I Love Mondays-Ep98, July 16, 2026

A Brewers All-Star Break reset with TV Analyst Vinny Rottino.  The health of pitching and the trade deadline along with the outfield rotation and a hitters report card into the final 70 games of the season

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:05

I love Mondays with Mike.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller. Empowered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Um, hey, welcome in. I am your host, Mike Heller, and uh, but they just told you that. Here we go on a smoky Thursday. We kind of knew this was going on yesterday, but depending on where you were in the state, you didn't have this yesterday. Today, I think we all have it. Maybe the southwest corner uh of the state is avoiding some of this, but everybody else now is under the full-fledged smoke of Canadian wildfires. And not only can you see through, you know, barely see through the haze at a distance. Uh this morning when, depending on again, we didn't have it yesterday in certain parts of the state. Walk outside this morning, and you can certainly smell it. Uh, so it's impacted, it's gonna impact a lot of things. Uh the the Brewers are home tomorrow night. I wonder if it will impact, depending on what Friday's uh smoke forecast looks like, if it might impact the opening or closing of the roof. There is Major League Baseball tonight, one game in Philadelphia. Otherwise, everybody else gets back on the field tomorrow. There was great World Cup soccer yesterday. I'm not gonna talk about it at any length, but it was incredibly entertaining with Argentina roaring from behind to beat England, uh, scoring all of their goals, I think, after the 75-minute mark, 80, whatever the number was. It was late and it was spectacular. And England goes home, Argentina goes to the final while they take on Spain on Sunday afternoon. Should be uh should be awesome. If if and I'm not into it, into it, but if I'm around, the the choices on Sunday are the British Open final, because that'll be going on in that window, and uh and the World Cup final. So pick your poison. And and let me just add this uh this let me get to the greetings. The greetings uh first from James. Good morning, Mike. This golfing uh does the open appeal to me? I'm gonna go back to an old tired argument that I have. I love watching the open. I hate the camera work and the way they cover golf from a visual standpoint. A lot of wide shots, they don't follow the ball very closely. Even when a ball is rolling up onto the green, they keep it on a wide shot. They don't go tight, hard to see. The courses are beautiful in their own right because it's the origin of golf, lynx golf, but it's not a beautiful setting. It it's brown and gray, and the the fairways. Uh, I assume that these are unwatered. It's natural because they're very thin and um tight lies and a lot of rolling. Um I like it because it's different. I couldn't watch it on a regular, and I don't and I say this uh repeated again. My biggest issue is I think the camera work just by choice, how they want to cover it. It's their it is uh, I don't know if it's the BBC, but it's their television coverage. The American broadcast of it is just using American announcers, but it's it's their TV show and it's how they show golf. And I don't like it. I've never liked it uh in that regard. But it's nice to wake up early and have Kari get me a cup of coffee and watch golf in bed. Uh but whatever. Uh Mike Hay, good morning. Uh Mike and Merrill. Sunshine, fires, yeah, hard to breathe. If you got masks, I guess wear them if you're susceptible to uh breathing issues, certainly. Uh Zach said, good hazy Monday or morning, everyone. It's not Monday, but it's always Monday here. Excited for the back half of the brewer season. Yeah, Zach, so are we. We're gonna talk to Vinny here in a few minutes. There's really no update on the Lance McCullers Jr. trade yesterday, other than Jaden Fielder goes away in this. I don't know where Jaden fit into the long-term brewer's plans. He's not a highly rated prospect, certainly a high, highly rated name. Uh, but we'll see where that goes. Dan Douglas, uh, hey Dan, good morning. Uh, thanks for weighing in. Great show. I appreciate that. Very nice of you. By the way, my podcast with um my podcast with Sean Icorse, Wisconsin's athletic director, dropped today at badgerconnect.com. That's free. So go watch it. It's about a 40, 44, 45 minute uh interview, I believe, with uh Sean Icorse that I did on Tuesday at Camp Randall Stadium. I think it's really good. I think it's wide-ranging. I think you learn a little bit more about him, about his philosophy, where he's been, the coaches, the administrators, the people he's been around, from incredibly great coaches at Whitewater, including uh Bresuits and Vander Muelen and and others. Uh, he played with Lance Lyopold in college. Then to go to South Carolina and be around Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier, to be in Miami and around uh Donna Shalela, and that's an important remedy or important uh add-on to put in here, and Jim Blair and Ega, who he hired, to be here and working for Barry Alvarez as one of his uh deputy ADs and had oversight over Bo Ryan and Wisconsin men's basketball from 06 to 11 to then find his way to Nebraska and succeed Tom Osborne, but also to work through Tom Osborne. And I know people look at Nebraska and say, well, he failed there. Did he? There were issues in Nebraska. They were about Bo Pellini, and I think the Bo issues were greater on Bo than they were on Sean Eichhorst. And uh, I think the decision that he made there was the appropriate one. The question mark is Mike Riley. That hire failed. And when hires fail, ADs are held responsible, and that was really the big issue there. But then to be involved as uh the uh deputy AD and COO of Texas Longhorn Athletics, it is the biggest operating machine in all of college athletics. And he's been there for quite a while. So I like the hire. I know we talked to Jim Polzine about it yesterday on the show. I like the hire, but make no bones about it. What will happen here will be a success or failure, will be attributed to what uh Luke Fickle and his coaching staff get done on the field this fall. I don't think at the end of this fall that Sean Ikehorst is gonna have a decision to make. But if they're seven and five or six and six, he will have a decision to make. I think they're an eight and four team. I I think eight is I think it's the floor of this team. If they drop below that floor, now the AD is gonna have to look at things. But otherwise, they're in really good shape here. And I think you'll get a sense of that in that badgerconnect.com podcast interview that I did with Sean Icourse, that is now at badgerconnect.com for free. Um you get a sense of Greg Gard. They need more budget money, but Mike Hastings and Mark Johnson and Kelly Sheffield and Chris Selinski and what they've done with soccer and what they're doing with the Vet Healy and softball. Uh this is a this is a program, athletics department that is actually in good shape with one significant question mark. And it's the biggest question mark, and that's about football. But we'll we'll see how that plays uh this fall. So uh let's see, a couple other notes, and then I'll bring in uh oh, I did that already with Zach. Zach gets double billing here, uh, second time on the show. Justin, morning, Mike. Glad to hear uh you talking sports again. Yeah, Justin, share it with some friends too. Um back here now. This is uh, what is this? Episode 98. This is our 98th I Love Mondays episode. So uh closing in, Mondays will be 100 if we make it. Uh Brian says, good smoky morning. Mark uh weighs in. Good morning, Mike, and all really good interview with Ikehorst, I assume. Walks with my niece and hubby from Texas and our coffee. Good. Glad to hear it. Greg Strom, uh buddy of mine who I'm gonna see tomorrow, uh, likes my shirt. Uh a little early for me. I'm not drinking it yet. Well, later. Um, very nice of uh Greg to weigh in. Uh and welcome aboard. Let me uh talk to you about my sponsors for a moment here because the neuroscience group, and again, I'll be up there at uh neuroscience stadium and Fox uh Neuroscience Field at Fox City Stadium. I don't know if I have that right or not. They're involved in the stadium. Naming rights there. I'll be up at a Timber Rattlers game on the 31st and uh with the neuroscience group and doing a special podcast. Might do two that day. One in the morning, normal time like this, and then one from the stadium later in the day. We'll see. Neuroscience group, when it comes to concussion care, back injuries, spine, they're your people to see. You know, anybody struggled with back issues, spine issues, concussion, you know how debilitating it can be. Well, the group at Neuroscience Group, that's what they do. That's what they do best. They'll take care of it. Neurosciencegroup.com. I also want to thank our friends at M3 Insurance. If you're involved in a business, small growing business that has insurance needs and employee benefits, risk management, M3, M3INS.com. It's where you go, it's what they do. They're a a local company, essentially, with national resources, and they are fantastic in what it is they go about. One community bank, onecommunity.bank is the website, feel good banking. Uh, what they do, again, I say this all the time. If you're making a banking decision, give them a shot, reach out, see what they can do. We did, and with both, well, with all of it, with red and white wine bar, with the podcast, with our personal banking, and they earned our business. And when I say earned our business, Camera Change, when I say earned our business, they did. They earned our business. Isn't that what you want your bank to do? You want them to earn your business, not just feel like you're doing them a favor, keeping your money there. You want them to earn it, and that's what they've done, certainly with us. Uh, and before I forget, also a big thank you to Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino. They bring in Vinny Rettino on Thursdays and Habish, Habish, and Rotier, 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney, Habish.com. Also by Traditions Lighting, and I get it. We look outside, it's 94 degrees, and the the air is smoke-filled. But traditionslighting.com, they are your holiday lighting headquarters for what you do on the exterior of your home or business. And you never have to mess with light strands getting out the ladder to get up by the eaves, to put them up, to secure them in the wind, sometimes in the rain, sleet, snow, cold. If a light strand doesn't work, you have to figure out. Uh-uh. Do it through them. They store it, they bring it. You set the calendar, they show up, they put it up, they troubleshoot any problems, make the phone call, send them an email, it gets taken care of. Traditionslighting.com, fantastic of what they do. All right. Delayed this long enough. Bring in Vinny Rettino from uh Brewers TV analyst. Vinny, how are you, sir? Okay, have you joined the you you had a little break here because you didn't work that last trip and then the all-star break.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

