I Love Mondays-Ep83, June 25, 2026

Thursdays with Vinny...and the Brewers are giving us plenty to talk about with the 2nd best record in all of MLB. Fresh off a 3g sweep in Cincinnati, the Crew enjoys their final off day before the All-Star Break 18-days from now.  The Cubs are in this weekend...and Milwaukee will throw Miz-Harrison-&-Woody.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I love Mondays.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Broadcasting Love Knight from an undisclosed bunker in the Badger State. This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller, powered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Well, one of the things about last night's Brewers win is that it is about as unlikely as it gets. You're just not going to find box scores that look like last night's game. And if you watched it, you had the different perspective. But I'll lead with this. The Brewers were one for 11 with runners in scoring position, which means that for the entire series, which is now over in Cincinnati, and the Brewers won all three games. Milwaukee went one for 24 with runners in scoring position. That is not the math equation that leads to equals a three-game sweep. Unless it was a three-game swept. But that wasn't what it was. So the Brewers get a sweep last night. In winning that game, 6-5. One other element at play last night. The Reds stranded 16 runners. They left 16 on base. Okay, it's a nine-inning game. If you leave two on base per inning, that's 18. That's hard to do. They were two less than that. And the Brew both teams didn't have much available in their bullpen. I just watched and listened to Frank Kona's postgame, the short version of it. He didn't uh directly address the Vaughn situation uh in which the Brewers essentially win the game because they don't throw a left-handed or right-handed pitcher at Vaughn when he's announced as the pinch hitter. To me, it's the play of the game. It's the seventh inning. Uh game hangs kind of in the balance, as we saw when the Reds would tag on and score five times total. I'm gonna recreate that here in a moment, but it's a one-out triple by Tarang, then an intentional walk to Contreras. And here's what I'm thinking, and we would do this with Murph. If I'm a Reds guy, I'm looking at that and going, okay, you're gonna walk Contreras to set up the double play. There's only one out. You've got to realize that two hitters down the road, because next is uh is Jake Bowers. You have to remember that two hitters down the road is Mitchell. Well, they're not gonna, the Brewers aren't gonna go Mitchell against their left hander if the bases are loaded, or if you've scored a run and now you got runners at first and second, or whatever the scenario is, Mitchell's not gonna hit. So you have to have a right-hander ready to face Vaughn. Why? Because Andrew Vaughn going into last night had 44 at bats against left-handed pitchers this year. He had 20 hits. Nine doubles, a triple, a homer, nine runs batted in, 455 batting average, and a 1328 OPS. And the Reds didn't throw a right-hander when they announced Vaughn as the pinch hitter. The offense has to make their call first. They make the announcement uh that they're gonna pinch hit. Vaughn comes to the box, Terry Francona comes out of the dugout, goes to the mound, and they take out their left-hander and put in any right hander. I keep bringing up fantasy campers, but there were fantasy camp right-handers that would have been had a better chance against Vaughn than their lefty, of which he's hitting 455 against. I would take it, right? I I love the inner workings, the behind the scenes stuff in baseball. And I also love saying hi to James. Good morning, Mike. Brewers 10-0 in the last 10 against NL Central. Stat of the days coming in from our uh viewers. So Dusty says, good morning, listening from I-65, just north of Montgomery, Alabama, heading to the Gulf Shores. Great Brewer win yesterday. Bet Frankone is uh is scratching his head on pitching against Bond. Yeah, what I just brought up. And good morning, Dustin. I hope you have a great trip to Gulf Shores and the weather is good. Mike says, good morning, all today's fun fact. 162 games. The last one 62, the Brewers are 105 and 57. 105 and 57. I didn't do this before the show, but uh let me do it now. Um give you a little on pace number. So the Brewers are on pace with uh uh with where they currently sit, on pace, I think for 103 is is the number. Uh what is it? Six six twenty-eight winning percentage right now. The Brewers are on pace for 102. 102 wins, but in the last 162, they won 105 of them. It's pretty heady stuff, and it's pretty impressive in in all regards. I mean, there's no way around that when when you call up, and and I do this every day because I'm kind of goofy this way, but I'll look at the overall standings in Major League Baseball. Only the Dodgers at 52 and 29 are better than the Brewers. The Brewers are now a game and a half better than the third best team in baseball in the New York Yankees. And by the way, the Brewers have 29 losses. So do the Dodgers. It's just the difference in the game and a half is the Dodgers have played more and won three more games than the Brewers. So they are 52 and 29. The Brewers are 49 and 29. They're a game and a half back of the top record in baseball. And keep in mind, although you lost two out of three in Atlanta, the goal here is to be one of the top two teams in the National League when it's all said and done. I know I'm talking about this on June 25th, by the way, six months until Christmas. It's June 25th, and I shouldn't be talking about getting one of the top two seeds when the season ends, because I should be talking about the division and taking care of first things first. And the Brewers lead the division right now by seven. Seven over the Cardinals, seven over the Cubs, ten over the Pirates, 12 and a half over the Reds. That's the division lead for the Brewers who have today off. And then after today, well, shoot, today's an off day. If I include today, the Brewers have 18 games remaining before the All-Star break in 18 days. They will play doubleheader in St. Louis. And by the way, that Reds team that you just swept the series on, they come to Milwaukee on Monday for a four-game set. I'm gonna get tired of seeing Spencer Steer and uh and so many of the others. By the way, last night, there are certain guys that get hot at certain times that you just have no choice but to say, okay, I don't know if we can pitch to this dude. Uh, Spencer Steer is always one of those guys for me. But right now, how about the work being done by Sal Stewart? He went two for four last night. He's only hitting 249, but right now, like last night, I didn't want to pitch to that dude. I mean, this is what the Brewers continue to do, is a lot of fun. And uh, let's keep keep their work going. Uh, Jerry, kind of a, I think Jerry's sort of new. Uh, haven't seen you before. I love that graphic. Fun game last night. Lost some uh fingernails at the end. Joel Koonel, I mean, I have my player of the game on brew daily is Andrew Vaughn, who was in the game for all of about two and a half minutes from the time he's announced as a pinch hitter to the time he doubles into the corner, uh, to the time that he's pinch run for. He was my player of the game, but Joel Kunell, I mean, come on. I mean, come on. How about that ninth inning, by the way? Leadoff single in the six-hole between short and third. Trying to go to it, came down a bit. Kunell, single, a walk, then a terrible bunt. You know, if I'm the Reds, also I'm looking at Arroyo and going, dude, you have to be able to bunt. You're not an everyday guy. You're not coming in here to be a power guy. You're not bunting lefty on lefty and facing a guy like Josh Hayter. You're bunting lefty as a bunter against a right-handed pitcher. And he didn't square properly. He jabbed at both. Like the first one was terrible, and the second one was no better. And then a great PFP play by Kunell to pick and go to third. The Brewers won last night's game as much by managing and coaching as they did by playing. And I like Tito Francona a lot. I would want him as a manager, not over Murph. Man. Uh, and and yeah, thanks, Darren, for pointing this out. And we'll talk about this with Vinny, uh, who will join us in a minute. But uh good luck to Murph on uh surgical procedure today to take care of the back issue. And then 18 days from now, 19 days from now, he will have hip replacement. I've known guys, Drew Olsen, who I had on the show yesterday, he had that hip replaced. And you know, he said I was he was walking that day. So hip replacement is a better recovery. It's it's easier to say that when it's not you, but it's a better recovery than knee replacement. Knee replacement is more dramatic on the body, I believe, from as at least the way I understand it. What do I know? I can ask Drew. Hopefully, I don't know in uh first person. 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Their comprehensive concussion program brings together specialists focused on helping you heal and get back to doing what you love. Neurosciencegroup.com and also and Vinny's time here is presented by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino. Bet above the rest. And we are also presented by Habish, Habish, and Rotier, 13 locations that ensures you get a hometown attorney for your personal injury case. I've waited long enough. I don't have enough time to uh to keep dawdling without bringing Vinny into the show. He is uh fresh back from the charter flight from Cincinnati late last night. By the way, I was gonna ask, where do you sit on the charter? Like I travel with Badger Football, and I'm in we we typically go in like 48 row um airplanes, charter flights, and I'm in row 48 middle seat every time, uh surrounded by two relatively big guys. Um, where do you sit on the charter?

