2 Guys Talking Baseball
Dallas Danger and Brian Logan discuss the game of baseball. Two fans, two personalities, Two Guys!
2 Guys Talking Baseball
Episode 46
When veteran leadership meets championship aspirations, baseball becomes a masterclass in team chemistry. This week, we're digging into the fascinating dynamic of how experienced players transform contending teams – from Justin Turner's clutch contributions with the Cubs to Clayton Kershaw's imminent return to the Dodgers rotation.
Turner delivered one of the season's most dramatic moments with a walk-off home run, silencing critics who questioned his value. At 40, his impact extends far beyond that single swing – it's about showing younger players how to navigate pressure situations and maintain composure when games hang in the balance. While the Cubs' bullpen faces significant challenges with closer Ryan Presley struggling, their first-place standing demonstrates how veteran presence can elevate an entire roster.
The Dodgers continue demonstrating unparalleled organizational depth while managing a seemingly endless string of injuries. Freddie Freeman's extraordinary season deserves MVP consideration as he leads MLB in nearly every significant offensive category while playing through ankle issues that require extensive pregame treatment. Meanwhile, shocking news broke during our recording as the team called up top prospect Dalton Rushing while designating long-time backup catcher Austin Barnes for assignment.
We also explore several fascinating storylines developing across baseball: the historically bad Rockies after firing manager Bud Black, Rafael Devers' uncomfortable standoff with the Red Sox over a potential position change, and Javier Báez's remarkable resurgence with the Tigers after moving to center field. Plus, exciting news about the World Baseball Classic with Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes committing to Team USA.
Whether you're fascinated by team-building philosophies, player development, or simply love hearing passionate baseball conversation, this episode delivers deep insights into what makes certain organizations consistently successful while others struggle to find their identity. Join us for this exploration of baseball's ever-evolving landscape.
Hello everybody and welcome inside the three crow studios in beautiful Morristown, Tennessee. This is Two Guys Talking Baseball Dallas Danger with you as always and happy to be back, joined as always by my best friend and colleague, the sea lion, Brian Logan.
Speaker 2:It's a great week for baseball Dallas. How is your week been Busy Right as?
Speaker 1:usual, but good overall.
Speaker 2:Well, good, good to hear.
Speaker 1:Especially the last 36 hours or so have been really good and I'm just sort of basking in that, well, can't beat that. Can't beat that we're off the heels of production of the first show and some bonus content for your new podcast venture. Right, right, right, this is your opportunity to plug that Making the Towns with Brian Logan.
Speaker 2:It is a wrestling podcast here on the Pirate Flag Radio and Radio King app. I don't know the time slot yet, but it's also available where uh pot, you get your podcasts. So that's making the towns with brian logan and we're going to go through my wrestling career one match at a time yeah, brian has kept very good uh journals over the years and has documented every show, every match, every, every town.
Speaker 1:And he's going to first episode. He kind of laid out how he got into the industry of wrestling. And episode two he's going to be going through, start going through the books, just go through the matches.
Speaker 2:You know we talked about the first match and we're starting on the next episode with the second match.
Speaker 1:and just going through them all. Yeah, that's going to be great and we're doing I'm Not On the Main podcast, which is great. We miss you though. I know. I know I'm sure I'll pop in.
Speaker 1:You know there's going to come a time in the story where I'm going to be necessary, but right now, you know, it's kind of better without me, but I'm involved in some of the Patreon content, including, I think, every week or every chance we get to do it. We're going to do a little recap show called the Drive Home and I'm going to, you know, sort of take notes every episode and come up with some feedback and some questions and we're going to go in even more detail. Yeah, and that's going to be on the Patreon. And so Brian's got a Facebook and an Instagram page for the new show, if you're interested. He's got a ton of pictures from over the years and he's been posting a lot of those leading up to things he's talking about on the podcast. It's a really cool deal if you're into wrestling at all, and certainly I feel like we have some people listening to two guys talking baseball. That like baseball, but we know through our wrestling ventures who might be more into making the towns with Brian Logan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we go from two guys talking baseball to one guy talking wrestling. Pretty much, yeah, pretty much. We're just talking up a storm. We just like to talk, we just like to talk.
Speaker 1:We like to hear everyone. We invested in equipment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we use it every chance we get To hear ourselves talk, oh my goodness, but let's talk about some baseball.
Speaker 1:Brian, what have you been watching this week? I haven't gotten to watch shit, but you know, you tell me what you've been watching.
Speaker 2:Well, I haven't got any extracurricular watching. I've just been watching the Cubs and the Dodgers, which those have been some exciting games. We're taping a day early, so it kind of threw me off a little bit. We're taping a day early, so it kind of threw me off a little bit, so I haven't had an opportunity to get my extra game in, but I will by next week. But the Cubs have just been really delivering not always wins, but they've been delivering excitement and last night's game was fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was the Justin Turner walk-off. Yes, justin Turner was the Justin Turner walk-off. Yes, justin Turner was the only Major League hitter and I don't know the parameters of that, but basically the only Major League hitter who did not have an extra base hit. Yeah, and that was his first of the year. Yeah, and that's listen. He's 40 at this point, but that's what he's going to give you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you know, the Facebook chat rooms are giving him hell, saying that we don't need him. I think we need him, we need him on the bench for moral support and for teaching these guys. But he still has something left in him, 100%, and it showed last night. I mean, I was reading as I was watching the game and when they brought him in to pitch hit, I think it was like inning six or seven and they were like, oh, he didn't do anything. Well, you know, by the ninth inning he's the bell of the ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the hero of the day, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, give these guys some time. I mean, you know, wait until the game's over before you start bitching.
Speaker 1:Well, again, the Cubs don't sign that contract with him if he doesn't have anything left in the tank and beyond that. You know, you look around that group and Turner's been there at a very big level and has delivered in big moments over and over again for a long time. One of his calling cards is the big moments, that walk-off home run in 2018 and just an iconic moment in Dodger history and that's. You know that's a hard history to stamp your. You know, to make a mark in and last permanently, and he has done that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the same goes for the Cubs. The Cubs is a difficult history to make your place in for the rest of your life, and Turner is more than capable of being one of those guys, even if it is in a pinch-hint role, late in the game or whatever. But I think his real value is off the field. I think his real value is in the clubhouse and in the dugout and he's been pretty open about the fact that he sees himself as a coach and potentially a manager at the big league level when he's done. And you know, I think that that Craig Council I'm sure is loving having him around Well yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think, before it's said and done, he's going to be one of the beloved cubs and, even though for a short period of time, I think his popularity is going to really shine through by the end of all this, because he does contribute when it, when it matters, you know, and he's going to have such a great influence there on the bench with all the guys I mean it's. He just brings so much to the table, so much experience to the table.
