Yankees just because they got to play the uh White Sox. The White Sox are an easy sweep for sure. Yeah, TJ, what about you?

SPEAKER_02 39:02

See, we always struggle with the White Sox. That's the one team we don't beat. We beat everybody, like we can beat Detroit. We we hang with Kansas City and then we struggle. It's we were on like a you know, we were winning one 10 out of 12 or something like that last year, and then we went and played the White Sox and got swept or 3-1. I'm like, what are we doing? It just without we always struggle with them. Oh god. Okay, I'm I'm on the same boat with the fact that just because of the division, though I think the Central will be really good. I still think that the Twins are gonna be rate average or a little bit below average. I think Guardians gonna be a little bit below average and the White Sox are gonna be awful. So I just think because of that division where the AL East, you're gonna have three teams at 80, 80, 85 wins are up, probably. So I just I I don't see the Yankees, I don't see the Yankees staying healthy. They're one Aaron Judge injury away from scoring two runs a game. So I I don't I I don't see the Yankees being successful this year at all.

SPEAKER_05 40:08

I gotcha. And to your point, TJ, the Guardians, they they remind me a lot of Pittsburgh and they play to the level of team that they're playing. They don't play to their caliber all year. They they play down to the teams that they are playing. If they lose the games, it's like, oh, we're gonna sweep this series. There's no way we're losing to the White Sox, and then we lose four games in a row to the to the Sox. Uh so yeah, I get that for sure. Uh with that. But Fiddley, what about you, Guardians or Yankees?

SPEAKER_01 40:36

I mean, you hear my take earlier on stuff, so I'm gonna just go with the Yankees. But but here's what I will say to Bob's point, though, and I've said it's the past couple years, I still do think the AL Central is the worst division in all of baseball. Because in some years you can win like 84 games and be the division champion, and it's pretty bad, you know, where you probably sometimes need to win 95 games in the AL East to be, you know, legitimate and even have a chance for the wild card. So, to the extent of what everybody's saying, potentially the Guardians could have more wins than the Yankees, but because I think the Yankees will go to the World Series and they can hit more. I'm gonna go with the Yankees. They'll they'll have a better season.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

I gotcha. Tony, what about you? I will have to say, much that pains me to say this, I think the Yankees probably go a little further than the Guardians do. Because I think the Guardian will end up somewhere maybe around 70 to 85 wins. The Yankees just when they're not competing with a baseball classic, have an offense that can yeah.

Francona Vs Dave Roberts

SPEAKER_05 41:49

I gotta go Guardians on this one because I can't just I can't pick the Yankees for anything on that one. That's literally the only analysis I have is I hate the Yankees that much that Guardians over Yankees. Tony, this day with you. And which current MOB manager has had a better career? And that's either Tony Francona for the Reds or David Roberts for the Dodgers.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Tony Francona must be a long-lost cousin of Terry.

SPEAKER_05 42:18

I looked at your I looked at your damn name when I was reading that Tony.

SPEAKER_06 42:22

It's Terry.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

God damn it.

SPEAKER_06 42:25

It's been a day, y'all. It's been a day.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

I'll have to say Dave Roberts because also he also won a World Series with Boston, and he happens to, and he took a lot of flack prior to 2020. He had a lot of flack for the Dodgers always winning the West and not being able to make a deep run until 2020, where they won a World Series, it still counts. Even though it was technically in a bubble, it still counts. And then they win back-to-back titles and are obviously provided everyone stays healthy in the world. I got you.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Um Dave Robert. Francona. I'm probably gonna go here. I'm gonna say Frankona because here's why. He took three teams out of four to the playoffs, two of them to World Series. He has two World Series. You know, my thing is, and I and I've said this on other shows, right? Like, you can be a great coach with one team. I want to see you be a great coach or manager with multiple teams. I think that's a true testament of a coach, right? Like, no matter what sport it is, hockey, baseball, basketball, whatever. Phil Jackson won titles with two teams, right? Like, you know, Francona's had success with three teams. Really, you can't say Philadelphia because they never even had a winning season there, right? You know, you you've had football coach coaches go on and be successful with, you know, a couple different teams. So to me, I think the true testament of being great is can you do it with multiple teams? So I gotta say it's Francona, just because he's won, you know, pretty much everywhere, you know, out of three, four, three out of four of his stops.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