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Yeah, um, I'm in row typically it's like uh 24, and it's typically next to Kent Sommerfeld. So he and I have some banter back and forth about the game, and we'd like to give each other a hard time. He likes to comment on my eating habits on the plane as well. So I like to crush uh once I'm done doing the games, yeah. But that's where I'm at. No, so the Brewers uh planes aren't as as jam-packed as I'm sure a football team.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

So every seat is filled on that football charter, every single seat is filled, and I'm always in the last row. Uh, and then I look at those guys and and the younger linemen, they still are three to a row. Now, the upperclassmen, as you get to the bigger position players, they go two in a row. So the middle seat is empty, and this and the captains and the seniors and those who have earned it, they actually go on the plane and turn left. They sit in first class. The coaches sit in the first rows to the right when you enter. Anyway, I I I digress. And then people always ask, and even Leb said it last night, it's gonna be a fun flight home. Are the flights different? Like, are they juiced or late night like that? Is our lights out and people are taking naps?

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Um, there's definitely a different vibe on a plane when they're coming off a win, even even if it's not a sweep, the sweep was yeah, definitely good vibes on the plane for sure. I mean, it's um you know, the guys are pretty good at just kind of clearing a loss, you know. It doesn't take them very long. In fact, when even when Aaron Ashby gave up that walk-off home run to Ozzy Albys, that was a cheap home run to right field to walk it out. Even even he has such a good way about him that he's kind of easygoing guy. You have to be if you're gonna be a bullpen guy. He was kind of forgetting it and forgot about that um that that game and how the Brewers lost that game late. So usually guys, like I said, can clear it, but yeah, it's there's definitely different vibes, especially when you sweep a team at their home ballpark in the Cincinnati Reds.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Uh, one of your new best friends here, Jeff Vilker, treadmill boy. Great job on the call, as always, Vinny. Oh uh also new graphics on Brew Daily. Yeah, so I do that last night, uh, and we had new graphics. Uh, that's from our friends at Agency Next. Um, yeah, we're kind of growing up. You know, he he really thinks that that you guys are, you know, he's got a little bit of that. He he's in awe of uh of that he gets to call you a friend now. Oh, yeah, treadmill, treadmill and I, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

We go way back now, a couple months. No, he he's the man. No, I can see treadmill and I, and he texts me every once in a while about the games, and I love it.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

And uh you can block him if you need to. Uh mute or block. At least you can mute first, and then if he persists, then go to block. I mean, that's what I think.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

I think I think that on Twitter it's an interesting dynamic between I think mute think people think that you can still read what they're saying, and so they you know, but block you know, they know that nothing's coming through.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

So well, let's jump into I want to jump into the the moment of the game last night that you guys were hitting on as it's happening. Um, and and then I just watched Terry Francone's postgame. It it is I thought it was a mistake. Now he said his bulk pen was limited, but he had a right hander up, but wasn't fully juiced and ready to go to face Vaughn. Vaughn hits 455 against left-handers, his OPS is 1328. You I mean, that's just a managerial mistake, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:04

