Speaker 1: This is Sham and I with the Mets and welcome
Speaker 1: to Baplick's End Nerds.
Speaker 2: Hello, an, welcome to you Baplots on the Seed Baseball
Speaker 2: Podcast with the British Twist, I am your host russ
Speaker 2: A Lisam, and tonight I am joined by Ben Carter
Speaker 2: to discuss some of the ongoings in British baseball, in
Speaker 2: World Baseball and the MLB, and then to play a
Speaker 2: fun game of can we work out who's having a
Speaker 2: good or bad season? But before all that, Ben, how
Speaker 2: are you doing?
Speaker 1: I'm very good? Thanks for us. Yeah, pleased to be
Speaker 1: joining you. I fear it's not going to be quite
Speaker 1: as illuminating and informative as last week's two hando with
Speaker 1: you and Darius, but I'll try my best to do
Speaker 1: a Darius impression.
Speaker 2: Well, if people had listen to that podcast, what you
Speaker 2: get is that, well, may like you can't really actually
Speaker 2: analyze a lot of these things very well. It's still
Speaker 2: becomes the conclusion is I don't know, Yeah, the conclusion
Speaker 2: is we probably both would devalue defense and devalue Shoot.
Speaker 1: I agree with that. I thought you were spart on.
Speaker 2: Yes. First things first, we're just gonna cover a few
Speaker 2: things that are happening in British baseball have been happening
Speaker 2: right now. The British under twenty threes are taking part
Speaker 2: in the Under twenty three World Baseball Cup, which is
Speaker 2: the first time that the team has managed to do so.
Speaker 2: They have lost all of their games so far, but
Speaker 2: they've had three very close games that have come down
Speaker 2: to the wire. Game against Australia where they had the
Speaker 2: base I think bases loaded with one run down and
Speaker 2: hit into a double play, or I had runners onto
Speaker 2: first and second and hit into a double play, which
Speaker 2: is a crushing one, an extra innings loss to and
Speaker 2: a game against Columbia where they were up but conceded
Speaker 2: five and inning. They've been put a really solid end
Speaker 2: up for themselves, which I think is pretty amazing to
Speaker 2: see from a britisherspective.
Speaker 1: For fear, but yeah, I mean just seeing them out
Speaker 1: on this stage, like you say, for the first time
Speaker 1: is really cool. I mean they're up against some serious
Speaker 1: powerhouses in the world of baseball and they're competing. I
Speaker 1: mean it's a shame they haven't actually get the win
Speaker 1: in those games that you mentioned, three really tight games.
Speaker 1: I think they had the lead at some point in
Speaker 1: all of them, maybe not the austral Again, that was
Speaker 1: crazy back and forth, but still they were right in
Speaker 1: that one, like you say, fine Linning look like they
Speaker 1: had a chance to take the lead. It ended up
Speaker 1: not happening. But yeah, they're competing and playing really, really well,
Speaker 1: and that's super promising for the future of the sport.
Speaker 1: It's really exciting for yeah, for the team that will
Speaker 1: be someday competing in the Olympics hopefully and in other
Speaker 1: events too. So yeah, not the results maybe they would
Speaker 1: have hoped for, but I think the fact they've been
Speaker 1: so competitive against some really good teams is a promising sign.
Speaker 1: And I know there are a few more games to
Speaker 1: kind of the next few days where hopefully they can
Speaker 1: get that elusive victory.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they find themselves now in the placement group of
Speaker 2: the bottom six teams, so they have some games against
Speaker 2: South Africa, the Netherlands and Chinese Taipei as they are
Speaker 2: in these tournament Taiwan. But we won't go into the
Speaker 2: politics of why Olympic Sports have to call it Chinese Taipei.
Speaker 2: That's for other far more politically inclined podcasts than it
Speaker 2: is for us. But yeah, it's pretty awesome to see
Speaker 2: them available to go to to China to go play
Speaker 2: in a tournament like this, and all this will do
Speaker 2: will improve GB's baseball ranking because they've never been in
Speaker 2: this tournament before, so it's just extra points to slowly
Speaker 2: work their way up that ranking system. So it's great
Speaker 2: to see. It's been a pretty good year for British
Speaker 2: baseball from the under eighteen, under fifteen and under twelve perspective,
Speaker 2: so it'll be hopefully a good finish over the next
Speaker 2: few games. Other things to talk about British baseball, we
Speaker 2: are well into post season for British baseball itself. This
Speaker 2: coming weekend we will have the NBL, the National Baseball
Speaker 2: League and the Triple A Final, both down at Farnham Park.
Speaker 2: There are both three game series, with one game on
Speaker 2: Saturday and two potential games on Sunday. I will be
Speaker 2: working with my friends again with the Journey Sports Media
Speaker 2: to commentate on these games, so if you want to
Speaker 2: hear more of my Dulcet tones, we will share some
Speaker 2: links out where you can watch. We'll show be showing
Speaker 2: the first game of the Triple A Game a Triple
Speaker 2: A Final on the first game of the NBL Finals
Speaker 2: on Saturday and then the NBL games on Sunday. But
Speaker 2: if it only goes one game and the Triple A
Speaker 2: goes two games, will show the second Triple A game
Speaker 2: as well, so potentially four games of baseball voiced by
Speaker 2: yours truly, which is just what everybody wants, right Ben.
Speaker 1: Yeah, super exciting. I know that you did this. It
Speaker 1: was last year, wasn't it for the first time, and
Speaker 1: that was really cool and I'm glad they bring it
Speaker 1: back again this year. I think it should be a
Speaker 1: really fun weekend a baseball down at Farnham Park. I
Speaker 1: love the idea of three game series for each of
Speaker 1: these I think that just gives an extra level of
Speaker 1: I don't know, like professionalism I suppose to these games,
Speaker 1: and it makes them feel a little bit more serious
Speaker 1: then sometimes baseball can field, So I think that is
Speaker 1: really cool. Obviously, the weekend after, I think, is then
Speaker 1: doublin Single A Finals, which will also be yeah, a
Speaker 1: good battle between some really good teams. My Richmond Roebucks
Speaker 1: did not make it to the Triple A Final this year, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: but the coin Pirates are in it and we played
Speaker 1: them this year, so I can give you, know, a
Speaker 1: good scouting report on them, the basics of which is
Speaker 1: they're pretty good. So yeah, I'll be interest to see
Speaker 1: who comes out on top of that contest. And yet
Speaker 1: I can encourage everyone to tune in, not just to
Speaker 1: watch in great baseball, if you say us, but to
Speaker 1: hear your dulcet tones commentate and the pleasure that provides
Speaker 1: all of us.
