Is The American League Just Bad?

The Jimmies discuss the reasons why there are only 3 teams in the AL that have a record above .500.

What does the Tarik Skubal injury mean for the Detroit Tigers?

Who is the next manager on the chopping block?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Baseball fans and baseball lovers, good day. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the MLB Clubhouse with the Jimmies. I am here with the Slay dude, Justin Slay, Wendell Pops Patterson, and I am Josh Patterson. We had another manager get fired. We had one where the front office said he's good. He's our guy. We're going to stick with him. Really didn't make a whole lot of sense. And we had a whole lot of really, really good baseball this weekend. Um, can't wait to get up, go over the standings with you guys. We're also going to talk about how bad maybe the AL is. We currently have three American League teams with a winning record, and we've got five in the NL Central alone. Pretty crazy stuff. Let's get into it. All right, fellas. First, I guess we'll go over the AL recap, but uh pretty crazy stuff going on in the in the AL standing slate, dude. I'm I'm excited to hear your thoughts on it. And um, we'll also got some some bad news going on in the league that we'll discuss here in a little bit. So, first, American League. The Jays visit the Twin Cities and they split a four-game set. Okamoto hit some thunderous bombs in that one. Uh, Joe Ryan left with an elbow injury. Hopefully, that's not too serious because he's the only pitcher of any name value on the Twins. And Treya Savage is back from the I. L. He made a couple starts last week. One pretty good. Uh, one of those he kind of got roughed up by the twins a little bit. Our Rangers face off against the Motor City Kitties. The Rangers take game one, but the Tigers take the set. Uh, it was not all good news for Detroit, however, as Terek Scuble is set to have elbow surgery. More to come on that here in a little bit. The Yankees look like the real deal is they sweep the O's, and it wasn't even a competitive series, fellas. Uh, Houston and Boston, possibly the two most disappointing teams in the AL, square off at Finway. The A the Astros take two out of three, and the Red Sox are just in shambles. Pitchers are showing up the manager on the mound. Rookies and veterans are arguing through the media, and Craig Breslo actually admitted that he was to blame for building this roster, but still fired Alex Gora anyway. The Giants face off against the Rays, one of only three teams in the American League with a winning record, and the Rays sweep the set because their pitching is good and San Francisco's hitting is bad. That's called analytics, people. The Mets are chanting OTG as they visit the Halos. They are thanking God because they're visiting the Halos at just the right time. The Metropolitans finally win the series as they take two out of three in Anaheim. Division leaders going at it in Sacramento. The Guardians take on the A's. Chase DeWater has maybe one of the ugliest swings I've ever seen. Uh, but that kid's got some pop. The Guardians slugged their way to winning the first two, but things got messy for Mesick as the A's teed off on him in game three to salvage the set. Then the Royals finally showing some life as they sweep in Seattle. Cal Raleigh, though, sat the series out with some back pain. Um, he's pulling the Nemo, not going on the I. L, but he is sitting out a few games to see if he can get it better. Um, and hopefully he can. That Seattle lineup is just not the same without him in it. All right, Slady, you got some standings for me?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

I do, I do. Let's see. Oh, yes. Um, so yes, like you said, Josh, so we do have it's just ugly. I mean, we got a lot of you know, some movement, but yeah, I think like you said, I mean, without the games played today, I'm counting three teams, like you said, over 500. Two of them in the AL East, and one of them is the Yankees who just swept uh Baltimore. Uh them in Tampa Bay. I mean, that's basically it. You have Baltimore, Toronto, Boston. You kind of went over them. Toronto, I'm surprised that they haven't gone on yet, but they're uh, I mean, they're I guess they're four games under, which is better than what they were a week ago or two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

But yeah, I think Okamoto swinging the bat, like I think he's capable of. And then they got you Savage back now. They get a couple more guys off the IL, they'll probably be right there with them.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

And then, you know, Detroit coming on fresh off, beating two out of three from us at their place, but everyone's beating two out of three from us because we've lost three series in a row, two out of three, and we are 0 for 1 against the Yankees here in the series tonight. News flash. We might win tomorrow. We might win Thursday, but we won't win both. We'll lose two out of three and lose our fourth series in a row, okay? Kind of deja vu from last year in NL Central. We have nobody over 500. You got our, you know, our leaders in the Detroit and Cleveland there, but hey, look at Chicago, Kansas City, two games under 500 after a really slow start. They've won five in a row. They're eight and two, you know, so maybe they're starting to put some stuff together. If you're gonna have a slow start, I guess, you know, unless you're in the AL East, if you're in the American League, you can have a slow start in any of these divisions because come over to the uh West where our Rangers are. We are now in third place, Seattle, like we kind of thought that they would, is starting to come on. Their pitching is starting to pick up, their hittings coming around. A's are only a game over 500. And Rangers are just really pissing me off because everyone's talking about how crappy Houston's doing. Dude, we're like two and a half games in front of Houston, and they're having this horribly bad start right now. So um, yeah, just kind of embarrassing as far as the American League. Who's any good besides the Yankees? And the Rays are always there, but man, it's always hard to believe in the Rays. And I guess by percentage points before the games tonight, Chicago in the Central here. The White Sox are tied with Cleveland and Detroit for the lead in the central. So, how about that? Good for them.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, it's crazy. I think if you're the White Sox fan, you are ecstatic about how the season has started. You have to be, yeah, comparatively to what you've been doing, right? Absolutely. I think they've had losing ref records ever since they won it all in 05.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

They had that one playoff year a few years ago under La Russa, and then he decided to come back and go scorched earth on the entire team and start falling asleep in the dugout. Yeah, I do remember that. And and that. Or maybe maybe maybe it was the year before he came on board where they made the playoffs and they decided to hire him and make him, he was going to take them to the promised land. Um so they've been but they've been underwater since. But you know, they're they're their Nagasaki is uh tied for the major league lead in home runs with 14. Um you know, you know, the tigers are in the tie for first place, but they're they're going nowhere but down. Uh you know, I think I think that that Scuble injury was a just a kick in the gut. And uh yeah, let's talk about uh let's talk about that for a minute, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