I got you. TJ, what about you? Yeah, I'm on the Francona, Francona training. I just think that he gets so much out of what little he has, and it makes it look like he has a lot. It's like, oh, he's got these great players. I'm like, I he made Brian Shaw look good for us. Like, you know, it just there's he does something about how he uses his players, how he gets his players right. I mean, the one season he had zero ejections all year, no players got ejected. So that's a discipline thing. So if you can get that into your team, now I will say this Dave Roberts gets a lot of flack because he has the roster that he has. But can you imagine managing all those egos? And he's been able to do that the last couple of years. So Dave Roberts is an excellent manager, and people need to start giving him his flowers. But I just think Frank Kona just yes, the testament of a manager is do you have are you able to get everything out of your players? And that's what Frankona does.

SPEAKER_05 45:23

Yeah, absolutely. Bob round us out here.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

I'm gonna go with Frank Kona too, just because of what everybody else says. He goes and goes to different places, and what he did with the Reds last year was just like a miracle. I mean, they were supposed to probably come in last place and he got him into the playoffs, did it with the Indians. They were a rain delay away from maybe winning that one against the clubs the one year and the World Series. So I just think what he's done, you know, with the three different teams and taking them to the playoffs and win some World Series. I just think, like TJ says, he gets everything out of those kids, and even though they're not the superstars, he just finds a way to win with what he has, and just you know, you give him a couple of pieces, and he'll be able to build a good team out of it.

Pitch Clock And Ghost Runner

SPEAKER_05 46:07

Yeah, I mean, I I'm with everybody. I mean, everyone said it. It's it's Terry Francona, I'll get his name right once, I guess, in this question here. But yeah, you do it with multiple teams and you win with multiple teams. That that's the mark of of a better career for me. That that that's that's what it boils down to. Bob, has the pitch clock been useful tool for the MLB? And you know, what's your opinion on the pitch clock?

SPEAKER_03 46:37

I think it has been. I think it's kind of sped up the game a little bit. It's been more more entertaining, I think, especially in the plafts when you got the pitch clock and stuff like that, and all the strategy going on. What I'm interested to see here is about this the strike zone thing this year, how they use that and and stuff like that. But I think the pitch clock, I think it's gotten unfortunately this generation and that we're having is does not have a good attention span. So I think this helps out a little bit to get some of the younger people to kind of go to games and at least pay attention for a couple innings longer than maybe they usually do. But in what's it been like two or three years now? And I think people forget about it now, it's just don't integrate it into the into the game now.

SPEAKER_05 47:19

Yeah, yeah, it's been a couple years now. But TJ, what about you? Pitch clock.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

Yeah, the pitch clock is to me really a non-factor. Now I know that some pitchers are used or manipulating it a little bit now, which is cool to see that. Where some pitchers will just hold the ball until one second, and knowing that the better doesn't have that timeout anymore. So I love to see that strategy. It's just a new layer into the game. Sucks that the beer sales are shorter. That's that's the killer right now. But I think that it just isn't like everything else. You make it work. I think it's it's just now a part of what's going on. So it almost isn't a factor. I don't think people realize that it didn't have to be 35 seconds in between a pitch, like, let's go, throw the ball, get the ball, throw the ball, let's go. So I like it. I was a fan of it from the start.