Speaker 2: A yeah, and just to say, the Triple A Final
Speaker 2: is the crowded Pirates against the Bristol Badgers and the
Speaker 2: NBL Final is the London Mets versus the Essex Arrows,
Speaker 2: so should be both fascinating games to watch. I also
Speaker 2: concluded my baseball season the other weekend Ben with a
Speaker 2: grueling fifteen to fourteen loss in the playoffs, heart break
Speaker 2: eyeing runner being out at third picked off, which is.
Speaker 1: Is that is a very British, faithful way to end
Speaker 1: it and a heartbreaking one too.
Speaker 2: Yes it was. It was a really fun day and
Speaker 2: then it was a good one to go through. So
Speaker 2: that's British baseball when it comes to MLB. Then is
Speaker 2: there anything else to talk to apart from it's all
Speaker 2: about the Mets. Baby?
Speaker 1: You knew I was going to make an appearance for
Speaker 1: this podcast. Come on now, the Mets out of nowhere
Speaker 1: showing up and putting themselves firmly in contention for a
Speaker 1: wild card spot. We kind of thought that the playoff
Speaker 1: races were all a bit dead, apart from, you know,
Speaker 1: some some contests for divisions and seeding, But the Mets
Speaker 1: have come out of nowhere at exactly the right time.
Speaker 1: The Braves have sort of skidded at the wrong time,
Speaker 1: and as of recording, I think they're tied right now
Speaker 1: on seventy nine wins. The Mets were briefly a game ahead,
Speaker 1: but I think last night results apported them back level.
Speaker 1: But yeah, super exciting finish of the season in the
Speaker 1: National League East, as it turns out, at some point
Speaker 1: looked like the Cubs might even sneak into the conversation.
Speaker 1: I think you've left it a little bit too little
Speaker 1: too late to get into it, but that Braves Mets
Speaker 1: race should be really good fun. And look, you know,
Speaker 1: I have a soft spot for the Mets, so I
Speaker 1: don't do a very good job hiding it. But I
Speaker 1: do think that they deserve to at least be in
Speaker 1: contention going into the end of September, because they have
Speaker 1: been one of the stories of the season.
Speaker 2: Start to finish, Yeah, and I think it's we kind
Speaker 2: of did slightly push it to one side a few
Speaker 2: weeks back, saying that there's not much to go for there.
Speaker 2: I think at that time I've said there's about seventy
Speaker 2: percent chance that one team of those who that weren't
Speaker 2: in it might make it, and it pretty much looks
Speaker 2: like the Mets are the only ones that has any
Speaker 2: solid chance. Now, I think if you look at it,
Speaker 2: the Tigers maybe have a ten percent chance, and a
Speaker 2: few of us maybe have like a five percent chance,
Speaker 2: being Boston and the Mariners. So effectively, if we want
Speaker 2: something to happen, it is entirely in that Atlanta Versus
Speaker 2: Mets territory. Although the d Backs are only a couple
Speaker 2: of wins ahead, so they could get the Dbacks plummet.
Speaker 2: Then it could be another division that has all three
Speaker 2: teams making it.
Speaker 1: I actually got so excited about the Mets comeback, Russ,
Speaker 1: that I've written a poem about their season. If you
Speaker 1: want to hear it, Oh, of course, but they're my
Speaker 1: best absolute bunts impression here. But here we go, old
Speaker 1: Mets fans, if only you knew what was in store
Speaker 1: in this glorious year we call twenty twenty four. Some
Speaker 1: disastrous performances in the month of May led a reliever
Speaker 1: named Porge Lopez to confidently say, this is the worst
Speaker 1: team in the whole fucking MLB, after getting ejected and
Speaker 1: giving his glove a yeat a mistranslation it transpired, though,
Speaker 1: he was swiftly sent down ahead of their visit to
Speaker 1: our very own London town, a rare but welcome trip
Speaker 1: to landsmore foreign that we won't soon forget, thanks to
Speaker 1: Louis Torrens, who inspired TNT's Darren Fletcher to say, what
Speaker 1: an unbelievable double play? And if that was the spark
Speaker 1: that lit the fire, gasoline was about to be dumped.
Speaker 1: It would transpire a young purple hero who we know
Speaker 1: as Grimace, would capture the hearts of a nation we
Speaker 1: all bore witness a winning streak. The Mets hit their
Speaker 1: stride thanks to a purple blob, and the month of Pride.
Speaker 1: Still the winds eat away, the team back in the
Speaker 1: sewer of the National League East no thanks to Hawk Tour.
Speaker 1: But as September arrived, so too did a charge some hits,
Speaker 1: then some more was truly a barrage Lindor MVP. He's
Speaker 1: certainly their lightning rod a Met season that causes us
Speaker 1: all to say, oh my God, just rather rather, I'm
Speaker 1: hoping deb to add a couple more verses to that,
Speaker 1: depending on how the rest of September goes. But I
Speaker 1: just can't believe how many weird things have happened to
Speaker 1: the Mets this year, so I wanted to chronicle them
Speaker 1: all in poem.
Speaker 2: For If that wasn't such a specific thing, I would
Speaker 2: have maybe accused you of using chat GBT to write
Speaker 2: a poem for you. But such specific moments that have
Speaker 2: we've discussed.
Speaker 1: To be complimented or offended, but being compared to chat GBT.
Speaker 1: But that, yeah, that was ten minutes that I should
Speaker 1: have spent preparing for this pod properly, instead spent writing
Speaker 1: out a love letter to my New York Mets.
Speaker 2: It's amazing, and I hope it is as memorable as
Speaker 2: some of those absolute bunts moments. I still when I
Speaker 2: hear certain songs, hear things like Bernie Brew.
Speaker 1: They've ruined taken me out to the ball game for
Speaker 1: me permanently.
Speaker 2: Say oh yeah, or the Joe Worse Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's a very good one.
Speaker 2: Those things stick in my head and I do occasionally
Speaker 2: go back and find the tweets to listen to just
Speaker 2: the songs. Not a shame to say that whatsoever. Apart
Speaker 2: from the Mets ben is there anything else that we
Speaker 2: should be like watching or concentrating on in the next
Speaker 2: kind of like a couple of weeks as we end
Speaker 2: into this postseason rundown.
Speaker 1: There's still some fun divisional races out there, aren't there.
Speaker 1: I mean, your Cleveland Guardians have rallied a little bit
Speaker 1: from the last time that we spoke. They've got a
Speaker 1: three game lead now I think in the division over
Speaker 1: the Royals, who scuffled a little bit, So it's looking
Speaker 1: more like the Guardians will cling on and win that division.