So Terek Scuble, uh what did you what did you call it, Pops, in his elbow? Uh loose loose bits, loose bits, loose bodies in his elbow. So if I remember right, that's the same surgery that Hunter Green for the Reds had right right before or right after the season started. Um and it's like a four or five month deal, I think.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Uh they're talking two to three months, and it's the same thing Edwin Diaz has with the Dodgers.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Okay, okay. So maybe he has less loose bodies in his elbow than Hunter Green. But Hunter Green I I thought was gonna be out until August. I don't know. That's what I was yeah, I thought it was either July or I I'd heard that all Star Break.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Um, but you know, the interesting thing about Scoobyl when I saw this is that um he's probably not going to be back before the trade deadline, and so so would would somebody um make a deal for him because you'd think he'd be pretty cheap, right? He is this is his the last year under contract, you know. Uh would you would you move something for him to get uh a month and see what what he can do?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Um course the the the team that comes associated with that is the Dodgers, of course, it's nothing but money, but yeah, yeah, because they need well not yeah, not just because they could afford to pay him, but also because they could also afford for him to not be very good if he's not you know 100% when he comes back, because he's got other all-star pitchers in their lineup or in their roster, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah, but uh but this this American League is it's it's it's brutal. I mean, even even the guardians we all thought were going to be pretty decent. The tigers, you know, they're all uh under under 500, you know. The guardian, they even Jose Ramirez's 300 stolen base wasn't enough to to get them going. And you know, like you were saying, Slay, the Royals are they're only half a game bad. They're they're still two games under 500 after a five-game winning streak. They're in the middle of a five-game winning streak, right? So and they can't even get to the promised land from there.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

So yeah, so does it does it beg the question that if the AL's that bad, is Detroit really lost for the season? I mean, let we have to be honest, Terek Scuble carried that team to the playoffs the last two years for sure. But do they have enough with Framber and Casey Mys, who actually might be on the I.L. right now, too, but with something much less serious. Um, do they have enough? Kyder Montero, do they have enough pitching to get them there in what seems to be a very lackluster American league?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

I don't know if Montero hasn't been that that great. He shut us down. Well, like I said, he hasn't been that great. As I just said, right, and then uh, you know, Flarity's been bad. Um so uh, you know, I I think tech technically pro probably not, but yeah, I just think that that's just an emotional gut punch for a team that just they were so close to getting to the uh the ALCS last year, but Seattle that you know horrible loss, tough loss in the in the like whatever 15, 16 innings, whatever it was. And then you then you come in and you got this. Uh I don't think it's not impossible, but I but I believe this emotionally this team is just and AJ Hinch is kind of uh, you know, I don't know how he's gonna play the percentages now because there just aren't any. Yeah, he's just in that NLEX guy, he just goes by the he's a robot. Yeah, and he doesn't have a trash can.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

You have y'all have that, and I don't know if y'all saw, I think who are they playing? Detroit, anyways. I think it was Cleveland, maybe there. I don't know. They're playing, no, they're playing Boston tonight. Framber did a very Frambert thing. I had to look and I was like, surely the stat line's not right. He gave up 10 runs in three innings. Like the first batter of the fourth inning, I guess he's pissed that Hench threw him back out there, and he immediately plunks Story in the back and benches clear, and he gets thrown out of the game. That sounds like Framber. That's what I'm saying. And when your two times Cy Young award winner's not there, and you're trying to count on that guy to lead a rotation, that's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Hey, also for the workhorse, dude. Who goes out there and just gives up 10 runs for your team at a boy? Well done, Framber.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Well, you know, after the first four, he was just trying to get pulled, right? Uh you know, and let me get out of here after two.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Maybe maybe good on hench, like nah, dude.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I'm teaching you a lesson, or you're taking one from the team tonight. It'll be interesting with what Verlander's influence is here, because you know, Verlander's he's had probably had enough of Framper's crap over the years when they were in Houston, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah, he's had yeah, he's had to deal with them in a couple places, unfortunately. He's just giving them the side eye in the locker room. Like, I can't believe I'm with this guy again. Yeah, yeah. But it'll be it'll be interesting to see. I mean, with with such a bad American league, what do you think, Slade? I mean, do you think I mean, does Kansas City climb up? Does does Cleveland take over? Do the White Sox end up in the playoffs? What are we doing?

SPEAKER_02 12:30

I mean, that would be pretty cool if the White Sox went in the playoffs. And like Pop said, I mean, they got they got something to be excited about there. You know, you're a game and a half out. You got their Japanese superstar dropping, what'd you say, Pop's 14 bombs leading the league or Titans leading the league? And that, you know, Josh, I guess that's just more jerseys they're selling. I don't I don't know. I think that you know, either I think it's either KC's or Cleveland's to get it. I think, you know, obviously I picked Cleveland at the beginning of the year, and we're only, you know, 37 games into the season. But um, yeah, with third leader, Josh being out, even though he only pitches every five days, you know. But like, and then you got the other injuries, you got other pitchers when they're not facing the Rangers who aren't doing very well. So, and and like pop set inches, it's hard to play percentages when when those aren't working either, you know what I mean? Like you, yeah, like you said, he's not a type of guy that's gonna get in there and switch it up. I really think, you know, especially with KC, and we only seen it from a couple other teams last year, you know. If you're gonna start slow, start early, start slow early, and probably be in the American League Central. So they did both those things. And uh early in the season's definitely a good time to I guess really early in the season and just not in the American League East if you're in the American League, you know. So, and yeah, I don't know. I'm I'm before we logged on, I had some very choice words. I'm happy that none of your kids, or maybe they were around, Josh. But they were not. It's uh pressing Preston snuck in once we saw 37, 38 games into our season. You know how much I love this team, and it's like this hasn't been a frustrating month. This has been a frustrating two years in one month for these Rangers. Yeah, and I would I need to see some. I mean, they like Wendell said before, they changed their entire coaching staff over. We made some trades, we got some other guys in there to play, but I mean, I don't know, like people say hitting is contagious. Well, maybe not hitting is contagious, too, because we're doing real good at not doing that. So and they've got to switch something up, like I said. I mean, against Seattle, we could have won two out of three, and we had back-to-back bunts, one forced and air, because like Pop said, people don't know how to defend a bunt anymore. And then I think it was Evan Carter who got a bunt single way at basis loaded, nobody out, and we scored zero runs because what did our next three batters do? Strike out, strike out, pop up.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