For a Hall of Fame manager, too, Mike. I mean, you have people have the utmost respect for Tito Francona, as do I. Yeah, he turned around the Cleveland Guardians franchise single-handedly. I I was a player literally the a month with the Guardians or the Indians at the time, yeah, a month before Tito Francona took took over. So either it was the fact that I was on the team and then they released me, and that's that's what caused a turning point, the turning point, or is it Tito Francona? So um, it was a complete mistake. And why is their pitching coach Tracy, Chad Tracy, uh, or Andy Chattery uh walk sprinting out to the mound for that mountain?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

And another great astute comments by you guys to to share that with us. That it in that moment you're slow walking to the mound and slow walking from the mound.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

I think I think that would have given TJ Antone enough time to get ready because he was in the game the batter later, one batter later. So why are you not why are you not doing I I you know Francona, I think the game sped up on him, it speeds up on everybody, and Pat Murphy will even talk about that every once in a while, and then he'll go ahead and and kind of you know lose sleep over some decisions that were made or were not made over the course of the game. That was a mistake by Tito Francona and the Brewers, and Andrew Vaughn made him pay for it. He should not have faced Sam Mole. That was it. And I know I made the comment on the game, but it was almost as if like your buddy showed up at a sandlot game and said, Hey guys, I'm here, and then you just get inserted in the game. It was almost as if Tito Francona, that was hit the feel around that situation, almost as if, oh wait, whoops, I forgot that Andrew Vaughn is looming here uh in the batting cage and now in the on-deck circle, ready to ready to take the set bat.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Vaughn was my uh um Brew Daly last night. He was my player in the game. He was probably in the game for less than three minutes on the clock, from when he's announced as a pinch hitter to the double end of the corner to being pinch run for. And he but isn't it crazy how good, better than good. It's it's ridiculous how he has been in all situations, but against a left-handed pitcher, those numbers are ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

They are ridiculous. Uh, you know, let's just kind of review them one more time. Four 467 with a 1364 OPS. He got he's got 12 RBIs and 45 at bats. So, I mean, that's that's kind of crazy. Um, you know, the power numbers, you could say that they're not there this year. I mean, he's got two home runs, so I guess you could say that, but he's also got 12, he's got 12 doubles and a triple. He's got a triple under his belt as well. So um, you know, he's driving in runs. Man, this kid is so good. He's hitting 351 and he doesn't play every day. So, what other team has that kind of weapon on the bench that's like, okay, this is a this bat is a is a special bat. Now, I know I know he's limited with what he can do on the on the base pass. Um, I actually think he plays.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

He scored from first on a triple the night before.

SPEAKER_03 20:13

He's got a piano on his back. But no. Um, so I I think you know, he's gonna continue to kind of play this role just because Jake Bowers is is playing so well. Uh he's hitting both-handed pitching. Yeah, but how do you keep Andrew Vaughn out of the lineup? I actually I'm baffled by this one a little bit in certain in certain situations where you know you get a righty that you would think that Andrew Vaughn would be able to handle. We saw him handle it last year, you know. So you wonder, and I don't know, I actually don't know the answer to this. You wonder sometimes if it is Pat Murphy with full autonomy in terms of making the roster or making the lineup every day, or if he does have I know he's got influence from the people in the front office. I know that every manager does, but you just wonder if it's like if it's is it full autonomy for Murph? Because there's certain situations where I get Andrew Vaughn in there, man. Yeah, you know, just because he's he's you know, I get the matchup thing, but he looks hotter than anybody in the big leagues right now, so you gotta ride the hot hand sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Vinny, we talked about it a week ago, and maybe it was two weeks ago now, but Matt Erickson's been working with Vaughn and like not just as a pipe dream. Hey, could you do this if you had to? Could you just install Andrew Vaughn as your third baseman and kind of resolve these issues of Yelich being your DH every day, Bowers playing against right-handed and left-handed pitching, and Vaughn in, unless the matchup is very unfavorable, Vaughn is a third baseman. I know they're a run prevention first concept, but is that not in play? Is there not enough defensive skill there for him to do that on a regular?

SPEAKER_03 21:56

I watch him take ground balls at third almost every single day. When I'm at the ballpark and it looks right, he makes the routine play, and the throws are right on the money. Anytime you see a guy kind of look to make this kind of yeah, this is this would be a drastic position change, especially for a team that's got the second best record in baseball. Of a sudden, you're gonna put a guy over there at third base who has never played third base in his professional career on a regular basis. So but I mean, we've seen we've seen it in the past where you have Mike Mustack is playing second base, remember when they acquired it. So it's not out of the realm of possibility where you would go ahead and ask a guy to do that. I would say maybe why not when a guy like Kyle Harrison is on the mound where there's not a whole lot of ground balls hit the third base, right? Uh there's a lot of fly balls being hit, or even a Jacob Mizarowski who strikes everybody out. I mean, why not play Vaughn over there for the first six innings and then later in the game throw Joey Ortiz over there? I I don't know why that hasn't been explored. It seems as if when you talk to people, because I I've talked to a couple of the coaches, I'm like, I I think it works, yeah. And and and and everyone kind of just says it's probably not gonna happen, you know. So, you know, I I don't know why not, you know, maybe uh especially with him swinging the bat so well, and Jake Bowers as well swinging the bat so well. It's a run, it's a run prevention group. I get it, but for me, he he looks like he can make the routine play. So yeah, you know, you're gonna be limited in range, he's gonna be limited in coming in on balls, which actually is a big deal. Yep. So that that's probably the thing that okay, he's the range on those choppers, yeah, that Kyle Harrison and Jacob Mizarowski do give up when guys put the ball play, those kind of need to be converted into outs, especially those guys on the mound. So I think maybe that's the trepidation and not having those guys, not having Vaughn play over there.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