I had a nice, nice break. Yeah, it was it was nice to be with the family. It was nice to just kind of do everything uh with my girls. And we went to the pool a lot. Uh, I actually did uh a bunch of showcases as well for prep baseball Wisconsin. You know, I worked for them as well. So no, it was good. Uh it was a nice little break and uh ready to get back to it tomorrow against the Marlins, Brewers uh Marlins. I'll be in the booth for that.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, we we had a lot of uh a lot of questions going into the all-star break. I think people get skewed negatively on what happened over about 26 hours in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon to Sunday uh in losing three games in a short period of time. First time they've lost three in a row since April. But in the big picture, you look at a team that's won 59 times, lost 34. So you're 25 games over 500, five-game lead in the division. Vinny, what went right in the first half and maybe where are some of the question marks? We'll get to the question marks. Let's start with what went right in the first half.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Look, I Mike, I think when you look at this Milwaukee Brewers team and and what Pat Murphy has been able to build here in Milwaukee, the culture that he's been able to build. I mean, we could talk all day and we and we likely will. We will continue to do so about the the offense and how good that the offense has been, how good the starting pitching has been, including Jacob Mizarowski's emerged as the best pitcher on the planet at this point. We could talk about the defense, the base ranking, all the physical things that the Brewers do so well, uh very consistently. There's really no holes on this roster and on this team. But what they do and what went so right in the first half is they did not have to play their best baseball to still stack a bunch of wins on top of each other. That that's what's so impressive about this group is that they win these one-run games. You know, these last three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, notwithstanding. You're gonna lose some of those one-run games, of course, but they won so many of those close games, they did so on the backs of just playing this relentless style of baseball that puts pressure on opposing teams to make mistakes, and they do, and they take cap and they capitalize on these mistakes that other teams make, and they come out on top all the time. And again, it's it's it is about the way that they hit, pitch, field, and run. It is all about that for sure. But again, it is more so about that. This team has such a will to win, and they almost got to 60 wins before the all-star break, would have been one of 21 teams of all time to do so. That unfortunately they couldn't get to that mark, but they have bigger, bigger things to accomplish this year than just to get to the 60-win mark before the all-star break. So they they have a bright season ahead of them. Um, and it's all gonna come down to their starting pitchers. I I really do believe that because the way that this group has played up and down the lineup offensively, the position player group, they're just so consistent. They have other guys that step up any given night that uh another guy is cold. They just got so many weapons that I do think it's gonna come down to their starting pitching and how it can sustain itself in order to answer the question whether or not this team can win a World Series.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