Speaker 1: That Alista still well up for grabs, and the National
Speaker 1: League I think thing as a division races, but the
Speaker 1: race for the one seed, I guess is on which
Speaker 1: which might be kind of interesting, although I think top
Speaker 1: two teams both get buyers in they so it's not
Speaker 1: necessarily super important. But at this point, yeah, Mets aside,
Speaker 1: it kind of looks like the teams are pretty much
Speaker 1: set and it's a matter of kind of who's gonna
Speaker 1: line up with who? But there will be some some
Speaker 1: exciting playoff series. I mean, the way it's kind of
Speaker 1: all coming together, I think it's going to be in
Speaker 1: October to remember. And obviously there's you know, show Hayes
Speaker 1: fifty to fifty Chase that's keeping us all on the
Speaker 1: edge of our seat, and a few other guys kind
Speaker 1: of hunting down individual awards. But yeah, I think we've
Speaker 1: risked not having much to watch a tour in these
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks from a playoffs perspective, So it's
Speaker 1: nice to have something that we can check the scores
Speaker 1: for every morning and see how it's developing.
Speaker 2: Yes, we don't even have to probably even guess whether
Speaker 2: the White Sox will end up with the worst recording
Speaker 2: baseball because to kind of avoid that now they need
Speaker 2: to do better than five hundred in their last few games.
Speaker 2: So I think that is all but guaranteed that they
Speaker 2: will now have like the best record since the Cleveland Spiders,
Speaker 2: the worst, the best, but the best worst record.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that is yeah, I feel like we
Speaker 1: need a whole point dedicated to quite how the works
Speaker 1: would have done that, but in this era of baseball,
Speaker 1: to be that bad is genuinely impressive.
Speaker 2: I think the scary thing was the quotes that the
Speaker 2: GM said the other day when he was just like, well,
Speaker 2: if you told me this to be one hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty five win lost team, I would have thought, Nah,
Speaker 2: that's a bit harsh. But if we've been a one
Speaker 2: hundred and five lost team to one hundred GUS team,
Speaker 2: I would have said, yeah, okay, so well you're just
Speaker 2: admitting that you just didn't bother trying and you were
Speaker 2: expecting to lose a hundred wins, which is just lose
Speaker 2: one hundred games. It's just that's an unbelievable position to be.
Speaker 1: I just love the quote to you where he was like, oh,
Speaker 1: those are just the cards we've been dealt. You're the
Speaker 1: dealer man, as someone I'm not want to give them
Speaker 1: credit for. Twitter confidently said, there's not in the cards
Speaker 1: you've been dealt. That's what you've done yourself. This is
Speaker 1: a mess of your very own making. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no excuse. I don't know quite how you put
Speaker 1: a product so pitiful on the field all season, but hey,
Speaker 1: they you know, made the A's good, which is impressive
Speaker 1: thing to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So in going from that to the little fun
Speaker 2: task that Ben and I have decided to put forward
Speaker 2: to each other today, we're going to give a stat
Speaker 2: line on a surprisingly good or surprisingly bad season, and
Speaker 2: we have to try and work out cool that is
Speaker 2: whom has provided us that stat line. So Ben, do
Speaker 2: you want to start us off? You probably don't have
Speaker 2: to say whether it's bad or good given what the
Speaker 2: stat line is, but yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Don't know exactly how you want it. Do you want? So?
Speaker 1: What I've got that written down for eature of mine
Speaker 1: is like three separate stats. The first one is like
Speaker 1: the triple slash or you know, different for pictures to
Speaker 1: be fair for me to do like that first, and
Speaker 1: then you can have a guess if you think you
Speaker 1: know it. And then I've got like home runs and
Speaker 1: I've got like WRC plus yeah, and then if you
Speaker 1: still can't get it, I can give you some more hints.
Speaker 2: I think we can work and have like a piering
Speaker 2: of stats to kind of get a guess each time.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm a little bit scared that you're going to
Speaker 1: be quite good at this. I'm going to really bad.
Speaker 1: But let's see how this plays out. But my first
Speaker 1: player is a hitter, and he this year has put
Speaker 1: up a triple slash of two point fifty one batting average,
Speaker 1: a three seventy two on base percentage, and a four
Speaker 1: ninety six slugging percentage. Does that screen out any names
Speaker 1: to you? Is anyone that comes to mind?
Speaker 2: So that's so four ninety six slugging and what was the.
Speaker 1: Four nine six slugging three seven two on base two
Speaker 1: five to one batting average.
Speaker 2: So that's a lot of walks that's good. Like that
Speaker 2: is somebody who is like in the eight fifty like
Speaker 2: ops range, which will probably put you now trying to
Speaker 2: work things out off the top of my head, like
Speaker 2: a solid kind of like one twenty one thirty probably
Speaker 2: WRC plus.
Speaker 1: So I'll tell you now it's a one forty WRC plus.
Speaker 2: Just because it's down to seven hundred, isn't it. That's
Speaker 2: the thing that strucked me a lot this season. It's
Speaker 2: like keep on having to re assess what I think
Speaker 2: average should be, Like the batting has got like so
Speaker 2: much worse that you're kind of sat at this position
Speaker 2: to be like doing this. So we're talking about somebody
Speaker 2: who's got like a one forty w RC, and I'm
Speaker 2: assuming you didn't think they were going to have a
Speaker 2: one forty w RC, so I.
Speaker 1: Would say this isn't a bad player by any stretch.
Speaker 1: I didn't really put them in here becuse they're a
Speaker 1: bad player. They're having a particularly good year, but I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say it's it's come out of nowhere. It's just
Speaker 1: a year above their averages.
Speaker 2: So who's jumped out to me? He's had a pretty
Speaker 2: good But I don't think it's tell Marte. I think
Speaker 2: he's done a little bit better than that.
Speaker 1: It's not tell Marte, no good.
Speaker 2: Guess who's You're not throwing a Spencer Horowitz on me
Speaker 2: here from Toronto or I'm.
Speaker 1: Not giving you Spencer Horowitz. No ive got thirty five
Speaker 1: home runs? So one of well, actually I don't know who.
Speaker 1: What is the at this point?
Speaker 2: A lot of Dingers, lots of dingers. Who's had that
Speaker 2: many jerks of profile?
Speaker 1: It's not profile, profile had that many things as Wow,
Speaker 1: he's having a good year. Scould have been him.
Speaker 2: In yeah, profile, if he wasn't one of not gonna
Speaker 2: he was one of my potentials. I create quite a
Speaker 2: few lists. But now that I guess I can't really
Speaker 2: be talking about that.
Speaker 1: I'll give you, I guess give you another hint. His
Speaker 1: winds above replacement is not as high as his other
Speaker 1: numbers would lead you to believe. How man, even if
Speaker 1: I can get the exact number.