You think of the game inning ground ball that Ortiz makes uh a couple of nights ago. Now, even if you did the Vaughn at third base, he wouldn't be in there in that moment, ninth inning, because you would defensively replace him when you felt like, okay, now we gotta have to go defense first. Uh there were other moments of that game last night that aren't really inside baseball, but the Arroyo failed bunt and the really good play by Kunell, PFP, right? I mean, he he hops, bad bunt, but he hops and there's no hesitation. And and for those who don't know, it's a Contreras call, right? I mean, you do you you were a catcher. Did is Contreras making the call? He's yelling.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Yep, he's yelling, he is yelling and pointing. You should be pointing three, three, three, though, loud, very with a lot of conviction. At the same time, Joel Kuno, he's done it for a long time now. In a pitcher, a good pitcher will know, okay, I have a shot over here at three. But you're you are definitely listening to your catcher because you don't know what kind of jump the guy at second base got off. So that was a good call.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

He was slow from second as well.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

You're right. And that that's actually a good call. I'll pay attention to that next time I'm in the booth and point that out. That good call by William Caturas right there and directing Joel Cuno to go to third.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Yeah, that I mean that, and and that's I mean, I don't care about Arroyo. We'll see him four times next week at some level, but that was also poor execution on his part. And he you could see it on the first bunt attempt, he was not comfortable bunting, and he has to be, and he wasn't. It was it was an ugly attempt.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

He was a guy that got he was acquired uh for Castillo, Luis Castillo, big deal with Seattle. Seattle kind of emptied their holster and sent over four prospects, including Noel V. Marte. Yeah, like good player. He was a top prospect. He was supposed to be like a you know, like a Jackson Churio type. He was that high of a prospect. It has not panned out to that level. Now he's still got time. He looks like a good bat. Um, but yeah, that this kid Arroyo was also a big piece in that deal. He was raking in triple A. He's not getting an opportunity. Their second base situation has killed the Cincinnati Reds. They should be, in my opinion, that's a better team. Just again, I've when you're in the ballpark, you can get a sense who's who's a really good ball club. I think the Pittsburgh Pirates, what we saw from them early, are a really good ball club. They're a danger in the NL Central. We'll see if they kind of can get consistent. I thought that the Cardinals were not that good of a ball club, yeah. And they continue to just kind of win these close games, right? I think the Reds are again, I they've got pieces where they should be better than what they are, and they are just not getting it done. They are not playing, you know, winning on the margins like the Brewers do. If they start to figure it out, and Edwin Arroyo is one of those pieces that that should start to figure it out because again, the numbers in triple A were really, really good. Matt McClain looks like a bust, you know, and he is kind of killing them at second base. So I'm just kind of pointing this out because then L Central, it's it's so close, it's so razor thin, and it's so crazy that the Brewers over the last eight years, Mike, have kind of had these pieces that they've been able to move around like a chess board, and they don't have they and right now this roster has zero holes like the Reds do at second base. And it's so I just kind of pointing that out just to tell everybody like, man, this front office really does know how to move these chess pieces around the board and get this thing right because you're seeing other teams like the Reds should be better, aren't and it's because a couple of holes that they have in their roster, including that Edwin Arroyo.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Vinny, there's a missing resume piece that we're all aware of, and that's the October success. But otherwise, the Brew have essentially traded their dominance of the division and these players that you where'd that guy come from with the Cardinals? For such a long time, the Cardinals were doing what the Brewers are doing now in the last just shy of a decade. They just retool, they spin it forward. Where'd that pitcher come from? Now the Brewers are getting them many times via trade and then turning Kyle Harrison into him or Sproat into who he is or drone to do what he's doing right now. The Cardinals did that forever. They were the most frustrating team to see because all they did was win, and now the rest of the division looks at Milwaukee in that same way with the one you know missing resume piece in October.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Yep, you're right. You remember Matt Carpenter, 11th round pick out of TCU, and he was uh, you know, no one even had a prospect grade on him. I I read all the all the reports on him when I was with the Texas Rangers, like everyone, you know, three, three, three, three. Three means he's an organizational minor league player. The Cardinals turned him into an all-star, perennial all-star and guy rake. So they had guys like that, just like the Brewers do now, all through that decade in the you know, in the 2000s and even into the 2010s decade. Like, and now, yes, the Brewers have kind of taken over that mantle, uh, or that label that that's what the Brewers do. And you're right. And here's the scary thing about the Brewers is they're doing it with guys like Jake Bowers, like guys that are there unearthing and and finding uh as a minor league free agent a non-roster invite to spring training, and then all of a sudden, three years later, he's you know, potentially an all-star, he should be an all-star. Yeah, and then they're also doing it with these highly touted, extremely talented 20-year-olds, 22-year-olds, you know. So it's kind of scary that they're able to do it on both ends. Um, and it doesn't look like it's gonna slow down. Now it's gonna be interesting, Mike, if, and I know this is the conversation, and it's gonna be for the next month until August 3rd, the trade deadline. Are they going to take a couple of these highly touted prospects? And and do the does the front office understand and the ownership group understand this is the best roster that we've had in the last eight years, even though we've made the playoffs in seven of the last eight years. This is the best roster that we do have. Should we go ahead and fire a couple of bullets from our holster and go ahead and get the Terek Scuble or go ahead and get the Roldus Chapman to kind of fortify things? I don't think there's a position player out there, I don't think that is really gonna move the needle. And the way the clubhouse is right now, I wouldn't actually touch the position player group. I think it's just a phenomenal mix of guys and they're all in it together. But is there that starting pitcher or is that bullpen piece that they are gonna fire a bullet or two to kind of leverage uh or or or jeopardize a little bit of your future because they have so many pieces in the minor leagues? I I don't know that answer. I think they're gonna kick the tires on it if the price is right and if it makes sense. I think they will. I actually think they will. And I for the first time, I think, in the last you know, however long I've been doing this now on the on the media side, 2021. This is the first time where I feel like, Mike, that they could do it. Uh and and they're willing to do it a little bit more so than than years past. And that again, that's just a gut feel. Haven't heard anything from anybody. It's just a gut feel and the kind of the vibe. And I was talking to John Kuhn about this, and he said he had the same feel around the the Packers uh clubhouse and locker room before they acquired Micah Parsons. Now, yeah, I'm not saying the Brewers are gonna acquire a Micah Parsons type talent. I'm just saying I do get the feel that they're gonna be kicking the tires on this thing and gonna maybe try to make something happen.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Yeah, and it would be to your point, I don't think you know somebody's gonna say, Are you kidding me? Of course they have to go get a bet. They they've got three home runs from the left side of the infield this year. Um yeah. But I I I would argue in your corner, let's see how Woody does, how he holds. But then, yeah, another starting pitcher, you might have your answer from within. You keep seeing what Sprote gets better, drone looks really good. Somebody, I mean, Gasser's likely the odd man out in that rotation. Uh Logan Henderson might be coming back. You're gonna get Jerry Kaning in the bullpen now this week. And if he's the Koenig that we've seen the last couple of years, you resolve another issue there. Luis Lara, who I bring up, I think weekly to you, is still a question mark. And I wonder if you know how they'll manage that situation because you know the bat plays, and he's got more than a bat, but he had uh seven hits and seven at bats over the last couple of nights. He went five for five two nights ago, his first two hits last night, and then I didn't pay attention, so maybe he had more. But Lara's another question mark, and that gets back to that clubhouse deal, right? That we've talked about a couple of times. Careful on how you do that with a guy like Sal Freelick or anybody else you might replace or move.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