Speaker 1:Tons. Tons, I mean, has played in so many postseason games, important games, and big, big again. Big moments, big atmospheres, and you know, I don't think you can be ready for those atmospheres, those moments, until they're right in front of you. You know, I don't think you can be ready for those atmospheres, those moments, until they're right in front of you. But I think he's going to ease that transition for these guys that have never been there. If it keeps up like this, for the Cubs those moments are coming, oh yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 2:I mean like immediately comes to mind like a Nico Horner who is such a good player and such an important part of the team. How much can he learn from Turner?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and that just makes his game even stronger, you know, and that's why he's there for guys like Nico Horner, you know, and PCA and those guys and for a guy like Turner, who, you know, never really stuck anywhere until he got to the Dodgers, it's a good lesson for some of these kids that he's playing with to never be afraid to reinvent yourself, to rework your swing and start over, you know, and not to give up on yourself. Yeah, when things are down and maybe you're getting bounced around and you don't really have a place and you're an afterthought type of player. You know there's guys on this Cubs team that are at some point in their career. They're going to experience that, yeah, and I think they're going to be very grateful for the time that they're getting to spend with justin turner when those situations present themselves well, you know, any professional sport or any true endeavor in life being there is 50 of it, right you know.
Speaker 2:And just having him there he's gonna rub off on on people and and I. That can't be anything but a good thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so while we're on the Cubs, let's get the negative out of the way.
Speaker 2:Okay, tell me about Ryan Presley, A plus ERA. This guy is not ready for Major League Baseball. He's not doing well. He's causing a lot of problems by giving up runs when we don't have that many to give up. He's not being very popular in the fan groups, which that's neither here nor there, I guess, but he is not doing well. He is not doing well at all and I think we need to consider putting him somewhere that is not on the mound every game.
Speaker 1:I love that you're saying that a 36-year-old with 116 career saves is not ready for Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2:He's not, not this season he's not.
Speaker 1:No, this season looks a little different. 691 is the ERA as it stands right now, 335 for his career. So well worse than we're used to with him. I don't know if he's the best fit, but I also think that he's in a really unenviable position because if you've got a guy in the seventh who gets the job done and a guy in the eighth who gets the job done, it's a lot easier to pitch the ninth inning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I think he's trying to make up for a lack of depth in that bullpen and it's just not going great so you're saying he's the guy that it just lies on his shoulders and he's not a victim of circumstance, but sort of for lack of a better term.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I haven't looked at the underlying numbers so I can't get into any of that. But it wouldn't surprise me if the underlying stuff is pretty good and it's just situationally that he's running into some trouble. Yeah, we talk every week about the Cubs bullpen and the exhaustive efforts that Jed Hoyer and that front office have made to improve that bullpen. I mean, they completely redid it halfway through the year last year, Right, and then not that they completely redid it again, but they kind of completely redid it again for this season. And you know, I don't know, but I've just not gotten the idea, the feeling that he's super happy to be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it does seem like because we've gone through this with other guys they've acquired and very quickly moved on from it feels like with the cubs that's a bigger deal than it is other places it is.
Speaker 2:you got to get in with the team culture there. The the lovable loser gimmick you got to play. I know we say this every week, but we're going to say it again you play each game one day at a time, and it's never more true than anybody, than the Cubs, yeah, and I don't know if he's really, you know, just getting along, I mean getting comfortable.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, Right. I mean there's got to be a buy-in too. I mean, you know, at some point you've got to buy in to what's happening, what's going on. And I mean I think, ultimately, we'll take a look in a couple months and that era will find its way down.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is a this is a solid yeah it's still early bullpen. You know, arm and and and a guy who again has over 100 career saves. He's been a closer, you know, for the majority of his career and um just not looking so great at the moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not looking good at all, Not very appealing. You know you almost kind of go, oh when they put him in. Yeah, you know, like, oh, here we go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it'd be interesting to see what those numbers look like closer to the deadline. I mean, if I'm not mistaken, this is a one-year thing. I mean he's set to hit free agency again after this year, and if things are still not going well, is there somebody out there that can give you, you know, some prospect capital to look ahead to the future? I just don't know that they can give up the experience in that bullpen as it sits right now. I mean, if they move on from him midway through this season, something's got to be done to replace him.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And who is that and what's that look like? Sure, and front offices. Historically and there's good reason for this they don't typically like to spend um at the deadline on on relief help. Yeah, so you know we'll see anything can happen, um. But yeah, wanted you wanted to talk about ryan presley and I wanted to get the the negative about the cubs out of the way before I bring up my big point on the Cubs today. Okay, and you know, the Cubs are good. Cubs are a good ball club and it's going to take a massive changing of the tide for this team to not be a player in the fall Right.
Speaker 1:And for me personally and I'm not a cubs fan I've never really rooted against the cubs, unless it was like a series against the dodgers in october. That's a little bit different story, yeah, but just in general, I like the cubs. Um was a big sammy Sosa guy back in the day, loved Ryan Sandberg growing up. Everybody when I was a kid always talked about the shortstops Ozzie Smith, cal Ripken, alan Trammell, these superstar shortstops. And here's Ryan Sandberg doing it at second base. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:And Hall of Fame career. They got a statue, which you know, rightfully so. Love me some, rhino. But my greater point is that when the Cubs are good, things just seem better in general. Yeah, like it's a good thing for the Chicago Cubs to be good and be contending Mm-hmm and that's what they're doing, and it makes keeping up with the day-to-day in Major League Baseball more fun, more exciting. And they've got these guys like kyle tucker and pca that you can't take your eyes off of. You know, and and it's just uh, it's. I guess it's just a really good time to be a cubs fan it is.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, maybe the rebuild is almost complete um, I don't think it's totally complete and over but I mean I mean we're close, we're real close, like inches close, and it's just, if you're going to watch the Cubs every day, you've got to take a lot to watch the Cubs every day in previous years.
Speaker 2:You take a licking, you do, you really do. But this year it's been exciting because you don't really know. Every game is means something uh to them and and you could see how they're playing the game. Is that it that they're trying to win every day? Yeah, and that's not always been the case in the past.
Speaker 1:You, there's been some, some previous seasons where they've been going through the motions, but not this season, and that's such a breath of fresh air yeah, definitely, definitely, um, but I mean, and that that series with the mets was as close, I think, to an october preview as we've gotten, just just a heavyweight bout, very evenly matched to good teams, and it, and it came down to it almost came down to circumstance, yeah, in that series, you know it was, it was I don't think anybody lost that series. Yeah, um, it just you know when, when, two, when two teams that good get together, somebody's got to win and somebody's got to lose, right and and and I think that was good for the Cubs too, because the Mets the last couple years have been in that situation. They're used to that, they're used to. Oh, we got the team leading the other division on the schedule. Let's go to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Cubs needed that, they needed that test and I think results are what they are. But I think the cubs passed the test because they looked like they belonged. You know, exchange and blows with with a team like the mets who were in the nlcs last year, big expectations coming into this year, um, a team that expects to be there in october, yeah, yeah, I mean, well, both those teams expect to be there, oh yeah, and I mean I think it was good and you know they came.