And tonight we're back at having the second catcher be the DH.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Yes, yes. So they brought him in for Peterson.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Yep. He pinched for Peterson, so and both your catchers are done, and they sent down their third catcher.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

So well, at least at least Peterson's gonna get another 700 at bats this year. That's the good thing. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 15:16

And he's probably gonna bat in the three, four, or five spot two, which is 100%. They're all it's all gonna be high leverages. Hey, you know what? Let's just bat him lead off so he can get the most amount of bat bats possible. That's what we're gonna do. I mean, what are we doing here?

SPEAKER_00 15:31

I actually think he did lead off a couple of times last year.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Mind boggling for sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Yeah, definitely mind boggling.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

All right, well, uh, that's pretty good stuff, guys.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Um, do the A's keep it going if you by keep it going, you mean are they gonna finish at 80 85 and 77? Uh yes. Yeah, and will that be enough to win the division?

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Could be the second or third best record in AL. And has games where they look like they are the best team in the American League, and then they have games where they can't hit themselves out of the out of out of a paperback. They they strike out so much. Um, but they do have really good defense. They've been bitten by the injury bug a little bit with Donovan and and Cal Raleigh.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Um, but I just you know, you just you wonder if the games have caught up to Cal Raleigh. I mean, he he played, I bet he played in 155 games last year during the regular season. He he probably caught 125. Yeah, yeah. And was DH'd the rest, and then they go make that long postseason run, and then you get the W WBC. And the WBC is a lot, it's all that's that's playing games. That's not like spring training where you're out there lolly gagging the first and lolly gagging back to the mound.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Or you're playing two innings and and you're out, you know what I mean. Uh he was he was in there the whole game, and those are you know, it's like you said, Pobs, it's a higher stress atmosphere because you are out there. Cal Raleigh doesn't have to fight in spring training for a job, you know what I mean. But but he's out there fighting for his, you know, quote unquote fighting for his country in the WBC. You're out there to win it. So it's high stress innings, high stake ball games, you know. It's um maybe it's taking a little bit of a toll. Maybe he just needs a couple weeks of rest and he can uh he can get back on his feet because I really don't think Seattle goes anywhere if he's on the shelf for for any extended period of time. So um, all right, Bubba, say bye to everybody. Say goodnight. Tonight. Yeah, tonight. I am gonna shout out Preston real quick since he's here. Say hi to everybody. Everybody listening, say hi. Hi, hello. Preston made the all-star team again. All right, awesome. Congratulations. Let's go, dude. We'll be playing in the all-star team.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Yeah, I did not say dude.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

That says doo-doo because that's what Slay called himself today. Slay's name is Rainbow. Slay is doo-doo. Yeah, all right, Slay to do.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Instead of Slay dude, it's Slay doo-doo.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

All right, so your kids can read. You think I didn't put anything else up there?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, no kidding. That's like the youngest Patterson kid to ever learn how to read.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

You're not gonna believe what he said to me. One of the only ones, maybe. You wanna you wanna know what this six-year-old said to me earlier? Where he was he learned how to read earlier than Adam. Adam still can't read. Um, so we're sitting on the couch earlier watching the watching the ball game, and uh he was telling me how much he stepped on the scale or something. He was telling me how much he weighed, and he was like, Daddy, what if I weighed two pounds? I was like, You you nine pounds when you were born. So, you know, maybe you weighed two pounds and you were in your mama's tummy. And he was like, he said, How much do you think I weighed when I was swimming in your balls? I said, Wow. Six years old, and Jessica's in the kitchen just eyeballing me, just staring a hole in my soul. Like, I know you taught him that.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

I gotta say, I don't know what you teach him. You're going homeschool. I'm a homeschool, mom. What are you at work all the time? Right. I just broke it.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

All right, on to the National League. Uh, the snakes go to Wrigley in the midst of a Cubs home winning streak. Not sure if y'all heard about this. It's now sitting at 12 straight wins at home. I don't know what they did as tonight as we record this, but I know last I checked it was 12 straight. The Reds visit the Bucks, and my Pirates pump them for the first two games. Uh, but game three, Chase Burns and Braxton Ashcraft for a one-to-nothing score, put it in my veins, and my pirates end up sweeping the set. Uh, the brew crew took two or three from the Nats. The Miz throws really hard. Top velocity so far this season at 102.7. Uh, it's kind of funny. They interviewed him after the game and they were like, What'd you what'd you think of your VLO? Because he's in the middle of the game, he doesn't know what happened. And he was like, I don't know. I wasn't really asking how how fast I was throwing. What did I hit? And they said 102.7. And his response was, oh, cool. Good radio station. Right. Uh, I guess the good news is they won the game that he pitched. So I I guess that's what he was more worried about, as he should be. Uh, the Phil's take two out of three in Miami as the pitching looked much more like Philly pitching. Christopher Sanchez, Jesus Lazardo, um, starting to get it back on track. And guys, the the Bryce Harpers and the Kyle Schwarber's are pretty much doing what they normally do. Um, it's just the rest of the lineups really got to pick it up. Um Adoles Garcia, man. Feel bad for that guy. Feel bad for that guy. It is not gonna be. Just think how much worse the Rangers would be if he was still on this team. I don't know. That might actually be a little better. He's batting 230.