It would be the the issue you would be looking at is subtraction by subtraction, right? So it's not Lara with the addition of Lara, the clubhouse stuff on him and his personality, phenomenal. Everyone loves him, he's a hard worker, he's a winner, all that. It's not it's not that. It's not you're gonna it's not a situation where you're gonna have a subtraction by addition of adding him to the roster, and all of a sudden it's gonna subtract from your from your clubhouse vibe. No, it's the if what happens who who he replaces now? Does he replace a salic? Do they trade a sal? I don't I don't know, or do they they wouldn't send him down? I wouldn't think uh he's he's too valuable to become your fourth outfield if you do something like that. You don't bring Lara up to be the fourth outfielder, I don't think yeah, he would he would be moved to the bench, Freelick, and then you would subtract, you know, or or or option down Blake Perkins is what you would do, correct? And you would have to play Lara every single day, so yeah, you know, Sal Freelick then, but there's a vibe that gets affected by the fact that Sal's, you know, not that he would be unhappy because he's not that type of guy, he would do anything to help the team win, but there would be something affected there. I there they again they just have to be careful now. Bringing up Cooper Pratt, I think everyone knew in that clubhouse. Okay, we're not gonna send Joey down because he's so important to the defensive side of things late in games, and also because he is one of the team leaders, it sounds like around these guys, like he's a quiet guy, but everyone loves Joey Ortiz, so there's a factor there where you don't want to mess with the clubhouse by sending Joey Ortiz down. Same thing with Sal Freelick, they would they wouldn't send him down. Um, but what he's what he showed last year, he's capable of having he's capable of doing that again, and I know he's not doing it now. So, how do you balance that if and when Luis Lara comes up to this team? They're gonna, I think they're gonna be a little bit patient with this because again, they're winning, and I think they're gonna be patient with this one with with Lara and that decision, even though they they are they've extended them and they're paying them millions of dollars to play in triple A.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Vinny, I want to I want to talk about the the Cubs series, but I want to talk about a Cubs uh situation that happened two nights ago that I'm sure you guys saw on the walk with Pete Crow Armstrong trying to steal second base. It was a three-ball count, and it's called ball four. So obviously you can't steal the base, you get to go to second automatically. But video replay, one of the unintended consequences is the coming off the bag on a slide that's barely noticeable, or the unintended consequence of a player sliding into home plate because the bag is not raised there and the foot hovers over the plate without touching it. Video replay gets those to the letter of the law right. I don't think it was the intended measure of video replay, but we had that Pete Crow Armstrong on a ball four steel second, and his foot pops off the bag for a millisecond, but the gloves applied and he's out. Have you seen it? Have you ever seen that before? It never happened before we had replay because the umpire would have said you know, there's nothing here.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

Yeah, yeah, I've never seen it. It's ball four. I want to know what they would do in a situation where okay, so he thinks so okay, it is ball four. The runner doesn't know it's ball four, correct? Okay, yeah, and so they they apply the tag, and he knows he's out. I mean, the tag beat him. Did they call him safe live or did they make no call? You know what?

SPEAKER_01 36:31

They made no call, they made no caller made no call. The only reason there was an appeal, uh, the only reason they got looked at is that the Mets manager appealed. He he called for the appeal because the umpire at second makes no call at all.