We'll um we'll get to pitching uh and a trade uh that they made yesterday. We'll get there in a moment. But let me talk about the left side of the infield because for a while it was the biggest concern. Maybe it still is uh for the position players in this lineup on a daily basis. When you had Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton and others playing at third base, uh that just didn't that didn't work. So they adjusted and they made the move to go to Cooper Pratt. He's your everyday shortstop. And Joey Ortiz and and Hamilton when healthy are likely gonna share that third base duty unless they make a deal. Is it good enough, Benny? That left side of the infield that people were worried about so much for the first two months.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

I'm gonna say yes. I'm gonna say yes. And and people are gonna say, well, wait a minute, how is that possible? It's possible because you're you're not accounting for the fact, and I and I'm and I'm more so looking at Joey Ortiz as the everyday third baseman, not because of the bat, but because of the glove. Yeah, and you'll take what you can get on offense with Joey Ortiz. Okay, so so okay, like let's say it's still really poor offensively for Joey Ortiz. How is that enough? And my answer to that is the fact that you have Garrett Mitchell playing the way that he's playing, you have Jake Bowers playing the way that he's playing, you have all these other complimentary pieces. What other team has a catcher that's gonna produce like an all-star behind home plate? So you have all these other guys around the roster and around the field that are producing offensively that can kind of cover the hole that you have with Joey Ortiz at third and Cooper Pratt at short. And so it's the defense that's gonna prevent runs that's gonna allow you to win games and have those guys be enough. So that's my answer to that. Um, I actually I I love Joey Ortiz over there at third, and we'll see what happens. But um, I actually think that's gonna be enough.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

So one of the questions before I get to the pitching side, you have to get offensive production from the DH. I mean, by definition, that's that's a the designated hitter. Christian Yelits has not delivered at that level, not for lack of effort or work or want to, but he's one of the big question marks for me is if he can, and he works his tail off to find it, if he can find it to the level to produce the way a DH ought to, because so far through 90 almost 100 games, that there hadn't been enough offense offense out of the DH.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

I I agree, I agree, and and that's that is the other conversation. So there is kind of a hole at your DH spot with Christian Yelich. So what do you do? This is a very tough one, it's a very delicate situation. You can you bench Christian Yelich? And I know that and I and I read Twitter, you know, and I and I see the comments out there, you know. Everyone, you know, you gotta bench Christian Yelch. If you lose Christian Yellich in terms of what he can bring attitude-wise, what he can bring on the winning side, the culture side of things, that's gonna be detrimental to the team, also. So um there's a delicate balance there. He's capable of finding it. We've seen him find it. He's a tinkerer, he's a thinker up at the plate, but when he finds it, he is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. We've seen him find it at stretches this season, but not consistently. So he needs to get consistent. How do you do it? Maybe you move him down in the low in the lineup a little bit. I don't know. There's ways for for Pat Murphy to kind of deal with this situation, but you definitely need him to produce. Hopefully, he finds it sooner than later. Because yeah, I think he if if he's hot in in September and October, um, then you know, then we can have that real, real car, and and we're having a real conversation about the Brewers winning the World Series right now. But if he's hot in in October, you can't really stop the team, you know, considering the other guys that are that are swinging the bat and and should be consistent throughout the rest of the season. He's facing the age curve, Mike. He's 34 years old. That's what's happening here with Christian Yelich, I think. But the bat speed's still there, some of the metrics are still there. I think he's just kind of going through one of those down periods that we've seen him go through these last few seasons.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

And the internet debate on it would be well, why isn't Andrew Vaughn in your lineup on an every day? And either he or Bowers, one of them can DH the the day the other one isn't. And that's the Christian Yelich deal. And I talk about, I was talking about this yesterday, Vinny. You certainly can attest to this. I I think that I think that Sal Freelick is kind of the the model of what this team is built on. You know, that guy's gonna run through, he's a hockey player. There's a little hockey player mentality in this group, but I think your leader who they look to is Kristen Yellich, not vocally, you know, although when he talks, I'm when he speaks, I'm sure everybody stops and pays attention. But he is your leader, so they're gonna give him every opportunity to find it because when he finds it, he still he can carry you for two weeks. And if that two weeks is in October, hello, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

And yeah, so Christian. So, what people need uh realize is that this game is different from back in the day from the 80s, 90s, 2000s, where where if you were in those clubhouses, and I know you that I know that you were, Mike, those were clubhouses where guys just you know they policed it itself. The young guys, they were kind of shunned in the clubhouse. Yeah, the old veteran group would kind of, you know, everyone would be it, it was it was all. All about winning, and this was up and down the big leagues. This is the kind of feel that the Brewers have in this clubhouse, and it's not like this everywhere. I'm telling you, it's not. There's so much money at stake for these guys that a lot of players, a lot of them, don't really care about winning. They really they just want their numbers so they can they can sign that big lucrative contract. Okay, that's that's the reality of it. In this brewers clubhouse, I'm telling you, it is different. And and Christian Yelich is a huge reason for that. Why? Because he was brought up in the minor league system of a very good minor league system at the time. I played in that system, it was with the my Miami Marlins at the time, and he was taught that old school mentality, that old school way to win. And he's bringing that to the Brewers. Now, a bunch of these guys also have that mentality, right? And that's Pat Murphy, you know, bringing in and making sure Matt Arnold brings in the right kind of people, but it is Christian Yelish that is leading that group. It a hundred percent is so you have to make sure, not that you have to make him happy, that that's not a thing. It's just you you have to keep him engaged and keep him in this lineup, keeping him contributing to to winning baseball, and he'll get there. I I think that he thinks that he'll get there, I think that Murph thinks he'll get there. It'll be a little bit of a process. Maybe you have to live through some adjustment period right now, but Christian Yelich will get there. And when he does, like you said, it you know, it's gonna be you know hard to stop. It's gonna be a train rolling on the tracks with this team, you know, clicking on all cylinders up and down the lap. That's when you want to get hot in October. The Brewers were hot last year, but they ran into that buzzsaw, the Dodgers, and they kind of got cold in that one series. So you need a Yelich to kind of carry you through a series like that. Hopefully, he'll get there. I I do believe that he will.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Vinny, I have three levels of of concern about pitching. Brandon Woodruff is my most significant. I don't know if he'll throw again this year for this team or if they can manage to put him out there and and pick your times, you know, get him healthy and have him do what he did for that, you know, two or three starts when he came back. I don't know, but he's the biggest concern. Kyle Harrison is in the in-between. Like I would uh I'm a little worried about him. And then with Mizarowski, I said this is interesting when they pulled him and scratched him from that start. And it's something to keep an eye on, but I don't know that I'm worried about it. He's had 111 innings, he threw 129 across minor league and major league baseball a year ago. So he's gonna his inning total is gonna be up. But it would you agree on those fronts? What's your level of concern where those three starting pitchers are in the conversation?