Speaker 2: Okay, so he plays a poor defensive position or is
Speaker 2: it DH yep, while narrowed down Schwarber Schwarber is correct?
Speaker 2: Does that feel? Is that slightly below what you anticipated?
Speaker 2: Or I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think that's above what I anticipated? Well and soly
Speaker 1: in the batting average area, Hordeoble hit under two hundred
Speaker 1: last year. He's now at two fifty this year. He's
Speaker 1: always been good at walk, he's always been good at power,
Speaker 1: So those two things aren't you but the average is
Speaker 1: better than usual. The reason I kind of wanted to
Speaker 1: bring this up is it's I think he's having a
Speaker 1: super underrated career. Part of that is because he doesn't
Speaker 1: play defense, and so he's never going to be very
Speaker 1: high up on the the war lists. He's never going
Speaker 1: to end up with a career that looks like, you know,
Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame or anything like that. This year
Speaker 1: he's got three and a half wins above replacement, according
Speaker 1: to Fangrass, which is the best year of his career
Speaker 1: in that area by some distance. To be fair, if
Speaker 1: WRC plus is one of the highest of his career,
Speaker 1: Babbit obviously is high, which is what's driving that high
Speaker 1: batting average. Yeah, if you told me back when the
Speaker 1: Chicago Cubs team in the World Series that one of
Speaker 1: these players were going to age very well when the
Speaker 1: rest of them basically were going to be absolutely duds
Speaker 1: by the time twenty twenty four odd around, I think
Speaker 1: Schwalba would have been my last guess at the player
Speaker 1: who would be elite still, given he was a pudgy
Speaker 1: bat only player back when he was twenty three years old,
Speaker 1: and he is now still pretty pudgy and bat only,
Speaker 1: but still an elite hitter. So I just think his
Speaker 1: career has been remarkably underrated so far, and the fact
Speaker 1: that he continues to basically get better with age is insane.
Speaker 1: But you seem like you're underwhelmed than that he's too
Speaker 1: good a player to go in here.
Speaker 2: No, I think you're right that it is a I
Speaker 2: think as a own wish warbur a Klind you think
Speaker 2: purely about like home runs like that is like what
Speaker 2: when I think about him, that's what I go. And
Speaker 2: I know that he's hit forty forty plus in the
Speaker 2: last two years, so maybe he's still on to kind
Speaker 2: of like do that again. I think what we're seeing
Speaker 2: here is just that, yeah, that batting average has come up,
Speaker 2: which is meant that his overall kind of like run
Speaker 2: value has come up with significantly. It's just lost a
Speaker 2: little bit in that the Philadelphia team that has got
Speaker 2: so many more stars around him and so many of
Speaker 2: the more just talking points. Is Trade Turner going to
Speaker 2: be good or bad? His castiano is going to be
Speaker 2: good or bad? What's hardpacking with you today? That's like
Speaker 2: gonna take home all of the immediate attention that's part
Speaker 2: of you.
Speaker 1: What makes someon so important, right is that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of players in that line up that breathe a
Speaker 1: bit hot and cold, and he's just been remarkably consistent
Speaker 1: and actually since they move him to the leadoff spot,
Speaker 1: which he seems to have taken to like a ductor.
Speaker 1: I think he's at the record last night for most
Speaker 1: leadoff home runs in one season fourteen, which is crazy.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, I just think an underrated component
Speaker 1: of that Phillies team and a Phillies team has last week?
Speaker 1: Is actually that that free agency deal they gave him
Speaker 1: looks pretty good right now. I think he's got one
Speaker 1: more year left on it, but I didn't think that
Speaker 1: was going to age well and it has.
Speaker 2: Yep. Okay, okay, I'm going to give you a start line, Ben,
Speaker 2: Then here we go. So batting two ninety eight good
Speaker 2: with a three seventy one OBP.
Speaker 1: That's good.
Speaker 2: A five seventy nine slow.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that's very good. Okay, that five seventy
Speaker 1: nine seconds. They've got a lot pop too. I mean
Speaker 1: that that feels like it's on Bobby wear junior levels.
Speaker 1: But I don't think it is Bobbyweair junior because he's
Speaker 1: already been very good for a long time.
Speaker 2: But I think it is. It's better than uh, it's actually,
Speaker 2: I'll tell you right now. The WRC plus is one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty eight, which is exactly the same as
Speaker 2: as Bobby Whitt junior. Oh really slightly different composition, but yeah.
Speaker 1: Someone I think a Bobby wit junior season and I
Speaker 1: can't think of her as uh okay, give me another hint.
Speaker 2: This is a very online baseball hint, but foolish. Base
Speaker 2: looks very foolish given this person's banning average this year.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I think I did see a reference to this.
Speaker 1: Is it someone on the a's.
Speaker 2: It is someone on the a's.
Speaker 1: Who is it on the a's. It's not Brent Rooker.
Speaker 2: It is Brent Rookers.
Speaker 1: Brent Ruoker. Oh my god, he's having a good season.
Speaker 1: That I would You could have given me a thousand guesses.
Speaker 1: I would not have got Brent Rooker without the online
Speaker 1: baseball hint.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like, it's just what you say. It's a
Speaker 2: a three sixty eight babit. I think it's going to
Speaker 2: significantly help any of that. But he's hit thirty five
Speaker 2: home run. He strikes out nearly thirty percent at the time,
Speaker 2: he walks ten percent at the time. But he's showing
Speaker 2: power and he's showing that. Like, yes, defensively he probably
Speaker 2: shouldn't be isn't very good, but at that one hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty eight WRC plus is act that is in
Speaker 2: line with Jordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Shoio, Tani, Bobby Witch junor.
Speaker 1: Basically, yeah, one of the five best hit in baseball
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, only see people that are significantly better, or Juan
Speaker 2: Soto and Aaron Judge.
Speaker 1: My god, good for you. Brent Rickert, Wow, give us
Speaker 1: then we'll give us.
Speaker 2: Go go the other way this time.
Speaker 1: You want a player who's been worse than usual? Yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, okay, fine, another hitter. Then their slash line
Speaker 1: this year is a two thirty seven batting average, a
Speaker 1: three seventeen on base percentage, and a four forty slugging percentage.
Speaker 1: Those are all yeah, way below what this person hit
Speaker 1: last year. And and actually their averages for the last
Speaker 1: few years. Their WRC plus is at one oh seven,
Speaker 1: so they're still a buvely gaverage.
Speaker 2: But so they're still abovely gaverage. But we would be
Speaker 2: expecting like a lot more of them. Okay, So immediately
Speaker 2: I jumped to someone like Corbyn Carroll sod a pretty
Speaker 2: poor season, It would be guest.