unknown 21:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

Be like second or third on the team, probably second behind Young, who's actually what batting. I think he's betting like 315. No, Young's having a pretty good season.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah, well, he had two two hits tonight. He's up to 336.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

I think I've last time I saw you had three.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yeah. Did he hit so he what but uh he's he's hitting 336? He actually may be leading the league at this point. Yeah, pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

He is a very streaky guy, so we'll see what it looks like in a couple weeks. But what I have noticed is he looks like he's started to lay off the slider away and hit the fastball up. He's not swinging and missing at the fastball up as much as he was last season. So I think that's uh definitely he's he's caught up to the fastball and it's helped him out. A lot. But it'll get to the point where nobody pitches to him because he's the only one hitting in the Rangers lineup. Yeah, true. Pops, the Dodgers visit our Redbirds, and the Cardinals take two out of three. And of course, that was after they mopped the Pirates earlier in the week. Playoff contender? They gotta be. They're in second place behind the cubes. They're six games up, Pops. I need to get a Cardinals hat. Because I was talking.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

I've got five of them. I don't think we wear the same size ball. No, you got a boy head. I got a yeah. I got a normal head.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Atlanta at course field. Uh that one went just about as you would expect. At Tennis Weeps. Ozzie Albies has a 16-game hit streak going. Spencer Strider is back, but Acuna Jr. is on the shelf with a hammy injury. Um quick shout out to Mickey Moniac. Apparently, he's the new Todd Helton in Colorado. Um, hitting about a one-point. He's one dot net for the season. I know. That's like almost 1.1. Um, so he is he hit a lot of home runs this weekend, and they were bombs. Um, and then last but not least, the White Sox. We talked a little bit about them already. They visit the Padres and the Sox take two out of three. Munitaka Murakami, you stole my thunder earlier, Pops. He is tied with Aaron Judge for the league leading home runs with 14. And Tatis Jr. still doesn't have one. Somebody get that man some HGH. He's a talk to his old friend Profar about that.

unknown 23:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah, I mean, old teammates. Profar, he's he's probably uh he probably got it from Tatis. When was that 21 when when popped after his 42 homer season or whatever that was? Yeah, all right. Pops, you got some NL standings for us?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

All right, I do. So just a quick quick note before we start the standings at the playoffs ending today. The Cardinals would be the number one wildcard team, and the White Sox would be the number three wildcard team. So everybody had that on their bingo card uh at the beginning of the year, right? Uh so the Braves, uh, they are the Athletics' new number one team in the power rankings and have earned every bit of it. They are on the verge of a at 25-11. They are the only team above 500, and uh they are on the verge of a double-digit uh lead in the division.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Pops I've heard that this is their best start, their best 35-game start since 1892.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Yes. It's been a minute. 25-10. So the Phillies, they won three in a row. Uh Bryce Harper and Carl Schwarber, as you mentioned, are starting to be themselves. Um Bryce Harper was quoted as saying, you know, we just were waiting to see what happened with with with with Topper. They were kind of in a waiting, waiting mode that you know, if and whether it wasn't really didn't have anything to do with him, but they just they they knew there was there was uncertainty in the clubhouse. And they he either needed to be gone or somebody needed to come out and say he ain't going nowhere and let things settle down. So he's he's left, uh, obviously, and then so now they're they're headed back in the right direction. They went from uh last to second place. Um, so you know they're doing all right. Cubs um run um you know doing well in the central. The every everybody's above 500 uh central division, uh with a two-game lead on the Cardinals. They uh I believe are probably headed to extra innings. Uh they tied the game against the Reds tonight to see whether they're gonna win their 13th home game in a row. Uh the NL Central, they have three teams with 20 wins. Uh, but the the Reds are on a in the middle of a four-game losing streak. And the Pirates, everybody everybody's two games above 500 in the division, uh, so that'll be fun to watch. Uh, I think the Cubs probably would be the uh the the favorite there as they've continued to they started to hit uh and then um trying to make sure nobody else gets injured in the pitching staff.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Uh then in the West for us pops, but it's I mean it's hard not to root for any of those teams in the central. Like, we're not gonna root for the Cubbies because we're Cardinals fans, but like it's all kind of small market teams that just are playing solid baseball, hitting when they're supposed to.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Um, I mean it's it's old-fashioned, old-fashioned baseball for sure. So fun to fun to fun to watch. So, you know, and then uh the West, you know, I sent you guys the note on Sunday that going into Sunday's action, everybody in the NL West was on at least a three-game losing streak. Um the Dodgers ended theirs, and then they're gonna start to get some get some uh breaks because they're playing each other. So, you know, there's some of those streaks are gonna be broken. But uh, you know, the Dodgers are still a game and a half lead over the Padres. The Padres are solid. The the Diamondbacks have lost four four in a row. We thought they were gonna do something. Um but uh yeah, they're they're having a tough time. And then the Giants, uh I saw Buster only quoted as saying that um he'd never seen the Giants do everything right and still lose. And I'm not sure which Giants team he was watching. Maybe it was the New York football giants. It certainly was not the San Francisco Giants. Um, so three and seven in their last ten. Yeah, I just I don't know where this team's gone. They've shaken shaken up the shaken, shook it, shaked, I don't know. Wallace shaken up the lineup, you know.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Swanson, Swanson, Swanson?