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Yeah, I don't know. I think you just have to count out Brandon Wood. Just I just think so. Okay, so so operate with the understanding that you're not gonna have them. Yeah, Jacob Mizarowski. I think that they planned on having him quote unquote start that last game before the all-star break, knowing that they were going to scratch him from that start so that he didn't have to pitch in the all-star game. Okay, yeah that that's I that that was the calculus there. That I think. Okay, so now what that does is it provides you an opportunity to give Jacob Mizarowski a long stretch off of just rest. So now all of a sudden you have him skipping that start that I'm sure that they were planning all season long. So you skip that start, and so you give him a long rest. Now you can go ahead and have him make every single start from here on out, and it's gonna be what another, I don't even know. I gotta do the math on that. But he's gonna he's gonna get way over his innings innings mark from last year. Now remember, he pitched in the playoffs last year, so that one hundred that 129 is really 145 and a third, I think. Okay, if you include the playoffs, okay. Um, and so uh it's a little less than that. I I might have that wrong, but he's gonna get way, he's gonna get way over this.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Yeah, he's gonna be above 200 innings by the time we're all said and done, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:08

So I think just based on how he's performing, I think that's really gonna be the thing to monitor. Is his arm slot dropping? These are the things they look at in start. Is his arm is his arm slot dropping a little bit? Is his carry on his fastball a little bit off? Is he pulling off, trying to create more with his body rather than rather than stay in his delivery? Those are the things that Chris Hook and company are gonna be looking at to make sure that he is uh really performing optimally, you know, just the very under-the-hood kind of metrics that they're gonna look at. And if so, if he's right, they're gonna just they're gonna ride him out. The other thing is they're gonna make sure that every single one of these starters, Mike, has a full five days rest. Yeah, they have a stretch in August where they play 17 games in a row without a day off. So they're gonna have to make sure that they get a guy like Colton Gordon that they just acquired in this deal yesterday for Lance McCullers. I know we're probably gonna get into that, but they're gonna have a guy like that or other guys in triple A come up, make some spot starts to make sure that you almost have a six-man rotation, but just optioning guys up and down from triple A in order to give each one of these starters, including Ms, most importantly, Ms. a full five days off in between each start. And so I think if you do that, he'll he'll he'll be fine. He looks like he's gonna be fine. The one that's concerning to me, Mike, that you mentioned is Kyle Harrison. Yeah, Kyle Harrison's injury or lack lack thereof. I don't think they're qualifying it as an injury, but he's on the injured list. That sore elbow is a little bit of a concern. They they do like to downplay injuries. Remember Quinn Priester last year. This thoracic outlet thing with his nerve issue coming down from that collarbone area all the way down to his wrist was happening last year, uh, you know, at the end, and that's why he I think he really struggled with his command and his velocity in the playoffs. So I think you know, even going into this year, they downplayed it. Ah, he just has a little wrist issue. Sure. Well, well, he required surgery. So I'm not saying that that's the case here for Kyle Harrison. They do like to downplay injury, injury stuff. That's the one that's concerning to me. He is he is so important to this World Series run that we're talking about. Yeah, because you gotta have two, you gotta have at least two. If they don't acquire anybody, it's gonna be Miz and Harrison, and they're gonna ride those guys hard all the way through, all the way to the end. So he's gotta be healthy. I think really take care of his health and and and and uh you know treat him with kid gloves in the utmost way in order to make sure that he is healthy in September and October. Now, let me say this last thing it's yeah, they they have to get that first round by. If they have to, yeah, yeah, they have to get that first round by. So you don't necessarily have to chase down the Dodgers for the number one seed, but I think that number two seed is an absolute goal for this team in order to set up your pitching in this in the playoffs, in order to set it up, uh, to have Ms. Go game one in the in the DS and the NLDS. So that's gonna be something. So do you really hold back Harrison because you know you have to get you know a certain record in order to get that first round by in that number two seat at least? That's gonna be a conversation here going forward. But maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, but but Harrison definitely his health is of utmost importance to this team.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

Yeah, their their lead in the race for the number two bye is three and a half games over the Atlanta Braves. Uh, the Atlanta Braves are next in that chase. By the way, I would add the the Brewers lead the division by five. I think you all know that over the Cubs. The Cubs are closer to losing out on the last wild card. They've got a uh, I think a three and a half game lead over the last wild card than they are to winning the division. So, you know, just to put it in some perspective, five games is a lead that can go away in a hurry, but they lead the last wild card, I think, by three and a half. So it's not as though they have a big cushion on that front. It can go the other way for them too. Lots of moving parts. Let me ask you about Lance McCullers Jr., one of the acquisition pieces yesterday in uh the the first of what we believe will be a league-wide bevy of trades leading up to the August 3rd trade deadline. He's a the storyline there is he's a depth piece. But I always wonder with Chris Hook and Jim Henderson, he's on the IL now, but if he comes back and he's healthy, that if you know, before they make a deal like this, they I'm sure talk to Hookie and Henderson. What do you see? What can are is there an upside yet with him that you guys might be able to tap into? And I would think that they said, Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Yes, yeah, uh you know, and whenever I whenever I reach out to Chris, whenever I reach out to Hookie about something like this, he always says, Well, let me let me just get around him first or actually have a conversation with him first before you think I'm gonna perform miracles. But this, but look, this is not that he would have to perform a miracle here, but but this is what we expect from Chris Hook. This is what what I I fully expect him to kind of tweak something here with Lance McCullers Jr. and and be able to tap into something. Now, health obviously is the conversation here with this guy. I mean, he has been hurt. There is a laundry list of injuries. I mean, he signed this deal, an $85 million deal with the Houston Astros in 2021.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Since 2022, I think he's thrown 94 innings or something very small money, like 800 days in between starts with uh with Tommy John and shoulder stuff. So yeah, he's not been a very healthy pitcher of late, but he has a rehab start, I think, tomorrow night. Uh scheduled was the final rehab start. It'll change because he's not in their organization anymore. So yeah, yeah, I'll let you keep going on this.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