Speaker 1: He it's not Calledyn Carroll. I think Carrol has brought
Speaker 1: it back a bit in recent mons. Let me see
Speaker 1: where he's up to, because he was really bad first half.
Speaker 2: Wasn't he?
Speaker 1: But I think my internet will play ball here.
Speaker 2: There are plenty people I want to say, but I
Speaker 2: know I've had worse seasons, like I know Simeon's had
Speaker 2: a worse season than that.
Speaker 1: Carolsne's pretty close. Actually that was a good guess. He's
Speaker 1: two two nine average, three fifteen ADP four twenty slugging
Speaker 1: for a one three WRC plus. So you were on
Speaker 1: the right lines.
Speaker 2: Who's going to be down there with that low average
Speaker 2: but still playing like. It's not Alonso because he's got
Speaker 2: too much power. Jeff McNeil, It is not.
Speaker 1: Jeff McNeil, the flying squirrel. Now, this player's got twenty
Speaker 1: five home runs, so not altogether lacking in.
Speaker 2: Power, any five home runs, still.
Speaker 1: Probably below where we would have guessed this person would
Speaker 1: be home runs at this time.
Speaker 2: If you're saying that, I think there's probably only one
Speaker 2: other players I can go, and that's Matt Olson.
Speaker 1: It is Matt Olson, Alanta Braves slugger who last year
Speaker 1: hit two eighty three three eighty nine six four for
Speaker 1: a one six ' one wrc plus with fifty four dingers.
Speaker 1: And this year, I mean hasn't been bad, but has
Speaker 1: has fallen to earth quite significantly. And there was training himself.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this gone nder the radar a bit.
Speaker 1: I hadn't noticed that he'd been quite that bad. So
Speaker 1: I thought, I look up his Baseball Savump page and actually,
Speaker 1: exit vlow, barrel percentage, hard hit percentage are all still
Speaker 1: pretty good. A little bit down from where he was
Speaker 1: last year obviously when he was so good. But it
Speaker 1: doesn't kind of seem obvious where this fall off has
Speaker 1: come from. It kind of just feels like maybe he's
Speaker 1: gone into some bad luck or he hasn't quite barreled
Speaker 1: up as many as he did during his his elite
Speaker 1: season last year. But kind of worrying signs for a
Speaker 1: guy who looked like he was turning into an elite bat.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, just looking he's gone from a fourteen point
Speaker 2: four percent wark crate to a nine and a half
Speaker 2: percent war crate. So yeah, it might not. It might
Speaker 2: be the choosing what to swing on compared to the
Speaker 2: contact he's actually like making. It's made a big difference,
Speaker 2: and then if he's swinging a bit more, he's getting
Speaker 2: less good pictures to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's this league is BRUTALTI because once
Speaker 1: you know, teams kind of find a hole in your
Speaker 1: swing or find somewhere that you're weak that they just
Speaker 1: attack it merciless. You don't they you know, he does
Speaker 1: seem to have chased a lot down and in which
Speaker 1: might be what teams are identifying as the weakness. But yeah,
Speaker 1: whatever it is that that they found, he doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to have been able to correct to yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Not not not what they anticipated. They'll talk about
Speaker 2: those deals and who maybe won those deals even though
Speaker 2: obviously signed the massive contracts. Afterwards, you're kind of he's
Speaker 2: everybody thinking that, well, he's going to be just the
Speaker 2: new best catcher in baseball, and it's just gone, Nope.
Speaker 2: Both the controllers, they're probably doing better.
Speaker 1: The Athletics knew they had Mattelson Junior in the in
Speaker 1: the wings, in in Brent Recer.
Speaker 2: All right, do you want a picture or a hitter?
Speaker 1: Ben, give me a picture?
Speaker 2: Okay. I will tell you that in April to June,
Speaker 2: this player started sixteen games at a five point one
Speaker 2: one ERA.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's not good.
Speaker 2: Before they were sent down to Triple A. I'll tell
Speaker 2: you since June, this player has been in Triple A
Speaker 2: and has a five point one four ERA.
Speaker 1: That's also bad. Wow. And it was someone that you
Speaker 1: would expect to be pitching.
Speaker 2: Well, someone that I think a lot of people had
Speaker 2: thoughts that they were going to be a good picture. Yeah,
Speaker 2: based on they had missed a load of twenty twenty
Speaker 2: three injured. I'll give you that, But they had a
Speaker 2: very good twenty twenty two two.
Speaker 1: I think it's not Walker Buler. He wasn't back at
Speaker 1: that point, was he? He has been bad since he came.
Speaker 2: Back, though, No Buela has been bad. Bueller was another
Speaker 2: one that I nearly nearly chose in this list.
Speaker 1: Injured in twenty twenty two, twenty three, good and twenty
Speaker 1: two and then bad. Oh no, it can't be. I
Speaker 1: think of the Blue Jay's pitcher who was like Cyn
Speaker 1: candidate and then fell off the face of the earth.
Speaker 2: It's not Alec Minoa, Alec Maner.
Speaker 1: I can you remember his name? God, go and give
Speaker 1: me another hemt um?
Speaker 2: What is it? Good? Can hint to give? Well? I'll
Speaker 2: give you his twenty twenty two stats. He pitched on
Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety one innings with a two point
Speaker 2: nine six ERA, So it's three and a half war season.
Speaker 2: And yeah he played these in. Oh, this might give
Speaker 2: it away, but he plays in the Ale central, Well
Speaker 2: doesn't quite now play in the Ale central.
Speaker 1: But central picture. Tristan McKenzie yeah is it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's sad. I like Tristan McKenzie, I didn't
Speaker 1: realized he'd been that bad this year. Oh Fortress. He's
Speaker 1: got like a partially torn newcland stuff as well, hasn't
Speaker 1: he that he's been playing through.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just don't know, like it just it just
Speaker 2: didn't seem to just work. Just don't like the FIP
Speaker 2: is like six and a half. It's not like he's
Speaker 2: been getting like bad luck with what's been going on.
Speaker 2: It's just not had like did not have control, like
Speaker 2: was just walking like he had a like five point
Speaker 2: eight walks per nine. It's just when you're averaging like
Speaker 2: walking at like almost basically a person burning, and you're like,
Speaker 2: this is just not good.
Speaker 1: Because he used his control was his calling card. Right
Speaker 1: at twenty twenty two season, he wasn't walking anyone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing. He had a Yeah it was
Speaker 2: two in that season. His walk rate is effectively three
Speaker 2: times worse than what it was. His strikeout rate is
Speaker 2: virtually in line, home run rate is basically doubled. So
Speaker 2: but I feel like you just had to throw meet
Speaker 2: balls to try and get it get ahead in some places,
Speaker 2: and it's just utterly, utterly punished.