Speaker 2:Their schedule we've been talking about that. That schedule has been tough. They're still just. They're just now getting to the Marlins, which eases up their schedule for a few weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So they played them right at the end of that tough schedule and it was almost like, well, who's gonna score last, you know? I mean, I know that's the whole point of the game, but it's. It was like a back and forth the whole way and it was. It was a very good uh series, even though we didn't take as many as I hoped.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure, but the Cubs certainly seem like the real deal. I'm very interested to see, now that we're well into May we're kind of past this tough early schedule that we talked about. Brian, you said if they get through April at at 500 you'd feel really good. Yeah, yeah, here we are. You know, we're in the middle of may and this team is is. I mean, they haven't, they have not missed a beat. Nope, this is a. This is a team in first place. Yep, still in first place. Um, you know, game and a half up on the Cardinals, who have won nine in a row. The Reds have fallen off a little bit. They're back under .500. But really interested to see how the Cubs do against teams that they're supposed to be yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Are they going to come in now that the the schedule is getting to be a little bit better, and are they going to take these, these series? And I think they are? I think that I think they definitely are. I mean, they show they almost last night. I loved it so much because I because I had almost counted them out and I was very tired watching anyway, because I'd gotten up early and as soon as the ninth inning came oh, I was awake. Yeah, I was ready, you know. And then they pulled it out. You were so pumped up I was, I was very pumped up.
Speaker 1:Brian rarely texts with exclamation points, but there were plenty of exclamation points last night. He was really excited about that win. Well, brian rarely texts with exclamation points, but there were plenty of exclamation points.
Speaker 2:last night he was really excited about that win. Well, you know, past couple of nights I've been like well, the Cubs have cubbed themselves. They've cubbed themselves right out of victory.
Speaker 1:Right, but not last night, though. No, they showed up.
Speaker 2:I was very excited about that.
Speaker 1:So yeah, things going good on the north side of Chicago these days, even though we found that the Pope is actually a White Sox fan.
Speaker 2:I know, I know Well, we'll forgive him.
Speaker 1:How great is it, though, that we now have a Pope where we can just go interview his family. I love it, you know. Yeah, we've never had that before.
Speaker 2:No, no, no. I mean it's interesting, Very interesting it is. It is and you know the Pope and the Cardinals, they all love their baseball Right. I mean that's been known for decades and years.
Speaker 1:I don't know that the Pope from Argentina cared about baseball. Well, maybe not.
Speaker 2:I'm not a Pope expert, you know. I don't know. You know I watched the dan brown movies, but I don't know that's enough pope talk.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about my religion. The dodgers, all right, um, you know largely chugging along doing dodger things. You know largely chugging along doing Dodger things. You know winning, winning a lot more games than we're losing um dealing with injuries.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and and add another one to the list Roki Sasaki, now on the injured list with a shoulder impingement, which sounds really awful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does?
Speaker 1:Um, I don't even know. I've not dug into that enough to really know if it's the throwing shoulder or the the other shoulder. Yeah, I don't know which one it is, either, but but you know, um just goes right back to this team to a certain degree can afford to let guys get healthy and take those breaks, but man, you just, at some point you're going. I just want to see this team healthy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just once, and cooking on all cylinders. They're not even cooking on all cylinders yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so so you know it's may don't even haven't even dug the panic button out of the box yet. I mean it's, it's, it's. You know, too early to tell, still still where we want to be and, um, but did you watch last night? I have not seen last night yet. Do you know?
Speaker 2:I've seen much about it, okay, well it it was very uncomfortable, very, very, very uncomfortable. I dozed off at one point in the middle innings and woke up and was horrified I was like, oh my god, yeah, when I saw the score this morning I was pretty horrified myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but that's okay, you know, look it's, it is what it is, you know. Well, I mean good for the a's, love me some. Landon knack yeah, I'm not gonna sit here and disparage landon knack. Um, johnson city boy yeah, you know, happy he's on the ball club, but he's eating up innings, and that's the thing is. Once he started giving up home runs, it was like it's still your game, kid, you just got to stay out there and give us as much as you've got, yeah, because we don't have the depth or the bullpen's not rested enough to pull you early. You just got to go out there and eat it. You know he kind of got himself in the Brent Honeywell spot last night of just like just go throw pitches, yeah, don't care what happens to them once they leave your hand, but just go eat some innings and get us through this and set us up to where now we can go win the series.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, because when it's not your day, it's not your day.
Speaker 2:Well I was. When they hit the well, the last home run to me in the ninth, I was like that's enough, I can't tell you Like I didn't lose faith in them until that happened. Yeah, and I was like okay enough, I can't tell you Like I didn't lose faith in them until that happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was like, okay, this is insurmountable odds, let's go ahead and switch the channel. Sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I get it, you know it's, but again, it's just a, it happens, it's just a Tuesday, you know it's Tuesday, may 13th you know, and I would venture to guess that Dave Roberts doesn't care.
Speaker 2:I mean, he cares, don't like I'm not saying like he doesn't care.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, I get exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 2:It happened, that was yesterday. Let's move on to tonight.
Speaker 1:The goal is not to do whatever you can to win on Tuesday, may 13th Exactly. Again, it's not your night, but give us what you got. Just go out there and face guys and get outs and whatever else happens happens, and again set us up to where we don't have to deplete the bullpen getting blown out in game one and we can still go win this series yeah.
Speaker 2:Because tonight's going to be a different. I can just tell you already it's going to be a different ballgame.
Speaker 1:Well, of course it is.
Speaker 2:I mean, they're not going to do that twice in a row, isn't it always?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's the beauty of baseball.
Speaker 1:Also, the guy on the mound tonight has a 180 RA. Yeah, the guy on the mound tonight has a 180 RA. Yeah, and Major League Baseball put out on social media some early Cy Young polling. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the guy right now in the National League yeah, and you know, I still wonder if he's going to pitch enough innings to get the votes, because weirdly, that's part of this conversation and award voters don't compensate for this. Guy's used to a different schedule and we're slowly easing him into the major league. Pitching rotation yeah, pitching rotation. And yeah, um, you know, um, but but you feel a little better about things when you've got him on the mound for sure, oh yeah, without a doubt and reinforcements are.
Speaker 1:You know, tony gonsolin has come back and looked great. Yeah, you know, giving us, giving us good starts, getting deep into games, um, doing a fine job after missing, you know, almost two years. And uh, and the slow, the slow, reintroduction and into the, into the major league level and um, hey, clayton kershaw saturday.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, and didn't he uh, you'll know this didn't he just pitch in triple a or something this week?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, just in the last couple days.
Speaker 2:And he did well right.