He's been yeah, he's been uh so he's been hurt, he's been hurt even right now. Yeah, so it's like a shoulder issue now. And and I think this was a salary dump a little bit. Yeah, so they can get under the luxury tax, so they have flexibility as to what they're gonna do at the trade deadline. That's kind of the the storyline here for them. Now the brewers will take it, and especially with with some risk, and if they can tap into something, these are the kinds of risks that the brewers do take uh because you have a guy named Chris Hook on your payroll, and so so now all of a sudden, if he can stay healthy, I think that they do just a phenomenal job. Chris Hook does a phenomenal job of of kind of um talking to these pitchers about how to how to really uh execute and be able to get behind a cutter. Now, now this is something that we saw from Quinn Priester, this is something that we've seen from Chad Patrick. That he's he's kind of it's a slight ver a slightly different version of the cutter that they think they're throwing. Now, now Lance McCullers Jr., this is his first year of throwing that pitch, and so now now if you can get him to get a little bit more lift on it, and that's kind of Chris Hook's specialty lift, meaning you know, you know, not just a mini slider. That's what most guys think of as a cutter. That's a you know, but now Chris Hook has these guys throwing like a cutter that looks like it's rising to the hitter. And now let's see if he can tap into that. He's got a great curveball, always has. He's only throwing 91, 93 miles per hour right now. You know, but you you never know. Like again, Chris Hook has a way of getting guys to convince guys to believe in their in their stuff, believe in themselves on the mound, and maybe we'll we'll see that from a guy that at one point was one of the most electrifying arms on the mound. I mean, he really was. It was nasty stuff. Uh, we'll see. But I'm looking forward to seeing him. They it sounds like he might even make his next start at the big league level. That's it's kind of what they're they're they're they're speculating. Now, now that's not for sure, but we'll see. Um, it's a guy that's got so many playoff innings. So, again, if you got if you get this guy in a playoff rotation, uh yeah, I've been there, done that type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Last three innings, I think it's game seven against the Dodgers. He threw 24 consecutive curveballs at one point. You want to talk about having a pitch that I get it with 24 consecutive fastballs because we see that from Miz, right? But 24 consecutive breaking balls and not to have him get hit. I think he only gave up one hit in that uh run of innings. Anyway, um, all right, so Tyson Harden is another name that is within the Brewers organization that may walk his way into some innings at the big league level as a pitcher, because we're gonna talk about Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser and Sproat and Drone, because those four guys they're gonna be part of what you do. One or two of them might go to middle relief, but uh Harden is a guy, I think you brought him up before. He's at triple A Nashville. We talk about position players there. We haven't talked much about pitching, but he's one of those arms that might play into what the Brewers do in the second half. I would imagine, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

It's it's anybody that's big league ready that's gonna be able to be able to give you innings that's not gonna be a deer and headlights type of a of a thing, right? And and so you know, this guy, we've been talking about him here for the last uh you know year calendar year. I mean, he's been he's been one of these guys that looks like he's gonna be able to make an impact. Um, another depth piece, he's got 52 innings right now at the Nashville level, only giving up 43 hits. So, I mean, he's striking out about a guy per inning, not walking anybody. These are attributes, attributes for pitchers that the Brewers um you know like to bring up. I mean, you've seen that from Coleman Crow, who's you know, hasn't, you know, last start in the big leagues wasn't great. But so yeah, there's different options, and I think again, you you bring up a guy, give him an opportunity, see, you know, especially that teams really don't know. Yeah, that's the other part of about this. You know, they've got so many different options that are depth options that all of a sudden you you bring them up against a big league lineup that doesn't really know what to expect from a guy, and and you never know what can happen in those starts. He can start mowing down some really good lineups. So we've seen that in the past. He's gonna be an option for sure. You know, I I remember him as an option, a pretty good option in in spring training. He showed out well whenever he made an appearance. So he's a that he's a definite depth guy um that the Brewers are really gonna look seriously into.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Vinny, in uh 17, 18 days to the trade deadline, how much of what happens on the field impacts the decision made whether to go get somebody? So what what is the win-loss impact on the next 17 days as it relates to the trade deadline? Ooh, uh so you're saying if if they start to go the opposite direction a little bit, or let's say the lead goes up to eight games or it goes down to two. Does that impact what you do? And I know there's a lot of nuance in there because when we're talking about a trade, we're likely talking about an arm. How desperately do you need? Does the front office believe that in other ways this team is ready to play into the end of October? You know, I mean, there's there's a lot of nuance, right? That we don't see in the dugout. It's being talked about by Matt Arnold to Mark Otanasio and making these decisions. Hey, this is what we'd like to do because we believe, or I'm not sure what we're what we should do because we're we're maybe we're a year. I you know where I'm going with this? How did how do all those conversations play? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