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Shook it. I think it's shook it. They shook it up the lineup. Uh Chapman's not at third anymore. They've dropped Devers to fifth. Um, yeah, I think the struggle with Devers is you know, he kind of made his own bet, but he went from one of the best hitting ballparks in the in the major leagues to one of the worst, right? I mean, especially for for and and then for a guy that's trying to hit home runs, right? If he's out there, anyone not named a gap hitter or something, you know, he'd probably do okay out there, but you know, that's just a a big, big ballpark. And then uh, you know, Colorado Rocky is they've they're back to Colorado Rocky, a five game losing streak and in last place.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

So but I mean, Pops the so we'll get into a a little bit. You talk you talked about Topper a little bit. Um so and and I remember hearing Bryce Harper say basically saying we kind of knew something was coming if we didn't start playing better. So I guess the big question is, and I and I know where the blame is gonna fall, you know. We talked about Breslo admitting that he kind of built a very hard roster to either win games with or to manage or whatever you want to call it, um, he ends up firing Cora. Dumbrowski, which I think if we look at that lineup on paper, we should we're all thinking the Phillies should be winning games. But if the Phillies are striking out 15 times a game, and their pitchers are not pitching like they normally. I mean, it's just Topper was in that organization for a very long time, and um, you know, in his fourth season, he's been to the playoffs every season.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Uh went to the World Series once, right? They lost to the Astros, Dusty's Astros beat him. Yeah, so yeah, but I I think you know, but he he also said, you know, it's just but we're it's only 30 games in. So, you know, I think he was kind of surprised that the move was made, but like you say, there was clearly the feeling that something was was coming. But um, you know, I I think he just kind of felt that they would right the ship at some point, and then certainly them starting to hit has come behind the fact that Nola Sanchez and and the lizard uh put together some good outings, and you know, they not only weren't they weren't catching anything either, right? I mean, yeah, you got a little bit of the the the ball luck there, you know, for that for that average to be that high. But uh, but you know, they weren't they weren't catching anything and they weren't they were definitely pitching too too content.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Yeah, I mean it's to me it's really it was it was really weird. Number one to see two managers who I mean what was it was it 22 when the Phillies went to the World Series, right? And then Boston was there as recently as 2018 when they won it, right? I mean, that's not that far removed, and you're getting rid of those two managers who are essential legends in their organizations, I would say. I mean, Boston is has any other team won it four times since 2000?

SPEAKER_00 31:15

No, but you know, I also sent you guys the note that there's nobody in the world in the Boston Red Sox dugout with the World Series ring.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

Anyway, isn't it amazing how fast those rosters turn over like that?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Now that now that Cora and Veritek are out.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Oh, now that they're yeah, okay. Yeah, that's just amazing.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

First time since 2004.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Wow. Oh, that they haven't had someone with the ring that was on the team or coaching it.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Nice job, Rezlo. That's impressive.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Since their first one, yeah, what a roster. We we we have a job for you here in Dallas and be the GM of the Cowboys.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Yeah, so what's more surprising? The fact that I mean, something has been brewing in Boston since they traded Devers last year, or really since the offseason with the whole Bregman debacle and him playing second or him playing third or whatever. So something's been brewing in Boston. But Philadelphia, like you said, I mean, Zach Wheeler's just coming back. Excuse me. You know, it's sometimes teams and players get a get a slow start right out of the gate. Um, but is it more surprising to you that Topper is already gone, or that the Mets have said Mendoza is our guy, he's not going anywhere. Because talk about a failure.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

So I I think it's got to be the fact that Mendoza got got the dreaded uh vote of confidence. Because at the end of the day, I guess I'm not terribly surprised that Topper's gone. But at the same time, if you're gonna let him go 30 games into the season, why didn't you just let him go after last year?

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Yeah, they re-started.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

You were already thinking something like that, right? That's why that's part of part of why you brought Mattle Mattingley in. Mattingly was there as next man up from the jump, right? Even though, as you just said, they just signed a they just signed a uh and signed him to an extension. Um, and but then and and you know, Cora, that whole Boston thing is just it is so dysfunctional. Uh it's it really shouldn't, it was surprising, but it shouldn't have been. But here's the Mets, they spent all this money, they're in the crapper. They're they have the fewest wins in the major leagues, and that's coming off last September, just a total collapse. I mean, they they couldn't have beat Sophia's team. Um, I mean, it's just brutal how bad they were in September of last year. So uh so that one that one is the is the most surprising, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:54

I think they're 20 and 40 since like since like August of last year. 20 and 40. Pretty crazy. But and uh I mean, uh are the Mets the National League version of the Red Sox? I mean, you have all this this shakeup where you get rid of your core group of guys because you feel like they're the issue, you know, with Alonzo and Nemo and McNeil. Um, and then you bring in this supposed new core with Bachet and Luis Robert Jr. and Soto and Lindore, and they're bickering at each other. And I don't know, I was watching some of the Mets games, and it seems like Mendoza wasn't even fully there. He completely botched a couple of um plays that he should have um uh challenged, like didn't even didn't even flinch, you know. I don't know. Um, he just he seems like he's not all there, and the team's obviously not all there. Um so I don't know. I was I I think it's surprising anytime you see anybody gone in the first month, right? I think so for sure.

unknown 35:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

What Slade do you think does it surprise you at all that they've said Mendoza's their guy?