SPEAKER_05 48:09

Yeah, I I I like the pitch clock. I'll jump in here because you mentioned something that's I don't want to say near and dear to my heart because that makes me sound bad, but near and dear to my heart. But the beer sales, I think you know what, people are gonna start to figure this out. You know, you you don't have a lot of time in between innings anymore and in between pitches. So I'm not just buying one, I'm buying two. You know, uh, you know, we're gonna get we're gonna maximize the the consumption during the game, like I used to during during that that time period and when you know pitches were taking thirty five seconds to a minute to to throw a ball because you gotta wipe your forehead off 16 different times. In different ways before you threw the ball. I like the pitch clock. You know what? Throw the ball. Let's let's get out of there. And it stops the batters from coming up. It just fixed my gloves. I gotta I gotta tighten them back down again after I just fixed them ten seconds ago. So yeah, that that that speed the game up a little bit. I like that part of it. But yeah, Fiddy, what about you? Pitch clock.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

100% behind it. Final answer. Okay. Tony, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 49:15

I like the pitch clock, if I'm being honest with you, but I do not like the Ghost Runner. Because I like to have games that are at least two and a half hours. That way it starts and stops at a reasonable time. But Ghost Runner shouldn't be at least until the 12th inning. Especially on the last day of the season when there's potential, you know, playoff bits on the line. Just throw it all out the window on day 162, regardless whether teams got 46 wins or 96.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Yeah, that was that was such a good point about the 12th inning because what happens is you know what, you might need one extra inning. That's fine. But the point being was like that, it was trying to stay keep pitchers healthy. You know, they're not going to use position players late or they're not using guys. But after the 12th inning, now you're starting to get to that point, but not the 10th. If you weren't thinking about one more or two more pitchers, you had a bad strategy throughout that game. So no, that's a really, really good point.

SPEAKER_05 50:16

Yeah, to that point with with with the Ghost Runner. I mean, let's let's go to go to hockey rules in overtime. You know, it's three on three during the regular season. We get into the playoffs and get into games that matter, it's five on five, and we're playing a full another 20 minutes. You know what I mean? We're not playing this five, 10-minute, three-on-three pond hockey type of type of game, and you're putting your three best guys out there and letting them go for the entire five minutes because they they've saved that in the tank because they they anticipated overtime. And no shootouts in the playoffs either. So, you know what? That yeah, that but after 12 innings. All right.

SPEAKER_02 51:01

So, what do you what do you think? You think like dude, like a team pick three batters? You think they, you know, like hey, you know what, innings?

SPEAKER_05 51:09

Okay, you know what? The hell with it. Let's do we you want to talk about that. Uh, TJ, you you just opened up a cat of worms over here on that one. And the hell with it. After 12 innings, let's go to a home run derby. You know what I mean? It's like the shootout in hockey. Let's go to a home run derby. Let's get our three best. You get five pitches each. Whoever can hit the long ball the most after 12 innings, you're the winner. The hell with it. Saving pitches anyway. Yeah, who cares? Let's throw it, let's get a pitching coach out there. We're just gonna lob them over. We're just gonna have a home run derby. And 12 innings.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

You know what's crazy? Now you sit there and look at like, so for you know, Cleveland, you look at like a John Kenzie Noel that we just let go because he strikes out so much. Dude, you're specialist. That's your specialty right there. We're saving you for over. That's it.

SPEAKER_05 51:56

That's we're saving you for okay, God forbid this game goes 12 innings. I need you to hit five homers off of a picking coach, which you do in batting practice every freaking day. Yep, right there. There's your enforcer, right?

SPEAKER_02 52:10

Hey, yeah, hockey has their enforcer, right?

Best Baseball Movies To Start

SPEAKER_05 52:12

Come on, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Guys, we're we're running down, so we need a quick answer on this one here for this last question. Bob, we're gonna start with you here. What is your favorite baseball movie of all time to recommend somebody who's never watched a baseball movie before?

SPEAKER_03 52:29

Oh god, I gotta go a sandlot. I think that's one of the better ones. There's so many of them, but I gotta go with Sandlot, I think. I got you, TJ. Us playing little like playing in the backyard and just uh playing baseball all day. That's that's that was our lives, right?

SPEAKER_02 52:48

That's absolutely it's uh it's so quotable. The whole movie you can quote everything. See, my thing is my first one is major league, yeah, major league, and and the problem I have is like I can't show that to like I I had a I coach high school baseball and I had a kid that didn't never seen it. I kind of want, dude, you gotta go see it. But I'm also like, don't tell your parents I told you to watch this movie, but you have to as a baseball player, you gotta know it. So I got you, Penny. What about you?