I think you know, I was in the front office or I was in a I was in a scouting role, professional scouting role, pro scouting. I wasn't an amateur scout with the Texas Rangers, so I wasn't covering the draft, I wasn't covering high school and college players, I was covering players. This was my time that I was never home. I was uh sure on the road flying from San Francisco to Miami in one night, right? That's the kind of thing that we were doing at this time of year because you had to you had target guys on your list that you're looking at, and so and so understanding kind of how a GM works, and the GM at the time was was John Daniels, it was um, and every guy's different. It was I'll just say this I think Matt Arnold operates in a way that's probably in line with uh just the idea is how expensive or what kind of value can we get for this particular player? This is what we need. We need a pitcher that can cover innings that's gonna be reliable. Okay. I I think that that's the conversation, period. I I don't think they're gonna mess with the position player group. I just don't. Yeah. Um what starting pitcher can we get that's reliable, that's gonna be able to help us and help this really inexperienced major league starting pitching staff that we have right now, in order to be that guy, like a whole like a veteran type. Yeah, I think that's what they're kind of looking for. That's gonna be able to be that that guy. I think that's what he's looking for, and how much value and how expensive it'll be, right? From um uh a prospect standpoint. Uh, I just think that's how he operates.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

All right. So let me let me go fan for a moment because the fan is looking at this and say, no, I want to give the ball to the guy that we don't have yet in game two of the National League Championship series, and in game two and six of the World Series. I want to give the ball to this guy who we have to go trade for, whether that's Ryan up in Minnesota or Scoobyl in Detroit or Michael Walka, whoever that might be. That's what the fans are looking at. You think that obviously a GM's gonna operate independent from the fan base, um, but also maybe not necessarily going to get your number two.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

I think I think Matt Arnold's gonna have a conversation. Let's say Terek Scobel's available, which I hope he is, just because it's it's gonna be a good, it's good, it's good for the game to see that guy go to a contender and and pitch in the World Series potentially. And hopefully that's on. I'll say that I hope they go get him. Yes, okay. Yeah, I'm not speaking that as a fan either. I'm speaking that as a guy that there's one name out there that if available, I would, I would try and go get him because he's the right kind of guy. I remember watching him pitch a couple of years ago in Milwaukee. It was it was last year, was it again? It was uh Al Alexander type was it Tyler Alexander, the guy that the Brewers had from uh anyway, the lefty little lefty, and he was he was the bald guy uh with the mustache, and we were make and he was making jokes about two power lefties going up against each other to get his name, Alexander. Yeah, and I watched School Bull pitch and totally dominate that game. Now I said that is that is impressive. That's one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen. And he is just a dominant presence out there that you can tell that he wants to win super bad. So if you add a guy like that, he would fit in perfectly with this culture in Milwaukee. I would go get him, I would pay not the ultimate price, which is giving up the number one prospect in all of baseball and Jesus Medei. I wouldn't, I just I kind of wouldn't do that for a rental, just because now what if Medei turns into a Jackson Churio? I guess that's that's kind of the idea, or a Jacob Mizarowski. I mean, it's a number one prospect in baseball. The track record for those guys being stars is pretty high. Okay, yeah. So that's the only so I wouldn't give up him, but I would potentially give up a Luis Peña and a Jet Williams. I I don't know what the names would have to be in order to get that deal done, but you would try and get that deal done because again, he gives you the best opportunity to win a World Series. With that said, everybody else, Mike, I would make sure that you're smart about the future. Yeah, everybody else. I just but Scooba, to answer your question very directly, I would try and go get him and I would, you know, not empty the holster completely, obviously. Uh, but there's a lot of really good prospects in the minor leagues, they have like 50 guys that other teams probably want. Yeah, you know, so take a few and and and go get Scuble. That's my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

How are we gonna feel if that doesn't happen and he ends up on the north side of Chicago?

SPEAKER_02 42:50

Oh, the north side of Chicago would not be good. I think he's gonna end up in LA, unfortunately, or if the Brewers don't get him in LA or in Philadelphia. Now let's root against the Detroit Tigers to lose a bunch of games in a row here until August 3rd, because right now they're only four out. Yeah, they're only four out. So yeah, the American League is awful. I mean, just completely mid, is the kids say.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

So I mean, the White Sox would be the uh the they'd have a bye. Yeah, exactly. White Sox at five games over 500 right now, tied with the Guardians, they would win the division right now, season ended, and they'd be the second bye. Yeah, and the Brewers that's that's the difference.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

Yeah, the Brewers swept him easily the first three games of the season. Now, different team. They played the Brewers actually played them at the right time, right? But you know, good good scrappy team in a terrible league, yeah, in a terrible division right now. And so, um, yeah, you were rooting for the the Tigers to lose because again, I I hope that Scoobel's on the move. I don't think he ends up in the north side of Chicago. I actually don't think the Cubs have enough prospect capital in order to acquire him. Yeah, and I don't think Jed Hoyer is uh Aggressive enough to make that move. I think he's gonna end up, dare I say, with Freddie Peralta, uh, which I'm I'm gonna hate to see if that happens.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

So I was just gonna bring up if there are any legs to Freddy coming back to Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

The I I actually have suggested that to a number of front office people that I have conversations with, uh, and they all say, which I agree, like, how would that look on David Stearns' resume if all of a sudden you know they trade him back to the brewers after giving up a couple of prospects?

SPEAKER_05 44:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:33

Um, I that's the only reason I GMs definitely operate that way, Mike. They operate in a way that they don't want to look like they have egg on their face, and that would make David Stearns look really bad and it potentially cause him to lose his job. You know, it really would, especially if Freddie comes over to Milwaukee and all of a sudden perform. I would love for Chris Hook uh to get around Freddie Perl to get. I think he's not had a good year, especially his last three, four starts have been terrible for him, but he would be good back here again. You would find him in a in a win, he's a winner. He's a competitor, he's a winner, and you get him back here in Milwaukee where he loved and pitch competitively again in a playoff uh you know team, you know, one of the best teams in baseball, he would thrive. He absolutely would, especially with a bunch of winners around him with a great defense behind him. He's gonna he would thrive. I would love for that to happen. I don't think David Stearns does it.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

Let me uh let me hit on a couple of players. Let's go back to the position player group. A couple of players in the system that I think, from a fan perspective, that they're kind of pounding on the door and saying, hey, what what about, but maybe they're not in play for this year. And I'm talking about Andrew Fisher and Jesus Medei. Neither one is on the 40 man, uh, they're both at the double A level. Can we take them not a hundred percent off the board, but 98% off the board for this year? Off the board for playing on the big big team.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