Speaker 1:He's been on a rehab assignment for a while, right, and they said when he started the assignment like don't get excited yet, it's going to be a long one Because I think he's at the point where he's ready, right, but he needed a spring training, yeah, and the only way to do that is to go down to triple a and face competition maybe not the level of competition you're going to be at, but it's still competition and you're still trying to get good hitters out, right, you know, and a lot of guys in triple a have been in the major leagues so, but obviously very exciting to get Kersh back on the mound at the big league level and, you know, just hope that he can be Clayton Kershaw, you know, because even if he's not, you know what he's always been. Really, you know, if he takes a step back, still better than most guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean he's still collecting Kershaw and he takes. You know he can't make a mistake because he takes so much flack for every that that squares up a ball in his whole career. I mean he's so scrutinized but when you get down to it and you really look at the numbers that matter, I mean he's one of the greatest to ever do it yeah, without a doubt I think.
Speaker 1:I think kirsch himself would tell you that sandy Koufax is the greatest lefty of all time. Obviously, a lot of people want to talk about Randy Johnson, and they should, but Kershaw belongs in the conversation as the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time. Yeah, and if you don't like that, I'm sorry, it's just the truth, you know. So, yeah, I'm excited to be able to watch him pitch. Um, for that's appointment viewing for me. Right, you know, because I don't know how many more times I'm going to get to do it. Um, I hope a lot, but you don't, you never know. Yeah, you definitely never know. You never know.
Speaker 1:And he's, he's certainly had his share of injury issues recently. He's no spring chicken, been around for a long time. I think this is his 18th year in the major leagues. It's commendable that he's been able to pitch that long and not only do it with one team, but also, you know, keep the keep the numbers, um, not just respectable, but but you know, really good. I mean, this is a guy, yeah, competitive. This is a guy that you for his career, his career 432 games, 429 of those as a starter, 250 ERA career.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Amazing right.
Speaker 1:I mean just argue with yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, guys don't pitch for 20 years and have a 2-5 era. Yeah, it just doesn't happen. Just doesn't happen. Baseball's a funny game, you know, um, and that's that's clayton kershaw knowing and understanding how to, how to give his team a chance to win when he doesn't have his best stuff. Understanding what to go to when a certain pitch maybe isn't, if a breaking ball's not breaking, or the fastball maybe doesn't have the velo you need, or you don't quite have your full arsenal, what do you do? What do you do and that's something that Clayton Kershaw is one of the best ever at is getting a win for the ball club when he's not at his very best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when he's not necessarily on and still coming out on top.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to look at this real quick. I'm looking at career ERA plus. Again, this is a 100 is league average Career. He's a 156 ERA+. He has led the league in that category four times in his career. He's only for a whole season been below average twice. One of those was his rookie year of 2008 and he was a 98 era plus. He was right there at league average yeah you know, as a 20 year old.
Speaker 1:yeah, that was his age. 20 season, yeah, you know, drafted and drafted out of high school. In 2016, two years later, he's pitching in dodger stadium and he's damn near league average, yeah, and then goes on, I mean that says a lot Then goes on.
Speaker 1:I mean, then he goes just year to year 143, 133, 161, 150, 194, 197, 173, 237. Over twice, as I mean, this is just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Every year, every year. He's right there. Um, you know, I, I will tolerate no clayton kershaw hate, no, no, mealy mouthing on kershaw, zero yeah, zero.
Speaker 1:You might as well be dogging Dave Roberts, because I'm not listening, just not listening. Man so excited to get Kersh back. Hopefully he can stay healthy all year, log some innings. He's working on some milestones now Obviously want to see him get to as many of those big milestones as he can. Um, he's 37 again. Don't know how many more times we're going to get to see him pitch, uh, in dodger blue. So I'm going to cherish every, every single opportunity yeah, absolutely, I am too.
Speaker 2:I mean I, I can't wait to see him back up there and see him contributing, and he's just so fun to watch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's. You know, brian and I obviously grew up in a different era of the game and I'm not going to sit here and tell you how much better it was, because I don't know that it was. It was just different. And to me, watching Kersh pitch is like going back and watching again randy johnson yeah, or somebody like that pitch from from when I was a kid, right, you know, and, and and I think the same could be said for you um, with different examples, yeah, um, from a little bit earlier, uh, timeline wise. But kersh is a true throwback, uh, one of the one, of the very last of, of a, of a dying breed yeah, um, you gotta pay me a royalty yeah, whatever, but yeah, that's exciting.
Speaker 1:And, um, man, you want to talk about exciting. People are finally talking about the year freddie freeman is having.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, finally, yeah, and the comment Freddie Freeman is having yes, yes, finally, yeah, and the commentators seem to have eased up finally on him and I'm talking about, like the Apple and the ESPN commentators, because you know the way they explain things everybody's in a slump. So they were like, well, freddie's not really been producing. Well, yeah, he has. You know been producing?
Speaker 1:well, yeah, he has, you know. Yeah, he is currently leading the league in batting average on base slugging ops, ops plus plus, which, by the way, is a 222 right now. Um, a lot of offensive categories he's leading the way. Yeah, um, and was rewarded with the National League Player of the Week, which you know, awesome, always love seeing Dodgers win these awards. Oh, yeah, you know, we've talked about Yamamoto winning Pitcher of the Month.
Speaker 1:Andy Pah has got a player, a co-player of the week not that long ago, um, while he's been hot and um, now you can add Freddie Freeman to that list. And you know, we're just at such a place now where a guy is having a season like this, having a season like this I mean, ops plus 222 is ungodly, otherworldly, and nobody's really talking about Freddie Freeman as the MVP of the National League right now, and they should be. Yeah, he's in that conversation. Yeah, he's missed some games. I don't know if he's quite being a qualified hitter yet.
Speaker 1:He'll get there. He doesn't miss a lot of games. Yeah, so he's going to get there. And, by the way, his ankle not 100% yet, right? I read the other day that it takes 90 minutes for him to prep the ankle before every game. I mean, it's not the three hours it was taken when he had the rib issue and the ankle and that was fresh and he hadn't had the offseason and everything, but still going through a lot to get out there and just show up. And he's doing more than that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's looked great. And again, they're not hitting on all cylinders, but he is and he's not at the same time. Do you understand what I'm saying there? Yeah, meaning that, how good is he going to be when he gets healthy? Yeah, yeah, and he's leading everything already. Sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, what a great role model. You know everything he's been through the last year or so the health issues with his son Max having to leave the team, piling up injuries and playing through them. And what are we talking about with Freddie Freeman in that time? We're talking about the Game 1 of the World Series walk-off Grand Slam. Nobody had ever done it. We're talking about him putting up mvp numbers. Um, you know, I heard this too. He's hitting the ball as hard as he ever has. Yeah, in his whole career. Yeah, you know, at age hold please, 35 yeah, that's amazing he's.
Speaker 1:He's creeping up on 36 he'll'll be 36 in September and he's hitting the ball harder than he ever has without losing any of the other metrics. And it's not bat speed with him, it's not added strength with him. He just knows how to square up a ball. Yeah, he does. He just knows how to hit.