SPEAKER_02 35:11

No, because I think that hopefully it's more of the opposite of what Hartford was saying was gonna happen to Topper out there in Philly. It's more of like, hey, we gotta just try to give these guys the know that they the vote of confidence this dude didn't go anywhere. Unless it's unless the more than 30 games, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Let's give them more than 30 games to figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Unless the players go to the front office and call mutiny and say we're not playing for this dude anymore. Yeah, he makes the lineup card, but he doesn't hit, he doesn't pitch, he doesn't fill, which they can't do any of those things right now, anyways. So neither can the players, yeah. No, that's what I'm saying, right?

unknown 35:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

So he can't bring the point slave. So let me ask y'all this. Are they just are and I'm not saying it's a bad move, but are they just saying Mendoza's their guy so they like the players can get that shit out of their heads and just focus on baseball, and the managers can focus on baseball, and then if it still looks like it does now at the all-star break, they're gonna cut him loose. What do y'all think? Maybe they're just delaying the inevitable and trying to keep their guys focused. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Maybe, but yeah, I didn't think of it like that. I mean, you look up at the all-star break and they still have the least amount of wins in all the baseball. Okay, we that might be a conversation. He might not be their guy anymore.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

Right, yeah. When you've got that$800 million man on your team, you ought to be winning some ball games. So, um, all right, well, good stuff. Um, so let me get my notes. I don't I don't want to miss something. Uh oh, yeah. So since there have been firings and there have been some teams saying that no, he's our guy, we're gonna stick with him. I want to know where y'all stand on uh Tony Vitello with the Giants. I know Posey, you know, is all for it at the beginning of the season, but these Pops, I'm with you. I don't know what the hell Buster Olney was watching, but it couldn't have been the San Francisco Giants if he thought they were playing good ball. The thing that they do have pretty much in spades on their roster is gold gloves, and they're not even playing good defense.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

Yeah. I I I I don't I don't I I don't know. I I I I thought I think that was a wild decision and uh to bring him out of the out of college like that. It's never been done in Major League Baseball. You know, they've done it a handful of times in the in the pros uh or in football, and that's actually almost never worked either, frankly. Um, you know, so you see the the Nick Sabans and all those guys and the legendary coaches. But Bud Wilkinson was hired coach one year for the Cardinals, lost his first first eight games, and wound up winning his last eight, but he quit. This is just it's too different to whatever. Um, you know, I it's it's a different game. You don't have aluminum bats. You just I mean, it's just um well and the college coaches are the ones that run all the pitchers before that throw their arms out before they get to the major leagues. They don't have to right. They're the ones that run the pitchers for the major league. So, you know, it's just uh I don't care what kind of uh pedigree he has from University of Tennessee or Kentucky or wherever the hell he came from. Um that's not gonna it's not gonna carry over to the major leagues. That's just my my opinion. These guys aren't ever gonna play for him. He's my high school heritage.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Yeah. What do you think, Slade? Is Tony V out before the seasons end?

SPEAKER_02 39:04

You know, I don't think so. I'm not saying he'll make it past this one, but I just think because Posey would have to admit defeat so quickly, yeah. If if he fires him, you know, and I guess you know, when you know, like you're talking about the GM for Boston, it's a little easier, I guess, for him to admit they put together kind of a shitty roster for Joey Corr, but Joey Corra has skins on the wall at least and stuff like that. Um, who knows? You know, it's not looking like right now that we will see a turnaround, but again, I think that I think they give him a full season and then basically, all right, this was a bad idea. Like Pop said, this was a crazy little experiment, and uh, we're gonna have to maybe get someone who has done this before, you know. So I at this level, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Yeah, yeah. At least played. I mean, I just at least played at professional baseball at some point. Maybe if you haven't managed it before, you at least played it or coached in some capacity at the you might want somebody who's actually been in a major league locker room once in their life, right?

SPEAKER_02 40:06

Yeah, yes, and like it's they had to have some kind of a previous relationship. I mean, you don't even hear of these type of dudes even throwing their hats in or or trying to, you know, or even GMs looking at the college level in Tennessee. It was like what two or three years ago they won a college world series. Okay, it's not like you're running some dynasty where you've won six out of ten or something, you know. And I think it was the first one they'd ever won.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Yeah, well, you know, I mean, there was a guy in Texas, I think Cliff Gustapson was his name. He was in the College World Series every year, and he never went anywhere. He was at UT forever. And Arizona State was another one that was a big program in the late 60s and early 70s, and you know, they never came knocking on his door, and USC was another one. I mean, you know, um that's just odd, you know. And I don't know if they're following some kind of analytics or whatever, but whatever, man.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

Well, whatever analytic they're they're looking at that says some dude who's coaching college kids can come out here and demand respect from drone men here making extremely more money than him. Right. That statistician needs to get fired.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Yeah, yes, yeah. Analytics have not worked in that guy's favor. All right, so one of you thinks he'll make it the season, one of you thinks not. All right, we shall see. Uh, Pops, how about some guys that need a little bit of help? All right, most of the week for us.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

I do. I got them. Where are they? Where are they? So I dug these up yes yesterday so we could stay on our seven days, even though we're off at on a different day. Oh shit, that's blurry. There it is. All right, uh, so pitchers in the American League. Um, you know, uh I had to take um Dylan C's, you know, he got two two starts. Um you know, he did get a win, but a 4.97 ERA, 1.42, you know, though these guys need a lot more from him than what they're than what what they're getting, if they're gonna do what they need to do. And then in the National League, I took uh as the pitcher needing the most help, Josh's favorite, uh Freeland from Chicago, from the Colorado Rocky. Two starts, uh 9.1 innings pitched, uh a 9.64 ERA with a 1.82 uh whip. So I love to see.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

I don't know why I don't like Kyle Freeland so much, but I was watching the the highlights from the from the game that he pitched. And he's he's normally a guy that is around the plate, he doesn't walk very many guys. Um I don't know, he walked like four guys in the game, he got pulled in the fourth or fifth inning or whatever it was. He's just walking off the field like this, and I was just like, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:22

You know, I mean I I could have thrown Lewis Luis Castillo in there instead of Dylan Case. Yeah, but uh he had a he had a nine ERA. Maybe he just but uh but you know, I just for from what and and I guess both teams are are struggling. But the good news is what what uh when I discovered those two, it kept me from choosing um Jack Leiter because he was my initial worst pitcher of the week for the Rangers. Uh and then this one he looked so good for four in just un until he didn't, right? I mean, it was just he got north of ninety pitches, and then it was just like