Yeah, yeah. You know, I I wouldn't I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibilities for for Fisher if he continues to go on this home run binge that he is on. I wouldn't put it out completely out of the realm of possibilities. I could uh I could see him, but I would lean towards no, and I would and I could actually see him you know winning the job to play first base uh next year, um, come out as come out to spring training, win the win the job, and he'll be the everyday first baseman next year. I could see something like that happening. Uh Midday, I would say no. He's only 18. I would say I would say no. I would say next year is is the time that you're gonna see that kid up here. Both probably need some at bats at the triple A level. Sure. You know, it just you know the minor leagues is is different from back in the day. They they there's not a whole lot of journeyman big leaguers in triple A anymore. They're just it's just a different league now. It's more I've heard like double A from the time that I was in triple A. So it's it's a so the water the minor leagues is watered down a little bit. He's gonna they're both gonna need some at bats at triple A before they come up. I think both are probably not gonna come up this year. I would I would lean more towards Fisher. Uh and Midday needs to kind of clean some things up defensively as well. So uh, but Fisher's probably big league ready with the bat. Um, but I would lean towards no on him just because where would he, you know, he creates another log jam now uh with with guys that are already playing. And where does Andrew uh Andrew Vaughn then we could would never get at bats, right? He's right certainly needs the play.

SPEAKER_00 47:41

Um and then let me finish on this talking about Luis Lara uh and how Cooper Pratt and Lara figure in to the final you know 65 game plan of what they're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 47:56

Yep. Uh Lara, uh, I think it's his job to kind of lose, meaning I think he's gonna play, he's gonna play most every day. And so what does that do to Sal Freelick? Kind of he's the odd man out in that situation. I think Pat Murphy is gonna try and get Freelick in there as much as he can, get some at bats. Look, but if Lara starts struggling, you're gonna have the hot hand playing, right? So especially again trying to chase down that number two or maintain that number two at least slot in this playoff picture. Uh Pratt, I think same thing. If you if all of a sudden Joey Ortiz is swinging the bat and playing the defense that he normally plays, I think you're gonna find Joey Ortiz playing some shortstop more often than not, and maybe kind of piece things together at third base. Um, but I I think kind of what we've seen is what we're gonna get there in terms of those two guys, um, in terms of playing time. I think Lara, I think both of those guys are capable of really contributing offensively. And so hopefully that happens because yeah, they're gonna they're gonna need it, um, especially you get into an October situation in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

And and I'm uh there are two things that before I let you go, just get you to comment off of what I think. Um I think Cooper Pratt is gonna find a little bit more offense. I I think uh that was a you know, you're drinking out of a fire hose. Um, I think he'll relax. I think there'll be a little bit more there. I also believe if the Brewers are gonna go make one of those bigger deals, I think Sal Freelix stays, and Garrett Mitchell might be one of those pieces. Like, I mean, that would be that would be a significant that would be a Richter scale move. But if they believe in Luis Lara, and I think they do, that's his position. And Garrett Mitchell, if you're if you're a gambling man, this is the high water to sell at. Now he could stay healthy for the next five years and be an all-star. Or you can say there's been a long history, and we got our guy, and is that you think that's in play?

SPEAKER_02 50:05

That's an interesting take, Mike. Um, it's Matt Arnold, he everything's in play. So it makes sense, if it makes sense for him, yeah, but then also it's gotta get it's gotta get kind of signed off on by by Murph, it feels like, you know. Um, I think that I think that's a very interesting take. If the if the price is right, if the value coming back is correct, uh, I think that you could find that, yeah, Garrett Mitchell could be on the move. Yeah, there's risk in in the profile. Now, if we if the brewers know that there's risk because of all the injuries, so does it obviously the acquiring teams know that there is risk. So there's nothing really that anymore. I would say I feel like back in the day you could kind of pull the wool over some teams' eyes, yeah, you know, maybe um the White Sox felt like a team, you could always do that too. But but nowadays I'm not so sure. But you know, he is he's performing like an all-star, right? And I kind of I kind of think when healthy, this is what you're gonna get from Garrett Mitchell. So maybe his team is is willing to take that risk, and if so, you know, I I would I I personally would make that move. I love Garrett Mitchell, great guy, great guy to have in the clubhouse, great performer. So, yeah, I mean, just the hell the health stuff. Um, you might want to sell high. Uh you know, yeah, taking nothing away from the the player or the person.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