Speaker 1: A shame of people like me who want to have
Speaker 1: a stick thin idle in baseball. He did always look
Speaker 1: like he would be what sixty five kilos dripping wet.
Speaker 1: He was so slender.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I was tod he would break, which he
Speaker 2: kind of did when came back.
Speaker 1: But it was just like, yeah, true, there was some
Speaker 1: injuries that you're sort of more of a problem, but
Speaker 1: ah well, hopefully he comes back. Por Tristan, I will
Speaker 1: chair chair us up a bit with a good player.
Speaker 1: It's another picture. And to be fair, I'm gonna tell
Speaker 1: you know he's a reliever. I don't want you to
Speaker 1: getting confused that you know, it might be a start
Speaker 1: of our but it's a relief pitcher who has set
Speaker 1: career bests in all of the below stats this year.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the RA one point seventy nine. That's
Speaker 1: pretty good. One point per nine twelve point zero eight, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's not okase BB's per nine, walks per nine two
Speaker 1: point twenty four, that's pretty low. Anyone comes to mind,
Speaker 1: I'll give you. I don't even say I can get
Speaker 1: like innings and stuff like that. That might help a
Speaker 1: bit as well. He's pitched all season, so it's not
Speaker 1: like he's.
Speaker 2: A okay, yeah, well you're talking like one point seventy nine,
Speaker 2: that's not I'm trying to think of the guys now
Speaker 2: that have something below. There's only like I don't know
Speaker 2: if the top of my head, but there's like ten
Speaker 2: guys who are below two. Yeah.
Speaker 1: When I was looking this up, I hadn't realized quite
Speaker 1: how many really good relievers there are this year.
Speaker 2: So who are the people that may we maybe don't
Speaker 2: would be questioned or maybe coming back? Kebby eight, like
Speaker 2: he's been pretty kind of like epic for Texas that
Speaker 2: you might.
Speaker 1: Not, Yeah, but he has been fantastic for Texas.
Speaker 2: Yet he's much lower than that. He's like one point
Speaker 2: two one point three. Yeah, I think he is.
Speaker 1: As even though, and actually I think his like, so
Speaker 1: this guy's that I'm talking about, his fit is two
Speaker 1: point four one, so he's slightly achieving above it. I think,
Speaker 1: heybe Yates fIF is even below to his His season's unreal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you've played all season, then it's not going
Speaker 2: to be puck who played well.
Speaker 1: But it's basically sixty and a third innings pitched to
Speaker 1: this point it's.
Speaker 2: Not Hunting Gaddess. And now, as much as I want
Speaker 2: to talk about Hunter Gaddys, he has like a one
Speaker 2: five your a alex form the first round pick, former
Speaker 2: first round pick for the first round pick, who's a
Speaker 2: freaking reliever, who's a former first round pick? Oh that
Speaker 2: is a disgusting.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a bit of a sneak. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you would think of him as a former
Speaker 1: first round pick, but I think former top prospect.
Speaker 2: Would be fair to say, Oh, who's the Phillies.
Speaker 1: He is on the Phillies. We saw him in London,
Speaker 1: we did it's.
Speaker 2: The Oh yeah, it's not the duff Man, it's the
Speaker 2: hoff Man.
Speaker 1: There he is the Rockies legend, Jeff Hoffman. Who I mean,
Speaker 1: it breaks my heart a little bit to see him
Speaker 1: be this good, but he has been sensational.
Speaker 2: Man comes go leave, leaves what leaves Colorado after what
Speaker 2: years of like five eras to go to Cincinnati for
Speaker 2: a bit and then it's now.
Speaker 1: Just it's crazy. Since he got to Philly, how good
Speaker 1: Like they literally brought him in, flicked a switch and
Speaker 1: he's been an elite shutdown relieve ever since with the Rockies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he never had an ERA better than four point eighty eight,
Speaker 1: which he did over thirty innings in his rookie year.
Speaker 1: Then he went to Cincinnati obviously was a converted reliever
Speaker 1: and maybe converted before that point to reliever and was like, okay,
Speaker 1: replacement level, And the minute he got to Philly, he
Speaker 1: just added three miles an hour to his fastball and
Speaker 1: turned into one of the best relievers in the game,
Speaker 1: I mean insane.
Speaker 2: Well, as we say, Dave knows what he's doing for
Speaker 2: when it comes to bullpens.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess he does. I mean yeah, I think
Speaker 1: he's even closing games now for Philly. So good for you,
Speaker 1: Jeff Offmany. Yeah, if you didn't know it, you will
Speaker 1: in October because Jeff Hoffman is going to be getting
Speaker 1: some high leverage outs at the end of games for
Speaker 1: the Phillies. Right.
Speaker 2: I'll ask you Ben again, Ben, to want a good
Speaker 2: or a bad picture. I mean a good sorry, a
Speaker 2: good picture or hitter.
Speaker 1: A good picture or a good hitter. I don't think
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be worse at the pictures, but I also
Speaker 1: think they're more fun. To give me a picture.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's like, I just can't I did this thing,
Speaker 2: and I immediately was like, there's like five relievers that
Speaker 2: I just like, all Cleveland based that I can be like, oh, Ben,
Speaker 2: have you heard of Haydes Smith?
Speaker 1: And I thought about being sneaky and giving you a
Speaker 1: Cleveland leaver bar. I was like, here or sniff list
Speaker 1: a mile out? So I can't even try hero.
Speaker 2: And gaddis like, there's two fantasy leagues that I'm doing
Speaker 2: very well in because I just know those guys have
Speaker 2: just been like utterly phenomenal for like the entire season.
Speaker 2: It's completely utly mental to go through that. But no,
Speaker 2: let's go for is this going to be? Oh no,
Speaker 2: I did have one that I was going to do
Speaker 2: for this. Yes. So has pitched twenty seven games, one
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty three point one innings. He has a
Speaker 2: two point nine to nine ERA with averaging ten point
Speaker 2: five seven k's per night.
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, that's a lot of case for a starter
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty something. Ains. You say it's not
Speaker 1: going super deep into games though, who is nowadays misting
Speaker 1: ERA play three?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's it basically averaging about five and a half
Speaker 2: per per start.
Speaker 1: Is this American League on National League? National League, National
Speaker 1: League who's been It's not it's not Aminaga.
Speaker 2: It's not Amnaga. I'll tell you that this person is
Speaker 2: kind of a recent convert to starting.
Speaker 1: Okay, this isn't going to make a very good podcasting
Speaker 1: with me just going National League.
Speaker 2: They were involved in probably the biggest trade of the
Speaker 2: winter and.
Speaker 1: The biggest trade of the winter. Okay, that should be
Speaker 1: a big enough hint to get me somewhere.