Speaker 2:Yep sure does. He is a how to hit. Yep sure does, he is a hitter.
Speaker 1:His approach is the best in the game, because if you leave him an opening, he's probably going to find it, and that just. Guys don't hit that way anymore. No, some guys do, don't get me wrong, the best hitters in the game still do that, but that's what makes them the best hitters in the game, right In any era.
Speaker 2:And he's amongst that, oh, 100%, maybe even leading the pack.
Speaker 1:I don't claim to be an expert. I should say we're just two guys talking baseball, hence the name of the show. But for my money, freddie's one of the greatest hitters of all time, I agree, because he can just do whatever you need um, and and he does it consistently. He doesn't like being out of the lineup, he plays through a lot. You know you go, you go play 162 games and see if you're not hurting. Oh yeah, without a doubt. You know, not to mention, you're at first base, which is a, you know um, dangerous position, very dangerous. You know, I mean it's not catching, but you know there's collisions. You can get your arm kind of hung up on another player. Yeah, you know, it's not You're real active over there.
Speaker 2:It's not like you have a choice of maybe they're not going to hit it to third, or hit it to center or wherever Right. You're getting the ball like 50% of the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100% yeah, and he's a gold glover. You know he's a great defensive first baseman. So, um, just uh just happy he's. He's home with the dodgers man, just uh, just happy. But this team is gonna um, oh, we have breaking dodger news. That was very well timed okay, let's hear it. I have just gotten word that the Dodgers are going to call up Dalton Rushing for his major league debut. Wow, I have not seen a corresponding move, but that's exciting that is very exciting.
Speaker 1:Dodgers top prospect. They've been trying to figure out a way to get him on the big league roster. You know he's a catcher by trade but he's been playing some other positions. They've been trying him on the big league roster. You know he's uh, he's a catcher by trade but he's been playing some other positions. They've been trying him in the outfield, in the minors and um, just looking for a way to get him some at bats at the big league level. And it looks like they figured that out now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great so exciting you know and that's the thing with this team stars are going on the injured list, other stars are stepping up, yeah, and now you've got this really exciting prospect that you drafted when when, by the way, you never get to draft high because you're too good, right, and you spend too much money, um but you've got this exciting kid coming up and we're going to see what he can do under the bright lights.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to see him. Yeah, that's really exciting and perfect timing on the breaking news.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just came on my phone. So yeah, more on that, I'm sure, in the coming weeks. I don't imagine, I don't imagine, I don't know. I think this is a situation where they've got the room. We've still got a couple position player guys on the injured list. Tao is going to be back soon. I haven't heard much on Tommy Edmond, but we'll kind of see how that progresses. And I think Dalton Rushing honestly can push the issue If he comes up and he's really effective and he is doing well. I think he can make these decisions a little bit tougher on the Dodgers.
Speaker 2:So very cool. Yeah, I I mean just adding to the machine man. I mean it's just their depth. Yeah, I mean they're just. They got it going on in every, every level, every level, every category. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Uh, I mean again, how good are they going to be when they they're all healthy well, and every time you say that, you know my response we never got there last year and we still won it all. I know. Yeah, they may not need to be healthy.
Speaker 1:That's a testament to this organization, everybody in it, top to bottom, not just the players, not just the coaches, but scouts, player development, the front office. That's what separates the Dodgers is they hire the best people at every level of the organization, at every department. They want to be the best at everything and unfortunately right now there's not a lot of teams that have that outlook or that mentality. Yeah, you know, poor, broke billionaires.
Speaker 2:Those poor broke billionaires. I know it's a shame, isn't it?
Speaker 1:But I'm glad that my team has billionaires that want to be the best and want to invest their money. Yeah, and understand that by doing that, they're making more money. Exactly, exactly. Anyways, you got anything else on the dodgers? You've been watching more than me, so they just been looking good.
Speaker 2:I mean they, they really. I mean not last night, but I mean they were looking good all the other nights. Tuesday, may 13th, man, that's, that's it. I mean, in october, are we even going to remember this date? No, of course not. No, of course we're not, of course not. It's an anomaly. And I mean, and against the a's, I mean come on well, and and you?
Speaker 1:I sort of brushed this off and moved on to a different point, but but good for the a's. Yeah, very good for the a's. This is a ball club that is exceeding expectations. Um, you know who thought that the a's would be any good? And as it stands right now.
Speaker 2:Excuse me while I google always riveting radio when we google the a's are in a playoff spot.
Speaker 1:There you go. You know, they're half a game up on the astros for the last, um, the last wild card spot as it stands right now. Um, you know, teams, they're playing good, yeah, they're playing good and they're overcoming a lot, overcoming a lot, playing at that that mickey mouse field and yeah being treated like second rate big leaguers.
Speaker 2:Yep you know? I mean, yeah, they have been dealt a lot of blows, but you wouldn't have known it last night, and that's good for them, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so a lot of speculation about the corresponding move. Dalton Rushing is not currently on the 40-man roster, so it's going to require maybe a DFA. There's a couple of candidates that are obvious, but it could also be something drastic. Yeah, could this? This is something that dodger fans have been talking about for a while. Could this be the end of the road for chris taylor?
Speaker 1:yeah you know. I hope not. Well, I don't know. Right, I think that might be coming again if dalton rushing comes up, shows he can play left field and shows he can hit at the big league level. I have a hard time believing Chris Taylor is on this roster if Dalton Rushing is.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I don't think that's the move. To get Dalton up for the first time? Okay, because I don't think you give up on Chris Taylor whenlor when you've got other options. Um, I don't know.
Speaker 2:We'll see um more on that as we get it yeah, I mean somebody's got to move out for him to move up, so we'll just have to see what happens all right, let's move on to white socks.
Speaker 1:Watch. White socks watch. That's right if you weren't with us last week. We have a new segment. Second week we're going to be doing it and, by the looks of it, we're going to be doing this all season. We are comparing the 2025 Rockies to the worst team in Major League history, the 2024 Chicago White Sox. Yeah, on this day last year, the Chicago White Sox were 13-30. That's a 3-0-2 win percentage, 14 games out of first place with a negative 89 run differential. That's pretty bad.
Speaker 2:That's really bad.
Speaker 1:That's pretty bad. And for the second week in a row the Colorado Rockies have said hold my beer Because they are 7-35. That's a 167 win percentage. It is May 14th and they are 20 games out of first place with a negative 132 run difference.
Speaker 2:I mean they're going to be mathematically eliminated soon. Yeah, I mean you thought that was a joke, but they really are.
Speaker 1:No, it's not going to be long, I wonder. I need to do some research. What's the earliest a team has been mathematically eliminated?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Now change is afoot in Denver because the Rockies this week fired Bud Black Yep. Because the Rockies this week fired Bud Black Yep, he's being replaced with third base coach Warren Schaefer, who I know very little about because nobody really knows much about him. I do know he's 40 years old. Okay, and very rarely when you replace a manager with someone who's already on the coaching staff does it offer you a new voice so to speak.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's more of the same.