Yeah, you would only do that if you're talking about Scoobyl or Ryan on the other side, right? Yeah, maybe just Scoobyl. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Well, I yeah. I think I think just Scoobyl. I think that's the name. I think, guys, that's the name, and I and I hope they do it. Uh, that would be super exciting. It would be a CC Sabbathia type of a move, and uh then then all of a sudden the Brewers become the favorite to win the World Series.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Yeah, isn't that something? Uh Vinny, I can't wait to be back at the ballpark. Uh, look forward to having you in the in the booth uh on this weekend series. I'll see you over there next week. I always appreciate you doing this. Uh, it's one of my favorite days of the week. Well, it's my favorite day of the week because this is my favorite topic. Uh, appreciate you doing it, and we'll uh see you at the ballpark this weekend. Awesome, Mike. We'll see you there. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Vinny. Vinny Rettino, Brewers Television, uh joining us on the game on the show and his time here, brought to you by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino. I don't want the Brewers to move Garrett Mitchell. I I'm uh anybody that's listened to me on the radio in recent years would tell you that uh I'm more of a Garrett Mitchell guy than I'm a Sal Freelick guy. I don't think a Sal Freelick piece going away is the right thing, despite what you might bring back. I think Sal Freelick is in that clubhouse. I've said this, you can use different terminology here, but I think he's the heartbeat. I think Sal is this is I mentioned it earlier. This is kind of a hockey team. They're gonna run through walls, they're gonna, you know, they're gonna they're gonna bug you. I mean, they're they're gonna make you want to fight them, kind of a thing. And I think he's the lead of that guy, the lead of that team in that way. Murph gives him crap about, you know, you you have your uh resume ready for grad school, you know, where are you gonna go? That I mean, Murph, but I think everybody there knows that Murph understands how important Sal is to what they do. And it's why I wonder about that outfield rotation. Churio's in left field. Lara and Mitchell are center fielders, Freelit's a right fielder. You've got outfield depth too, if you need it. Um, I just think it's a really interesting quandary about what will be talked about over the next 17 to 18 days until the trade deadline on August 3rd, on what direction the Brewers will go. Again, I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't do much, you know, more than McCullough's, but not much more, more middle relief, more back end of the rotation. But I do like Vinny and like you, like the the fan base right now. There's a question on Kyle Harrison. I think that's one of the big issues. If Kyle Harrison is a question, who's your game two starter? Is he on your roster today? Or do you have to go get him before August 3rd? I think that's the biggest question for Matt Arnold and the ownership group, Mark Ottanasio. We're really good, the Brewers. I'm talking about their perspective, talking about this behind closed doors. We're really good. We could win the whole thing. Who's our game two starter? Do we believe Kyle Harrison's elbow is sound enough to not only be good enough, but great, like he has been in the first half, in the second half, and then in October? Or do we believe from a performance standpoint that who you give the ball to in game two of the National League Championship series? And you're talking about game one, Miz, game two, it when you're talking about a best of seven, those guys are also then slated to start game six and game seven. If you talk about the World Series, your top two starters are gonna get the ball a total of four times. Who's your second? Miz? I knocked on wood, that made more noise than I needed to. Uh Miz? Yes. Healthy? 100%. Kyle Harrison, fully sound, number two? Okay. We'll work around three. Because you're gonna really use three starters, right? I think three, maybe four. Maybe you maybe you use an opener in one of those. Um or is that guy that gets the ball in game two? Is he playing in Detroit? Is he playing in Minnesota? Is it Michael Waka? Is is it is your game two starter on somebody else's roster? Because if he is and he's coming here, what you give up is going to have some substance to it. And it's gonna leave a mark on what is the future. I think Andrew Fisher is a guy they are willing to move. I don't know this firsthand, just my way of looking from the outside in. What would I be considering? Luis Pina, maybe had some health issues, might be you know, a little damaged goods on the trade market right now. But Fisher, I mean, he's approaching 30 home runs across high A and double A this year, had a great world baseball classic. Garrett Mitchell, another name from your minor league prospect list that's in the top 60 or 70 in minor league baseball. All of the prospects. I don't know. They're they're that's why this is so interesting. And you have two and a half weeks to figure it out. Brewers will play tomorrow night. I don't think we've had uh the uh the rotation announced, maybe sometime today, um, how they're gonna approach this. I don't know that Miz would go against Miami. They're home for nine days on this homestand. So let's see, uh let's see what they do. I I love visiting with Vinny on this. I love sharing the thoughts that you guys are having. Uh Jason Wade's in. Uh he says Freela didn't go anywhere. Murph loves him like a son. Uh, true. But um Matt Arnold's the general manager. I know that you have to work in concert, but uh Mike says if the DH isn't productive by August 4th, we're in trouble. Best thing is Churio at DH, Sal, Lara and Mitchell in the outfield. Uh Mike, I sort of understand that, but that's not happening. Uh unless there is an injury Christian, or unless he goes, oh, for 30, Christian Yelich is your DH. He does a lot of things that that aren't going to show up in OPS. He's a great base runner, he's a great team leader. Um that that move I don't think is in play. We'll see. But Yelich is your team captain, if you had one. And uh so he's your captain. You kind of go as he goes. And you, you know, the hope is, and hope is not a strategy, uh, that that he finds it. And I think he just might do that. All right. Um, always big uh thank yous to those who are part of what we do. So when it comes uh to our sponsors, I constantly want to make sure that I put out the the big thank you. But also when I'm thanking them, I'm asking you to do business with them. So when it comes to if you're considering doing a holiday lighting package where it's not you on a ladder and you taking out that those big bins and trying to untangle lighting cords and uh that wreath looks crappy because it you tucked it away in storage, and you're not you're not willing anymore to climb up on the side of your house in December and then again in January. Traditionslighting.com, it's the place to go. 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Not sure who's with me tomorrow, but it'll be somebody uh of note. So we'll do that tomorrow. Don't forget to go to badgerconnect.com today to see my sit-down podcast interview with Sean Ikehorse, Wisconsin's director of athletics. All good stuff. Appreciate all of you um being part of what it is that we do here. Uh, hope your the rest of your Thursday is great. Oh, one final plug over my one hour, but whatever. At Red and White Wine and Bourbon Bar tonight, we do our old-fashioned Thursday. Tonight is raising money for the CARES program at the 115th Fighter Wing. So if you live in and around Madison and you see those beautiful F-35s, and I think they're beautiful, and I hope you do too. Uh, a couple of their pilots will be behind the bar making old-fashions, not drinking them, I don't know. We'll see, uh, but making them tonight. There'll be uh 50-50s, there'll be stuff going on, raising money for the CARES program at the 115th Fighter Wing, that provides additional financial resources to families on base or off that need it. So the CARES program is our story. Jage is playing music tonight, weather permitting, and I think we're gonna be fine, just a little smoky. Uh, and Jage is donating his time because of his military background. So if you're around, red and white, wine and bourbon bar. We open at four. The programmer really kind of starts at six. That's when the pilots go behind the bar, but we'll make old fashions right away. Uh, and beer and whatever it is that you're you're looking for. But raising money tonight for the CARES program at the 115th Fighter Wing. Stop by and see us after four. Open until, I don't know, 10:30 or so. Sometimes it's later. Uh, that is Red and White Wine and Bourbon Bar in on Main Street in Wannakee. I'll talk to you tomorrow on I Love Mondays. Thanks for being part of what we do.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:33

I love Mondays with my hell.