SPEAKER_01 53:17

Here's what I would say Major League is great, and I think like how they were treated in that movie, and this is gonna be a little long-winded, so I apologize. But how they're treated in that movie is like playing non-scholarship level baseball when you have no money, like a D3 program, so like how they travel and stuff. So that's that's really great. I think the sandlot's super awesome, and if anyone remembers when the babe came out of the closet, what he what he said was heroes get remembered, but legends never die. So that's definitely a great quote. I got a tie for three, and you know, you said one, but you know, I do manage the podcast, so I can give out three here on this one. Um, real quick. I love The Natural with Robert Redford. I think it's a great movie, you know, a little far-fetched, but it's a great movie. But shout out Robert Redford in that. I really love For Love of the Game with Kevin Costner. And I think that is every athlete at the end, whether it's your last game in college or the pros or in high school, I think that is true for all of us when we're athletes, right? Or former athletes, like how Kevin Costner was on that mound, and you would always want your last event to be the best one ever. But my favorite, favorite baseball movie of all time, and I got I gotta say this and I gotta list the cast because it was great. It's Angels in the Outfield. Angels in the Outfield from such a long time ago. It's great because like I was just saying this to somebody at work with like you got Danny Glover, Matthew McConaughey is in that, Tony Danza, you got Joseph Gordon Levitt as a little boy, Christopher Lloyd, Adrian Brody's in that, and Neil McDonough. Like for for a lot of those guys, McConaughey, you know, Adrian Brody, Neil McDonaghue, like they really weren't well known before that, you know, and and they were just role people in that movie. So fantastic house. I love Angels in the Outfield.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

Okay, Tony, what about you? I'm gonna have to go with Major League. Major League is just an absolute classic, just straight up. Another one that ironically, a team before they unfortunately got caught cheating, it was moved based on was Hardball about a bunch of Chicago kids and Jackie Robinson Low League going to the oh dude, hardball.

SPEAKER_02 55:40

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 55:42

Yeah, and they were went to the White House and everything, but it turns out that Chicago team unfortunately got caught cheating.

SPEAKER_05 55:49

I think it was fine. You got you guys have said a lot of the ones that I wanted to say. Major leagues, obviously, up there for me. Both of them, one and two. Uh, I love both of those. Sandlot. I mean, it's a classic. Angels in the outfield's a good one. I'm gonna say one that you know what nobody has said, and I don't think gives the credit that it deserves. The rookie. It it's oh yeah, it's one that's gonna pull at your heartstrings a little bit. You know what I mean? Like it's it's it's a feel-good story. A guy that you know should have been in the pros and has some unfortunate injuries as somebody who was coming up in his sport and swimming and was is gonna make a name for himself. And then an unfortunate injury took me out of the out of the game, out of the swimming game.

SPEAKER_04 56:36

You know what? You love to see it. It's a good, it's a feel-good movie, and you can't go wrong with those, with those different movies.

Final Thoughts And Sign Off

SPEAKER_05 56:43

It's a it's a deep movie, it gives it pulls at the hard strings. Little little off kilter for the comedian on the on the set here to say the movie that's gonna that's gonna get everyone, you know, a little, we're gonna need a box of tissues for the end of this movie. But you know what I mean? Like it but everybody said all the good ones. So I'm gonna I'm gonna go with one that's gonna that's gonna pull at everybody's option because you guys took all of the movies I was gonna say if nobody said them. So yeah, that's that's it. Everybody go check that out. But with that being said, that is actually going to do it for this week's episode of the Rodho Brands Podcast. I want to thank all of my guests, TJ, Tony, Bob, and Fiddy, for joining the show. Yeah, it was a lot of fun to get to sit and talk about the up and coming baseball season and the MLB. And as always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't, tell them anyways, they might like it just because you didn't. That's gonna do it for me, and I will see y'all next week.