SPEAKER_03 36:46

He and he shouldn't because it's ball four. There is no outer safe because he's it's ball four, the runner advances. Yeah, I I hate that this happened.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Okay, I agree with you. I'd like something that happened to the Cubs, but I hate that it doesn't belong in the game. That play doesn't belong in the game.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

He should be safe. They should tell him, you know, hey, you slid past the base. I mean, I I just have never seen that call. It's ball four, it's almost like a dead ball situation where and it's like kind of a gentleman's agreement that okay, ball four, you're on second base. I know that you were stealing, but you're safe. Okay, you're it's just the play's dead, right? You know, so I don't I I hate it. I hate I hate the fact that New York, yes, they got the call right, but also couldn't couldn't New York say, you know, the ball, the the play's dead, it's a ball four. Yeah, the runner advances. Yeah, um, it's tricky, right? Because let's say there's a runner on third, yeah. Let's say it's a first and third situation. You can't call the play dead because that guy from third can go home. So I get it. They're gonna have to change that. That was awful for the game of baseball. Worse than worse than the hover thing, worse than yeah, you know, the the foot popping up off the base when the when the tag stays on the on the runner, and then you send it to review, and you know, he was safe by a mile, but his foot popped off one inch. I also hate that, but this is worse than that.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Yeah, yeah. And to your point, I'm glad you brought up first and third. I didn't take it to that level, but if there's first and third and it's a ball four, and the catcher throws through to second, the runner on third could be going on a double steal. The the ball can't be ruled dead, right? So it is uh it's one of the very unintended consequences of what I think is pretty good for the game is video replay, uh replay reviews. But in that moment, even though I didn't mind it happened to them, um it's just wrong. You know, when you see those intricacies, those this was never intended. When you see those moments, you go, oh shoot, you know, that's where Zaban gets to be right about replay. I don't like replay, but I don't like that.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

And I don't know if you saw Craig Council's reaction to it. I thought it was an appropriate, appropriate reaction as he's walking off the field. He had you know the two magic words that he said a few times to the umpire. Because you know what? His hands were tied in that situation, and there's nothing you can do except just swallow that pill.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Even the umpires on the field, they got no say in that. And I would argue that New York had no say in it. Because what are the Mets? I mean, if the if New York doesn't overturn it and call him out, the Mets go, wait a second, he touched the bag and then he comes off the bag. It's not a dead ball. Uh so unless the rule gets changed, you have to adjudicate the call properly. And uh, the umpires on the field had no say in the matter, but I understood all of it. I understood Craig's angst and that he gets tossed and all of that, I think is part of it. Well, how important is this weekend? Well, the Brewers had now have 18 days, including today, it's an off day. They have 18 days until the all-star break and 18 games. So when they take the field tomorrow night against the Cubs, they will play 18 games in 17 days to take you to the break. How important are the first three of those?

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Very important to get some momentum going in this stretch. And uh, I think guys are gonna have to understand that there's gonna be guys that are going to get you know scheduled days off. Yeah, that being that being position player-wise, you're gonna see William Concheris get full days off without even touching a bat. You're gonna see Bryce Tarang do the same thing, you're gonna see even a Cooper Pratt do the same thing, and Jackson Churio, like these guys need and and players need to understand, okay, someone else has to step up in this long stretch. And the bullpen arms, there's gonna be there's gonna be a ton of games, not a ton, there's gonna be a handful of games just like last night, where Trevor McGill, Avenue Rebate, and Aaron Ashby are all down, and so you're gonna have to need someone to step up in those games and close it out in a one-run game, and they're gonna lose some of those, okay, in this stretch. And so you're gonna have to learn how to bounce back from that. These three games against the Cubs are absolutely vital. Coming to American family field, the Cubs are playing better. Now they're swinging the bats really, really well. Um, you know, 15 RBIs in the last three games for Danzby Swanson. Are you kidding me? So this guy was the worst hitter in all of baseball a week ago, and now all of a sudden he's got 15 RBIs in three games. So, like, that's what this Cubs team is capable of. They are capable of guys getting hot all at the same time and putting up huge numbers offensively. So the Brewers have Miz on the mound and then Harris to hopefully shut down and cool off those bats. That does happen. That's a real thing where all of a sudden, you know, a really hot-hitting team looks unstoppable, and all of a sudden you get your stopper on the mound, you get your guy that can blow them away, and all of a sudden their bats will go quiet. Hopefully, that I would argue, Mike, that tomorrow's game is the most important game in this long stretch because Miz is going up against this hot-hitting Cubs team, and hopefully, you know, he could shut those bats down.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

And and this is uh I know that it's late June, but this is a a playoff rotation for the Brewers. Miz, Harrison, Woodruff in consecutive games. And by the way, earlier in the week, it's not the case now, but if the Brewers didn't get one of the top two records in the National League, this would be the wild card series. It would be the Brewers all at home against the Cubs in a best of three, and these would likely be the three pitchers you would throw in the order that you would throw them, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:39

And and against uh a Cubs rotation, that who are they gonna throw? We don't know because everybody's hurt, so yes, no, so yeah, um yeah, you gotta expect that the Cubs are are gonna do something and kind of figure it out. There's just too many guys on this on this position player group for them that are that can hit, and so you gotta figure that they are gonna be in this playoff hunt all the way through. And so, yeah, the Brewers could end up hopefully not. Uh I I think it's a big deal, Mike. And I know Brewers Nation all agrees in the front office, everyone agrees that you it's it's a big deal to get that first round by. It really is. I mean, the Brewers ended up, I I think the Brewers ended up besting the Cubs last year in that five-game series because the Cubs had to play the three-game series uh in the in the wild card series against the Padres last year before they came at American Family Field. I think they had a big advantage in doing so. And uh, you know, I it went all the way to five, but you can sense it that that that was a big deal. So the Brewers are really gonna have to kind of go for this. Hopefully, they don't have to play that wildcard series. But yeah, this would be the matchup. Um, this is gonna be a playoff type atmosphere. I you look, we get we get a couple of tickets for each game if it's if available as Brewers employees, right? And this one, this one was sold. Not available. Not available in the system. So this is gonna be wild here at uh at American Family Field.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Treadmill hasn't reached out to you for tickets this weekend. Maybe I should have said that live. Uh treadmill. Hey, you were just talking about Dan's B. Swanson a week ago being the worst hitter. Um about a month ago, maybe six weeks ago, you were almost optioned to cribbage triple A after uh an 0-8 start. Is that I mean I'm not wrong, am I? I mean you were 0-8.