Speaker 1:But Bud Black, you know, not disparaging Bud Black, I like him a lot. It's been a long time since he was 40 years old and I don't know. I think you, you know, we talked a little bit last week about the pirates and, um, you know, derrick shelton kind of being the scapegoat and how derrick shelton wasn't gonna, um, make a big difference, um, nobody's gonna make a big difference on that club right now, the way things are going, but, um, that's kind of what this feels like, feels very scapegoaty, um, I'm pulling up.
Speaker 2:Well, that's, that's the thing is, um, do you really want to be that guy? I mean sure you want to take the gm position or the skipper position, uh, but do you want to go from the, the losing percentage of that, and be the guy that comes in? Because that's a lot of pressure, because you're going to have to make some changes quickly and and you're going to be judged harshly on that.
Speaker 1:So that's got to be a rough position for him to be in okay, so dave roberts worked under bud black when he was with the padres. Okay, um, he has called bud black his mentor as a major league manager. They're they're pretty close to this day. Dave roberts, on the bud black firing said I'm bummed, I'm disappointed, and here's where it gets good. I don't think Casey Stengel could change the outcome of that ball club and that's not the manager's fault.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, okay. So then, whose fault is it, dave?
Speaker 1:Well, he doesn't think it was Bud Black's, and he definitely didn't think it was Bud Black's and he definitely didn't think Bud Black should have lost his job.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right so man Strong, very strong, very serious comment there, strong.
Speaker 1:Yes, and when you've got a guy in the division, another manager in the division with the Rockies saying shit like that yeah, cow, yeah, you know. I mean I don't know if there's any more to add to that- there isn't.
Speaker 2:I mean that's it's. I mean he thinks it's not his fault, I mean so it's got to be on the players and the pitching right you know, the crazy thing is Bud Black was the last manager to have the Rockies in the playoffs.
Speaker 1:Oh really, yeah, yeah. First few years he was there, he put him in the playoffs. Oh really, yeah, yeah, first few years he was there, he put them in the playoffs a couple times, okay, you know, and since then they've sold off all the good players and they just don't seem to be that interested in winning. But Bud had to lose his job, I guess yeah, I don't know, poor bud, some of these teams. I'm really worried about the next collective bargaining agreement, because I think a lot of these owners are going to be advocating for stuff that the players are not going to allow to happen. Mm-hmm, and I don't know, man, this, this show might change drastically if there's a salary cap in baseball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really might, because I don't, I don't think there should be I don't know if we're gonna enjoy the game as much yeah and that's not me.
Speaker 1:That's not me saying that we will. We will protest and be grouchy just because we don't want the salary cap. I think it changes the game in a way that will benefit the owners at the expense of the quite frankly, amazing product on the field right now yeah, I mean the best product that we have seen.
Speaker 2:I've been saying that this is the best season. This is the best season without a doubt. I called it beforehand and it's living up to it yeah, so far you're.
Speaker 1:You're looking really smart with that um why, thank you?
Speaker 2:blows me away a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now he's taking my quote.
Speaker 2:A monkey-type family.
Speaker 1:A monkey-type family. Brian also said it was going to be Bo Bichette's year, and that's looking pretty true right now. So I don't have anything, because the Angels have disappointed me. I said one time they were looking good and now they're right back where they probably belong in last place. What about?
Speaker 2:real quick. This is off topic, but Rival Week that's coming up this weekend. It's the new promotion. Right, and they got the Dodgers versus the Angels.
Speaker 1:Like that's a rivalry.
Speaker 2:Like that's a rivalry and Ohtani faces his former teammates Can he survive. Like, who are you shitting with this?
Speaker 1:Who cares? Yeah, who cares? I mean I'll take the sweep this weekend.
Speaker 2:I'm cool with that, I mean, and that's probably what it's going to be, I mean, I would be very surprised if it wasn't.
Speaker 1:So yeah, things not going too good in Rockies land right now, no, unfortunate. I like that. I like that team. They're unique, um, you know, they wear purple for one.
Speaker 2:the ballpark is just out there.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's just weird, but it's, it's, it's. It's apparently a great place to see a game because they've been terrible and they still pack that place out because you know people in Denver, that's where they want to go. Have a beer. Right Is at a Rockies game, yeah, so you know, I would hate to see this get to a point where the fans stop showing up Right right, we don't want that.
Speaker 2:We don't want that at all.
Speaker 1:I don't want that for anybody, no, but if this continues, I don't see any way around it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if this continues, I don't see any way around it. Yeah, I mean, it's going to affect attendance at some point. It has to. I mean, at what point do the fans just give up on them?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't know. And then that opens the greater conversation Do the fans care more about a good place to go have a beer or do they care about the team succeeding? Well, I guess we're going to find out yeah, that's what it's going to come down to by the end of this year and find out the hard way. And for them to be five and a half games behind the White Sox pace from last year yeah, that is rough. I mean, we were so unkind to the White Sox last year. Yeah, we were. And they look like the 27 Yankees compared to this Rockies team.
Speaker 2:I mean holy crap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow. All right, a few more things to talk about this week, and, as I did with the Cubs, I'm going to do this with the overall show. We're going to get some of the negative out of the way. We talked about the Rockies, so that's checked off the list. Now we're going to talk about something that we haven't really delved into too much as it's been going on. I think we've touched on it a little bit, but this Rafael Devers saga with the Red Sox is getting really interesting.
Speaker 1:So, if you're not familiar, in the offseason the red sox signed alex bregman. There initially were reports that bregman was willing to move to second base and that seemed relevant to the red sox because rafael devers is on a 10-year 313 and a half million dollar contract $213.5 million contract as at the time, the third baseman. Okay, oh, my God. Sorry, I now know the corresponding move for Dalton Rushing. What is it? He's going to be the backup catcher there, dfaing Austin Barnes. Really, wow, that is shocking. I didn't see that coming. I didn't see that coming either. Wow, and he's such. I didn't see that coming. I didn't see that coming either. Wow, and he's such a good player too. Well, he's a good backup catcher. Don't get me wrong, but I think this speaks to the belief in Dalton rushing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And this is them committing to Dalton rushing as a catcher, which seems a little odd because you've got Will Smith under contract for a long time as the starter and you would think this guy's still in his development and you want to get him as many at-bats as possible. Now. Could Dalton Rushing be the backup catcher and still play some left field? He's not going to DH, that spot's taken. Wow, I don't know what. To DH? That spot's taken. Wow, I don't know what to say. You're speechless. I am speechless. I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know what to think about that either, because I enjoy watching him play.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Austin Barnes yeah, what an integral part an unsung member of these successful teams the Dodgers have had for so long. And who's going to catch Kershaw on Saturday, Right?
Speaker 2:right.
Speaker 1:I guess Will is Kershaw's new personal catcher.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Man, that is earth-shattering news in the Dodger world Big, big, big Wow.