SPEAKER_01 44:01

And that bomb that Torque hit off him, my god. I still don't think it's landed.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Oh man. Way up there. All right. You guys all all like this. The uh the worst player of the week in the American League is none other than Jose Altuve with his 191 batting average, four hits and 21 at bats. Um just just just didn't do anything for a for a bad Houston team. So um 286 OB, 513 OPS. So um good for you, you little fucker. Um crazy good though, Jordan Alvarez. Yeah, we might get a lot of people. He might come up on the other end. And then in the National League, you know, I hate it's just I think this is the second week in a row that I've chosen maybe this guy, or certainly I know it's uh a Marlin, but uh Kyle Stowers, you know, one 167 average, uh no home runs, one RBI, uh four hits and 24 at bats, three walks in 10ks, 167 slug. So his four hits were singles, obviously, an OPS of 426. Uh so you know he's he's he's a guy that was a a good a solid contributor for those guys last year. And you know, they're all they're just you know, they're they're teetering at 500, and you just I mean, if this guy would kind of be consistent, you would you would think that they would be able to uh at least stay ahead of the the Phillies, but they got passed by the by the Phillies in the in the second place.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

So yeah, another outfielder from that team would have been a good candidate too. Owen Casey's had a real rough week or two out there.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

Well, I uh he was my pick last week, so I didn't want to do him two weeks in a row.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

That gets you DFA'd, dude. You gotta DFA'd?

SPEAKER_01 46:04

Who Volpe?

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Oh yeah. Oh, really? They just sent him down to the miners.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Oh no, I think they DFA'd him, Pops. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

I think they sent him the triple A. All right, continue with your thing, and I'm gonna I'm gonna double check it. All right, so uh that's all all I'm done. So, what do you what do you got? What do you got, Justin, for the players of the week?

SPEAKER_02 46:26

So we'll go with guest players of the month since we're here. It's a little easier to pick those because Major League Baseball puts those out too, instead of uh the worst players of the entire month. So we were talking about it on the exact opposite end of a little shithead there in uh Houston, Altuve. So the MLB did pick for their MLB player of the month in the American League. They did pick Gordon Alvarez. So uh, dude had a pretty solid, obviously, month and coming back, right? So uh let's say, you know, he finished April with 356, 462 on base 737 OBP, right? And then he also has more walks than strikeouts. So, but just because of that, I will give him honorable mention. I won't just crap on every astro that's out there, but let's just talk about a guy who's done this all the time. Maybe a guy who's won a couple MVPs, had a slow start, but obviously is helping the best team in the American League right now. Hard to go, past all everyone rise for the judge. I mean, he's just back, he got another couple hits tonight. I mean, he has more home runs, more RBIs, and about 15 less plate appearances than Jordan Alvarez. So how can that's not me being just the Houston, I hate you biased. You know what I mean? And again, it's a guy who's done it before. I'm gonna agree with the MLB for the player of the month, and Josh, you'll like this one in the NL. We have our friend, is it uh where is he? I just want to make sure I'm pronouncing his name right because I'm no I'm not going to. It'll Del Mar Vargas, uh yeah, El Demara. El Demara, yes, so crazy. So as of entering May, so we're five days into May, but he was hitting 378. Yeah. He's hitting 366 today, so he hadn't dropped off much in the past four or five games. And a 27-game hitting streak slate it. It just ended. Yeah. Yesterday, I think. Yeah. Yep. And so that's uh yeah, that's pretty amazing, you know, and for a team that does need some help. So uh just said he's the first one-to-win player of the month, I guess, since August of 24 when Corbin Carroll did the first D back to do it. But you know, the guy hadn't had a great month for a team that need that, you know, struggling a little bit that we all thought might be okay. But right, as of right now, still hitting 366, five home runs and 19 RBIs. So uh good for him out there for the pitcher of the month. MLB picked Shohei. Oh, I guess he got a 0.6 ERA. So it's all right. Good for him. But you know what? He doesn't have to pitch to himself, so that's not fair. You know what? I'm gonna pick though his other uh teammate out there, Justin Morwaleski. Yeah, dude. He's got a 0.56 ERA. He has five wins, four quality starts.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

I mean you know what's crazy about Robleski, Slate, dude? Does it show his innings pitched versus his strikeouts on there on your paper that you got? Yes, sorry, I'll keep up with the times.

SPEAKER_02 49:42

It's okay, yeah. 13K's and 32 innings pitched.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

See, not your typical 0.5 ERA guy, right? Who was it?

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Off contact. Was it Pops? You told us right? Was it Sandy Koufax who said, I gotta start getting a lot better when I stopped trying to make him swing and miss and tried to make him hit the ball or swing and hit it. Right. So that's that's not what a lot of these guys do anymore. But I mean, anyways, show hey, whatever. He's gonna win MVP again and go F himself. So more blessed, he's gonna get it for the for the month for me.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Well, wins are wins, right, Slade? And if you got a good defense like LE does, yeah, why not? And it's gonna help you get into the seventh and eighth inning at just about everything.

SPEAKER_02 50:25

Right? I mean, even though DeGrom gave up those four runs and he shouldn't have, and it pissed you off when you stake him to a 3-0 lead. But then you knew we probably weren't gonna score another run the rest of the game, so he's like, I can't screw this up. At least he pitched into the seventh, got 7.1 and saved us. I mean, that's good for de Grom, but yeah, like when Roboleschi and these guys, because I mean, gosh, anytime we look up for any team, not just obviously the Rangers, and you see that the starters in there in the seventh, you're like kind of proud of them. Well, you know, back in the day that was expected, right? So yeah, that was the minimum.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

Exactly. And it didn't matter if you gave up one run or six runs. If you were a starter, you were out there six innings, dude.

SPEAKER_02 51:07

Let's hope that this guy is not on it. Sounds like he's the only dude on his team that has been on it for the AL picture of the month. I'm gonna agree with. Um, I will agree with the major league and give it to Jose Soriano.