SPEAKER_03 44:30

No, I mean levering was 0-8. I was eight-no to start the season. Levering trailed, but he has come roaring back.

SPEAKER_01 44:40

Well, we almost optioned him and put Josh Mauer in his spot. And and now what's happened? Did you take your foot off the gas?

SPEAKER_03 44:47

I didn't take my foot off the gas. I just I made a couple sloppy mistakes. Maybe it got a little complacent. Okay. And at the same time, you know, every time I beat Levering, especially when I was up eight-nothing, it wasn't fun beating someone that badly. You know, I had to kind of let him back in the in the match because you know he gets pouty. You know, you can sense it on the broadcast with him and I. It's pretty easy to to get him going, you know. It's it's a lot of fun, it's a lot of fun, but you got to keep him keep him interested anyway. So that's why he's come back.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Totally had that backwards, and I apologize for ever putting an 0 and 8 on you. Uh yeah, it was entirely his. And he, like I said, he almost got option then.

SPEAKER_03 45:25

He's coming back. I'm still up three games. Um, but there's a lot of season left to go.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:30

And uh it's good band. Yeah, I can't wait to win the the season series again because again, I I love giving them little jabs, and it's really, really easy to uh kind of get in his kitchen a little bit, you know. That six game roadie, how'd you do on this? Because you had all six. Uh, so he won he won the series against Atlanta. It was 500. We split. So he won't all right. He won the series on Atlanta. I won the series in Cincy.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, uh again, I apologize for putting that on you because it wasn't on you, but the next time I talk to Leb, I'll make sure I get it right.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

And uh he's not gonna correct you, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 46:07

No, he just rolled with it. Yeah, just a long. I mean, you guys were were bantering back and forth as you know, was kind of a long road trip. You guys have been together a lot lately.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Yeah, nine out of the last 12, yeah. So rocks rock and ba are coming back. Uh, I think it's an Apple game tomorrow. And so then, but rock and BA will be back for those last two in Chicago, and then I think it'll be rock and levering.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Uh I'm not sure exactly, but yeah, so I had a nice little long stretch. You guys have uh some fun special stuff going on this weekend on the Saturday Sunday broadcast, yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

We have to, I think we're previewing or not previewing, but uh um I think we're highlighting the climbable cow thing, that whole that whole thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so I actually I think Dillard and I are gonna be on the pre- Dillard will be involved somehow in the pre-game show, but it'll be me and Craig on the deck. I've suggested that we race to the top, but I I think legal said no, it's only for 12-year-olds.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Five, five to twelve year olds. So uh hey Vinny, always appreciate it. Thanks uh for the always on the extended visits on Thursday. Uh everything is fun right now. Let's keep it fun. Big weekend against the Cubs and a lot of games in a few days, all the way to the All-Star break. Uh appreciate you being here.

SPEAKER_03 47:31

Thank you. Yes, sounds good. Anytime, Mike, you're the best. Thanks, man.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