Speaker 2:So it's been a while since we got breaking news in the middle of a show and we're getting all kinds of breaking news right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's crazy, that's crazy. All right, let's talk Rafi Devers. So he's at third base. They sign Bregman. We think Bregman's moving to second. Well, now you've got Christian Campbell, this great prospect who they've called up. He's been playing second base, been great. Devers has been the DH Bregman's at third Seems to be going pretty well. Problem with that is you've got Yoshida, who doesn't really have a spot, who you're paying a lot of money. You've got Roman Anthony and Marcelo Meyer waiting for their chance, waiting for a spot to come up. Oh and, by the way, tristan Casas, the everyday first baseman out for the season.
Speaker 1:So the Red Sox have apparently asked Rafael Devers to move to first base in the middle of the season. So the Red Sox have apparently asked Rafael Devers to move to first base in the middle of the season and he best we can tell from the reporting and what we've heard from him and from the team, he's not too keen on that. Yeah, unbelievable. Brian, you might have a different perspective. You're a little bit more old school when it comes to stuff like this, but I can't blame him. I can't blame him because Ken Rosenthal had a great piece in the Athletic.
Speaker 1:Ken has never minced words. He seems like a terrific guy, but when he has something to say he just says it in his articles. He said that it was quote totally justified to ask Devers to move to DH to make room for Bregman at third. Not so much now. And his greater point was that this could have all been avoided if the team had been honest with Devers from the start and said we want you to, but we want you to start learning first base in case something like this happens. Right, so did they know that and not communicate? Well, did they just not think maybe we should have a backup plan in case something happens at first base? I don't think any of this makes the red socks look good it doesn't.
Speaker 2:Um, it looks like they don't have their, their ducks in a row and they don't have their, their stuff together. But also, I am of the mind that if you're under contract and they tell you to go pop the popcorn, go pop the popcorn if the checks cash. Now, the checks didn't cash, that's a different story. But if he's getting his pay and they say we need you to pop the popcorn or sell the programs, that's where you need to be. So if they say they need you at first, then you need to play first.
Speaker 1:And I see that side of it too. But there's also some precedent here. Bryce Harper moved to first base to get back from Tommy John surgery quicker yeah, willing to do it. Mookie Betts moves from a multiple-time, a perennial gold glove right fielder to the infield at an age where that is not an easy position change Not that it's easy at any point, but what a challenge Mookie has taken on moving to shortstop and even second base before that for the Dodgers willing to do it Big star, long-term contract, same deal. The one difference is that Devers is not the supreme athlete that Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper, even to a lesser degree, are right, um. But. But I'm sure there are people that are looking at Devers and going, dude, just play first base. Yeah, just go play first base, right, um? I don't think either side is looking great right now, if we're being honest. No, they're not. They both look terrible. I think it's a 94-strike situation. I think the fans are fed up with both and they just want this to get resolved and move on to something else.
Speaker 1:To me personally, reading this article and again Ken Rosenthal and the Athletic, one of the supreme best baseball writers there happens to be right now One of the most interesting things for me, or really the most interesting thing was Rosenthal believes that the Red Sox seem like they want rid of Devers in this and a trade, according to Rosenthal, not too far-fetched, because Rafael Devers' deal Doesn't have a no trade. They just owe him $2 million for a quote-unquote assignment bonus. If he's traded Mm-hmm and 10 years 313 and a half is very soon going to look like a deal. Yeah, because Juan Soto got 765. Vlad Jr, on a team discount, got over 500. Yeah, so Endeavors is right there with those guys. Yeah, right there with those guys.
Speaker 1:Did I jot down? I think he's 28. So he's. This is all getting really, really interesting and Rosenthal puts most of this on the team. Right, and a great quote to kind of end the article and put a bow on Rosenthal's point. The Sox paid Devers to hit. Let him hit and figure out the rest. Yeah, and I think that sums it up. Yeah, I agree with that About as well as it can be done. Yeah, but again, devers is not blameless in this and Rosenthal touched on that in the article. It's a two-way street and neither way is looking good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a two-way street and neither way is looking good. Yeah. So you know, this is a Red Sox team that is contending, they're competing. They are more than capable of going out at the deadline and making moves to improve this team, to get better, to put themselves in a better position to contend. But they got to figure this out, man, they, they got to get this settled. They, they, they need to go, they just I think everybody just needs to sit down in a room and hash it all out, oh yeah, and just get to a, get to an accord, figure out what's best for everybody, yeah, the most agreeable thing they can do, and just go do it yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:I agree they got to get. Excuse me, get this over quickly, because you know the fans. They're already losing the fans on it. That's not good. That's going to affect the attendance, it's going to be bad press, that's going to affect the other players. They need to come to a conclusion on this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's been and it's so funny and maybe this is just because over the offseason we watched the great Netflix documentary on the Red Sox that came back from down 3-0 against the Yankees, went on to win the World Series. Yeah, a very glossed over, I feel like, and I'm not connected really well to the Red Sox fandom, so maybe they talk about this, but I think in the national landscape, one of the aspects of that team and that season was that they traded away their franchise player right before they went on to win the world series. Yeah, in nomar garciaparra is history repeating itself? Are they going to move devers at the deadline or sooner to make room for these prospects coming up? Roman anthony marcello, marcelo Meyer come up and are what they're supposed to be and this team goes on to do really great things. After reading this article, I don't know that that's completely out of the picture as a possibility.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know either. I mean it's going to be interesting to see what happens over there with all this. I mean they definitely have a problem on their hands.
Speaker 1:Any front office that read this is going huh, we could use Rafael Devers.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right. I wonder what they want for him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's me. If I'm in a front office and I've got you know and I don't have Shohei Otani or Jordan Alvarez DH-ing every day, I'm going I'll DH Devers Hell, I'll put him at third. If he wants to play third, I'll have the worst third baseman defensively in the league out over there because he's going to hit home runs and get on base and do a lot of good for my team he's going to hit home runs and get on base and do a lot of good for my, for my team.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm cubs assessed. Uh is all big on deborah's coming to the cubs and I do not want that. Yeah, no, I don't. We don't need that. No, not at all.
Speaker 1:They're coming for you, they are coming they've heard me, and that's it that's the alarm oh my goodness, I I'm still kind of shaken about the Dalton rushing Austin.
Speaker 2:Barnes news. I know it's really gotten to you.
Speaker 1:I can read it on your face yeah, I'm sure I look like I just saw a ghost. Yeah, you look like you want to go. Why? No, it's not why I get, why, you know, Barnes is very much a behind-the-scenes guy, doesn't contribute a ton on the field. Will Smith has taken over the lion's share of the reps at catcher. He's got to take a break, he's got to get days off. But it's a very interesting move. Very interesting move it is. So we'll see how it plays out. I'm sure we'll talk about it more as we get Dalton Rushing's. You know, first game, first at-bats, first hits. You know, first home run.