Speaker 2: I know I have to double check this, but I
Speaker 2: assume being traded in December from the New York Yankees.
Speaker 1: From the New York Yankees, I should be able to
Speaker 1: get listed. And the Yankees starter or reliever turned starter
Speaker 1: who's been really good with a new team this year.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've stumped me here, Okay, come on, r
Speaker 1: like your brain, Oh, Michael King, you guys, Wow, he
Speaker 1: has been really good this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I removed one relief appearance that he does. He's
Speaker 2: kind of like yeah, which takes his era up to
Speaker 2: three point one. But yeah, it's like he's beens his
Speaker 2: first year starting. He took so basically for the Yankees,
Speaker 2: like he started some games last year, but like had
Speaker 2: he started nine games last year but had forty games
Speaker 2: in relief. In twenty twenty two, he was pure relief.
Speaker 2: In twenty one and twenty he had some scam starts
Speaker 2: and some relief, So he's kind of been this when
Speaker 2: required starter but more relief. And then yeah, this year
Speaker 2: is he's shown he's pitched like fifty innings more than
Speaker 2: he pitched at any other point in his career and
Speaker 2: has got effectively a similar ra to what he had
Speaker 2: last year when he was a mixer of a reliever
Speaker 2: and a starter.
Speaker 1: So for you, Michael Kay, well, they I guess they
Speaker 1: can't really afford to shut him down because they're going
Speaker 1: to need him in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be part of that rotation if
Speaker 2: they if they if they make it to the playoffs,
Speaker 2: pretty pretty likely. But yes, it's it's a pretty pre
Speaker 2: remarkable one, one that I don't think many people probably saw,
Speaker 2: especially when I think in twenty twenty two they've just gone,
Speaker 2: you're a pure reliever. Now he went thirty four games
Speaker 2: with like fifty one innings pitch, which gives you maybe
Speaker 2: like he's this one maybe two inning guy.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I remember Hi being like a multi ning
Speaker 1: guy in the pen who at one point was real
Speaker 1: weapon for the Yankees. Yeah, toward the end of games.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I did not see that coming. Well, I
Speaker 1: only prepared three bland resumes because lost to your busy
Speaker 1: writing my poem. But if you have other ones that
Speaker 1: you want to throw out there, we could quickly I
Speaker 1: could quick guess guess them.
Speaker 2: Oh, we could do so we can do a quick
Speaker 2: fire Okay, hit a. This is performing worse than anticipated
Speaker 2: hit A two forty six three oh three four point fifteen,
Speaker 2: which is effectively as a one oh one WRC.
Speaker 1: Plus I'm performing hitters. Hilio Rodriguez or else has been
Speaker 1: bad this year.
Speaker 2: This one is potentially down to age. But if it is,
Speaker 2: they've kind of dropped off a clickliff fast.
Speaker 1: It's not the time. It's non Nada. You're gonna bak
Speaker 1: my heart.
Speaker 2: It's not Nolan Aaronado, but you're very close in thinking
Speaker 2: that he's been bad. The gold it is Paul gold
Speaker 2: no Goldie, or as a few listeners to effectively wild
Speaker 2: might know that Ben gave him a stray shot the
Speaker 2: other day and called him Paul old Schmidt.
Speaker 1: He is having such a good career. As kind of
Speaker 1: sad when a player that consistent just loses it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like one oh one this season, with one
Speaker 2: twenty one this season before and then like twenty twenty
Speaker 2: two short season, but it was one seventy five, one
Speaker 2: thirty one forty WRC plus like this will be at
Speaker 2: one oh one. This is going to be his worst
Speaker 2: season today from WRC plus perspective.
Speaker 1: So I did know him a bit of a disservice.
Speaker 1: He's he's been a one hundred WRC plus exactly hitter
Speaker 1: this season. And no, actually that's worse than what you
Speaker 1: just said, isn't it. So maybe I haven't done a disservice.
Speaker 2: Let's see who else did I have as some quick
Speaker 2: ones pitcher A four oh seven era maybe more concerningly,
Speaker 2: a four point six y six FIP one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty six one and forty eight innings pitched from twenty
Speaker 2: eight games.
Speaker 1: Umm, who's performed as a pitcher this year? A couple
Speaker 1: of guys in the Ashos have Erlander.
Speaker 2: Erlander's not played enough? Ben, Come on, has he not
Speaker 2: played enough?
Speaker 1: He has an injured for a while, hasn't he? Oh?
Speaker 1: Who's uh?
Speaker 2: No, go on, give another Clay, Let's go cook sip
Speaker 2: easy clue. Yankees oh Yankees picture, uh Stroman like a Stroman.
Speaker 1: Oh that's sad.
Speaker 2: It's like his era is not too dissimilar to what
Speaker 2: it was last year, but it's just like all of
Speaker 2: the underlying metrics look worse. Like his xcra, is FIP
Speaker 2: and his x FIP are all significantly high than they
Speaker 2: were last year.
Speaker 1: So kind of way because you would have think as
Speaker 1: a ground ball picture, no disrespect to the Yankees in
Speaker 1: field defense, that his proper was probably better than his
Speaker 1: actual numbers. But maybe the Yankees in field defense is
Speaker 1: better than I'm getting it credit for.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just one of those ones where you kind
Speaker 2: of how it flits through giving up the home runs
Speaker 2: at a worse rate than he did the year before,
Speaker 2: but it's strikeout rates have dropped. I had one one more.
Speaker 1: For you, Ben Michael King instead, huh yeah.
Speaker 2: One more one more for you. This is a this
Speaker 2: is a reliever, a reliever.
Speaker 1: Great, it's going to really test my knowledge.
Speaker 2: They have pitched fifty one innings this year. They have
Speaker 2: a point lucascheg four point nine four ERA a point
Speaker 2: ninety four okay bad. They have twenty two saves, Okay,
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Twenty says the four point ninety four Rah. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, Greg Kimberley's been quite good this year, hasn't
Speaker 1: he can Canny Jansen new I'll.
Speaker 2: Tell you the season before they had a two point
Speaker 2: ninety three e r A thirty nine.
Speaker 1: Say it was good and now it's not so good.
Speaker 1: It's not. No, it's not Devin Williams. He was injured
Speaker 1: and he's been good since he came back. Oh, it's
Speaker 1: not it's not Josh Hader.
Speaker 2: It is not Josh Hader.
Speaker 1: He's not been that bad.
Speaker 2: A National league player, National league playing in uh in California.
Speaker 1: Okay, so what does that leave me with? Dodgers or
Speaker 1: Padres m or there's another one National League California.
Speaker 2: It's maybe a city called San Francisco. That'sh the Giants of.
Speaker 1: God. Just to remove him from my memory.