Thank you, Vinny. Vinny Rettino, Brewers TV, in on the broadcast. Uh oh, Vilker wanted to say it's too late, he's already gone. Uh Treadmill said, Hey, get me those weekend ticks, Vinny, and you and I will smoke Heller and Leathering in Canadian doubles cribbage. No, you won't. No, you know you won't. Listen, it's a game I play. That's that's how I grew up learning to do math. Dad taught me. And then when dad taught me, everything had to be quicker. Like, what's taking you so long? Like, I'm counting my hand, Dad. Okay, do it faster. Okay, math. Uh yeah, so yeah, I I'd I'd love to hammer a little cribbage. Treadmill, I don't know. Stay on your bike, leave the leave the card playing to guys like me. And I don't think Vinny can get you those tickets. Um Rick weighed in that the they need a bat, as these close games are not always going to go their way. Yeah, so the only I get the concept of what a team needs. And and I get the idea of a team needing a bat. The Brewers are fifth in Major League Baseball in old gen stat batting average. In runs, the Brewers are third in Major League Baseball at 407, only behind the Nationals and the Dodgers. And they both played three more games. You're you're 16 runs behind the Dodgers in runs scored. I I get, though, the home run numbers. The Brewers have hit 70 on the season. Uh the 70 home runs ranks them 28th out of 30 teams in baseball. OPS is a little bit different story because the Brewers have done other things. They're 11th in OPS. So yeah, I I understand it. They're also, you know, they're they're second in Major League Baseball in walks. And when it comes to stolen bases, they're fifth in major league baseball. You know, on base percentage, the Brewers are third. So careful when we talk about them needing a bat, you're saying they need a power bat. Okay, and if they do, Rick, where does he go? What position is that guy? And and you're I know you're gonna say third base. Go ahead and look at the third baseman in the league. There's nobody sitting there that is, hey, he's your answer. Last year it was A. Eugenio Suarez, who I would argue didn't do much. And I wanted him, he didn't do much in Seattle after they acquired him, uh, acquired him from Arizona. He had, I think he had three postseason home runs, but his numbers after the acquisition were pedestrian at best. I just don't know where that bat where it comes from. Can't be a DH. You're already working the DH uh position mainly with Yelich and also from a Vaughn standpoint, Vaughn or Bowers. So when you say they need to go get a bat, I don't know where that bat goes. I like Luis Lara, but I like him at the expense of Sal Freelich, and they've got to be careful about how they manage that scenario as it plays. Uh Tom says they need to get Yelich going. And and I agree, Yelich is uh he's not been what he needs to be from a production standpoint. You know, we're we're talking about a team when when you're when you're talking about who the Brewers are from a team standpoint, and Yelich is in your lineup most every day, and he is your DH, he's also a team leader in so many respects that we might not always see. And he's got five homers, 24 runs batted in. So you're talking about a guy who's on pace for 12 homers and 60 runs batted in as a pretty much an everyday guy. He did miss. He's played 46 games, so he did essentially miss 20 games, well, almost 30 games in the season. The the most games played for the Brewers, Tarang Contreras at 74, and Yelich is at 46. But yeah, his his bat needs to go. I don't know, I mean, it needs to get going. Don't want that to be misinterpreted. Um all of this is uh part of what really good teams. How would you would you rather be the Cubs trying to figure out what the hell do we do? I mean, the Cubs are just seven games back right now in the standings, tied with the Cardinals. They're 43 and 37, and they're on a little bit of a heater to get there. So the Brewers are in a really good position, and uh odds are if they go get any significant piece at the trade deadline, it will be an arm or arms and not a bat. Some people are gonna be bugged by that, especially if they don't hit in October. But this is a team that has been built on run prevention and then run creation. And all I mean by that is that they're creating runs by taking walks, seeing more pitches per at bat essentially than just about any team in baseball, on base percentage, very high, stolen base percentage very high. The ability to bunt runners over, move runners over is significant. They're very fast and very smart on the bases. So they're in run prevention and run creation. And the run creation is third best in Major League Baseball. So they're doing it without the home run. And I know that as we get to August and September, people are gonna say the home run wins in August, in October. And I uh it'd be hard to prove that wrong because I think the numbers will bear that out. Yet I don't know where you would go get the bat. Third base is a position, but I don't know who that guy is. Last year, Ryan McMahon from Colorado was a guy. A Eugenio Suarez was a guy. This year, I think if you check the third base market in the trade deadline, we'll hit on that a little bit next week. But I don't know that that guy exists right now that says, hey, you better go get him. I don't know if he's there. All right, again, a big thank you to those people who are part of what we do from the neuroscience group. Go to neurosciencegroup.com. And that is if you've got a sports concussion, been in a car accident, have a spine or a back issue, head injury, that you are looking to find a better solution, neurosciencegroup.com. Uh Patoatomy brings you our time with Vinny Rettino. So Pottawatomie Sportsbook and Casino, bet above the rest. Our Thursdays with Vinny are presented by Pottawatomy. So a big thank you to Luis and his staff at Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino for making uh the Vinny Rettino Thursday experience possible because that's how it happened. Habish, Habish, and Roter, 13 locations. That ensures you get a hometown attorney. And why does that matter? That hometown attorney has greater care of your circumstance because they're from where you're from. And that matters in personal injury cases. Habish, Habish, and Rotier. We're also presented by M3 Insurance. Go to M3INS.com, whether you're talking about your business, insurance, and benefits package, risk management, m3ins.com is where you go. I need to talk to Jeff Knets from uh M3 about the shot clock. And we'll do that. Uh figure out a day when we're not encumbered by all of the Giannis Bucks, big time brewer series, that kind of thing. And one community bank, go to one community.bank or go to any of their bank locations to experience feel good banking. One community bank is a member of FDIC and an equal housing lender. Well, I knew this, I knew today would be fun because last night was a very entertaining game. And when you win one of those, that you shouldn't win. Because to be fair, the Brewers should not have won last night's game. But they did enough. The Reds made a copious number of missed opportunities. They left 16 runners on base. And the Brewers went one for 11 with runners in scoring position, which meant that they meant that they finished the series with one hit with a runner in scoring position and yet won all the games. The Brewers went three and all in the series, and they went one for 24 with runners in scoring position. And Joel Kuhnell, how about that? By the way, how about that 6'4 double play started by Cooper Pratt, who bobbled on the exchange from glove to hand, and I bet like he had a huge sigh of relief when he still fed it in time, and Tarang hurried the relay just a touch to make sure that they got the 6'4 on a guy that's sort of hard to double up. But all in all, just a fun series and a well-deserved day off and see how they manage the weekend against the Chicago Cubs. It used to be when the Cubs came to town, they'd bring uh 50% of the stadium fans with them. That won't be the case. They'll still be loud uh and it'll still be contentious. But I think Cubs fans expect their team to come into Milwaukee and lose. So let's let's uh meet their expectations, beginning with a three-game set tomorrow night. And how about it? Ms., Harrison, and Woodruff Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon. Should be awesome. Cubs' first trip into American Family Field this year. All right, Brew Daily takes a day off. We'll be back with that tomorrow after game one of Cubs Brewers. And I'll be back with you tomorrow morning. Ted Davis will join us. We'll talk about the Giannis career in Milwaukee. Ted Davis joins us on the program tomorrow. We'll get to that. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. And as always, we appreciate you being here. Thanks for being part of what we do with I Love Mondays. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 58:16

I love Mondays with my hell.