Speaker 2:First everything.
Speaker 1:All these firsts that are about to start happening for Dalton Rushing and the Dodgers, yeah, but anyways, a couple more things I want to touch on before we get out of here today. Your old buddy is back. Yeah, he's back, el.
Speaker 2:Mago.
Speaker 1:El Mago is back, baby, after three years of looking like a complete and total mistake for the Tigers. Javi Baez is on fire, is friggin in fuego, man he's.
Speaker 2:Uh, he just needed some time to adjust. He just needed a season or three to adjust.
Speaker 1:Well, it's such a fascinating story and I think it's one that's going to play out a lot more as this season goes on, because the tigers are the class of the american league. Yeah, and a big part of that is not only javi bias having a 145 ops plus otani numbers at the plate right, he's also moved to center field. Yeah, one of the greatest infield defenders we've ever seen in a lot of ways is now playing center field with all these young guys, all these you know moving parts, because the tigers very rarely do. Is this tigers team putting a guy at one position every day, all the time? Yeah, they'll pinch, hit, they'll. They'll sub guys in and out um, they, they. You know.
Speaker 1:Aj hench is pulling a lot of levers and pushing a lot of buttons over there with that team, but for for me, for javi baez to willingly move to center field and start having this kind of season speaks to the veteran leadership. Yes, this is a guy who was a part of a very special team in 2016 not only won a world series, but did it for the cubs, for a fan base that was starved, that had seen generations come and go without a cubs world series victory. Yeah, we've talked about that ad nauseum on this show because obviously brian was very, very you know he was living and dying with every pitch. I was In that 2016 postseason.
Speaker 2:That's how I got white hair.
Speaker 1:But what a great way to step up and say I know I haven't been myself, I know I haven't delivered, but I've got to help this team. Yeah, and boy, is he helping the Tigers right now. Yeah, it seems like he's back. Boy is he helping the tigers right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like he's back in regular form and the move must be good for him.
Speaker 1:I mean it's showing it's working out so far. Yeah, more more on that as the uh, as the season goes on, but but, um, I I think it's great to have el mago back. I do too. I saw the you know I had seen the highlights and and the in the you know the go-ahead home highlights and the you know the go ahead home run and the two Homer game and all the stuff he's been doing. And then I saw MLB post something to the effect of the return of El Mago and I was like yes inject that shit into my veins.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's just better for the game that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, it's great for baseball. It's great for the detroit tigers, yeah, who, uh, are looking incredible right now and, um, you know, good for the tigers, faithful, who believed and were patient and let this all play out, because this is not something that's happened overnight with the tigers. This has been brewing for a while, several years, the way they've put this team together. They brought in AJ Hinch after the suspension from the 2017 nonsense and he is leading this ball club in a big way right now and they look like the favorites in the American League.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're looking great, looking outstanding all right, didn't have this on the format, well, because I forgot, but I'm going to talk about it anyways, before we, uh, wrap things up okay world baseball classic is coming up.
Speaker 1:We know aaron judge is going to be part of team usa big announcement that took place and happened probably going to be the captain. You know, going to be the guy for team usa. Yeah, they got some pitching this go around. Yeah, they do. Paul skeens is going to play for team usa in the world baseball classic how do you think that's going to go?
Speaker 1:well, we'll get to that first off. Good, yeah, this is what this tournament should be all about. It should be the best in the world. Playing for their country, yeah, or whatever country they represent. Because they can't get on team usa, um, but yeah, ultimately, because when you look at the roster from the last go-round, they had some pitching. They didn't have a lot of star pitchers and I think that's with good reason. Pitcher injuries have been in the headlines for a while now. Mlb is investigating they're looking into this. What is causing these major pitching injuries at a frequency at a rate that we've really never seen before? There's been a lot of people giving their takes on what the cause is or isn't. I think an intelligent person can gather all that information and go. It's a combination, it's not one thing Right, all that information and go it's a combination.
Speaker 1:It's not one thing, right, but I just look at the pirates right now and I look at all the bad things that are happening in Pittsburgh, many of which are well within their control to prevent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and now listen, he could stay healthy.
Speaker 1:Their control to prevent? Yeah, and Now listen. He could stay healthy. He could just rock and it could be amazing, right?
Speaker 2:But if he gets hurt, oh man, what a mess.
Speaker 1:If he gets hurt, a huge mess, huge On top of an already pretty big mess. Yeah, I saw somebody posting the other day just a list of all the drama from the Pirates, just from the first month and a half of this season.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it was a long list. We've talked about some of it. I largely don't want to talk about the pirates because I don't know that I want to give them a lot of time on our show but this could go really bad for the pittsburgh pirates yeah, it really could.
Speaker 2:I mean they could be and just the slightest little thing could hurt him, and then they're in big trouble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so exciting from a fan standpoint, absolutely Amazing. Love this. Want to see him pitch at that level, want to see him facing I mean, you know, could we see him versus Otani in a championship game US and Japan? Maybe you know it was box office when he faced Otani in the regular season at Dodger.
Speaker 2:Stadium.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not that long ago Matched up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, out-dueled Yamamoto. That night Got the win for the Pirates, yeah, but yeah, I'm a little little worried and it's all about the luck of the pirates yeah, they don't have good luck and, uh, this might be a big downfall for them but I'm going to try to focus on the positive.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna I'm gonna really try to be excited and enjoy this and he's gonna be great. It's gonna be fantastic. Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be great. It's gonna be awesome. I'm looking forward to the world. Yeah, yeah, it's going to be great. It's going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to the World Baseball Classic. We haven't had a chance to cover a World Baseball.
Speaker 2:Classic on the show no we haven't.
Speaker 1:We need to, and thank goodness, because off-seasons are hard, yeah, off-seasons are difficult to find shit to talk about, yeah, so at brian, what else do you got this week before my phone lights up again and we got to keep talking.
Speaker 1:Well, I, there's so much coming in, so much coming in a lot going on a lot, and we're going to be here. We'll be back next week, um, same bat time, same bat channel, to talk more baseball. Who knows what's going to happen between now and then. I'm going to be watching very closely as dalton rushing makes his way to the major leagues. Um, I'm really interested to see what austin barnes is going to get a job, yeah, quick, it ain't going to take long for him to be in another clubhouse, yeah, and a lot of teams are already probably on the phone going what, what do you want? Yeah, what is it going to take? What do you want? Because he can help a lot of ball clubs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, stay tuned, I guess, is all I can say at this point. Wait for an hour from now, because the winds will change.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we'll be back next week with another great episode of Two Guys Talking Baseball. We hope you're enjoying it. We want to shout out our, uh, our people at pirate flag radio, as we do every week. Um, for putting up with us and and, uh, you know, accepting us as part of that family, uh, it's, it's a joy and a privilege and um, yeah, that's all we got. So for brian, I'm d.
Speaker 2:We'll see you at the ballpark.