SPEAKER_01 51:21

Yeah. He looked really good, but he he got roughed up his last two starts, I think.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

He did, he did, but he still got 2.34 ERA, right? Yeah. So obviously that was, you know, only got roughed up as one last start when it was the going into the month. So, but yeah, I got Warbuleski and Soriano as my pitchers, and then all rise for the judge, and then Vargas for players of the month. So I agreed with 50% of what Major League Baseball had to say for their players of the month.

SPEAKER_01 51:53

Yeah, I'm gonna give a shout out to my rookie of the year pick, Mudotaka Murakami. One more shout. We talked about him quite a bit this episode, but apparently the power translates. I don't think I don't think it uh I think he put a lot of naysayers to bed. We'll say that.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

Yeah, well, they gave the AL rookie of the month, and you can't argue. I mean you cannot, obviously. Who else would it go to besides Murray Ham with B. McGonical?

SPEAKER_01 52:25

Yeah, yeah. And then I think Sal Stewart was rookie of the month in the National League, and he just freaking raked all month long. He's well, he kind of he kind of ended it in a bad spot at the end, but overall numbers for the month, he was he was crushing him and de la cruz just absolutely murder murdering the baseball for the Reds this season.

SPEAKER_02 52:48

Yeah, one of the pages that Pops and I look at to get the good and the bad, I don't know how they rank who they think is the because like you know, we'll look at different things, right? So, but they had Ellie Day La Cruz for the last 30 days being the best offensive player in baseball. Now, again, I don't know everything they look at, but you know, I don't know how how they do their weighted averages or any of that.

SPEAKER_00 53:11

So so that that website is a lot about fan it's fantasy bases. Fantasy points, okay. Yeah, right. So so that's kind of really so he can he can strike out a hundred times, but if he hits a few home runs and steals some bases along the way, then score some runs, knock some people in. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

Or up, either one. Well, you know, he's big, tall, good-looking guys. Yeah, probably got a couple of them out there.

SPEAKER_00 53:41

Uh you know, and it's interesting the Reds don't seem to be interested in um doing anything with Stuart the way some of these other teams have done with their rookie prodigies.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

So very true, yes. Yeah, well, he get he got a little a little cameo in the bigs at the end of last season, did fairly well, and he's had a good month. But I mean, you're right, Pops. I mean, McGonagall did it for two weeks, uh, right? Uh Connor President.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

He's never done it, right? I mean, he's never done it, right? I mean, he's been uh they brought him up, but he hasn't played well. But he got a he got a bag anyway.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Yeah, he got a nice bag, yeah. Yeah, he did get his first homer last week, old Connor Griffin.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Well, that's one look at it this way. That's only one more than I've got.

SPEAKER_01 54:30

Yeah, right. Yeah, and I mean, as it is right now, he's making 140 million dollars per homer. So nice job.

SPEAKER_00 54:37

And look at it this way that's only 139.9 more than I've got.

SPEAKER_02 54:43

Another nine on the end of that point nine nine, that's much, much more than I have.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

All right, uh, that's all I got, fellas. Did y'all want to add anything? Pops, do you know anything about John Sterling?

SPEAKER_00 54:57

Yankees um, you know, other than he was just guys, so yeah. Not really. I mean, he was he was the radio guy, right? So um didn't really listen to a lot of radio, um, Yankee radio broadcasts, especially that era. I guess he was also the Braves radio guy. Um, you know, I think his most one of his more famous games with the Braves was an 18-19 inning game between the Mets and the Braves when he was working for the for the Braves when Rick Camp hit his first and only home run of his career to to extend the game, to tie the game at 11 and like the 18th inning and extend the game into whatever. But um, I mean, obviously the outpouring of uh support and everything for him, you know, obviously he was well known to the guys in the in the major leagues, and everybody seemed to seem to love him. But you know, unfortunately, not being in the markets he worked at, you know, you just you just don't hear the radio guys uh ever at all. And you know, some if you do MLB the network or whatever, then you can hear the TV guys if you're watching that, but you don't ever hear the radio guys unless you're in the market.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

So yeah, I'm not on the game tonight. Um fits everything. I don't know. They did a little ceremony for them, brought some flowers out to home plate and stuff like that. And they have, I guess they have the JS embroidered on the back of their hats, so that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

Yeah, I'm gonna look something up because I heard something kind of crazy. All right, radio announcer John Sterling. Guess how many games, consecutive games this man called?

SPEAKER_00 56:33

I don't know how many consecutive. I do know that he called over 5,600 games, and that he has called over one-third of the major league baseball games ever played. I think I'd read that.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

So 5,060 consecutive consecutive consecutive games. Didn't call in once, never had a never had the sniffles, never had a just I mean a family emergency worked right through his hangovers.

SPEAKER_02 57:06

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know he had some good.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

Right. If the moon were made of cheese. Didn't he miss a single broadcast, covered every game of Derek Jeter's career and everything drone by Mariano Rivera?

SPEAKER_02 57:42

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 57:43

Yeah. Total career games. Let's see where we're at, Pops. Oh, just what you said, it said over 5,600. Didn't give us a thing. Unique home run calls and Yankees win victory phrase. He retired in April 2024 and of course passed away. Uh I think was it Monday? I think it was Monday.

SPEAKER_00 58:05

I think so.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

Yeah, so um, but for everything that I've heard um and seen online and stuff like that, just a real, real beloved, real good dude up there in Yankee land. Yeah. So condolences to him and his family, and thanks for an awesome life of baseball. No doubt. Yeah, absolutely. All right, well, that's all I got, fellas. So thank you everybody for tuning in with us for another week. If you like what we're doing, support the show. Check us out on uh Facebook, on Instagram, on X. Uh, if you like what we're doing, give us a give us a like, give us a subscription, leave us a comment. Uh for the Slay dude, Justin Slay and Wendell Pops Patterson. I'm Josh Patterson. Thank you all, and we'll talk to you again next week.