Speaker 2: Oh, so it's Dov It is Camillo de var Man.
Speaker 1: Oh, he's like young Teo.
Speaker 2: What happened twenty seven? It's one of these ones you
Speaker 2: don't quite know. It's like three years of being a
Speaker 2: pretty solid or two and a half years of being
Speaker 2: a pretty solid reliever, and then he.
Speaker 1: Was always kind of wild though wasn't he like he
Speaker 1: would walk. Guy. Oh my god, it's walking a lot
Speaker 1: of guys this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the big he would walk guys. Yeah, he
Speaker 2: did have a three and a half, like four walk
Speaker 2: rate per nine compared to like the two that you
Speaker 2: get from a lot of star a lot of relievers.
Speaker 2: But the k's are there, and the k's are still there.
Speaker 2: It's just the walk rate has just gone absolutely like
Speaker 2: through the roof. Yes, he's got a three forty babbit,
Speaker 2: which it's not is not like wouldn't be sustained over
Speaker 2: an extended period of time. But he's given up home
Speaker 2: runs at an unprecedented rate, and he's walking people at
Speaker 2: an unprecedented rate.
Speaker 1: That's a bad recipe, isn't it.
Speaker 2: That is a bad recipe. Come here, I have I
Speaker 2: had one more stat. I can't see if I've still
Speaker 2: got it saved or not. This is just a brilliant
Speaker 2: stat that I wanted to ask you. This is a
Speaker 2: player that's been remarkably good and remarkably bad in this season.
Speaker 2: Ben So guy, hopefully this brown so effectively. At one
Speaker 2: point over at a fifteen game average, this person had
Speaker 2: a five thirty woe but which is pretty phenomenal, and
Speaker 2: has also had a one sixty nine wOBA over a
Speaker 2: fifteen game average.
Speaker 1: Okay, streaky, streaky, don't know, Christian Walker.
Speaker 2: No, it's coming off the fact that last year they
Speaker 2: also had a fifteen game spell of five hundred and
Speaker 2: ninety eight wober and a one eighty four worker Jesus
Speaker 2: So who had very very loud low followed by a
Speaker 2: very big high lass.
Speaker 1: I don't know, you're gonna have to tell me go on,
Speaker 1: who was.
Speaker 2: Given a round of applause. Try yep, oh wow, yep.
Speaker 2: Like he started this season below average, got better and
Speaker 2: better and better and better, then absolutely shut the bed,
Speaker 2: and then has kind of got back to average again.
Speaker 1: Either weird weird player nowadays, isn't he seem to join
Speaker 1: the Phillies.
Speaker 2: And that's the thing. It's just, I don't know, Like,
Speaker 2: if you if you look at his stats from like
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two to the normals to the end of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, it's just a wOBA line that just
Speaker 2: steadily goes down and you're like, oh my god, and
Speaker 2: then it shoots back up and you're like, oh, maybe
Speaker 2: he's okay, and then it drops back off again and
Speaker 2: then this season is like us kind of trending back
Speaker 2: up to a good level, drop back off a cliff again.
Speaker 2: Oh now we're trending back to normal normalacy. But yeah,
Speaker 2: boy has up with a.
Speaker 1: Good season or at all, well, unless he keeps pummeting.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's still got like WRC plus or whatever,
Speaker 2: which is like not really anything to complain about when
Speaker 2: you're a probably defense first flighter.
Speaker 1: But I did enjoy the round of applause to the
Speaker 1: plate last year. That was very fun. I don't know
Speaker 1: in fact Phillies fans doing that again this year, but
Speaker 1: maybe they should.
Speaker 2: Yes cool, So I hope listeners you have enjoyed that
Speaker 2: as much as Ben and I have. I hope you
Speaker 2: were shouting along at us and telling us that we
Speaker 2: are for not knowing the things, and telling me off
Speaker 2: for picking my Homer picks and making Ben try to
Speaker 2: work out who her help? What the hell happened to
Speaker 2: Tristan McKenzie.
Speaker 1: But this has been good. I feel like maybe next
Speaker 1: time we should do like a We'll tweet it out
Speaker 1: the day before and get other people to send in
Speaker 1: some blind resumes, and then we'll try to try and
Speaker 1: guess from what they send This.
Speaker 2: Just feels like doing the the Tom Briggle what Happened
Speaker 2: in Baseball Last Year? Podcast? Again?
Speaker 1: Correct? Yeah, although you know at least we'll learn something
Speaker 1: compared to the John McGee Planned Names and Baseball Players podcast.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, let's remember baseball players from when I didn't
Speaker 2: even watch baseball.
Speaker 1: Anyway, I feel like I've learned a lot ros So
Speaker 1: thank you.
Speaker 2: No worries obviously, as always our listeners. You can find
Speaker 2: our website at bat flips and nerds dot com. You
Speaker 2: can find us at a backlas underscornered on Twitter or
Speaker 2: on Instagram and all of the fine other social places
Speaker 2: where no one actually talks and everybody wants to leave
Speaker 2: Twitter to but can't. I should call it X, but
Speaker 2: we're still there, Ben. I will ask the obvious question,
Speaker 2: what writing will be seeing from you in the not
Speaker 2: to distant future. This poem has to make its way
Speaker 2: out there. If you're going to addverse more versus. I
Speaker 2: won't clip this and put this out as an individual thing,
Speaker 2: but like I think it deserves stave actual kind of
Speaker 2: like posterity.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what if if the Mets do it,
Speaker 1: if they make the playoffs, I will write, I'll put
Speaker 1: a lot more effort in and write a full length,
Speaker 1: multi verse poem that will go on to our website
Speaker 1: just in time for their playoff run. So yeah, Unfortunately
Speaker 1: I haven't written anything lately beyond my poem, but I
Speaker 1: will put something together if the Mets can can keep
Speaker 1: this street going.
Speaker 2: Yes, I want the impassioned kind of reading with you,
Speaker 2: like standing in a baseball field like. Obviously we can't
Speaker 2: quite get you to New York to read it in
Speaker 2: city field itself, Ben, but a.
Speaker 1: Man can dream. Maybe they'll bring me out there. Look,
Speaker 1: they've done it with Brimmers and Hawk Tour, so surely
Speaker 1: I'm next on the list.
Speaker 2: Hey, if I had any control of it, Ben, you'd
Speaker 2: be you'd be reading out that poem for game one
Speaker 2: of the wild Card Series.
Speaker 1: The World Series.
Speaker 2: You meaning all the way if we get a boy
Speaker 2: series World Series this year, just be obvious, insane? Okay.
Speaker 2: I thoroughly hope you have enjoyed that podcast. Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 2: we will speak to you soon.
Speaker 1: Goodbye,